Roundup: 3D gaming

Tax breaks for games industry scrapped

Amid the details of last week’s budget, there was onemeasure that was greeted with dismay by British games developers. The country’s videogames industry had been promised tax breaks by Labour before the election, but George Osborne has ruled it out, saying that the measures were “poorly targeted”. Some of the industry’s top figures have reacted with anger. Michael Rawlinson, the director general of ELSPA, said that the industry “will be rightly puzzled as to how tax breaks can be lauded before an election, only to be seen as ‘poorly targeted’ and scrapped just six weeks later”. However, Michael French, the editor-in-chief of trade publications ‘MCV’, ‘Develop’ and Casual- Gaming.biz, believes the decision has not come as a complete surprise. “We are more cuttingedge andmore culturally relevant than film, which has similar tax breaks,” he said. “But given the wider economic circumstances it was a stretch to just assume it would just be waved through.”

Kinect given initial price by Microsoft

For those who have been wondering whenthey are finally going to be able to get their hands on Microsoft’s long-awaited Kinect (formerly known as Project Natal), there is good news – we have a price. Or, at least, it appears we do. Those in theUScan now pre-order theKinect peripheral on Microsoft’s US online store for $150, although it warns that this is only an estimate. That works out at around £100, but there is no guarantee that this will be the price when it hits the UK.

Gamer attempts Guitar Hero record

One might think that playing ‘Guitar Hero’ continuously for more than 24 hourswould be a pointless thing to do, if there wasn’t a good cause involved. Today, Zeke Iddon fromAylesbury will attempt the feat in a bid to raise money for the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, hoping to set a Guinness World Record in the process – although despite no one officially holding the record, Guinness says he must play for at least 24 hours before it is recognised. You can donate at Stars-power.com.