Round-Up: Iowa Bill Fails, Atlus Announces, Rockstar Ping Pong

Today's Gamasutra news round-up includes news on Iowa's HF2104 bill being cancelled, the latest localization announcements from publisher Atlus, and the first next-gen title from Rockstar Games, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts, product news, and Gamasutra job postings. - Another piece of game-related legislation has been struck down; like the recent Utah bill's failure, Iowa's HF2104 was canceled before making it out of the House. "As much as I would like to run [with it], there is some First Amendment issues," said House Public Safety Committee Chairman Clel Baudler to the Des Moines Public Register. The bill was one of many that was not voted on before the legislative deadline, leaving it to fall by the wayside in favor of other concerns in the legislature. Other bills have met with similar First Amendment concerns after their passage, such as legislature in California, Illinois, and Michigan. - Atlus announced three new localization projects for handheld systems, including two Super Robot Taisen games. The games, which features characters from several popular anime mecha franchises, have been a major seller in Japan for 15 years. The two Game Boy Advance titles Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation and SRT: Original Generation 2 will mark the first appearance of the series in America. Atlus also announced Contact for the Nintendo DS, developed by Marvelous Interactive. The DS title, which features many varied modes of play, has players assisting a professor in piecing together a wrecked ship in order to return to his home world. - Rockstar Games has announced Table Tennis, an unexpectedly wholesome ping pong simulation developed exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game features realistic, detailed players and animation, with a focus on the real-world competitive sport of table tennis. Rockstar San Diego is handling development on the title, which is scheduled for release in May. According to Rockstar, Table Tennis will retail for $39.99, substantially below the current standard price of $60 for new Xbox 360 games. - Recent posts on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include the latest developments in the world of interactive fiction, some fresh digital and physical pinball machines, the new issue of online PDF consumer mag Hardcore Gamer, and a little something called Accordion Hero. - Also updated today: product news, featuring the BigWorld MMO Suite's use in the Stargate MMO, as well as the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Activision, TVHead, LucasArts, Fasa Studio, Zipper Interactive, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Toys For Bob, Eidos, Emergent Game Technologies, and Global VR.