Peter Moore and his four bodyguards were kidnapped in May of 2007 by what is understood to be an obscure militia known as the Islamic Shia Resistance. Over the course of the following months three of his bodyguards were killed, with the fourth presumed dead. After two years of rough treatment, his captors changed their tune in June of 2009. According to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, from then on, Moore was given access to some more luxurious amenities.

Frank Gardner said that since June, Mr Moore had been given markedly better treatment by his captors, effectively placed under house arrest, with en suite facilities, access to satellite TV, a laptop - though not online - and a PlayStation.

What a surreal experience that must have been for the man. Two years of hopeless bleak despair, his bodyguards killed, and then all of the sudden he might as well be hanging out at my apartment for six months. Part of me wonders about the psychological effects the rapid shift in treatment would have on a man, and is glad to see that Mr. Moore will be returning home after such a long, terrible ordeal.

The other part of me wonders what games he played.

A third part of me would like to point out that he received access to a PlayStation, and not an Xbox 360 or Wii. I wouldn't call the Islamic Shia Resistance Sony fanboys, mainly because my name is on this post. Those of you hiding behind screen names in the comments section are free to savor the sweet release of anonymity.

Not to make light of a serious situation. I'm just trying to wrap my head around an extremist organization that supplies a video game system to a hostage. The world is a very strange place indeed.

Freed hostage Peter Moore tells of time in captivity [NNC]

Starting at 12:01am on Wednesday, November 18th, Wii owners in the UK will be able to download the new BBC iPlayer Wii Channel, giving them instant access to recent television and radio programs on demand without having to navigate to the service via the Wii Internet Channel. The upgraded service now features a full-screen interface for a higher quality experience overall. Nintendo UL general manager David Yarnton talks up the new channel.

"Our partnership with the BBC is another way in which Nintendo is looking to broaden the market for its products by offering compelling and relevant content to families. BBC iPlayer offers Wii owners another reason to turn their console on everyday and adds to the already established non gaming content on Wii that includes Wii Channels for news, weather forecasts and an internet browser."

Yes, another reason to turn your Wii on every day, along with all of those other perfectly valid reasons, which I am sure will strike me any moment now.

The 50 minute one-off program was part obligatory primer, explaining genre types like platformer, shoot 'em up and MMORPG, as well as giving ample screen time to retro titillating fare like Beat 'Em And Eat 'Em. But Gameswipe offered thoughtful insight into topics like the mainstream coverage of games, bad writing in games, and a brilliant guest editorial from comedian Dara O'Briain.

While the show succeeding in touching on mainstream paranoia about games, in a refreshing, non-self pitying way, it seemed to spend a bit too much time of overly violent fare. The amount of airtime given to games like Manhunt 2, Grand Theft Auto, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and, curiously, the new Wolfenstein seemed an odd choice.

The show hurried past more interesting games like Braid and Portal, ignoring some more important, more innovative entries in certain genres seemingly in favor of giving Wolfenstein more screentime. Mentions of less "important" niche games like Konami's self-parodying Parodius, the famously Engrish-ized Zero Wing and NEC's gaseous platformer Kato-chan and Ken-chan were cute, but the glossing over of games like StarCraft, Half-Life and others felt like holes.

But I'm nitpicking. The show was entertaining—far superior to the typical video game coverage on broadcast television—and worth watching, if you can access the BBC's iPlayer service. Me, I had to watch it on YouTube, which I'd recommend doing so sooner than later.

Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe [BBC]

The program, Watchdog, said it received 155 complaints from viewers regarding the so-called "Yellow Light of Death," in which the PS3 suffers a fatal hard drive failure. Watchdog then set up a street stunt outside Sony's U.K. office, in which they offered to fix consoles suffering from this problem for free. Ten people brought in consoles for repair. Watchdog sent a technical report to Sony based on three of them, one of which had already been subjected to an attempted repair by its owner.

Ray Maguire, the Sony UK managing director, seized on that small sample size in his letter to the BBC.

The testing concerned a sample of only three PS3s, which cannot, on any basis, be deemed to be representative of a UK user base of 2.5 million. One of these had in addition been materially altered by the owner. SCEUK has run searches of its customer complaints/warranty database to identify the number of reports made to it regarding instances of system shutdown or failure in circumstances where the front panel yellow indicator is illuminated. The results show that of all PS3s sold in the UK to date, fewer than one half of one per cent of units have been reported as failing in circumstances where the yellow indicator is illuminated.

Sony also cautioned that allegations its warrantied repairs are inadequate come from third-party refurbishers with an interest in profiting from such claims. The one Watchdog sought out fixed a console for £103; Sony's cost is £128 for a console past its one-year warranty.

Importantly, it is clear that third party repairers will profit from any public concern that is raised about the reliability of the PS3, and have an interest in criticising SCEUK's after sales service (despite the relatively small price differential in their own service offering). The BBC will therefore doubtless wish to exercise caution before relying on anecdotal evidence, provided by them, concerning the extent or cause of these issues.

Maguire concludes the letter, dated Sept. 11, with a reminder that whatever is broadcast, Sony won't take it lying down.

I regret to say that neither the correspondence to date, nor the 'PlayStation Repair Action Team 'stunt, have given me much confidence that you are treating this issue fairly. If the report is broadcast in what appears to be its current form, SCEUK will scrutinise its accuracy and will take all necessary steps to protect its reputation and that of the PS3.

Watchdog's report will air at 8 p.m, GMT, which is half an hour from now. Maguire's letter is reprinted in its entirety at GamesIndustry.biz.

Sony Tackles BBC Over 'PS3 Failure' Report [GamesIndustry.biz]

The BBC's recent report on the amazing, everybody-unbelievably-survived landing recreated the ditching of the Airbus 320 with the help of the folks at Just Flight, creator of fine flight sim add-ons, and Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

According to GameZine, Just Flight turned around the realistic simulation of the US Airways flight 1549 non-disaster over a weekend, giving us a pilot's eye view of the action. It's worth a look, especially for flight sim fanatics and the news-obsessed who can't get enough of this rare bout of positive news.

A pilot's eye view of NY crash flight [BBC News via GameZine]

Who wouldn't want a LittleBigPlanet movie? Bed sheets? Bubble bath? Sackboy lunch boxes all around!

Game on for British developers [BBC via VG247]

So, while I'm impressed that someone has done this, this doesn't mean that it's the best possible iPlayer proposition for that console. We're investigating the optimal video profile and browser proposition to enable us to officially make iPlayer available on PS3 in due course.

Since the whole replay service is web-based, it will take some extra effort for Microsoft to get on board, but Waters theorizes that Sony adding iPlayer support to its PS3 browser is "almost inevitable." It doesn't mean much to those outside of the UK, but we certainly hope that the competition for services like the BBC's makes the suits hop to.

Wii becomes home of online video [BBC News dot.life - thanks, Ricardo!]

"This exciting alliance with the BBC is yet another way in which Nintendo is looking to broaden the market for its products by offering compelling and relevant content to families," added David Yarnton, general manager of Nintendo UK.

Wii gets BBC iPlayer [GamesIndustry.biz]

It's a common misconception that gaming is a solitary activity, as today an increasing number of titles are for gamers to get together and play in turn. In this respect, it's no different to golf — a game which can be a source of marital friction but is rarely accused of incitement to murder... Games like Halo are part of such a large sub-culture that people who don't play them are likely to be seen as oddballs and excluded from many conversations — in much the same way as people who aren't interested in football or who don't have a television.

Microsoft and the BBC are in talks about selling BBC television as downloadable content via the Xbox Live Marketplace when the Video service hits the UK, the Sunday Times reports. Last year the BBC signed an agreement with Microsoft to explore ways of developing its digital services.

"We are working diligently on multiple fronts to make it happen," said Ross Honey, senior director for media at Microsoft's content and partner strategy group. "The BBC is a great content provider."

The story goes on to say that they are also in talks with "several other European media companies," but doesn't name them.

BBC courted for Xbox link [Times Online, via Xboer.tv]

The BBC recently got a chance to play through a small chunk of Killzone 2. It appears the level they got their hands on was the one shown at E3, and they were thoroughly impressed:

Sat down in front of a playable level it is immediately clear that Killzone 2 will be one of the most cinematic and immersive games ever produced on a console.

The raw processing power of the PlayStation 3 has been harnessed to create a level of detail seen only in a handful of games on high-end PCs.

The dynamic lighting, animation, high-definition environments and details, such as plaster flying off walls and pillars caught in crossfire, create a sense of place and reality that takes games to a new level of realism.

The unnamed writer says that the game is leaps better than the original Killzone, and not just because of the improved graphics, AI, specifically, is called out as "first rate". The writer goes on to say that there are some rough bits still that need to be worked out, but seems to be genuinely impressed.

Hit the link for the full write up and make sure to check out their video.

State of Play: Killzone 2 hands on [BBC]

BBC to make a play for computer games market after phone-ins scandal [Scotland on Sunday via Gamasutra]

"The Rockstar team has come up with a game that fits squarely within the horror genre and was intended to do so...It brings a unique, formerly unheard of cinematic quality to interactive entertainment, and is also a fine piece of art"

Banned video game is 'fine art' [BBC News - Thanks Hugh]

This week's show will focus on, what else, the emergence of the virtual economy. Some of the topics include the growth of virtual worlds, the issues involving gold-farming, and a look into virtual crime. One of the show's guests will be Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life.

As far as when it airs, both real and fake people can watch it this Friday, June 1 at 7:00 pm GMT, but the fake people have to watch it at the Rivers Run Red Cinema in Second Life. Hopefully in SL, they won't play the commercials too. Kim Phu

BBC to make first Second Life broadcast [Games Industry Biz]

The BBC's Look Around You was a parody TV show of educational films from the 1970s and 1980s — A damn funny one at that! Above, the first segment of the show tackles the computer games, taking viewers to Grithiffths Game Megamart and showing that computers aren't just for "boring things" like "writing poetry or organizing a funeral." Classic! Brian Ashcraft

Look Around You [Insert Credit]

BBC is reporting that World of Warcraft gamers are being targeted by a group of hackers using the cursor hack that takes advantage of a flaw in the way Windows handles animated cursors.

The story says Warcraft players have become targets because there's so much money tied to the game's millions of accounts.

Research by security firm Symantec suggests that the raw value of a WoW account is now higher than a credit card and its associated verification data.

One card can be sold for up to $6 ( 3) suggests Symantec, but a WoW account will be worth at least $10. An account that has several high level characters associated with it could be worth far more as the gold and rare items can be sold for real cash.

In a bid to head off the growing threat from the animated cursor flaw, Microsoft took the unusual step of releasing a patch for the bug on 3 April.

Now get out there and download that patch. Brian Crecente

Cursor hackers target WoW players [BBC]

The BBC reports that of the 1 million PS3s shipped to retailers, 60 percent were sold through to customers. We're not sure if bacon butties were the main draw for consumers or if it was confusion that each PS3 comes with a Sony Bravia 46" HDTV, but something must've gotten into those Euros.

Maybe it's Launch Fever! Michael McWhertor

PlayStation breaks sales records [BBC News]

We're hoping to incorporate that functionality in the very near future - from a local level at the moment to a global level probably within the next six months. If I have my MP3 Walkman or my iPod, or digital camera connected to PS3 then I can access those devices, too.

Okay, cool. Since I'll probably have my iPod with me when I travel, what about a USB hard drive? Can I access my hundreds of gigs of porn when I'm in Tokyo this September? Michael McWhertor

The rise of the handheld console [BBC]

The Beeb spoke with hacking wizards Dark Alex and Noobz Team's David Court about why they spend so much of their free time finding ways around the Sony developed security that allows enthusiasts to run SNES emulators and boot PSP games from the Memory Stick.

While both denounce piracy, highlighting the open-ended possibilities of their work, both admit piracy is an issue but that it should be up to the individual to decide how their hardware will serve them.

Me? I just want something that will serve as my porn-on-the-go device, but I still appreciate their efforts. Michael McWhertor

Three hacker teams unlock the PSP [BBC]