The main Grand Theft Auto games are developed, for the most part, in Scotland. So it shouldn't surprise you too much to know that a district in GTA V - Hawick - is named after a small Scottish town. It sure surprised Hawick, though.
Crime is a constant feature of video games writing. Somewhere, someone is doing something illicit with them—sometimes comically stupid, sometimes tragic. Games and consoles are currency, objects of dispute, sometimes even weapons themselves. Kotaku's Police Blotter is here to round up the latest in games crime.
A 14-year-old admitted to slashing a 13-year-old's throat in an assault Scottish authorities blamed on a soured online friendship developed over Gears of War. Of course the game itself is blamed but when the 14-year-old already is a father, you're not talking about someone with good decision-making and impulse control.
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Iain Hanson, a 19-year-old from Scotland, broke his neck in a bouncy castle amusement four years ago, losing all function in his fingers. Still he plays Modern Warfare2 on the PS3 - better than I can, for sure.
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Kirk Ewing, from PlayStation Home developer Veemee (who make virtual spaces and items), reckons Sony's underwhelming virtual network service will be emerging from its long-running beta at the end of this year.
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This Sonic mural is the work of Edinburgh-based artist John Arnott. It covers all four walls of these kid's bedroom, and at first glance, is the stuff of childhood dreams.
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The Scottish Sun - "Scottish Newspaper of the Year" mind you - reports that a woman gave her 42-year-old husband an ultimatum: Ditch that six-foot-tall World of Warcraft orc statue, or I move to Canada. Who did he choose?
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, lady. When I said, "try safe, effective, fast-acting kick his ass," for video game-playing kids who won't listen, I did not mean "ventilate his abdomen with a kitchen knife."
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Scotland's Proper Games took home honors at for BAFTA Scotland, claiming the first award in the board's games category for Flock!, the downloadable title published by Capcom this spring.
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The original Crackdown was developed by Realtime Worlds. At the moment, they're busy with APB, so another developer, Ruffian, will be working on the sequel. Does that surprise you? It surprises Realtime.
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Moazzam Begg, a British citizen, was arrested in January of 2002 as an alleged terrorist. He was held for three years in Guantanamo Bay, before being released in 2005. Now he's helping make a game.
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In a bit of marketing that could theoretically bite someone at Activision in the ass, the company is promoting X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the UK by backing giant weasel mating.
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Sure, their cover was blown the other week when those Crackdown 2 rumours popped up, but that was an unofficial unveiling. Tonight, Ruffian Games have officially unveiled themselves. Hello, Ruffian Games!
