A U.K. teen using a tool called "Phenom Booter" to kick players off Call of Duty servers back in September is now enjoying a stay in jail following an investigation by the Manchester police department.

Phenom Booter, which triggers a denial-of-service attack that can clear a server of specific users, or all of them, is a hack that had been shopped around forums earlier in this year. Type it into YouTube and you'll see a number of demonstrations. The e-cops were able to trace the attack to the Greater Manchester area and, ultimately, to the unidentified 17-year-old in question. He faces charge of violating the U.K.'s Computer Misuse Act of 1990.

"Programs marketed in order to disrupt the online infrastructure not only affect individual players but have commercial and reputational consequences for the companies concerned," Detective Inspector Paul Hoare told the BBC. "These games attract both children and young people to the online environment and this type of crime can often be the precursor to further offending in more traditional areas of online crime."

British Youth Arrested For Call Of Duty Server Attack [Gamasutra]

The Japanese game industry is dead. This week has been a flashback of last year's Tokyo Game Show — complete with gloom and doom from Capcom's Keiji Inafune.

"I think Japanese gaming is dead," Inafune told the New York Times. "When I say these things, I'm called a traitor. But I love Japan. I want to save it."

But what is Japanese gaming and does it even need Keiji Inafune to save it?

Nintendo is very much a Japanese company. It still puts great importance on the needs of Japanese market. The company typically releases the same games it makes in Japan in the West. It focuses on the needs of local players, but those needs, it seems, are universal.

Nintendo rolled the dice and took a big chance. The company decided to focus on providing a unique experience when its rivals were talking HD. It has paid off for the company, which is now not only one of the most successful in Japan, but in the world.

Yet, Japanese gaming is dead. Apparently, Nintendo doesn't count as a Japanese company, anymore! When did this happen?

This year's Tokyo Game Show was not attended by Nintendo. The company typically sits it out, leaving Sony and Microsoft to battle each other. Nintendo, instead, decides to focus its energy on international events like E3.

At this year's E3, Nintendo revealed the Nintendo 3DS, a glasses-free portable gaming device. Japanese developers like Konami and Tecmo Koei have signed on to make games for it. That's right, a new and exciting piece of hardware with third-party Japanese developers ready to make games for it.

Nintendo's decision to focus on international events does help give the company an international image. Internally, the company's Kyoto-headquarters is certainly not as international as Capcom's. (According to rumors, Nintendo Co., Ltd. employees must ask permission from their supervisor before going to the restroom!) It has been said that Nintendo isn't just a very Japanese company — it is a very Kyoto company.

Yet, Nintendo and its games are part of American pop culture. No, they are bigger than that, they are bigger than us all. Who looks at Mario and thinks it's a Japanese character? You look at Mario and you think of Mario. And you think of video games.

This is the same reason why people in Japan don't look at McDonalds and think "America". It's far beyond that.

Nintendo has created so much of basic video game grammar and has been so incredibly influential that it feels somewhat limiting to simply label it a Japanese company. It is global, sure, but it does have a strong local flavor.

Capcom's Inafune told the New York Times that he is "so shocked" when he sees global sales rankings. "I think: Wow, Capcom's ranked so low. However you approach it, we're dead," he said. "Resident Evil sold 5 million copies. That's still no good."

Five million copies for Resident Evil 5 seems about right. Halo 3 sold over 8 million copies, which was a whole bunch until Grand Theft Auto IV came along and sold over 17 million copies and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold over 20 million copies.

But, the biggest selling games (Wii Play, Nintendogs, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros.) are designed by Japanese people. And this month sees the release of Pokemon: Black and White in Japan — a game that will hit the West next spring. And November brings Gran Turismo 5, another big title internationally.

Japanese gaming isn't dead. It's just no longer completely dominant like it has been in the past. There's a difference.

[Pic]

Call of Duty is no stranger to Hollywood. While a couple of big time movie stars are going to do voice work in the upcoming Black Ops, this is far from a first for the series.

There have been rumblings of a possible Call of Duty movie. Those rumblings were followed up by comments from Kevin McKidd, the voice actor for Modern Warfare character Soap, in which he said "there are talks of a feature film".

The inclusion of Hollywood talent in the Call of Duty credits is nothing new to the series. Call of Duty games have been star-stubbed affairs from the getgo. The first Call of Duty game, released in 2003, featured voice work from Jason Statham (Snatch, Transporter series) and Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan, Avatar). The game was also scored by Michael Giacchino, who would go on score Pixar films like The Incredibles and Up as well as scoring J.J. Abrams projects like Star Trek and Lost.

2004's Call of Duty: Finest Hour was penned by Michael Schiffer, who produced the late 1990s dark comedy Very Bad Things. The game had Dennis Haysbert doing voice work. Haysbert is best known for his role as President David Palmer in the TV series 24 and as Pedro Cerrano in Major League.

The following year, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One was lighter on movie stars than the first Call of Duty game, but had Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame narrate the game. Hamill starred in 1980 World War II film The Big Red One, which was based on the real war experiences of the film's director Samuel Fuller.

2006's Call of Duty 3, which was developed by Black Ops studio Treyarch, featured talented voice actors, but alas, did not feature any name movie stars. The studio's 2008 follow-up, Call of Duty: World at War, brought out the big name stars. Both Gary Oldman and Kiefer Sutherland turned in performances for the game. Oldman will be reprising his role for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops.

One of the most memorable characters in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Captain Price, was voiced by veteran British TV and film actor Billy Murray. The 2009 sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, had actors like Lance Henriksen of Alien franchise fame and Keith David of boy-he's-been-in-a-lot-of-movies fame. The game featured a soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer, one of the biggest name composers in Hollywood. It was Zimmer's first video game score.

Call of Duty hasn't gone Hollywood. It's always been Hollywood. It's just more Hollywood now. Hollywoodier, if you will.

Doesn't matter if Modern Warfare 2 was originally released in fall 2009, the single-player demo has finally hit both Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. If you weren't one of the 20 million who bought the game, check it out.

In case you've been trying to decide whether or not to buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the past nine months, Activision has released a single-player demo on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live to help you decide.

Generally I associate post-release game demos to be signs that a publisher is afraid an early glimpse at the game would hurt sales. I'm pretty sure this isn't the case with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I suppose Activision is just trying to add a few extra copies to the multiple millions they've already sold.

Either way, the Modern Warfare 2 single-player demo is available now for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 giving players a chance to play through the snowy Cliffhanger mission that was shown over and over again last year while building up hype for the game's release.

So who hasn't played Modern Warfare 2 yet? Raise your hands and be counted!

Were you wrongfully accused of cheating and summarily banned from the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 recently? You weren't the only one. Valve's anti-cheat software goofed and they're offering free copies of Left 4 Dead 2 as an apology.

Many players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were surprised to find their Steam accounts banned this past weekend by Valve's anti-cheat software, more succinctly known as VAC. Valve president Gabe Newell says that was mass banning a mistake and offered an apology to those affected.

In addition to restoring players' access to the game, Valve is giving players a copy of Left 4 Dead 2 and one to gift to a friend, along with an explanation of how even players exhibiting good behavior were hit with the banhammer.

Read Newell's message to Modern Warfare 2 players below and take comfort in the fact that you totally did nothing wrong and you're not crazy.

Hello,

Recently, your Steam account was erroneously banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

This was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you.

The problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game. This wasn't a game-specific mistake. Steam allows us to manage and reverse these erroneous bans (about 12,000 erroneous bans over two weeks).

We have reversed the ban, restoring your access to the game. In addition, we have given you a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to give as a gift on Steam, plus a free copy for yourself if you didn't already own the game.

To share your extra copy of Left 4 Dead 2 with a friend, you can 'Manage Gifts and Guest Passes' from the 'Games' Menu in Steam, or visit this article on the Steam Support site for detailed instructions: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4502-TPJL-2656.

To access your own copy of Left 4 Dead 2, visit your library of games in Steam. If you didn't already own the game, it will now be listed among your others there, and is available for download immediately.

Regards,
Gabe Newell
President, Valve

Thanks to everyone who flooded the tips@ inbox this weekend with their banning story.

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Pack is now available on Steam for $13.49 (10% off), and will soon be available on the PlayStation Network for $14.99.

Remember when I said we'd be giving away codes for Armored Core Last Raven Portable on Facebook today? Well, we're also going to be giving away ten codes for the Xbox 360 version of the Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence DLC on Facebook as well today.

Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward will unleash the new Resurgence map pack for Modern Warfare 2 next week and creative strategist Robert Bowling is here, in video form, to tell you all about it.

When screen shots won't do, this new look at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's second (and final?) batch of downloadable content may convince you to drop the 1200 Microsoft Points. Resurgence adds five maps, three new (Fuel, Carnival, Trailer Park) and two old (Strike, Vacant) to the Xbox 360 version of the game next week.

Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Map Pack - Official HD [YouTube]

This year's gathering of some of the world's biggest LEGO fans—they call themselves Adult Fans of LEGO—at Brickworld 2010 will combine their brick engineering talents for two major video game themed collaborations, one adorably Call of Duty-themed.

Brickworld 2010 organizers are planning a total of four sci-fi collaboration displays, but two caught our attention.

One is the Vic Viper Fly-In, a collection of LEGO-based ships based on the iconic spacecraft from Konami's Gradius series. The group collaboration has a somber tie, acting as a memorial to the late Nate "nnenn" Nielson. Nielson, who was the victim of a fatal accident early this year, was a well-known LEGO aficionado and master spaceship builder, crafting dozens of original Vic Viper-style ships.

Gradius and LEGO enthusiasts should do themselves a favor and check out Nielson's Flickr stream.

Alongside the Vic Viper Fly-In will be the Operation Brickworld Second Sun display.

The collaborative display is named after the thirteenth level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and will feature a "collection of infantry, vehicles, and combat-torn buildings set in a sub-apocalyptic world." The LEGO version of Second Sun will feature the same destruction of Washington DC and the ensuing EMP blast.

You can check out some of the planned contributions to Operation Brickworld Second Sun at Flickr as well.

Brickworld 2010 is happening next month at the Westin Hotel & Convention Center in Wheeling, Illinois, running from June 17 to 20, should you happen to find yourself in the area. If you do plan on attending the show or contributing to some of the collaborations, let us know.

More details at the official site.

Brickworld 2010 sci-fi collaboration displays [Brickworld]