There's a new bill being hatched in Texas that may require convicted sex offenders to register their gamertags and other account names for online game networks like the PlayStation Network and Second Life with the fuzz. The new bill is called HB 22 and is headed to the Texas House of Representatives. If it passes there, it's next stop will be the Senate.

lWhen Richard Garriott parted ways with Tabula Rasa developer and publisher NCSoft last year, he spoke rather amicably enough about the company. Something must have happened over the past few months, then, since it's been revealed that Garriott is now suing NCSoft.

Leipzig's over and the Tokyo Game Show won't be till October. But that doesn't mean there won't be any other conferences around to satisfy ever-curious gamers' appetites. And this time, we won't even have to fly overseas. The Austin Game Developers Conferences is coming up next, and they've added in a nice touch to this year's event.

Now here's one of those news items that blends a little bit of gaming and science. Now we're pretty sure why MMORPG giant NCSoft has been named in this particular press release, but we'll also tell you: it's amazing what the human race can think of in the brink of its "serious and pending" extinction. Learn more about Operation Immortality - a part-game, part-reality project aimed at preserving the human race - at the full story.

With all the flak that video games have gotten from politicians, we're tempted to think that two will probably never mix.

The latest one involves U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama and his comment about video games. You can read an excerpt of his statement n the full article after the jump.

The first keynote speech at the currently unfolding Austin Game Developers Conference (Austin GDC) came from no other than Blizzard Game Producer Mike Morhaime for World of Warcraft. The said event, taking place at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, began yesterday and will run until tomorrow.

Anyway, the producer's speech was focused on how WoW will continue to rule the gaming world. According to him, there are exactly 10 steps that Blizzard has implemented for World of Warcraft and following them is one of the key factors why the game has been very successful all these years. The steps are as follows with a few explanations from the producer:

1. Put Gameplay First
2. Make Your Games Easy To Learn, Difficult To Master (cited Guitar Hero as a good example of this principle)
3. Resist Pressure To Ship Early ("Nobody looks back on Diablo and thinks 'How much better it would have been if they had released it three weeks earlier'", Morhaime said.)
4. Resist Pressure To Do Everything At Once
5. Estimate Demand (Finding out how many people have the technology and Internet infrastructure available to play your game.)
6. Human Resources Is Important (The success of WoW led to a massive scaling up of the Blizzard.)
7. Running An MMORPG Is Not Just Games Development (24/7 IT, customer service, and community management are essential elements of a successful online game.)
8. Communicate Or People Will Make Stuff Up (Make sure your company has teams dedicated to keeping the community and internal company figures informed of bugs, fixes, and other games issues).
9. Avoid Financial Incentives (Minimize financial rewards from gaming sweatshops, credit card fraud, and account stealing.)
10. Test (Blizzard's testing process involves three steps - everyone at Blizzard plays the game, a public beta is launched, a test site with dedicated test server is set up.)

For us gamers, playing our favorite games is bliss. What could be more cooler than a day on a comfy chair with a bag of chips sitting on our lap while raiding or PVP'ing in Azeroth in World of Warcraft? Answers to that would be few but we bet working behind the scenes of the world's most popular MMORPG is among them.

Blizzard Entertainment has put up a post in their official site announcing their plans of holding a mini job fair at this year's Games Developers Conference in Austin, Texas. They're giving individuals with enough background on the technicalities involved in creating games the opportunity to be among the backbone of the industry currently populated by more than nine million MMORPG players. Here's Blizzard's exact pitch at the WoW's official site:

Do you have the passion to create great games? We're always looking for skilled individuals willing to challenge themselves to achieve excellence. This year at the Austin Game Developers Conference, members of Blizzard's global recruiting team will be on hand to answer all of your job-related questions. Bring your resume, demo reel, or business card -- our recruiting team will be happy to receive all your materials and talk to you about opportunities at Blizzard.

Among the WoW development team slots Blizzard hopes to fill are the following: Senior Graphics Programmer (Next-Gen MMO), Senior Tools Programmer (Next-Gen MMO), Senior Tools Programmer (Next-Gen MMO), and Lead 3D Environment Artist (Next-Gen MMO). If you're interested and living within that area, brush up those interviewing skills, prep those resumes, and head on to our link below to review each job's description.

NCsoft, one of America's biggest online gaming firms, will be hosting player and developer meet-ups in Indianapolis, Indiana and Austin, Texas in the coming months where there will be lots of food and goodies for everyone.

The event is under the company's GenCon banner and it aims to bring together players from all over the country to socialize, find teammates, share ideas and ask questions from the creators of their virtual worlds.

NCsoft is the company behind such hits as Guild Wars and Lineage which have both proven popular to a wide age group. They are also in the process of developing MMORPGs for next-generation consoles.

The Indianapolis GenCon will be in the 18th of August in a location which is yet to be announced. The Austin gathering, on the other hand will take place on September 22nd at Dave and Busters. Both are slated in at 6:00pm to 10:00 pm.

Registration is free as long as you own an account for NCsoft games. You can register for limited slots in their site and you'll be sent an email if you're among the lucky ones. Those below 16 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian above 21 years of age to participate. The parent or guardian must also register for the event.

 

And in other news - and while you all rest from fighting back the Bane in Tabula Rasa beta trials - Richard Garriott recently hosted an International Game Developers Association barbecue in his lakeside estate in Austin, Texas. Filled to the brim with the small community of Austin-based game developers and personalities, the event has been rated more as a good family get-together than an all out bash.

Featuring a barbecue feast, live music performances, padded sword fights and water balloon battles, the event was also a good indication of the Austin game development community relationships. During a small speech, Garriott said to the gathering of men and women, "If I haven't worked with you, it's a pretty small community, and I'm sure I will in the next decade or two."

If the self-proclaimed "old fogey" of the Austin game scene saw success in Origin Systems (System Shock, Wing Commander, Privateer) and his arrangement of Ultima games, his mansion and estate may probably be the first and single measure of just how much success his creations have brought to his front door.

And if NCSoft's successes on City of Villains and City of Heroes, EverQuest, and the whispered Tabula Rasa are any indication of his expertise as a game developer, it might be prudent to expect that his triumphs aren't over yet. Photo courtesy of Kotaku.

For those who want to attend this year's Blizzcon but are finding their wallets a bit too thin to support the trip, here's some good news for you.

The World Series of Video Games (WSVG) will be sponsoring one team from the World of Warcraft 3v3 Arena competition which will be held in Dallas, Texas this July 5 to 8 on an all-expense paid trip to Blizzcon 2007.

Take note that the team will be selected at random from all the participants. That means even if you don't place in the tournament, you might be selected to go. The winner of the said contest will be announced on July 8 at 4:30 p.m.

Since the competition will take place in Dallas, the above mentioned time schedule should be for that location as well. Anyway, you don't have to do anything extra to join this giveaway except to sign-up in the event because teams will be automatically entered into the drawing upon check-in.

Like we said, the prize covers three all-expense paid trips and admissions to Blizzcon 2007 which will be held on August 3 to 4 in Anaheim, California. So, if you want a shot at going to Blizzcon for free, why not drop by the tournament and sign-up.

Who knows, you might be heading to Blizzcon for free even if you placed last. Please refer to our Read link below for more details and for the sign up page.