Instead, the presiding judge advised Nintendo that it should adopt a more accessible development platform, like that you'd find on a PC.

As you'd expect, Nintendo - who have pursued similar action in Japan - are displeased with the judge's decision, and will be appealing, telling MCV:

Nintendo is extremely disappointed with the decision by Paris' Criminal Court to find Max Louarn, his company, Divineo, and other co-defendants not guilty in the criminal case involving the sale and distribution of game copying devices

Nintendo welcomes the Prosecutor's decision to Appeal the Judgment. As a victim Nintendo will join his Appeal. Nintendo supports action against the distributors of such devices.

Nintendo maintains that infringement of its intellectual property rights, on its trademarks, software, its technical prevention measures and its video games is causing damage to the whole video game industry, preventing developers from gaining the full benefit of their hard work and creativity, but also to the customers who expect the highest standards and integrity from products bearing the Nintendo name.

Way to stick it to 'em, France. Liberté, égalité...attorneyté?

Nintendo appeals Flash card case [MCV]

That's what Amusement - the greatest gaming mag to never be published in English - did for their latest issue, blasting this red DS so hard through the wood that it splits clean in two. Beautiful (click to embiggen).

If your coffee table is in need of some flair next to those coffee-soaked back issues of Game Informer, you can buy back issues of Amusement here.

[via GameSetWatch]

Well, technically it's not "wine," it's nectar. But the new nectar-making skill fits the France theme in World Adventures perfectly. Some other theme-appropriate features include cafes, scooters and a general air of snootiness among the local Sims of Sim France.

Oh, and don't forget about the tomb-exploring. That's the main thrust of the World Adventures expansion. In France, the tombs have a Celtic and Faerie theme to them. So tell your graphics card to expect lots of intricate carvings on walls and fountains.

In France, at least. (And Germany. This latest escape is not to be confused with a similar cardboard box escape that happened in a German jail.)

Double murder suspect Jean-Pierre Treiber snuck out of high security prison of Auxerre, Burgundy in a cardboard box. The 45-year-old inmate packed himself in said box, reports Telegraph.co.uk, which was loaded onto a truck. Somewhere along the 100-mile journey, Treiber hoped off the truck and landed in freedom.

Police had sealed off the roads and are trying to find the con using dogs.

One of the two strangled victims Treiber is said to have murdered is the daughter of renowned French actor Roland Giraud. Treiber has proclaimed innocence, and his DNA does not match the DNA on tape used to gag the victims. When he was arrested, Treiber's reaction was: "He bumped her off." He did use the victims' credit cards to withdraw cash from an ATM.

"One can either say he's guilty and that this is proof of his guilt... or one can say he's desperate," said Treiber's attorney, "that he no longer has faith in the justice system because he's pleaded his innocence for so long and hasn't been heard."

One could also say that the cardboard box actually works. Simple game mechanic this ain't!

Prisoner escapes jail in cardboard box [Telegraph]

Gladly, that's not the case. Well, provided you bought the game, at any rate. Xbox Live Chief of Police Stephen Toulouse has issued a brief statement saying that while Microsoft are looking into how this whole mess took place, "we will not be banning legitimate customers from Xbox LIVE who play early".

Glad we got that cleared up. Microsoft refused to clarify the situation with us yesterday, so it's nice to see that things have been sorted out.

So if you're French, speak English, are reading this and managed to get one of those copies...play away! You got lucky, hope you're enjoying it.

If, however, you're in possession of a copy not procured through innocent, legitimate means...well, you deserve what you get.

[Stepto @ Twitter]

These are from a piece called "Made in Myth", and show how cats like Miyamoto and Yuji Naka have been pulling the wool over your eyes for years. Classic video games aren't digitally composed in a studio; they're lovingly handcrafted in a workshop by sweaty, nerd pixies.

Made of Myth [Amusement]

Mario
Arkanoid
Pong
Tetris

Sadly, the French magazine is available only in French (the cheek of them!). And we don't do French. But preview pages of this month's issue, the mag's fifth, make us wish we did. Mostly because we're suckers for shoeless pics of the perennially shoeless Keita Takehashi.

While we all wait for an English-language edition of the publication to launch, you can browse a few preview pages on the mag's site at the link below.

[Amusement 5, via Offworld]

The tweet came out of the blue today from Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling:

fourzerotwo @stephentotilo - good news, just got word France is allowing the Prestige Edition with NVGs. I know you were worried about them. ;)

This was a follow-up to Kotaku's inquiry with Bowling yesterday about the availability of the night vision goggles in that Prestige Edition in countries where those goggles are believed to be banned. Bowling believed that there could be snags in France and Belgium.

Now we don't need to worry about the French anymore.

Less comforting for the French might be the price for this. The standard, goggles-free version of the game runs $60 here in the U.S. but 69.95 Euros in France. (That's almost $99.) No word yet on what the Prestige version will cost. In the U.S. that price will be $149.

The company, going by the name la société SAKURA, operates both a store in Paris and an online outlet, both of which specialise in Anime/Manga/Japanese gaming merchandise. The basis of the lawsuit is that Square "denounces SAKURA for the commercialization of products counterfeiting Square Enix's FINAL FANTASY and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST trademarks and copyrights to the FINAL FANTASY series".

Which is all well and good! Square rightfully own the IP, and that pirated junk is no good for anybody. But you've got to wonder, why go after a single French retailer instead of the people manufacturing and distributing the goods in the first place?

Here are the Pix'N Love fellas checking out the book! Below, boozing it in celebration. Congrats, Pix'N Love! I'll definitely toss up some pics when I get my copy.

Working with Pix'N Love has been a pleasure — everyone on the Pix'N Love team is a class act.

Those interested in acquiring a copy of the French version, click here or check out more details in the embedded link.

Une journee avec Pix [Pix'N Love Editions]

Yup. 500,000. Emerging victorious at the top of that mountain of broken dreams was 22 year-old Frenchman Bruce Grannec, who beat Mexico's Ruben Zerecero 3-1 in the final to claim the crown.

He won the title on Sunday in sunny Barcelona, at the end of a tournament featuring 31 other finalists from the half a million qualifiers. For the record, all games were played on PS3.

Yes, in a step we'd call extraordinary if it wasn't so downright entertaining, the president of Microids - the developers behind the quirky French adventure game series Syberia - has issued a rambling press release, accusing Sony of, among other things, lying, censorship and exorbitant royalty demands.

I'd give you a summary, or some kind of highlights package of the rant, but that would do it an injustice. Instead, here it is in its entirety:

Paris, April 17, 2009 - Following the countless messages and questions from fans which followed our announcement on April 1st regarding the launch of Syberia 3, Emmanuel Olivier, President of Microïds, gives more details on that announcement.

"Syberia 3 is not an April Fool's joke. The game is highly expected by the community of fans of adventure games and fans of Kate Walker and it will be launched, it is one of our most strategic projects at Microïds and we have been anticipating it for a long time.

It will be released on PC for sure, however, on PS3, this could actually turn into an April Fool's joke because SONY is the only decision-maker on this point, as strange as it may seem to some people.

Benoît Sokal, the author of Syberia and Syberia 2, has mentioned several times in the press that he would only participate in a sequel to his masterpiece if he had enough financial means to design and develop an exceptional title. Today Microïds is ready to invest in this ambitious production. But everyone knows that to amortize the development costs of a major video game with that level of quality, it is essential to develop it for multiple platforms, PC and consoles.

However Sony Computer Entertainment has already censured Microïds in 2003 by denying that Syberia was released on PS2 in the United States though it had previously been released in Europe on that console. The same refusal happened for a dozen other Microïds titles for the U.S.

Beyond this censorship of the authors and their producers who believe in their creations and who take the financial risks when building up productions for the console without knowing whether they will be approved or denied by SONY in the last minute, the exorbitant royalties demanded by SONY to manufacture the games on its consoles seriously hamper the financing ability of independent producers. Microïds has paid more than 15 million Euros of royalties to SONY for its entire catalog, which represents 55% of the Microïds turnover for this platform. April Fools? Well no! It is unfortunately the "rule of the game" imposed by SONY.

The revenue shortfalls due to the PS2 games we were not able to sell in the United States, a highly significant territory, coupled with the excessive royalties paid to SONY for the European territories, have so far prevented Microïds from having the ability to reinvest in an ambitious sequel to the Syberia series.

So today we launch an SOS to all fans of the Syberia series: let us rally to support the independent creation and convince Sony to change its rules. Send all your messages of support to: supporToSyberia3PS3@microids.com

SYBERIA 3 on PS3, an April Fool's? It's up to SONY!"

Emmanuel Olivier
President
Microïds

Whether it be for the game announcement or the insane allegations, the world is a better place for having seen this.

Well, yes, we did, but his exclamations were for a good reason. See, he pointed us towards I-Way. Which is, quite frankly, almost too extravagant to believe it actually exists.

But exist it does. Located in Lyon, France, I-Way opened last year and boasts 18 "simulators", which is a rather demure way of saying "real racing car with three surround screens and a freakin' hydraulic movement platform". There's even multiple types of car on offer: you and your fabulously wealthy mates can race I-Way's custom simulator "game" in one of six Formula 1, Rally or Endurance vehicles.

As New Kingdom say, though, Paradise Don't Come Cheap. One session in the F1 cars will cost you €90 (USD$120). The Rally and Endurance cars cost €75 (USD$100) & €60 (USD$80) respectively, while you can buy a package deal (where you race in all three) for €200 (USD$265).

What recession?

[I-Way]

French game book publisher Pix n'Love Editions will be bringing the book to wider audience. Pix n'Love is best known for its books on the PC Engine and the history of Nintendo (Pix n'Love's Florent Gorges has a monthly column in Japanese mag Nintendo Dream.)

Pix n'Love was planning to do an arcade book, but fell in love with Arcade Mania and wanted to bring it to the French speaking public. The book will be translated into French by one of the founders of Shmup.com, a great database about shooting games.

The French edition is slated for release this June. Can't wait.

The French car manufacturers have teamed up with Sony to bring us a vehicle that is...well, it's a French SUV that eschews the latest fad of installing in-built iPod support in favour of in-built PSP support.

Meaning, you can stuff your PSP (the car comes with a free one, along with a 4GB memory stick and a couple of games) into a custom PSP-sized hole in the back of the driver's seat. Oh, and there's a PSP badge on the back of the car, too. And that's it.

The C-Crosser PSP is priced at €33,990 (USD$43,340). For that price, let's hope it can go 4-8 hours without the battery running out.

Citroen Announces PSP Edition SUV, to Only Run on Proprietary Sony Gas [Gizmodo]

The incident occurred on Saturday night, and was prompted by the sister's refusal to allow her brother to play with her Nintendo DS. Upset over this, the boy took a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest. The children's mother was awakened by the girl's screams and she was rushed to hospital, where she remains (although her condition is not listed as critical).

There are further reports from a follow-up story by Le Post of the boy citing "inspiration" from a Power Rangers game that involved throwing knives, and of the family suffering from a history of domestic violence at the hands of their estranged father.

A 5 ans, il poignarde sa soeur parce qu'elle ne veut pas lui prêter sa console de jeux [Le Post]

UPDATE - Oh dear. This gets worse. Surgeons have determined that after operating on the poor girl "a child of 5 could not have made a blow of such force". Turns out the mother is suspected of stabbing her own daughter, and has been remanded in custody. The boy/DS thing was just a cover-up story.

So sad.

Maybe they're trying to appeal to the the neatly dovetailing demographics of ageing game nerd and continental fashionistas. Maybe not. Maybe somebody at the photographers just likes Pac-Man and Lego. And wispy ladies.

Whichever it is, you can see the results are...well, they're something.

Fashion Aims at My Demographic with Legos and Retro Gaming [Gizmodo]

What's more, the game apparently made memory worse.

The research had a sample of ten year-old children split into four groups: The first two groups did a seven-week DS memory course, the third group did puzzles with pencil and paper, while the fourth group just went to school as regular. Before and after started each program, the groups did logic tests.

The results? The DS control group did not do significantly better — save for a 19 percent increase in math. (However, the pencil-and-paper group also had the same increase in math, and the just-go-to-school group had a 18 percent increase in math.) However, the pencil-and-paper group showed a 33 percent increase in memorization, while the DS groups did 17 percent worse. The kid who just went to school showed a 20 percent increase.

According to Alain Lieury, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Rennes, "The Nintendo DS is a technological jewel. As a game it's fine, but it is charlatanism to claim that it is a scientific test... There were few positive effects and they were weak. Dr Kawashima is one of a long list of dream merchants."

Professor Lieury is publishing his findings in a new book, Stimulate Your Neurones, which is out this month.

Nintendo brain-trainer 'no better than pencil and paper' [Times Online]

Any Europeans in the market for L'Xbox Trois Cents et Soixante, could do worse than head on over/up/down/across to France to pick one up. Hell, given recent political developments even Americans may be able to hop on over without having to feign a Canadian accent.

Note that we have no idea how one would go about getting the rebate if you don't live in France. Please don't blame us if you waste hundreds of dollars on the airfare and get stiffed. Paris is nice at this time of year, at least.

La Xbox 360 à partir de 139 Euros ! [Jeuxvideo - thanks to reader Legandalf for the tip]