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Stories about: videogames


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Gamers Can't Spot IEDs to Save Their Lives

The attack on those people who play games, now a majority of the adult population in most developed countries, seems to be getting more and more bizarre. After being portrayed as being anti social and being blamed for every bit of violence in modern society, gamers are now said to be unable to actually detect roadsid...

30 October 2009
15:41 GMT

Brain Perceives Gaming as Similar to Warfare

A study reported by the New Scientist shows that gamers benefit from testosterone, which improves their performance and enhances their aggression, only when facing off against gamers that they perceive as being strangers, with testosterone levels plummeting when they are gaming against friends. The results are part o...

2 October 2009
16:21 GMT

Gaming Poised to Be the Favorite Past Time in the United Kingdom

It seems that among European countries, Britain’s inhabitants are those that play online and use videogame consoles the most, according to the United Kingdom National Gamers Survey of 2009. Among those questioned, no less than 73% reported that they are playing videogames regularly and it seems that the trend i...

30 September 2009
13:21 GMT

Advertising Is Ineffective for Videogames

The NPD Group does more than to put out monthly data related to hardware and videogame sales in the United States. And a recent study from the firm seems to indicate that when it comes to game advertising efforts, whether they are in print, on television or online, they are not very effective at actually selling prod...

16 September 2009
14:21 GMT

Tetris Increases Brain Gray Matter

It seems that while a lot of the media is blaming videogames for all the evils of the modern society, from obesity to bad school results, some scientists are quietly working on showing the benefits that even the simplest of videogames can bestow upon the player.A recent study conducted by the Mind Research Network ha...

4 September 2009
16:26 GMT

Gamers Are Invited to Write to President Barack Obama

For quite some time, President of the United States Barack Obama has used videogames, sometimes called by name, as in the case of Grand Theft Auto IV, or in a generalized form, as the go to example when it came to renouncing some of the pleasures of modern life in order to focus more on doing what is needed to increa...

29 July 2009
13:01 GMT

Gamers Play More During the Recession

On the one hand, the recession hitting the world at the moment is certainly bad for the videogaming industry, as revenue is going down from both hardware and software sales, with players tightening their wallets and spending less. On the other hand, it seems that the recession is good for gaming in general, as a new ...

13 July 2009
02:56 GMT

Congress Debates Videogame-Fueled Recruitment

The debate over the Virtual Army Experience, a recruitment drive masquerading as a high tech showcase for the Army experience, has moved to the floor of Congress, with Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat representative from Ohio and long time enemy of the VAE, calling for it to be closed down.Kucinich stated in front of the ...

29 June 2009
02:38 GMT

Take Two Boss Wants No Government Intervention in Videogames

Take Two is one of the videogame publishers to have often been involved in issues related to videogame classification that touches on what's acceptable and what's not in game releases. Rockstar was attacked when a mod allowed players to access risqué material in the Grand Theft Auto series, and Manhu...

26 June 2009
03:17 GMT

Point of Sale Activation Could Increase Videogame Sales

The Entertainment Merchants Association, a trade group representing retailers from North America, has announced that it plans to implement a project, called Lazarus, which would see videogames being activated at the point of sale, until 2010, limiting the losses generated by theft by employees and casual shoplifting....

24 June 2009
03:13 GMT

Central Interference: China Plans Videogaming Crackdown

China is getting ready to launch a new crackdown on those videogames that are deemed to be “undesirable.” The official reasoning is that, as the number of players grows, especially those interested in MMOs, the possibility of addiction is also growing and the state must make sure that gamers are protected...

22 June 2009
14:31 GMT

Weekend Reading: Videogames Could Become Fringe, Again

This week, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, mentioned videogaming no less than twice. First, he linked it to the problems of education, saying that one of the reasons for the rise of education quality in countries like China and India is that kids there are playing fewer videogames than those in the ...

20 June 2009
07:01 GMT

United Kingdom Preparing to Get Tough on Piracy

These days have been extremely important for the videogame industry, especially in the United Kingdom, with the Government deciding that the PEGI ratings system would be used to label games but also with the release of a new report related to the way the digital society would be implemented in the country.The Digital...

18 June 2009
03:21 GMT

Central Interference: President Obama Says Videogames Are a Health Hazard

Barack Obama, the President of the United States, seems to be referring to videogames more and more in his speeches, especially when addressing big themes like health care reform and the challenges facing the educational system. The most recent reference comes in a speech made to the American Medical Association.Here...

17 June 2009
16:41 GMT

Videogames Growing Faster than Other Media Forms

Gamers and videogame industry analysts might be a bit depressed when looking at the rather disappointing NPD Group numbers for May and at the slump in sales that the worldwide economic downturn has sparked all over the world but it seems that videogames are still important and are getting even more so as time goes by...

17 June 2009
04:34 GMT

Central Interference: President Obama Again Attacks Videogames

Even on the campaign trail before his election last year, Barack Obama talked about videogames. He mentioned GTA IV and said that better education for the American children hinged on less time spent playing videogames and watching television. He again touched on that subject at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin.Presid...

16 June 2009
16:51 GMT

Analyze That: 68% of American Households Are Playing Videogames

In the wake of E3, where the titles that companies should release in the coming year were showcased, the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the show itself, outed an interesting report revealing how important gaming has become to the American way of life.The main thing that jumps off the page is...

13 June 2009
07:31 GMT

Analyze That: Only 8% of Gamers Can Be Considered Addicted

A new study related to videogames and addiction is out and the results are rather interesting for the average gamer. The study, which was conducted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Congress, shows that one in 12 gamers or about 8% of those who play videogames are showing signs of addic...

30 May 2009
06:51 GMT

More Americans Playing Videogames than Going to the Movies

The NPD Group is well known for putting up two charts every month showing how videogame consoles and software releases perform in the United States market. But the group also does other researches related to the industry, and its newest study is saying that more American are playing videogames than are going to the m...

25 May 2009
02:39 GMT

California Videogame Law Goes to the Supreme Court

California has decided to go to the United States Supreme Court regarding a law aimed at limiting the sale of videogames to kids under the age of 18. The law was initially put together and signed in 2005 and has since been struck down repeatedly by courts that decided it was not in agreement with the Constitution of ...

21 May 2009
05:03 GMT

Legendary Pictures Announces Gaming Projects

Legendary Pictures has announced that it is very interested in getting into videogame development and that a former Electronic Arts boss would lead its new unit.The fresh division will be set up in the offices that Legendary has on the Warner Bros. lot and all the projects will be released for a variety of platforms,...

21 May 2009
02:53 GMT

Videogames Might Come with 2-Year Guarantee

The European Union is set to aggressively move into the realm of regulating videogames, but, somewhat surprising, it has nothing to do with the levels of violence and explicit materials appearing in them. Commissioners Viviane Reding and Meglena Kuneva are thinking about introducing a guarantee period for videogames....

19 May 2009
14:11 GMT

The Strong Museum Creates a Videotopia

The Strong National Museum of Play, which is located in Rochester, New York, has announced that it is planning to create a new exhibit called Videotopia, set to be opened on May 30 and which will remain at Strong until November 1 before going on tour. The main aim of Videotopia is to offer visitors a chance to witnes...

14 May 2009
16:41 GMT

Editorialist Implies Connection Between Violent Videogames and Torture

We're getting pretty much accustomed to people saying outrageous things about videogames, from stating that they directly cause violent crime to saying that they are full length M-rated movies. Some people have even implied that those who play videogames should not be allowed to vote, as they are not mature enou...

12 May 2009
16:31 GMT

ESA Objects to Gaming Addiction Study

The Entertainment Software Association has taken point in trying to halt the publication of a new study inferring that some 8.5% of gamers are addicted. The organization has made quite some noise, showing the errors that have crept into the study methodology and pleading with the Psychological Science magazine to wit...

28 April 2009
16:41 GMT

Piracy Laws Could Become Tougher in Canada

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada, also known as ESAC, is announcing that it has begun a new campaign calling for legislators to take into account the need to beef up the anti piracy laws in the country, one of the most important markets for videogames in the world.The ESAC is saying that the legislati...

27 April 2009
03:35 GMT

Analyze That: Videogames Are as Valuable as Books

A few days ago, we talked about a study according to which no less than 8.5% of gamers are addicted to the videogames that they play. We'll show you how science can support our old habit by pointing out to a study performed by a Doctor named Souvik Mukherjee, who is a researcher and computer game narrative exper...

24 April 2009
18:51 GMT

Study Says 8.5 Percent of Gamers Are Addicted

Are videogames addictive? Well, science apparently says so. A new study, which was conducted by the director of research of the National Institute on Media and the Family, who is also a psychology professor at the Iowa State University, puts the figure of addicted gamers at 8.5% of the overall population of people pl...

22 April 2009
13:11 GMT

Analyze That: Washington Post Editorialist Doesn't Want Gamers Voting

In an editorial in the Washington Post, columnist George F. Will writes, as part of a rant against the Denim Generation, as he calls it, that “Seventy-five percent of American 'gamers' - people who play video games - are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.” You can read the rest ...

20 April 2009
08:11 GMT

Analyze That: Driving Games More Dangerous Than Shooters

What would the world come to without regular input from British researchers? We don't know. We do know that a lot of things related to videogames will remain a mystery forever. Like the recent findings of Doctor Simon Goodson and Sarah Pearson from Huddersfield University, who have determined that driving games ...

2 April 2009
14:31 GMT

Central Interference: German President Backs Videogame Ban

Following the shooting in Germany, which claimed the lives of several children and that of the gunman himself, a lot of voices have been clamoring for imposing a ban on the sales of videogames, which are seen as the catalyst in the transformation of a misunderstood teenager into a killer.Initial reports related ...

26 March 2009
14:31 GMT

It's Official: You Can Play Videogames in Space

What's the first thing a middle school student is bound to ask an astronaut these days? Well, based on recent evidence, videogames are the main topic of discussion when having a video conference with astronauts from the International Space Station.Barack Obama, the President of the United States, found this out ...

25 March 2009
17:41 GMT

Early Death Ad Campaign Not Unfair

It seems that the Advertising Standards Authority in the United Kingdom, which oversees the content and the delivery of ads, has announced that a campaign called Change 4 Life has not been misleading parents or offending readers with its controversial message.The matter warrants a short recap. The British Heart Found...

20 March 2009
16:51 GMT

Get Your Game on at the Museum

The Strong National Museum of Play, located in Rochester, New York, has just announced that the videogame-related collection of the National Center for the History of Electronic Games has reached 15,000 pieces, including all gaming consoles created from 1972 to the present and about 100 types of handhelds.The most in...

19 March 2009
15:31 GMT

Analyze That: Still No Link Between Videogames and Violence

Most of the time, when the traditional media talks about games, it can only adopt one tonality, that of the concerned party pointing out the evil influences that videogames have on players and especially on kids. Now, there's a new meta study that points out that the previous reports which researched the link be...

18 March 2009
19:11 GMT

UK Ad Campaign Claims Videogames Cause Early Death

We're getting accustomed to the fact that governments all over the world (well, maybe except for South Korea) don't really understand videogames and the people that play them, although they are now among the biggest groups everywhere that are able to vote. The latest proof comes from the United Kingdom, whe...

10 March 2009
17:21 GMT

President Barack Obama Again Disses Videogames

The new president of the United States, Barack Obama, has just made one of the most important speeches of his presidency, speaking in front of a joint session of Congress about the problems that are facing the nation and about how he plans to tackle them. And amongst phrases related to the economic recession, the war...

26 February 2009
04:42 GMT

Despite the Recession, the Videogame Market Will Expand

There's a worldwide economic crisis going on at the moment. People are being laid off, companies are having financial problems, and budgets are slashed. Still, people are interested in playing videogames. The reason might be that getting a gaming console, like the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3, and a couple of g...

23 February 2009
15:21 GMT

GTA IV Lead Writer Likes the Immaturity of Videogames

A lot of ink (well, keyboard strokes) is being used these days to discuss the quality of videogames as compared to the quality of other arts, like movies or literature. And the general consensus seems to be that games should become more mature, giving players more experiences based on great narrative.Well, Dan Houser...

29 January 2009
17:41 GMT

Videogames Bring in More Revenue than DVDs

Media Control GfK International, a market research firm, has released data suggesting that the revenue derived from the sales of videogames exceeded the revenue obtained from the sales of movies on DVD and Blu-ray discs during the course of 2008.It seems that the company is tracking something it calls “packaged...

27 January 2009
12:41 GMT

Violent Videogames Are Not More Enjoyable

As most gamers have known from the days of Tetris, we're not playing videogames to enjoy our daily dose of over the top violence but to overcome new gameplay challenges. This is now a scientific fact as demonstrated by a study from the University of Rochester and from the firm Immersyve, which specializes in &ld...

20 January 2009
04:41 GMT

Videogames Could Get Cigarette Like Warning Labels

For a long time, videogames have been looked at like the spawns of an outsider culture, a mark of those who were different. In a short span of time, the same videogames have become a mark of addiction, of those who need to be warned about the dangers of sitting down and playing titles like Gears of War 2, Condemned 2...

14 January 2009
14:31 GMT

Grading Games: Why Time Invested Means Value

As with books, movies or music, it’s rather difficult to review and grade a videogame. There’s inherent subjectivity that comes into play and threatens to topple the carefully balanced system of pros and cons, observations and grades. I can’t be sure that my experience with, say, Fallout 3 will be s...

30 December 2008
18:41 GMT

Central Interference: New York Increases Taxes on Videogames

The governor of the state of New York, David Paterson, has announced that he plans to introduce new taxes aimed at creating revenue streams for the embattled budget. One of the newly introduced taxations will be aimed at video games, which will be tariffed more in this territorial division, if the state budget for 20...

19 December 2008
12:01 GMT

A Majority of Americans Now Play Videogames

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has published a new study related to the world of videogames. The main conclusion is the fact that a majority of adults in the United States are now playing videogames. The data comes from surveys conducted both in 2007 and in 2008 and the result is that 53% of all Americans o...

9 December 2008
18:11 GMT

New Study Links Video Games to Violence

The results of a study on three year olds, which was aimed at seeing how children are influenced by the forms of entertainment they consume, have been released. One of the conclusions of the study is that children who play violent video games are more likely to adopt an aggressive behavior in relation to their peers....

10 November 2008
05:53 GMT

France Wants to Ban Videogame Pirates

The French Senate, one of the two bodies which must approve a bill before it can become law, has just passed a measure aimed at banning “persistent pirates” from using the Internet. The measure was passed with an overwhelming majority. There were 297 votes for it and only 15 votes against it.The idea is t...

7 November 2008
04:10 GMT

E3 Will Be Bigger, Better

This year's E3, the trade show organized by the Entertainment Software Association, was a bit of a disappointment. Microsoft did not make any big announcement, other than revealing that the next Final Fantasy would not be a PlayStaton 3 exclusive, while Nintendo annoyed some fans by putting Wii Music at the cent...

21 October 2008
11:51 GMT

Congress Passed Anti-Piracy Bill

The Entertainment Software Association, the trade association which represents the video game publishers active in the United States, has endorsed the decision of the United States Congress to approve a bill called the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, also known as the PR...

15 October 2008
03:55 GMT

YouTube Wants to Sell You Some Videogames

We've already reported that Google is interested in getting into the in game advertising business, with Google AdSense for Games being launched in public beta, with the intention of targeting Flash, downloadable and casual games. Now, YouTube, which is owned by Google, also reveals that, in order to create new w...

9 October 2008
08:39 GMT


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