In MW2's multiplayer, the fastest way to differentiate friend from foe is if their name is green (teammate) or red (enemy). These colors also are used to to distinguish combatants on the game's radar. Colorblind gamers are asking for the ability to change friend/foe colorations so they can game without confusion.

The petition points out that Call of Duty: World at War had the option of changing enemy/friendlies from red/green to orange/blue. "The Ghost Recon games have also had a similar feature. With this being such a huge release, this option should come as standard, especially when almost 10 percent of people are affected by colour-blindness in some form."

I realize that when fewer than one in 10 men deal with this kind of vision (and half of one percent of women) we're absolutely talking about optimizing for a minority. The game is built, it's selling like nuts, updates cost money, and I'd be astonished if Infinity Ward rolled a patch for an affected population this small. And honestly, you grow up colorblind, you learn workarounds for the condition (on the traffic signal, top means stop, low means go.)

But, to future devs, red and green are the most commonly transposed colors in colorblindness. Pick a different pair, and you won't have us colorblind tugging on your pants leg with these kinds of frivolous-sounding demands.

For those curious, in that image the colorblind are supposed to see a number 17. Everyone else should see a number 15. I can't see shit.

MW2 Patch for Color Blind Gamers Urged [Game Politics]

Especially when the petition registers 20,000 in just a little more than a day since the news hit. The petition's short and sweet: "Get Infinity Ward to review their decision not to allow fully dedicated servers for their forthcoming game release CoD:MW2. Remember that this Call of Duty was made popular by PC Gamers who have supported the series throughout."

And that's it. No list of high crimes and misdemeanors, just "think about what you're doing here."

The signatures can't be taken to mean anything deeper than "I agree," of course, for whatever reasons. For a deeper insight into why this matters to the PC Call of Duty community I do recommend you visit a site like BASHandSlash, whose webcast yesterday broke the news. It's not just about concepts like lag-free playing and modding; it's really upending how a significant and very vocal user base has enjoyed this series for a long time.

And whether it's a petition or something else that forces a reaction, I can't imagine Infinity Ward won't have more to say about this.

Dedicated Servers for CoD:MW2 Petition [PetitionOnline.com, thanks Rob S.]

In late June, Blizzard defended the removal of LAN support - and thus the end of the LAN party for this game - as a way to "ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy." The petition, in a quite pleading tone of voice, asks for LAN support to be saved, for reasons of lag, customer convenience, and the game's heritage.

I'm thinking the $$$ behind getting everyone on Battle.net or else is going to speak well more loudly to Blizzard than 100,000 voices, no matter how reasonable their requests or respctfully they're worded. It makes me wonder if there ever was a useful Internet petition.

More than 100,000 Sign StarCraft II LAN Petition [VG247 via VE3D]

The "LAN in StarCraft 2 Please" petition isn't really all that much of a petition when you get right now to it. It's more of an attempt to reason with Blizzard, with a little bit of unabashed ass-kissery thrown in for good measure.

The new Battle.net sounds absolutely awesome from the sneak peeks you have given us, and people will most likely be using it exclusively, even if they only play single player. However, there is no harm in allowing LAN play as well, and it does bring further depth and life to what will probably become the top RTS of the next decade.

What kind of petition says "Please"? The kind that gets 5, 861 signees as of this writing. Nearly six thousand people, all politely demanding requesting that LAN be put back into the game, if that's okay with everyone involved. I guess it says something about the StarCraft fan base. Where Diablo fans were ready to set themselves on fire over a brighter color palette, StarCraft strategically weave their arguments together with shameless praise and respect, perhaps trying to sneak their way behind enemy lines to cut off their supplies or something. There has to be some sort of strategy involved here...I'm just not seeing it.

LAN in StarCraft 2 Please. [Petition Online - Thanks Kay!]

Breanna Lucci, the 19-year-old president of the private high school's Animal Rights Club started a petition against seeing her brother shooting at dogs in the game. So far more than 100 of Lucci's classmates have signed the petition, which she hopes to forward to Activision, who will do absolutely nothing about it.

"Killing dogs as a form of entertainment ... over and over again. That's one o the objects of the game," says Lucci, 19, a senior at NDA. "Parents need to know what they are buying their kids. Killing animals should not be a form of entertainment."

One of the objects in the game? I suppose she could mean objectives, and she'd still be wrong. Killing the dogs is but one aspect of a much larger objective: staying alive.

See, running down the street shooting dogs willy-nilly is bad. You don't pump them full of bullets for rolling over and wagging their tails. You give them hugs, and call them Mr. Snugglewuffkins, despite what their actual names might be. I think we can all get behind this idea.

Dogs trained to tear out your throat, on the other hand, you shoot. You shoot them quickly, and should they roll over on their backs and wag their little stumpy tails, you shoot them more, because that's a trap. They don't want belly rubs; they want to taste your innards.

Call me a monster or an extremist, but I think it's perfectly fine to teach our children to defend themselves from wild animals that want to eat them.

I think the best part of the original story is the lede:

Breanna Lucci knows her two Pomeranians — Fluffy and Winnie the Pooh — would not last two seconds in "Call of Duty: World at War," the immensely popular video game in which the animated gore piles high.

No, her two dogs wouldn't survive two seconds. They'd be ripped apart by the virtual dogs she is trying to defend, possibly because they're named "Fluffy" and "Winnie the Pooh".

Incidentally, I think the Germans would have been a lot less sinister had they deployed squads of attack Pomeranians. "Kleine Hunde angreifen!"

NDA students protest video game's depiction of cruelty to animals [Lowell Sun via Game Politics]

“One of the things that we considered when we were working on the visuals for ‘Diablo III’ is the fact that color is your friend. We feel that color actually helps to create a lot of highlights in the game so that there is contrast. A great analogy is like in ‘Lord of the Rings’ — not everything is dark. It allows you to see what a creepy dungeon can be like but if everything is dark it doesn’t allow you to have a lot of contrast.”

Lee also explains that they want players excited to enter and explore new areas, rather that simply provide the same dark environments over and over again.

Lee does admit that fan feedback is a major factor in how Blizzard develops titles. It'll be interesting to see what impact - if any - the petition has on the development of the game.

‘Diablo III’ Producer Justifies Controversial Art Direction: ‘Color Is Your Friend’ [MTV Multiplayer]

Outside scenarios with vivid colors, beautiful forests with colorful vegetation, shinny and beautiful waterfalls where even rainbows take place.

They hate rainbows! They can't draw gothic fan art with rainbows in it!

*sigh* It just goes to show you that no matter how hard you try there's just no pleasing some people.

Renewed artistic direction for Diablo 3 [PetetionOnline.com via WorthPlaying]

Bionic Commando on the Wii Petition [GoNintendo]

Then in December we were told by Xbox Japan that a localized version was in the works, for release sometime this year. Well thanks to a co-publishing agreement with Japanese publisher Spike, the game is now set to ship on July 26th.

"We are pleased to be partnering with Bethesda Softworks to bring this landmark role-playing game to Japan," said Mitsutoshi Sakurai, CEO of Spike. "We are sure that Oblivion will enjoy the same level of success and critical acclaim it has achieved in other parts of the world. "

SPIKE TO CO-PUBLISH THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION FOR XBOX 360 IN JAPAN

Tokyo, Japan - May 17, 2007 - Spike today announced that it has reached an agreement with Bethesda Softworks , a ZeniMax Media company, to co-publish the blockbuster role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in Japan. Developed by Bethesda Games Studios, Oblivion is the latest chapter in the epic and highly successful Elder Scrolls series and utilizes next-generation video game hardware to fully immerse the player in an experience unlike any other. Oblivion is scheduled to ship in Japan on July 26, 2007. The retail price will be 7,800JPY.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion begins after the Emperor's mysterious and untimely death leaves the throne of Tamriel empty. With the Empire ready to crumble, the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land, laying waste to everything in their path. To turn the tide of darkness, players must find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.

"We are pleased to be partnering with Bethesda Softworks to bring this landmark role-playing game to Japan," said Mitsutoshi Sakurai, CEO of Spike. "We are sure that Oblivion will enjoy the same level of success and critical acclaim it has achieved in other parts of the world. "

The Elder ScrollsR IV: Oblivion sold over 3 million units worldwide in 2006 and has earned countless accolades from publications worldwide, including numerous 'Game of the Year' and 'RPG of the Year' awards. In addition, Gamerankings.com and MetaCritic.com list Oblivion as the highest rated game of all time on Xbox 360 and PlayStation3.

The Madden Curse, if you're unfamiliar or too lazy to click to the rich Wikipedia entry on the subject, supposedly dooms that years Madden cover athlete with either poor performance or season ruining injuries. Last year's featured player Shaun Alexander suffered a fracture in his foot in the first game of the year, keeping him out for nearly half the season.

In an effort to keep Ladainian Tomlinson from suffering the same fate, fans have put together the web site SaveLTFromMadden.com with a petition to urge EA to keep their MVP from harm. Fortunately, petitions always work, so I'd say he's gonna be okay.

Anyone remember the Joe Montana Sportstalk Football curse? Players who appeared on the cover would be cursed with thinning hair and earned millions of dollars! Not as horrifying. Michael McWhertor

Chargers fans plead to keep LT off Madden cover [Gamespot]

2K's response? "Sure, we'll do it." If the petition scores 5000 signatures, the BioShock folks say they'll release a limited edition of the game. We're not sure right now if that means the Xbox 360 or PC version, or both, but it's good to read. Michael McWhertor

Collectors Edition Petition [2K Forums]

Shenmue fans now have the power of the BBC (Scotland... *cough*) behind them. While the rest of us may be ready to face the reality that the series is deader than Ryo's dad after appearing on two different consoles, both regional failures, the Beeb is ready to keep hope alive, in the form of the Shenmue III Appeal...

...the ultimate campaign to force the games industry into finishing the glorious story that was started by Yu Suzuki all those years ago. With the influence of videoGaiden, the power of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the collective multimedia might of gamers everywhere, how can we possibly fail?

What do we want? We want closure. We want Ryo Hazuki's story to be told to its end. We want to see ambition rewarded. We want a straight "Yes." No other answer will do.

That's Rab Florence, voice of irrationality. His counterpart, Ryan Macleod, is obviously clued in to the overrater disaster that was Shenmue. Or maybe he just knows that today's Sega shouldn't be handling something this epic. I dunno, any Shenmue fans out there clamoring for more?

Keep your eyes on the BBC starting November 5th for more. Michael McWhertor

The BBC videoGaiden Shenmue III Appeal [via Press Start]

Whoever told you it was gay enough in here was lying. And by "here" I mean both Kotaku and the United States of America.

Luckily, GayGamer thinks they have recourse in the form of a petition to bring Tingle's Freshly-Picked Rose-Colored Rupee Land to our crass American shores. Now, I'm the first to titter behind my fan at the efficacy of online petitions, but "gay" is a synonym for "happy" for a reason.

I signed it. Eliza Gauger

GayGamer Petition for Tingling [The Petition Site]

I personally am not a big fan of Wii. I think that perhaps Wii could turn some people off. And those that Wii doesn't upset will likely not be buying Wii because of its name.

This name change is going to turn the Nintendo press conference into a Saturday night live skit. I mean, can you imagine being the guy who wins the right to be the first person to touch Nintendo's Wii?

"Congratulations Johnny, you get to play with Wii."

Expect a lot of giggling during the presser. Some folks have started a petition to kill off Wii, but I don't think there's a snowball chance in hell that will happen because it sorta sounds like Nintendo loves Wii.

Revolution is Officially Wii [Kotaku]

Thumb Bandits points out a petition for optional gender in Lionhead's sequel to Fable. The guy behind the petition estimates that Fable could presumably double its user base if it included the ability to select the fairer sex. Considering the amount of female Night Elf Rogues in World of Warcraft, he might not be too far off.

Petition for Optional Gender in Lionhead Studios' Fable 2 [The Petition]
Mr. Lake - May All Gamers Learn From Thee [Thumb Bandits]
Fable 2 Xbox 360 Details

Sure GTA s Hot Coffee has been hogging all of the negative press lately, but we can t forget about 25 to Life, lambasted a few weeks back by Sen. Chuck Schumer for teaching little Johnny how to kill cops.

Never mind that the game hasn t even come out yet and will likely be rated a very un-Little Johnny friendly Mature.

Despite any current direct attacks on the game, it already has a fan-base and its very own petition.

We the people are tired of the government's ignorance. We the people are tired of the government blaming video games for the actions of sick people. We the people want politicans (and everybody else) to remember we live in America, the home of free speech and free enterprise.

I think I m going to start my own petition:

We the editors of various video game publications are tired of covering controversy. We the editors would much rather write first person accounts of finding Katamari Damacy knitted caps or cakes in the shape of assorted consoles. We the editors are very tired and have a headache that won t go away. We the editors want a nice backrub and perhaps a cold beer.

Wanna sign up?

Petition Supports 25 to Life [1 Up]