Monday morning in Virgina, a 6-year-old kid misses his bus to school. What's a kid to do? He's about to be late! Well, obviously, take your family's car and get your tardy butt to the campus, of course! And that's just what the kid (name undisclosed, so we'll just call him "Lil Nicky" - you'll know why in a bit) did. Aren't kids just amazing these days? If they're not fighting battles in court to legalize hedgehogs, they're driving themselves to school.

*Update* CNN video included!

 Michael Pachter is at it again, analyzing and giving his thoughts on matters concerning the game industry. This time, he laments how much money could have been made if a timely game tie-in to the blockbuster The Dark Knight was released. He says Warner Bros. and EA may have missed out on US$ 100 million. More after the jump.

Atari just received a warning from NASDAQ stating it may be delisted for low stock market value. Even after patching things up with FUNimation, it seems the video game company is in the red once more. Find the details at the full article.

The Associated Press reports that a shareholder revolt at Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. this week "offed nearly as many executives as virtual characters in the video game company's violent titles," and that this shareholder revolt of sorts has led to the increase of Take-Two's stock.

Strauss Zelnick, former chief executive of BMG Entertainment, is the company's new non-executive Chairman. Ben Feder, formerly a senior executive at News Corp., a global media conglomerate, is set to replace Pal Eibeler, to former CEO and president of Take-Two.

The Associated Press article then decided to give some folks who are not so pleased with the content that Take-Two has distributed some focus. The article goes on to cover the many facets of videogame violence and the problems Take-Two has with Child Advocacy groups and legislators who are displeased with the content they release.

Yes, a whole lot of quotes from CEOs of non-profit organizations, some snippets of info about Hot Coffee, and descriptions of Grand Theft Auto and Bully that portray the titles as gore fests and not environments that give players the freedom to act irreverently.

Perhaps Take-Two's woes has more to do with management than with their content. It can be recalled that Take-Two's former chairman and CEO, Ryan A. Brant, became the first chief executive to be convicted of backdating stock options. The exec pleaded guilty last February in a New York state court to first-degree falsification of business records in a deal that lets him avoid incarceration. How GTA-esque.

Video game industry analyst Tom Gardner, CEO of Alexandria, Va.-based investment company The Motley Fool, notes:

Sometimes institutions play football with small public companies, and they can inflict a lot of damage if companies don't have a large enough ownership stake to protect against institutions that squeeze out profits in the near term.

...But in this case, the institutions look quite good: You have backdated options, hidden porn, accounting issues and mismanagement. You have management that was at best incompetent and at worst dishonest.

While we can understand his sentiment, Senator Barack Obama's choice of rhetoric was a bit stale. Game Politics notes an Associated Press report that mentions his use of gaming as an equivalent to slacking.

According to the Associated Press, Obama was heard saying this at a a recent promotional rally in Austin, Texas:

Obama told the Austin crowd that they should try to recruit their friends to support his campaign. "I want you to tell them, 'It's time for you to turn off the TV and stop playing Game Boy,'" Obama said. "We've got work to do."

It obviously wasn't meant as a literal term, as the senator's been somewhat vocal in getting newer voters to go out and rock the vote (for him, presumably). He previously criticized youth culture as "watching TV, playing video games, and avoiding tough classes in school." Whether or not he wins the elections, we just want to tell him one thing though: "The new handhelds are the DS Lite and PSP. Take your pick for your next performance."