Gaming News Round-Up: December 1st, 2004

Author: by Nich Maragos, Simon Carless

Tonight's round-up includes news of Canadian game ratings legislature, a digital download debut for the Worms series, and a 'unique' animal rights video game that's also channeling Grand Theft Auto. - Over in Canada, the Ontario legislature has passed a bill putting the force of law behind the ESRB’s rating system. The ratings system works the same way as the U.S. ratings – but now, Ontario retailers will be forced to check a customer's ID when selling or renting games to customers, or face fines. In general, trade organizations such as the IGDA and ESA have been against formal legal enforcement of ESRB standards, with the ESA's Doug Lowenstein recently commenting: "It’s our hope that... all [American] states will now turn their focus to helping us in our efforts to implement voluntary ratings enforcement measures at the retail level." However, it seems that the Ontario legislature has dismissed this sentiment. - The next game to take the digital distribution plunge after Half-Life 2's ballyhooed Steam debut is Worms Forts: Under Siege, to be released solely through Trymedia’s online distribution system in North America. The standard shareware mechanisms for either buying the entire game or trying it first for a limited time are in place, but this marks one of the first games in the Worms series not to be featured at traditional retail outlets. To date, over eight million copies of the Worms franchise have been sold worldwide, and with digital distribution an increasingly popular concept, it will be interesting to see which other PC titles and franchises consider moving online-only, as retail space for PC games tighten. - In the vein of old civically-minded games such as Captain Novolin comes what's billed as the first animal-rights game: Veggie Games Inc., a Vancouver company, announced the release today of Steer Madness for PC and Macintosh. Players control Bryce the cow on an environmentally-friendly mission to win the hearts and minds of random onlookers, as he "delivers soymilk, protests against fur, changes advertisements, and much, much more!", in a title described as "'Grand Theft Auto' meets 'Chicken Run'".