Videogames Lead to Behavioral Addiction Mike Tyson’s Paparazzi Punch-Out!! Video GameStop Buys Majority Stake in Video Game Digital Distributor Jolt Miyamoto: 3D Isn’t Everything Are You A Video Game Junkie With Mad Writing Skills? Write For Ripten NFL Super Bowl Champion Steelers Connect with Soldiers in Iraq for Guitar Hero Competition

Remember the furore over Madworld in August? Mediawatch UK were at the centre of it, after their director complained that it would wreck Wii’s family image. Now they’re complaining that gamers aren’t happy about their moral compass. Read more…

Everyone knows Sony is pretty duff at doing anything with any sense of expediency. Now Sony UK managing director Ray Maguire has admitted as much — but has reiterated that PS3 is only just starting to get going.

It all sounds a bit like the tortoise and the hare. Is he going to mention the ten-year cycle? Read more…

Sega’s unhyped tactical rpg only went on sale yesterday in the US — it’s been out in Europe for a week — but we’ve already been promised that DLC from Japan will make it over to both territories. Read more…

It was out on hold after EA deemed PS3 “too exotic and tough” to develop for, but it seems like they’re ready for another crack at it. Producer David Silverman has announced that people are already working the PS3 version. And it isn’t just a port. Read more…

Time to stir up some more patriotism! The Suffering: Ties That Bind, Rise & Fall: Civilization at War and Area 51 — a rather inspired choice — all up for grabs as the US Air Force dangles the carrot. Read more…

The boss at Sony Computer Entertainment UK believes that third party developers will start developing multiplatform titles with the PS3 in mind and downgrading them to other consoles. But is he right?
Read more…

Publishers are pleading UK retailers not to start a price war. It’s a serious request, but some retailers can’t help taking the piss. And I’m not talking about obscenely low prices. Read more…

Bungie have confirmed that the line “Maddie, where are you?” – which we spotted in the new Halo 3 campaign trailer released yesterday – is not related to missing British toddler Madeleine McCann. Read more…

Following a 12-hour countdown, Bungie has posted a 60 second teaser trailer for their new Halo game – “a new Halo 3 campaign experience”. Read more…

But only on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. DICE announced today that Mirror’s Edge will ship for consoles on November 11, with the PC version to appear later this winter. Read more…

It’s nothing to do with penis monsters. No, today’s scapegoat is evolution. One militant creationist – who describes herself only as a “good Christian woman” – has set up a blog to campaign against Spore. Did we also mention that Will Wright is evil and that she’s killing EA on the stock market? I’m not joking. Read more…

It’s a corporate shafting dressed up like an act of goodwill. Following the Spore DRM backlash, EA had the smarts to head off any possible speculation about Red Alert 3. It will feature the same SecuROM protection, but give owners two extra activations before they have to ring up EA customers services and try their best not to sound like a pirate. Read more…

WWGFD? Ask him. Judging by this pic from CERN he’s already watching over us. Which is just as well, since the research centre is due to switch on its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tomorrow – possibly recreating Half-Life’s Black Mesa balls-up within the month.

This actually couldn’t come at a better time. Some people are so fearful of CERN creating a black hole underneath the France/Switzerland border that a legal challenge was mounted in the European Court of Human Rights earlier today. The court has already denied an injunction to prevent the LHC being turned on at all. Now critics have alleged that the experiment itself violates the human right to life.

At least with this picture, both they and the judges will know that the ultimate safeguards are in place. Doubly so if anyone has had the common sense to pass on Reddit’s crowbar.

Source: Popgive

A Canadian woman has praised Grand Theft Auto for giving her daughter the presence of mind to rescue the entire family after their car crashed.

Eleven year old Audrey Plique led her dazed parents and two siblings from the wreckage after it rolled over.

“She just knew, from playing Grand Theft Auto,” said mother Karen Norris. “She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us.” Read more…

Speaking at Tecmo’s Autumn Conference, new president Yasuharu Kakihara has revealed that Team Ninja are not only still together following Itagaki’s departure, but that they’re very busy indeed.

Three new titles are being worked on, but there’s no word on what they are. It’s a bit too soon for Ninja Gaiden 3, but it’s about time for Dead or Alive 5, isn’t it? He did however bring up Team Tachyon’s Rygar: The Battle of Argus– more details about it will be revealed at TGS 2008.

President Kakihara also engaged in a formal bit of corporate back-slapping, affirming that Tecmo is a world class developer and would be aiming to expand in the future. Though I’m not sure dreams of expansion are going to sit with Square Enix.

Source: Inside Games (translated by Google)

Square Enix has confirmed it has approached Tecmo’s board to make a friendly takeover – and it’s doing it for the good of Japan, by the sound of the official spiel.

The JPY 22.3 billion (USD 205 million) offer comes off the back of Itagaki’s departure and president Yoshimi Yashuda’s resignation, which Square Enix believes have left the company rather vulnerable. Apart from all the usual guff about how brilliant and beneficial the move would be, their statement included the following: Read more…

You didn’t think I was actually going to show a penis creature?

You might have thought Will Wright might have pulled a facepalm when people started creating genitalia based creatures. Not so – he thinks they’re ace. Read more…

No matter how much you love RPGs, grinding often turns into a majorly time consuming pain in the ass. Good old Namco Bandai knows how you feel – so it’s going to let you buy character levels for Tales of Vesperia as DLC. Read more…

The conversation I envisaged at Taito about this tribute, celebrating 30 years of Space Invaders, never happened it seems – parent company Square Enix has come out of the flutter, claiming the exhibit at Leipzig was planned without Taito’s knowledge or consent.

But they didn’t pass comment on the art’s message. According to their press release:

“Taito is seriously considering all available options–including legal actions against the infringer and, if necessary, the Games Convention exhibitor involved–in order to end this unauthorized and impermissible misuse of the Space Invaders content and to protect Taito’s intellectual properties.”

It’s since come to light that the Computer Game Museum in Berlin, which is running the exhibit, didn’t see fit to get sign off for the project. From their own website:

“Note: The artwork “invaders!” is not approved by Square Enix/ Taito.”

No doubt that will come back to bite them if Taito decide to unleash the lawyers.

“What do you think would be best to celebrate 30 years of Space Invaders? Oh I know, let’s go to Leipzig and parody the destruction of the World Trade Center!”

How I would love to have sat in on that meeting when Taito decided that this was a good idea, let alone a fitting tribute to a classic title. But they did, and according to Kotaku you can see a non-interactive display of typical Taito invaders zapping the Twin Towers at Leipzig right now, apparently replete with leapers in all their 8-bit glory.

Yet it’s not meant to be a game – it’s an art exhibit.

It’s the work of French-American artist Douglas Edric Stanley, who sees Space Invaders as a “social tale that can be related to historical tales without losing its poetic power.”

Actually, I wish I was making this up. Taito have yet to comment. More on Stanley here.