You know those emergency “flash flood warnings” that interrupt your television viewing experience with the ever soothing sound combination of nails on a chalkboard and a car alarm? Well, they may be making their way to your video game console in the not so distant future if one government official gets his way.

As it turns out, the state of New York is currently testing an Xbox based emergency alert system. New York State Deputy CIO, Rico Singleton, who seems to be spearheading the push, believes that the majority of kids these days play video games instead of watching TV or listening to the radio — mediums which already have emergency alert systems built in.

The goal is to tap into the online networks already established by companies like Microsoft and Nintendo to more effectively reach this video game obsessed demographic when natural or man made disasters occur.

Okay, serious hat off for a moment. Where the hell are the parents? In the other room snorting cocaine off of dead hookers? “Mom! Dad! The Xbox just told me that terrorists attacked an airport! … Wait, never mind, that’s just a level in Modern Warfare 2.”

I personally find it funny to hear a government type sounding like they miss the “good old days when kids rotted their brains out watching TV, and stayed glued to the raido for a chance to record a new song for their  mix tape.”

What say you? Do you feel that there is a need to have a video game based emergency broadcast system, or is this simply going too far? Sound off in the comments section below, and look out for that killer Yoshi!

[Thanks InformationWeek]

Toys“R”Us announced an additional service today. In addition to shopping for bikes, trains, and video games in the biggest toy store there is (gee whiz!), you can now exchange your used Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii consoles at Toys“R”Us too.

You’ve been able to trade-in used games for some time now, but this piece of the puzzle practically eliminates the need to deal with often irate Game Stop employees. Plus, wouldn’t you rather exchange your old console for a few boxes of Legos or some tricked out Hotwheels? I sure would. Full press release below.

Toys“R”Us Expands ‘Big Gift’ Layaway to include video game hardware; adds video game hardware trade-in for gift card program

Company Promises Aggressive Video Game Hardware and Software Deals Throughout Holiday Season, Including Buy One, Get One Half Off and $25 iTunes Gift Card with Purchase of Select Hot Games Beginning Sunday, November 22

WAYNE, NJ (November 18, 2009) – Toys“R”Us today announced it has expanded its popular “Big Gift” layaway to include video game hardware and is also introducing a new video game hardware trade-in program. Now gift-givers have even more convenient ways to pay and save with these additional value offerings just in time for the holiday season, whether they are looking to buy new hardware, rid their basement of old items or both!

“Since the introduction of the ‘Big Gift’ layaway last month, the number one request we’ve received from customers is to expand the program to include video game hardware, and we’re responding by providing more convenient payment options for these items,” said Jerry Storch, Chairman and CEO, Toys“R”Us, Inc. “At the same time, we’re adding a video game hardware trade-in program in our stores for customers who may be looking for ways to save on Christmas gifts for loved ones or to upgrade their own gaming systems.”

“Big Gift” Layaway Expands to Include Video Game Hardware

Effective immediately, video game hardware is now included in the company’s “Big Gift” layaway offering. Through the program, customers can reserve some of the hottest items of the season early when supply is at its best, and make a series of small payments over time. Video game hardware such as Nintendo Wii, DS and DSi, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable systems and related accessories can be placed on layaway. Customers nationwide have been taking advantage of the “Big Gift” layaway as an option for gifting large items such as bikes, Power Wheels®, play kitchens, dollhouses, cribs and more since its introduction in October.

Placing a product on layaway at any Toys“R”Us store requires a deposit of 20% of the total purchase, including all applicable taxes, and a $10 service charge. Payments may be made at the store at any time in the form of cash, check, credit card, debit card or gift card. Items must be paid for in full by December 6 to ensure the gift is available for pickup before Christmas. A fee will apply to canceled layaway orders*.

*The program is not available in Maryland at this time. Stores in Ohio and Rhode Island have different policies for canceled orders. See stores for details.

Video Game Hardware Trade-In Program Introduced

Beginning Friday, November 20, customers can trade in used video game hardware at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide in exchange for Toys“R”Us gift cards**. Whether a dad trades in the Nintendo Game Boy Advance from his childhood and uses the gift card he receives to buy toys for his own kids or an avid gamer wants to upgrade to the newest gaming system, customers will appreciate being able to turn outdated video game hardware into savings on their next Toys“R”Us purchase.

Video game hardware systems eligible for the trade-in program include:

Microsoft – Xbox 360 Core/Arcade, Xbox 360 Premium 20 GB, Xbox 360 Premium 60 GB, Xbox 360 Elite, Xbox 360 Halo Edition and Xbox Original

Sony – PlayStation 3 20 GB, PlayStation 3 40 GB, PlayStation 3 60 GB, PlayStation 3 80 GB, PlayStation 3 160 GB, PlayStation 3 Slim 120 GB, PlayStation 2 Original, PlayStation 2 Slim, PlayStation 1, PlayStation Portable Original, Slim and Go

Nintendo – Wii, DSi, DS Lite, DS, Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Advance, Game Cube and Nintendo 64

Customers can participate in the video game hardware trade-in program at Toys“R”Us stores in the United States as follows:

* Used video game hardware may be brought to a Toys“R”Us Guest Services desk.
* Hardware will then be scanned and prices will be offered for each item.
* Customers confirm that they want to accept the offer to exchange any, or all, of the hardware they brought to the store.
* Once the transaction is complete, customers receive an activated gift card equal to the total worth of all hardware traded.
* Immediately upon receiving the gift card, customers can purchase any product from iPods and toys to candy and diapers at any Toys“R”Us or Babies“R”Us location or online at Toysrus.com.

This new trade-in option for video game hardware supplements a video game trade-in program offered since September in Toys“R”Us stores nationwide.

** Video game hardware trade-in is unavailable at Toys“R”Us Holiday Express locations and select Toys“R”Us locations. See stores for details.

Rhianna Pratchett, the writer behind Overlord and its sequels, has expressed how much help the video game industry in the writing department.

“Writers and narrative designers are still relatively new positions on development teams. This means there’s still a level of uncertainty about how best to use and integrate them. I know from talking to lots of fine people in my field that the writing process can often be done too late, without proper access to the team and under extreme pressure. Thankfully, things are starting to get a little better and more writers are being contacted in the first few months of a project’s lifespan, rather than the last few months … A little more variation in concept and content would be nice, as well, which is something writers and narrative designers can help with.”

I couldn’t agree more. As a big fan of books, I’m frequently turned off from games for either a lame plot or poor dialogue. In fact, if I were to count how many games I’ve played that have been good in every department but writing, I would have to make up a new number. I’m going with “dillion.” A dillion games.

Go Nintendo

I jump with joy any time that video games are brought up in a good light, and this is no exception. Deval Patrick, the Governor of Massachusetts, lobbied game publishers to relocate to his state in an effort to help his state’s economy. Now he’s brought the subject up again, this time bragging about it.

“This is not your father’s [Route] 128. You know that [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] ‘Guitar Hero’? That was invented here. It was built here.”

Harmonix is indeed based in Cambridge. And the Route 128 area is a massive technology hub in the state, with companies like Polaroid, Sun Microsystems, and Raytheon having branches there.

Game Politics

These got progressively unfunnier. When I heard that Jimmy Fallon was going to talk about video games a lot on his show, I was unsure of what to expect. It looks like I was right to be cautious, as all the video game-related humor I’ve seen on the show so far has been pretty cringeworthy.

Ryan Reynolds, the actor funnyman that most recently played Wade “Deadpool” Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, doesn’t play video games. He thinks they’re a waste of time.

I don’t really play video games. Is there a way to waste more f—ing time? The Internet’s enough. The last videogame I played was Ms. Pacman.

You know what else is a waste of time, Mr. Reynolds? Watching Wolverine, The Proposal, Chaos Theory, The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Waiting…, Blade: Trinity, and Van Wilder. I regret all of the hours I spent watching some of those, so it must be pretty terrible knowing that you spent years of your life making them.

But it could be worse! You could’ve been playing videogames!

In all seriousness, though, what’s so damn productive about watching a movie? Nothing, you condescending dick.

Go Nintendo

Mental, a new show on the Fox network, is about a physciatrist who uses unorthodox techniques to deal with his patients. Honestly, the show seems like a total House cash-in. But that’s beside the point. The latest episode deals with a kid addicted to a video game he’s playing in his head. That’s right.

You know you want to read more.

The 8-year-old bipolar boy has become dangerously addicted to a video game he’s been playing in his head and he apparently moves his body around like he’s controlling an avatar. He also tries to kill himself!

What does this episode say about video games? It says that the writers of Mental sport a dangerous lack of pop-culture knowledge. Really, it’s unforgivable.

Joystiq

Mega-chain Wal-Mart is currently having a deal where you can buy two Nintendo Wii games for just $30.

This begs the question: do two good Nintendo Wii games even exist? Quickly scanning the list I see Build A Bear Workshop, Candy Factory, and Pimp My Ride. This sounds like it could be quite the deal. You can check out the sale online, but I’m not sure if it’s going on in-store as well.

Source: GoNintendo

According to one Mike Tomich (and a few other doctors), kids under the age of eight years old shouldn’t be playing any video games at all. And children under five shouldn’t be coloring! These grown-up activities will ruin their hands!

Tomich insists that coloring and video games will lead to finger deformities later on in life, because the bones in a young child’s fingers aren’t yet calcified enough.

His book on the subject is titled Our Silent Epidemic. And yes, one of these “silent epidemics” is fucking coloring books.

This guy isn’t that crazy. With all the supposed detrimental effects of video games flying around nowadays, finger deformities is actually one of the saner arguments. However, as long as parents teach their kids not to grip the controller like they’re crushing a man’s skull, I think their fingers will be just fine.

Tomich is currently trying to get a bill passed that will grant funding to research this issue. The bill has been rejected eight times now. Tomlich claims that Microsoft met with Washington last November to discuss the issue and seems to insinuate that Washington and the video game industry are in cahoots now. One can only hope!

I have often thought about purchasing a giant Winnebago and going on a cross country “adventure”. Maybe pulling over on the side of the road from time to time for a “video game” break or two.

While my adventure would include the occasional use of video games, it wouldn’t be a “video game adventure”, no, those are reserved for idiot cyclists like the one below.

News out of Utah is that a motorcycle wrecked into a family of four traveling in an SUV. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The troopers who arrived at the scene interrogated the cyclist about the accident, and he responded by saying he was on a video game adventure. One office added:

“I don’t know whether he was trying to act out a scene in a video game or what he was trying to do, but he said it always worked for him in video games”

This is one Utah resident who shouldn’t be allowed to play video games, let along operate a motorcycle on the open road.

Source: ksl.com (via GoNintendo)

Are you an inmate in a United Kingdom prison who is contemplating suicide? Why not fire up the ol’ Xbox instead? Perhaps that will you make you realize the value in your life. At least that’s what the UK Prison Service hopes.

It was recently revealed the British government had spent £10,000 ($19,908.40 USD) on PlayStations and Xboxes for juvenile detention facilities. Those games aren’t for everybody however. You can only play games if you’re on your best behavior or if you’re on the verge of killing yourself, apparently.

A recently released document regarding the use of video games in prisons stated:

“Only inmates on the highest level of Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) and those at risk of suicide will be allowed to play computer games.”

Video games as a reward? Absolutely. Games as a suicide-prevention tool? It’s a little odd, but hey, whatever paints games in a good light.

“I was all alone; nobody understood me. I was at the edge, man. Ready to end it all. That’s when Ratchet and Clank came into my life. Ratchet is the last of his kind, all the Lombaxes were wiped out. And I thought to myself that if Ratchet can endure, than so can I.” – Anonymous Fictional Inmate

Source: Opposable Thumbs

The news is a week old, but it still bears mentioning, even in this internet addicted world in which “new” is measured in seconds.

The Entertainment Software Association has compiled a new study on gaming demographics. Among the most notable findings is that women do in fact play video games!

Ok, so maybe we knew that. But the study did find that 40 percent of U.S. gamers are women. Perhaps even more interesting is the finding that women age 18 and older represent 33 percent of the gaming population, while males 17 and younger comprise only 18 percent.

This begs the question, then, as to what these girl gamers are playing. Are they rushing game stores for My Pretty Pony or Grand Theft Auto? Because, despite the knowledge that girls do game we continue to see games geared towards girls in an almost condescending manner, “girlie” games, or games that some suits in a board room think girls will want to play.

The ESA’s report also states that 65 percent of house holds game, the average gamer is 35 years old and that one in four gamers is over 50, probably due in part to the massive success of the Nintendo Wii.

The full report can be found here.

What do you think? Are these findings surprising? What will the next demographic survey show?

While talking to British music magazine NME about knife violence in the UK, Oasis lead guitarist Noel Gallagher suggests that video games are helping corrupt our youth.

When asked about the role of video games in rising violence, Gallagher was quoted as saying –

“People say it’s through violent video games and I guess that’s got something to do with it. If kids are sitting up all night smoking super skunk and they become so desensitized to crime because they’re playing these video games, it’s really, really scary.”

I’m disappointed that Gallagher feels the way he does, and not just because Wonderwall is an amazing song. It wasn’t that long ago that politicians and the media claimed that rock ‘n roll music was corrupting our youth. Video games are simply another scapegoat, just like rock ‘n roll and comic books, so I would hope that Gallagher would consider that before jumping on the bandwagon.

Source: Play.tm

It’s a commonly known fact that gamers are getting older, and just about every week another new M-rated game hits the store shelves for those with plenty of disposable income, free time, and a love of sex and violence. So why does Dallas Morning News editorial contributor Kay Hymowitz feel the need to bash this growing demographic?

Lumping together entertainment geared towards males 30 years old and younger, like Maxim, Xbox 360, and Judd Apatow films, Ms. Hymowitz dredges up the worst stereotypes about adult gamers as immature, irresponsible, and ridiculous. Longing for a time when the average 26-year-old male was married with a factory job, Hymowitz has nothing but disdain for today’s tech-savvy consumers of electronic media and popular culture.

Granted, there is a media message out there that says: Don’t grow up. Don’t take responsibility. Enjoy these sophomoric pursuits, instead of attaining a loftier goal. This message can be found everywhere from Comedy Central to the Superbowl. But the marketers and advertisers that rely on that critical male demographic will never stop selling youth and freedom to adults. That message is far too compelling for the marketers to ignore.

Ultimately, the choice of when to adopt personal responsibility can only be made by the individual. Perhaps Ms. Hymowitz would like to see more cultural programming, like Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best, which indoctrinated their audience into accepting a fantasy family life. Perhaps games like Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3, with their jingoistic, pro-war messages, are more damaging in other ways besides encouraging emotional stagnation.

Many of us are privileged enough to have the luxury of electronic gaming available to us. We shouldn’t feel guilty about this, however, because cultural pursuits like watching a movie or reading a book (although Hymowitz insists that us young males don’t like to read) are just as evanescent.

These fleeting pursuits of culture are richly rewarding, and speak to our shared humanity. She would never ask adults to put down their books, films, and music, because they threaten the perceived values of family and hard work… or would she? As an argument against excessive advertising, I would agree with aspects of Hymowitz’s editorial. However, for speaking completely in terms of stereotypes and straw men, Hymowitz’s article is a screed against our open-market culture in a free society.

Source: Dallas Morning News

This week, a special summit was held at CES where technology industry experts discussed what video games could be doing in regards to child development.

According to educational psychologist Jane Healy, children shouldn’t be allowed to play video games until they are at least seven-years-old, which will have allowed their brains to develop normally. Playing video games before then could be harmful, as they fuel the basic concept of “fight or flight,” but not considered reasoning. It was also stated that fast-paced action games could harm the ability to learn by shortening attention spans.

According to researchers for the Jaon Ganz Cooney Centre, out of over 300 computer games, toys, and educational software, only two of the games were actually educational, while the rest simply involved children staring at a screen.

While I’m no educational psychologist, I’ve been playing video games my whole life and I know several others in the same boat; and as far as I know, we all turned out A-ok. At least, I think we did.

Didn’t we?

Via Kotaku, News.com.ua

I am a sporadic gamer, and when I do play games, I play random ones. I’m not devoted to one game in particular; however, I do enjoy Madden NFL…a lot. Recently while playing, True Crime: Streets of LA, I noticed an interesting cut scene. There was a Russian Mafia goon urinating, and the lead character “Nick Kang” simultaneously kicked him is his back. Once kicked, Kang says “You have the right to soak in your own urine”.

I now understand why in June 2007, the American Medical Association considered a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. And it comes as no surprise to me that in Argentina, a federal legislation states that Manufacturers and/or importers of video games are required to display the warning “Overexposure is harmful to health” on the packaging.

So we now understand, especially after certain awful and highly publicized tragedies, that excessive and obsessive gaming can lead to poor overall health, or even worse, death. However, even after reading about the 28-year-old South Korean man that died after playing Starcraft for 50 hours straight, I am still not convinced that mental or physical health should top the list of concerns. No, because you see when it comes to “gaming” and “hygiene”, we have a larger and more imperative issue.

After my mini session of playing True Crime: Streets of LA, I decided to do some homework on the subject of video games that portray or reference urination. I got in contact with an old friend from school who is now heavily involved in game development. I asked him if he could provide me with a list of games that have involved or encouraged urination. He came back with a list of “note-worthy” games, some of which included the following:

• In Redneck Rampage the players can urinate or defecate in toilets for health benefits, or “take a quick pee” anywhere for a smaller health boost at any time, once a level.
• In Overlord, one can send ones minions over beer mugs, thereafter the minion becomes intoxicated, turns away from the camera, and urinates.
• In Dead Rising, players can save your game by urinating in a urinal.
• In Postal, the player is able to urinate on anything in the game.
• In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin cut scene showing a postman urinating in the bushes, you sneak up behind him while he is urinating and take his clothes.
• Resident Evil 4: In the intro of the game one of the European Police Officers stops the SUV and gets out to urinate.

Obviously, the sole reason these games or (developers!) depict urination is because they are trying to get across the underlying message: “Dear Fanboy, you don’t need to pause the game. It’s okay, just piss all over yourself and keep playing. However, if you’re going to partake in autoeroticism, you will need to take your hands off the controller. Unless, of course, you’re playing with your Wii.”’