The Last Word: June 12-16

The week of June 12-16 saw World Cup Fever in full swing, with a series of exciting matches captivating the globe. Even the typically soccer-phobic United States stood up and took notice on Monday, when Team USA took on the feared Czech Republic...and was drubbed 3-0. (The Americans would redeem themselves on Saturday, tying Italy 1-1 in a hotly contested game.)

The week also saw a major kickoff in the gaming world with the launch of Nintendo's DS Lite. The sleeker, thinner, and not-at-all-iPod-like redesign of the wildly popular dual-screen handheld went on sale stateside on Sunday. By Tuesday, it had sold an estimated 136,500 units and was predicted to sell a half million by week's end. Worldwide, more than 16 million units of both versions of the DS have been sold since it debuted in November 2004.

In less festive news, the week saw some major developments on the legal front. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco signed a game-restriction bill cowritten by the country's most vociferous and vocal anti-game activist, Miami attorney Jack Thompson. As one might expect, the bill imposes stiff penalties for renting or selling a game that "appeals to the minor's morbid interest in violence," "depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards," and, when "taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."

Thompson and coauthor representative Roy Burrell (D-District 2) partially based the Louisiana bill on existing obscenity laws to help it stand up to legal challenges. And one wasn't long in coming. Within hours of Blanco's signing of the bill, the Entertainment Software Association and the Entertainment Merchants Association filed a suit against the state in the Federal District Court of Baton Rouge to have the law overturned. It was ESA's second such legal action for the week, after a suit it filed Monday to have a game-restriction law in Oklahoma declared unconstitutional.

MONDAY
DS Lites up US retailers
ESA to sue Oklahoma
Retail Radar: New Growlanser, Warhammer for PSP?
Adriano signs up for Pro Evo 6
Patched Oblivion still dupe-able

TUESDAY
Xbox 360 BC list updated
Broussard: We won't rush Duke Nukem Forever
Lara's date with PSP announced
EVE Online hits China, breaks record
Oblivion Mehrunes' Razor add-on dated

WEDNESDAY
Congress holds at-times-contentious game hearing
Sony's post-PS3 vision for the Cell
Atari full-year revenue tanks
Blizzard freezes non-WOW MMOG rumors
DS Lite sells 136k in two days

THURSDAY
Bill Gates stepping down in 2008
Majesco grapples with Nacho Libre for DS
Midway prepping Unreal comp
Spore spreads to mobile phones
EA to sell mobile games direct

FRIDAY
Louisiana governor signs game bill
Madsen, Dushku head Yakuza voice cast
PS3 bundle-palooza opens with $1,000-plus pack
Report: M'soft working on handheld
ESA, EMA file suit against Louisiana

RUMORS OF THE WEEK
Grand Theft Auto IV powered by Table Tennis engine?
World of Starcraft or Diablo MMO game by 2009?
Nintendo patent signals imminent suit against Microsoft?
Boll to brawl critics onscreen in Postal movie?

RELEASES
Shippin' Out June 12-16: MotoGP 06, Civilizations at War, Metal Gear PSP comic

CHARTS
US console sales charts: June 4-10
US PC game charts: May 28-June 3
Japan game charts: May 29-June 4
UK game charts: June 4-10