Google has announced that at the end of this year it is to cease running its Second Life copy – Lively. Lively, a virtual world with user-generated avatars and content, rather cleverly allowed you to import content from other Google applications – pictures from Picasa, video etc. But that hasn’t stopped it from the chop because Google wants to “prioritize resources and focus more on core search, ads and apps business.” And that got me thinking – about how much I hate most user-generated content in gaming. Here’s five reasons why you shouldn’t make content for their games:

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Despite being a little late to get behind the whole Internet gaming fad, Nintendo US’s President Reggie Fils-Aime has pledged that his company will “keep pace” with the changing face of games, and specifically the emerging trend for user-generated content. Speaking at the BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference, Fils-Aime showcased four Japanese titles to back his words.

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We’ve heard there’s something happening in the US tonight. Not really sure what it is but everyone across the pond is getting in a frightful tizzy about it. Even game makers have been cashing in the action, whether it is for promotional purposes, satire or more serious interactive concepts. Here are five of the more interesting ideas…

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The release of upcoming PS3 collaborative platform game LittleBigPlanet has been delayed (probably for a few weeks), after it emerged that music used in the game featured verses from the Qur’an. But the game is hardly the worst offender of religious sensibilities. Here are the others…

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Blizzard, the developer behind eagerly anticipated realtime strategy title Starcraft II has denied accusations from fans that they are trying to extract more money from their pockets by releasing the game as three separate episodes.

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When will this expansion pack madness end? Following the strategy it has adopted with The Sims, Electronic Arts is to release its first expansion pack for Spore in November 18, according to a listing that was briefly placed on its own US download store (and following brief listings on US Amazon and other retailers).

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It’s been blamed for a teen crime spree but Grand Theft Auto could also be blamed for getting Obama into the White House. Gamepolitics has revealed how several high profile games industry figures intend to vote.

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While EA’s busily confirming The Sims 3 and Sim City for Apple’s handset, the iPhone version of Spore just made itself available on the App Store.

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