Criminal couple found guilty for running an illegal DVD and CD copying operation

Friday 16th January/… A husband and wife team have been sentenced to seven months in prison having been found guilty of running an illegal DVD and CD copying operation in Durham. In the first successful prosecution of 2009 for such offences, the couple denied selling counterfeit goods on August 21, 2007, but were found guilty at the end of the trial. Graeme Shead, 39 and his 43-year-old wife, Sharon Shead, of Seventh Street, Horden, Durham, appeared before Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday January 13 to be sentenced for offences under the Trade Marks Act (1994) and the Video Recordings Act (1985) as a result of a prosecution brought by Durham Trading Standards.

Following undercover surveillance at local markets in the Durham area, conducted by officers from Durham Trading Standards Department as well as investigators from ELSPA (the Entertainment & Leisure Publishers Association), video footage evidence was recorded of the couple selling counterfeit goods at local markets.

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Casual Gamers Can Enjoy This Classic Puzzle Game With Up To Four
Players At Home In Three Fast-Paced Multiplayer Modes

REDWOOD CITY, CA – January 16, 2009 – Hudson Entertainment, the North
American publishing arm for HUDSON SOFT, today announced that it will
launch Pop ‘Em Drop ‘Em Samegame, a new puzzle game available for
WiiWare. Designed for casual players, the game is simple to play but
hard to master and has multiplayer fun for up to four players.

Pop ‘Em Drop ‘Em Samegame features classic puzzle gameplay in which
players match two or more colored blocks to clear them. As blocks are
cleared, the remaining blocks will shift. If players are skilled
enough, bonus points are awarded when all blocks are cleared. The game
allows for play with up to four friends at home in three fast-paced
multiplayer modes: Fame Game, Shame Game and Blame Game. Players can
also customize the game by changing the block design and backgrounds.

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DSi 78,201 PSP 60,495 Wii 41,243 PS3 28,144 DS Lite 23,429 Xbox 360 10,554 PS2 6,628

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REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Before 2008, no video game system had ever been purchased by ten million Americans in a single year. But according to independent sales data released today by the NPD Group, the Wii™ console from Nintendo did just that, even during these economic times, with 2008 unit sales of 10.17 million. The Nintendo DS™ portable handheld system came in a close second, with 2008 unit sales of 9.95 million. Each of them broke the previous yearly unit sales record set in 2007 by Nintendo DS with sales of 8.52 million.

Consequently, Wii represented 55% of all next generation home console sales in 2008, while Nintendo DS claimed 72% of all portable system sales in 2008.

“Our type of entertainment has now moved to the point where there is no longer a question that if you offer consumers an expanded definition of what a video game can be, and deliver that idea with quality and affordability in mind, millions of new people will start playing video games,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Concepts like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band never would have seemed feasible just a few years ago, and now they’re driving growth for our the entire industry.”

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