In most years, the idea that space wizards had manipulated the outcome of the American war of independence would probably count as the most fanciful reappraisal of historical fact. But not in a year in which a Black Ops game gets released!

Did you know that the CIA’s support of Nicaraguan death squads (estimated death toll: 30,000) was an “accident”? It’s really quite the Oops! moment, what with it continuing for the better part of a decade, and, latterly, against the direct instruction of Congress.

“We don’t target civilians,” says one character in the CIA’s defence. Credit to the voice cast for adding a nuanced undertone of belligerent denial to the claim, but opposing views (such as, say, that voiced by the International Court of Justice in 1986) make scant appearance here.

You might think the devs would be more familiar with the affair, given that the game’s marketing push involved wheeling out National Security Council bagman Oliver North, a fellow who was convicted on three counts of felony thanks to his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.

It’s difficult to see why Black Ops 2 would be coy about the casual slaughter of innocents; after all, characters are more than willing to openly torture and summarily execute people they take a disliking to. But even if the game’s not trying to make a case for the righteousness of its protagonists, it still makes a mess of history.

THQ's global communications boss Huw Beynon recently spoke to OXM about Metro: Last Light's post-apocalyptic appeal and handsome Russian mutants. Benyon's thoughts eventually expanded to a criticism of the rut he believes the FPS genre has wallowed in for years. Specifically, he calls out Call of Duty's rinse-repeat military formula for "stamping out" other creative shooter ideas.

"I think it's probably very true to say that there's reaction to what used to be a small subset of the genre of a military shooter," he said. "It's ballooned and mushroom-clouded to almost define the genre and kind of stamp out memories of what I remember being great about first person shooters, whether that was Half-Life, System Shock, or GoldenEye—where a FPS didn't necessarily have to involve military material, it just meant an invitation to a fantastic other world, which to me was always the point of video games in the first place."

Beynon also suggested gamers are slowly detaching themselves from the idea of always playing as a military superman, and that gamers are hungry for different experiences—like Metro. He also points to Dishonored as a successful experiment. "I've hugely enjoyed and I'm thrilled that they've had success with that—it's probably the game that's interested me most this year and am glad to see it get the critical and hopefully commercial success that it deserves."

THQ filed for bankruptcy earlier this week but continues to keep its publishing duties and upcoming releases active. Elsewhere and earlier on, Black Ops 2 raked in gobs of profit, but not quite as many as its big brother, Modern Warfare.

It might be a good idea to check that you're running the latest batch of Nvidia drivers. The full version of the GeForce 310.70 WHQL set are available now, and it sounds like they'll add a fair few extra frames per second to some of this year's biggest games. Nvidia say they'll boost Far Cry 3 by 37%, Black Ops 2 by 26% at max settings, add an extra 17% to Assassin's Creed 3 performance (compared to a pre-release version, mind) and deliver smaller increases to Battlefield 3 and Skyrim.

"In October's GeForce 310.33 beta driver we improved performance by up to 15% in nine games, and this time we’re improving performance by up to 37% in twenty-one games," they say.

If you're running a GTX6 series you can experiment with TXAA antialiasing, which promises to do a better job of de-jaggifying edges than traditional anti-aliasing techniques. Also, because there are some letters of the alphabet we haven't capitalised yet, there's a new SGSSAA tool that'll make it easier to implement this top-tier form of luxury line-smoothing on high-end systems more easily.

The new drivers are a nice follow up on the recent release of the GeForce Experience system, designed to recommend optimal game settings based on your system requirements. Does it work? Dave gave it a try, find out what he thinks here. For more on the latest driver release, read all about it at the Nvidia site.

In the wake of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week, it's understandable that people would look to place blame. Many in the media have been quick to suggest a link between shooter Adam Lanza's interest in videogames and the violence he perpetrated. Does the evidence support their claims? My research suggests not.

I've taken a look at the reports videogame-detractors have referenced, and talked to the author of an oft-cited study about the conclusions being drawn from his work. If video games do cause increased aggression, then it's not supported by the data available, and to suggest otherwise is to misrepresent the prevailing scientific opinion.

For the most part, reporting on such a link has been both weak and disingenuous (see Eurogamer's coverage of the British tabloids). Stories highlight games Lanza played, repeatedly focus on their violence, then sidestep the need for scientific evidence by never making their implied accusation explicit. But a CNN report (picked up by Reddit), about Lanza's connection to Starcraft, was notable for featuring a supposed expert making a direct connection between violent games and aggression, then naming sources that, he says, can prove his claims.

First, the interview:



Let's ignore the abrupt shift from the specific example of Lanza having played Starcraft in high school, to the broad "is there a link between violent video games and aggressive behaviour." It's another transparent attempt to suggest there is, while not actually stating that there is. Instead, we'll look at the claims made by Iowa State University's Professor Craig Anderson.

"Every major scientific society that has studied the question has come to the same answer … Media violence is a risk factor... is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behaviour, including violence."

In the full interview (transcript here, two-thirds down the page) Anderson notes how that aggressive behaviour manifests:

"Well, there are a several ... there are number of processes going on. So in the short term, that is right while one is playing the game and for a brief period afterwards, aggressive thoughts are more available. So if a provocation occurs in that time period you're more like to see it as a provocation and aggressive solutions are more likely to come to mind.

"Longer term we get changes in attitudes towards using aggressive solutions, changes in how one interprets, say, ambiguous situations. So you get bumped into say a child in a lunchroom. Those who play a lot of violent video games are more likely to interpret that a bump as intentional and they are more likely to respond by pushing back or maybe even starting a fight."

Craig Anderson. Photo by Bob Elbert, Iowa State University News

Is there anything to these claims? Anecdotally, you'd say no. After all, Starcraft - the game specifically highlighted by CNN - holds numerous esports tournaments starring people who play the game professionally for a living. So far, none of them have descended into a mass brawl come the grand final. These accusations always sound ridiculous because we can look to our own lives - the games we play and our treatment of others - and claim foul play. But if we're to reach a solid conclusion we need to move away from personal experience and engage with the data.

In which case, let's look at the evidence Anderson is presenting. He mentions that the most recent body to support the link is the International Society for Research on Aggression. Curiously he fails to mention that he's the director of the society, and as such commissioned their report.

This odd omission aside, the findings appear to show statistically significant evidence of a connection between violent media (specifically games) and aggression: "The results of all of these meta-analyses show that exposure to media violence can increase not only aggressive behavior in a variety of forms, but also aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, physiological arousal, and decrease prosocial behavior."

Further, the report also gives some reasons for the lack of a general acceptance for their apparently conclusive link. They mention people who "mistakenly think that media violence effects must be immediate and severe," when the "truth," they explain, is much less dramatic and instantaneous. Then there's those who have a "vested interest in violent media." "...The need to maintain a positive self-image motivates the denial of media violence effects." I think they're talking about us.

But dig deeper into ISRA's data and the sources behind it, and you'll discover counterpoints to their analysis that are both impartial and informed.

One of the prominent meta-analyses quoted is from a 2007 study by Texas A&M International University's Professor Christopher Ferguson. Out of context, the study's data would appear to agree with the ISRA's conclusion, but Ferguson's own interpretation was vastly different, noting numerous problems with the way games violence research was conducted and published.

I contacted Christopher Ferguson to ask about the apparent misrepresentation of his findings in the ISRA's report. His reply leaves no doubt as to his opinion of its legitimacy:

"Anderson referring to the ISRA's report is something we call "echo attribution." He in fact nominated all the individuals to sit on the committee, and simply didn't include any scholars who had been critical of the 'video games = aggression' link. If I put together a committee and stack the deck, I can get it to say almost anything. That statement has no credibility whatsoever.

"As for using my study, they absolutely misused and misrepresented my meta-analysis in that report. My data should, in no way, ever be used to support links between video game violence and aggression. We have done a number of studies of video game violence with both children and adults and find no evidence to support links between video game violence and youth violence. Furthermore, youth violence has declined to 40 year lows, not gone up in recent years."

Ferguson points to recent findings by the US Supreme Court, and the Swedish and Australian governments as evidence of the inconclusiveness of the currently available studies. While the Supreme Court's decision, blocking a California law that banned the sale of violent games to minors, concentrated mainly on the First Amendment argument, both governmental reports found significant fault in the methodology of current research.

Lanza has been linked to Black Ops, Starcraft, Dynasty Warriors and... Dance Dance Revolution

The Swedish Media Council note that, while there is a statistical connection between aggression and VCGs (violent computer games), the hypothesis that they cause this aggression "is grounded in serious methodological deficiencies and cannot therefore be considered proven."

More likely, they note, are the possibilities that either aggressive people look for VCGs to play - "support for this hypothesis is extensive in the existing research" - or that underlying factors contribute to both aggression and VCG preference. "This hypothesis," they conclude, "is supported by all studies that investigated underlying factors such as mental behavioural problems and the family-social interaction."

The Australian Attorney General's departmental review into video game violence comes to much the same conclusion. Except they call them violent video games (VVGs).

"Overall, the literature examining VVG effects on aggression is divided. A 2010 meta-analysis involved vast numbers of studies and participants, and is viewed as the pinnacle of the debate so far." This refers to Anderson's own report, which he references in the CNN interview, and provides a large basis for the ISRA's findings.

"However, there are a number of issues that have been raised with the VVG effect literature
that arguably reduce the literature’s policy relevance." They note the social and political controversy surrounding the issue, the "insufficient" exploration of underlying effects, and the lack of conclusive evidence showing games as more violent than other media as among their reasons for their concern. And this is Australia, one of the harshest video game censors in Western society.

It's worth stressing that both of these studies had access to, and extensively reference, exactly the same data that the ISRA quote in their report. Yet where they both find inconsistency and questionable methodology, the ISRA sees only blind reinforcement of their beliefs. It's absolutely staggering that Anderson can use that research to categorically state on a national news channel that there's a connection between violent games and aggression, insinuate that any criticism of that connection is an attempt by the game industry "to keep the general public confused about what the research shows", and at no point be challenged on his accusations.

In his email, Ferguson finished by saying, "As often happens with moral panics, you can find some scholars who will make extreme, exaggerated statements. This is just such a case. It is a shame to see such a tragedy politicized in such a way."

And that's the problem surrounding the debate. If the methodology is flawed, the results are up for both interpretation and manipulation. In his interview, Anderson displays a flagrant disregard for the many dissenting opinions. It's frustrating for two reasons. Firstly, because at such an emotionally charged time, it's appalling to see someone misrepresenting a complex and nuanced issue.

But also, if there's any correlation between violent games and aggressive behaviour, it's in our interest as gamers to know about it. Instead the issue gets consistently obfuscated by a politically motivated agenda, increasing the noise, and reducing the chance for a level-headed, scientifically focused debate.

Far Cry 3's included level editor provides all the tools and textures necessary for crafting unique multiplayer maps, but one tinkerer has instead taken to recreating some very familiar locales with uncanny accuracy. As reported by MP1st, user ShadowZack has shared a series of maps fashioned after popular arenas from Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike.

You can nab ShadowZack's works through Far Cry 3's in-game multiplayer map search simply by typing his name. You'll find Battlefield 3's Noshahr Canals and Wake Island, Counter-Strike's Dust and Aztec, and Call of Duty's Nuketown all carefully recreated right down to the placement of crates and convenient slabs of concrete cover. ShadowZack also released some flyby and progress videos for the maps as they were constructed, which you can watch below.

Far Cry 3 itself has two gigantic jungle island environments. We got lost. We shot animals. We drank weird potions. We wrote a review, so have a look.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has received the patch treatment, with a long list of changes and amendments ushered in including collision and clipping detection tweaks, faster loading times for some users, and a long list of balance changes.

According to the patch notes, which were posted on the Black Ops II official community forum earlier today, the updates apply to all game modes including campaign, multiplayer and zombies. The full list is below. It's very long, so brace yourself.

Global Changes:
Improved loadtimes when using AMD hardware
Fix for issues when binding mousewheel to fire
Using arrow keys to adjust Mouse sensitivity will increment the value by .01
Fix for some instances of "Error quit was not requested in the main thread"
Fix for issues with 16:10 displays
Fix for TXAA not disabling when an unsupported card is detected
Improvements to ambient occlusion
Increased Friends list limit to 300
Joinable friends now sort to the top of the friends list
Users now have the ability to unlink youtube accounts.
Added SFX to sliders in options menu
Fix for knife lunge not working when a gamepad is connected
Improved film rendering stability and made progression bar more accurate while rendering a film.
Improved audio/rumble responsiveness when hitting enemies with gunfire.
Fix for issues with changing the gamepad Button Layout in theater
Fix for Party host receiving infinite "Reconnecting to Party" message when clicking on "Bring Party" in a post-match lobby.

Campaign Changes:
Fix for crash that could occur during credits
Fix for freeze when unlocking Death From Above achievement

Multiplayer Changes:
Matchmaking improvements
Added Hardcore Kill Confirmed playlist to the Hardcore category
Game now resets the Care Package for a non-owner if the owner re-rolls the package using the Engineer perk.
Fix for incorrectly being able to purchase an 11th Create a Class slot
Collision and clipping fixes on all maps
Fixed a number of new UI error messages reported by users.
Improved CoDTV sort filters for browsing content
Players can now render films in addition to clips
Removed incorrect SFX for placing from party games
Fixes for issues with codtv images not loading in
Bots no longer count towards the party size limit in Custom Games
Added the ability to "View League Teams" from any player's Playercard.
Added the ability to “View Playercard” from League solo leaderboards.
Map exploit fixes in Meltdown
Fixes for errors on Express when the train arrives
“Drop Shot” medal is no longer awarded after standing back up.
Fix for escort drone cuing incorrect audio
Added voice chat volume controls
CoDTV video playback improvemnts
Fixes for out of sync audio issues in rendered videos
Fixes for rendered clips showing the wrong length on youtube
Fixes with "Hacked" items not targeting the correct team
Shadows seen through sniper scopes now render more correctly.
Fix for Hijacked minimap displaying incorrectly
Fix for some equipment not being destructible by Friendly Fire in Hardcore mode
Fix for final killcams not displaying properly if it is an "Assisted Suicide" kill.
Fix for Bomb Defuser Challenge not progressing properly
Fix for Hero Medal not appearing in game at the correct time.
Fix for XP bar in League Play not displaying correctly
Fix for teams being kicked from league play when matched against a previously played team
Fix for crash when getting disconnected while viewing the like/dislike menu of a screenshot
Fix for partial loss of functionality when theater is started while a party member is in emblem editor
Fix for Arch Nemesis challenge unlocking incorrectly
Addressed issues which prevented some master challenges from being completed.
Fix for friends list showing the wrong rank icon for players
Fix for Escort Drones spawning under the map
Added a fail-safe to prevent spawn trapping in CTF.
Fix for floating corpse models on some maps
Players can now copy a custom class to the extra prestige slot.
Improved overall communication of Double XP when enabled.
AAR better communicates how much XP was earned in each match.
Fix for issues with having Assault Shield and no secondary weapon
Thermal vision overlay no longer appears using the VTOL glitch.
Fix for players not being able to capture their own Care Packages when using the Black Hat PDA in FFA
Fix for Camera Marker slide bar not functioning correctly
EMP grenades no longer affect the CODcaster HUD.
Fix for SFX that plays when player gets in the top 3 in FFA
Increased sight checks on turrets to improve spawning algorithms.
Multi-team games no longer count as a tie if an entire team quits.
Players with Black Hat PDA can no longer hack a Care Package faster than the owner can capture it.
Addressed a number of issues that would cause friendly/enemy color indicators on equipment and scorestreaks to display as the wrong team.
Precision challenge “Wet Work” will now unlock with 10 kills.
The wins challenge will now account for all FFA modes when ending a match with a tie (if you are in the top 3).
Players that help with the “Synchronized Attack” challenge now get credit for it.
Players will not be able to manually take control of their AGR if they die at the exact moment that their AGR deploys.
Players using Ghost will no longer be invisible at all times in Custom Games with the mini-map option set to “constant”.
Players using Ghost and a Suppressor attachment will no longer appear on the enemy’s minimap while shooting and moving while a UAV is up.
The median for the K/D graph in the AAR is set to 1.0 instead of 0.0.
Players can no longer get on top of the shrubs in Nuketown 2025.
Kills from the explosion on the explosive crossbow bolt now count towards challenges.
Clan tag is no longer locked immediately after prestige.
Fixed an area in Express where K9 Unit dogs could get stuck.
Party Privacy count no longer affects how many bots will spawn in Combat Training.
Players can no longer stand on invisible collision in Carrier.

MP Gameplay Balancing:
The following is a list of numerous gameplay balancing tweaks that were made after thorough review of statistical data from player usage of weapons, equipment, perks and scorestreaks since launch.

Scorestreaks:
UAV: cost increased from 350 to 425.
Lightning Strike: added 750ms delay

Equipment/Grenades:
Bouncing Betty: increased the grace period between trigger and activation by 200ms.
Sensor Grenade: increased the range (now 1000 units), frequency (now 800ms between pings), and amount of time (now 6s) that players appear after explosion.
Concussion Grenade: decreased movement penalty and turn speed penalty when hit.

SMGs:
All: increased hip fire recoil.
All: increased max hip fire spread from 4.75 to 5.
All: reduced bullet penetration.
MSMC: increased recoil slightly.
PDW-57: increased recoil slightly.

Assault Rifles:
All: reduced idle sway for more reliable long-range aiming.
M8A1: reduced lethal range of 3-hit kills from 250 to 50 inches.
M8A1 + Select Fire: increased recoil.
FAL OSW + Select Fire: increased recoil.
SWAT-556 + Select Fire: increased recoil.

Sniper Rifles:
All: increased hip fire spread.
All + Laser Sight: increased hip fire spread.
XPR-50: increased recoil slightly.

Shotguns:
R870: reduced one-hit kill range by 45 inches.

Pistols:
B23R: reduced headshot multiplier from 1.4 to 1.
KAP-40: reduced headshot multiplier from 1.4 to 1

Zombies Changes:
Fix for Reviving text remains on screen during scoreboard after game ends
Fix for Mystery Box beacon disappearing after host migration
Fixes for players getting inside of or clipping into objects in all ZM maps
Improved zombie AI pathing in all maps
Fixes for players falling outside of the map for all maps
Players will now take damage while holding buildable parts
Fixes for issues obtaining the Jet Gun
Removed debug text that sometimes appears after host migration
"You Have No Power Over Me" achievement is now awarded at the correct time
Fix for infinite loading screen when uploading short clips
Fix for errors that may occur when viewing long clips
Fixes for Green flashes appearing when exiting Nuketown Zombies
Dead players can now text chat with living players
Added voice chat volume controls
Fix for players having unbreakable zombie shield
Fix for issues with multiple players buying the same door
Fix for incorrect character audio while holding breath with sniper scopes
Fix for rare issue with players getting stuck in custom game lobby
Fix for players getting permanent perks
Fix for persistent upgrades never going away.
Fix for players not dying when falling from extreme distances after purchasing juggernog in survival modes

 

Lambent Stew's free, web-based Steam Time Analysis tool laid bare my backlog of shame by breaking down time spent (or not spent) on each of my library's games like some sort of cold, ruthless PowerPoint presentation. The breadth of information provided is quite impressive. Over email, Stew told us the new build includes a few new features that further visualize users' habits.

You're now be able to compare your profile with those on your friends list for games owned, how many were played, and total hours played. (Our own Executive Editor Evan Lahti only played around 16 percent of his over 1300-game stable, the lazy bum.)

Similar to another homebrewed utility, a new worth calculator also provides combined figures for minimum, maximum, and current game prices in your library. Locating your own profile should be easier with improved search: just type in your Steam profile ID, and the tool should easily zero in on your data.

Check out the tool for yourself on Lambent Stew's website. How do you rank against your friends? What's your most-played game?

As is now the tradition, Activision announced today that the latest game in the Call of Duty franchise made... kind of a lot of money. Black Ops 2 grossed (places pinky at corner of mouth) one billion dollars in 15 days, hitting the mark a day faster than its predecessor, Modern Warfare 3.

While regional prices vary, dividing that by the U.S. sticker price of $59.99 gives us about 16.7 million units sold, which is roughly equal to the population of the Netherlands. You can read Activision's full press release here, and check out our video critique of Black Ops 2 and the official review to help you decide whether you want to be #16,700,001.

As far as I can tell, the job of financial analyst is half seaside fortune teller, and half looking at the Financial Times and doing the teeth-sucking noise that mechanics make when they realise their clients don't know enough about cars not to be persuaded to buy an unnecessary replacement. I'm not saying they don't provide a valuable and accurate service, just that this service is so far outside my realm of experience as to be utterly bizarre and incomprehensible. Take the following as a perfect example.

According to Arvind Bhatia, a financial analyst with Sterne Agee, sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 are on a trend to be 15% down on Modern Warfare 3's, which itself was down 5% from the first BlOps.

Here's the thing: BlOps 2 pulled in $500 million on its first day of retail, a whole $100 million more than MW3's. Even with a sharper downward sales curve, it's still going to make an absolute boatload of money. A smaller boatload than Modern Warfare 3, for sure - maybe a cruise ship instead of an oil tanker - but it's still a lot.

But the Call of Duty franchise makes up 45% of Activision's total earnings - the rest, presumably, coming from terrible James Bond games and Blizzard's output - which is why the analyst has "a cause for concern". As a result Sterne Agee has downgraded Activision's rating from "buy" to "neutral," reducing their 2013 estimates from $4.74 billion to a meagre $4.3 billion. God only knows what rating the analysts would give THQ.

Thanks, Joystiq

The Grand Theft Auto series boasts one of the longest-running and successful franchises in the industry, a titan-sized amalgamation of open-world crime sprees, wanderlust, and a public relations philosophy surrounding the communicative efficiency of a baseball bat. Taking the stage at the Credit Suisse 2012 Technology Conference (via GameSpot), Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Rockstar parent studio Take-Two, attributed the series' latest achievement of 125 million copies sold overall to a release philosophy acknowledging and circumventing the "risk" of annualization.

Zelnick nevertheless applauded Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and the legion of developers keeping the Call of Duty machine oiled and running every year—perhaps the definitive example of an annualized franchise's cemented longevity. Still, such a business model isn't de rigueur for Take-Two.

"It's our view that if you want intellectual properties to be permanent, then you run the risk in that circumstance of having consumers fall out of love with that franchise," Zelnick said. " obviously views the world differently.

"That's never been the case with one of our properties," he continued. "Ours do better each time. Our view is it's hard to make permanent intellectual properties if you annualize it, with the exception of sports titles. So far, that's proven to be the case. IP that is annualized eventually seems to hit the wall, and we don't want our IP to hit the wall."

Zelnick correlated the Grand Theft Auto games' irregular releases to the James Bond films, a comparison of two franchises which both happen to feature people with absolutely no qualms for letting off steam in public. But Zelnick's drive was to keep interest levels up in the red as a result of the prolonged wait in the same attention-grabbing way Bond does best. It ultimately results in a "special" series, he claimed.