A new study seems to show that there is no relationship between violent videogames and real-life aggression. From ScienceDaily: Writing May 14 in the International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry, Patrick Kierkegaard of the University of Essex, England, suggests that there is scant scientific evidence that video games are anything but harmless and that they do not lead to real world aggression. Moreover, his research shows that previous work is biased towards the opposite conclusion. Read More...

More Star Craft 2 News K, well not really news per say, but at least it is more video on how it is looking and shaping up. If they keep going on the rout it looks, my faith in Blizzard since the Activition buy out will be restored. The video of the game looks absolutely amazing and this is just a bunch of place holders for the Zerg and such. The intro where the human is armoring up looks almost to die for as well. One thing I liked to here is that it is going well and that they are keeping things that worked well in the past. Read More...

Steve from Rockstar Games has sent word on the patch for the GTA IV version for the PS3. Rockstar Games has released a GTA IV patch for Playstation 3 today that prevents Gamespy's servers from being overloaded and therefore reduces the impact on those servers that were causing the game to stutter and lock up.  We continue to monitor the performance of the game both on and offline and will provide further updates as necessary.  We want to assure everyone that, together with our hardware partners, we continue to strive to give our fans the best possible interactive entertainment experiences possible. Read More...

More Maps For Portal This was a triumph... I'm making a note here... HUGE SUCCESS! Ok enough of that. But you really can't deny the fact that the game was a huge thing. It spawned all kinds of other media based off of just this little mod to Half Life. And it just keeps coming out. This time in more maps based from the 2D Flash version of the game. This is a 40 map pack and features a new "test subject" for these said levels. Yes you read it. Read More...

A Message From Positron – 4 Year Anniversary! So looking at the two titles that come with this Narticle, it may be a little hard to get what is going on in this one. That was the point. MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes, I can be a villain sometimes. But here we go. On the Official City of Heroes Forum Boards, lead designer Matt Miller made a nice long post about the 4 year anniversary of the game. He goes on about how the game has grown since it launched back in 2004 and continues to thank the users for keeping it in the lime light for so long. Nice of him since it is us, the gamers, that keep people like him knee deep in money and a job. Read More...

U.S. Spies Use Custom Videogames to Learn How to Think So this is something that is a few days old, but it was kind of buried. So I figured I'd bring it up here. The short and dirty of it is that the U.S. Government is paying for a few games to be built to help train spies and interrogators on their craft. So not just tactics, but quick thinking and analysis. Something that games have been proven to provoke a great response with. Read More...

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We all know that America’s financial situation is getting worse, especially with the gas prices rising, the housing market suffering, and the war in Iraq which has cost the United States an estimated $3 trillion. There is one thing in the American economy that is keeping afloat and growing, which is gaming, and the nations largest retailer of games and consoles is GameStop. "As we analyze our sales deployment, we can't find evidence of the economy affecting our business," GameStop company officials said recently. "In fact, like we did after 9/11, we're seeing [comparable] store growth as consumers travel less and stay at home more, as well as trade in more games on new game purchases. Read More...

Epic Games has now launched their new "Make Something Unreal" PC game mod contest. Sponsored this time by Intel, the contest will give aspiring game creators a way to win cash and prizes for making mods based on Epic's Unreal Tournament 3. Over $1 million in cash and prizes will be given to the winners and just like the first "Make Something Unreal" contest (for mods made with UT 2003/2004) the new version will have a grand prize of a full Unreal Engine 3 license for the overall best mod. Last time the winner was Tripwire Interactive for their Red Orchestra mod; they later formed a full dev team and released the game as a stand alone commercial title. Judging will begin in June 2008 in the first phase of the contest; the final winners will be determined in fall 2009 after all four phases are complete. Read More...

So I normally don't write two articles in an hour, but I just checked my email, and this was featured in my Thinkgeek.com Newsletter... SUPER Pii Pii brothers is a crazy, imported Japanese game for the Wii that requires you to... well... wee!! Complete loads of mini games by attaching your Wii-mote into the support harness provided and AIM AWAY!! Score extra points by tinkling on cats and other fun creates who pop out of the urinals and lose points for getting too much on the floor. Verse your friends in the fun multi-player mode and if the humiliation wasn't enough, just the mere ability to say you own Super Pii Pii Brothers is worth the $34. Read More...

One of the most anticipated games of the year, Grand Theft Auto IV, is finally making its grand debut this April and Rockstar Games is making sure that this Grand Theft Auto experience is like no other! In addition to the game, Rockstar is also launching a website to make Grand Theft Auto more competitive, community based, and statistical. In Rockstar’s press release today: “The Rockstar Social Club is more than just a standard gaming site. It features all of the statistical leaderboards that gamers have come to expect, and combines them with performance-based competitions and awards. Read More...

GameStop's Grand Theft Auto IV Contest Could you use 10K? I know I could. I could also take a trip to NY again. You can get in on possibly getting this just by going to the GameStop site, link below, and either entering in via their web site or by texting your answer to the question they have on the site. Either will get you into the running. You can also pre-order the game if you haven't already. Read More...

    Mario. You say the name and almost anyone will instantly associate it with what is arguably the most recognizable character to ever hit the videogame world. The theme song is iconic, his features are undeniable, and slap the name on any product almost guarantees instant success. But how much do we know about the man besides his love for a variety of colourful mushrooms and blondes in dresses (hey, sounds like a great Friday night, yaaaamean?? *wink wink*)? Read More...

Unreal Engine 4 Targeting Consoles As I am sure a lot of you are, you have seen or played with the Unreal 3 Engine. I know I got overly excited when I first saw it back in my college days, not too long ago but still. Needless to say, but I'm still going to say it, it was beautiful and I couldn't look more forward to it. Now this drops out there in cyber land and I am actually curious to see it. That and it will go mainly toward Consoles instead of for PC games, at first. Read More...

A recent survey done by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) boasts that a staggering 38% of all gamers are female! Spending an average 7 hours a week playing games. According to Nbc4.com, 30% of all online gamers are women, with the catagory of "women 40 and over" making up the largest percentage of online gamers across all online games.< In a separate survey, Sony Online Entertainment found that 60% of all females in the gaming industry found the male dominance in the field off-putting in their career making decisions. Sadly, only 12% of the gaming industry workforce is female. Read More...