These lawyers got (video) game

Firms retool their entertainment practices to cater to the video game industry. A year ago, newly minted lawyer Shawn Foust approached a senior partner at his Century City firm with an idea: dedicate an entire practice to the video game industry. ¶ Today, the 26-year-old coordinates a team of 20 lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton that tackles mergers, licensing contracts and other deals that help make the burgeoning game business hum. ¶ "I'm pursuing my lifelong dream of combining the two things I love -- games and law," Foust said. ¶ Never a group to steer clear of the action, lawyers across California are retooling their entertainment practices to cater to the game industry. Video games are expected to generate nearly $50 billion in global revenue this year, despite a slowdown in consumer spending, and sales have already surpassed old-line businesses including music. ¶ As the game industry grows, so do its legal needs. ¶ "There's tax work, litigation, risk management, immigration, labor -- the list goes on and on," said Seth Steinberg, who last year left his position as general counsel of George Lucas' video game publisher, LucasArts, to start a private practice in San Francisco specializing in the game industry. ¶ Other firms have joined in. Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, the law firm of record for the likes of Tom Cruise and Warren Beatty, has cultivated a game practice led by Stephen Smith and Suann MacIsaac.

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'NHL 09' first star in hockey franchise

In the world of sports video games, not much can really change year to year. The game at its core is the same, but it's what video-game developers add that makes it worth spending the cash.

Nintendo launches new DSi - but not for the US or Europe yet

Nintendo, the Japanese group whose cartoony offerings dominate the global casual video games market, catering for the mass consumer, has launched a new version of its handheld DS console designed to compete in the iPhone era.