Usually, the trend has been to experience a noticeable dip in the amount of news coming out the week before the GDC. However, this year's pre-event week proved to be a rather different one from those I've experienced in the past. Unexpectedly, but fortunately, there were a great deal of updates. It was a busy one, alright, and thank God you stuck with us throughout the week, making it such a blast!

Now that evidence shows that Cho Seung Hui didn't own a single video game at the time of the Tragic shooting, a new article over at MSNBC questions Thompson's fervent accusations. This is in light of his recent interview wherein he responded to IGDA criticism.

The MSNBC article notes that contrary to Thompson's claims of counterstrike being a "killing simulator" for youths, Cho didn't need much skill to shoot as many people as he did. Eye witness accounts indicate that many of the victims were shot at point blank range.

Moreover the article notes that Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern California and author of the book "Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth" points out that before this week's Virginia Tech massacre, the most deadly school shooting in history took place at the University of Texas in Austin way back in 1966, before the days of pong.

The article says that nobody realises that since the advent of videogames, violence rates in the US have declined "precipitously." Sternheimer even notes that it is likely that any 23-year-old man living in America has already played a videogame. How many 23-year-old men go out on a killing spree?

The MSNBC article goes on to note this nice gem:

For those who didn't grow up playing video games, the appeal of a game like "Counter-Strike" can be hard to comprehend. It can be difficult to understand that the game promotes communication and team work. It can be hard fathom how players who love to run around gunning down their virtual enemies do not have even the slightest desire to shoot a person in real life.

As a commenter on Digg noted, the truth is that massive multiplayer killing fests are really just slightly more complex and themed versions of cops-and-robbers. An online and engaging visual form of "tag" wherein players "tag" one another in the form of virtual kills, in a world where there are no real consequences. A game of tag in a world where death isn't really malicious or evil, or "desensitising" - death only means waiting for the next play round or respawn.

It is a competitive environment where sportsmanship is still the norm; where it is expected that after all the boasting and chest-thumping is done, the winning party will get up and shake the losing party's hand and say "good game."

 

Wired recently run an article debunking the rumor that iconic game maker Square Enix is changing its business model to that of a publisher which exclusively creates sequels and remakes of existing franchises under its library. The source was traced and light was shed on exactly what happened.

It turns out that the rumor wasn't even meant to be one at all. DailyGamingNews wrote a parody on Final Fantasy VIII and made some fictitious statements on what the future holds for Square Enix. It was put up on Digg and it says ".... the days are numbered for new titles from Square-Enix. Their Japanese language website dropped a bombshell on the gaming world late Wednesday night Japanese time when they stated a change in their current business model that would focus solely on re-releases of older games and the occasional direct sequel to existing titles."

What followed was a witch's brew of sarcasm regarding Final Fantasy VIII and a made-up sequel for it, seasoned with coarse language unmentionable in this blog. Unfortunately, a site called PlayStation Universe took the joke as gospel truth and wrote a serious story about it. Joystiq and Destructoid picked it up and the rest was history.

   

Wired says there's nothing on the Japanese Square Enix site that suggests anything that even hints to any validity for the rumor. Nobody commented on it from the Square camp and we take that as a good indication that the PlayStation Universe article is indeed a total hogwash.

The Digg title said "Research: Video Games Make You Stupid" catchy, yes, but that wasn't what the whole story was about. Basically, the report on InformationWeek said that a January survey by Harris Interactive of more than 1,100 youths aged 8 to 18 revealed that addicted hardcore gamers receive lower grades in school than their peers.

It's not that it automatically makes you dumber. It's just that they noted that those addicted were more likely to be diagnosed with an attention deficit problem... ooh look balloon. Where was I? Oh yeah. The Harris Interactive study also found that that aside from performing poorly in school, the addicts are more likely to get into physical fights and are physically heavier than non addicts.

Not all studies have shown that videogame play is negative. A previous study conducted last year by Beth Israel Medical center in New York found that surgeons who played video games before participating in a performance test completed it more than 11 seconds faster than doctors who don't play games. Yes folks, problems solving skills, the ability to see connections, and overall hand-eye coordination. Classic stuff gamers have been spouting in defense of their passion.

So what's with the videogames makes you dumber title in the Digg post? Well, the guy who dug was just probably looking for diggs, and probably felt that a catchy title was needed.

Simple explanation for all of this: More time on videogames, less time to study, unless you're a freakin' genius you're bound to fail a test - any test - that you didn't study for. More time on videogames, less time for physical activity - well thank god for the Wii. And lastly, More time on videogames, means less time socially, meaning more time getting bullied and beaten up. There's your "physical fights" right there. I mean, if you came across the guy in the video below, wouldn't you want to beat some sense into him?

Oh, and ignore my simple explanation. I'm no expert.

 

Well, if it isn't April Fools Day, it's certainly a time for strange news. As reported on digg.com">Digg and first broken by Squid News, it seems that Richard "Dampe" Denton, the creator of video game Ocarina of Time 2D, may not actually be dead.

The post on Squid News outlines a rather plausible account of fact-checking the events behind Dampe's death. Furthermore, it seems his accounts on MSN and MySpace have remained active, which does indicate that someone's using his accounts, at the very least.

Unfortunately, due to the timing of this news, we're still calling this a rumor for now. It could just be a very bad joke, but it also could be an attempt of the developer to get away from the pressures of having to work on OoT2D. In either case, we're hoping more evidence points to his being alive than dead, just so everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.

Yes, folks, for those who may not have been aware of it, this would be a good time to point out to you that the Internet (well, it was actually just Digg...) has practically imploded (yet again) for the better part of today.

The reason for this? One line out of Reggie Fils-Aime's mouth, spoken at this year's Game Developers Conference and directed at Sony's Phil Harrison. One line which may actually end up immortalized in video game history books, web comics, blog entries, and trivia centers for years to come.

As eloquently documented by Wired's Susan Arendt, this was how the whole thing went:

"Kick his ass and take his name!" someone shouted from a few rows behind me.

"Who?" answered Reggie in mid-autograph. "Phil Harrison, front row!" Sure enough, there was Phil Harrison, seated dead center, front row. Looks like he could show up on time for Nintendo’s keynote, but not Sony’s.

With a grin and a chuckle, Reggie replies, "Some would say we’ve already done that."

Touchdown. The crowd goes wild.

We're pretty sure this was all said in the spirit of friendly competition, and that any added color that others may have perceived in that exchange were most probably based on their own console preferences and biases.

For all we know, Harrison and Fils-Aime may have gone off together afterwards and had a successful Molten Core run with the rest of their guild in World of Warcraft. We'll never know.

Let's go a bit off-topic here. While going over Digg, we found this sweet submitted news by a guy named Scott Davies. Apparently, he just celebrated his 20th birthday and his angel of a girlfriend bought him a white DS Lite as her present. The surprises didn't end there as along with the DS handheld, Scott's girl also baked him a cake.

The cake is no ordinary pastry as it was actually a DS cake, complete with touch screen and stylus. Now, that's just cute... But wait till you see their wedding cake, perhaps it's going to be a Wii, when that time comes, but then again, who knows? Anyhow, here are the cute pics of the DS Lite and the DS Cake.