The National Institute on Media and the Family is to release its 13th annual video game report card today and have given a list of 10 games parents should not buy their children.
They are Blitz: The League II, Gears of War 2, Saints Row 2, Dead Space, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Legendary, Left 4 Dead, Resistance 2 and Silent Hill: Homecoming.
The group recommended the following five T-rated games: Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band 2, Rock Revolution, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Shaun White Snowboarding.
To quote: Bloodshed and brutality are staples in the list of 10 games to avoid. All the games were M-rated, intended for those aged 17 and over.
"Blitz: The League II" players can target which body part of their football rivals they want to injure. Warriors in "Gears of War 2" use a combination rifle and chain saw. "Saints Row 2" features gang violence and allows players to shoot police officers.
Ninety per cent of the young people who seek treatment for compulsive computer gaming are not addicted.
So says Keith Bakker the founder and head of Europe's first and only clinic to treat gaming addicts.
The Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam, has treated hundreds of young gamers since the clinic opened in 2006. But the clinic is changing its treatment as it realises that compulsive gaming is a social rather than a psychological problem.
Using traditional abstinence-based treatment models the clinic has had very high success rate treating people who also show other addictive behaviours such as drug taking and excessive drinking.
But Mr Bakker believes that this kind of cross-addiction affects only 10% of gamers. For the other 90% who may spend four hours a day or more playing games such as World of Warcraft, he no longer thinks addiction counselling is the way to treat these people.
Get some dismemberment action on before chowing down on turkey and stuffing. Below is the official press release, courtesy of EA!
Press Release: Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that a free* downloadable demo for the award-winning videogame Dead Space will be launched on November 25th. The stunning demo showcases the critically acclaimed combat and strategic dismemberment of the epic sci-fi action game.
The demo comes just in time for holiday gift buyers to get a taste of the gore and action that has made the game a critical and commercial hit. The demo will be available at the PlayStation Store in North America and Xbox LIVE Marketplace worldwide*. In Europe, the demo will be available at the PlayStation Store on November 27th.
Winner of over 27 critic awards and currently nominated for Best Action Adventure Game on Spike TV's upcoming 2008 Video Game Awards on December 14th, gamers can experience a taste of, as GamePro magazine says, "..... More »
Courtesy of marketwire via YouTube, below is a video and related Press Release as the ESRB announces rating summaries, a new source of information for parents about video game content.
Press Release: ESRB Announces New Video Game Rating Summaries
New Resource Provides Parents With More Detailed Information on Game Content Just in Time for the Holiday Shopping Season
The ESRB announces rating summaries, a new source of information for parents about video game content.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - November 12, 2008) - The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which assigns age and content ratings for computer and video games, today announced the availability of "rating summaries," a new, supplementary source of information about game content that parents can use when considering which games to purchase for their children this holiday season and beyond.
By now, the term 'Next-gen' has transformed itself into 'Current-gen' in the minds of videogame enthusiasts. Gamers all across the world have seen what the consoles are capable of, played the cream of the crop, bickered about which version has more Trees, etc.
While there have been a few flops this Gen (Yes, we're looking at YOU Too Human & Lair) there have certainly been plenty of hits. With excellent software having been released for all 3 platforms, we turn our attention to the teams behind the software.
#5- Nintendo EAD (Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports, LOZ: Twilight Princess)
Nintendo's dramatic shift into casual gaming caused a lot of anger and complaints: "Why all the casual games?!?", "Do they even care about core gamers?!! "What The heck is WiiFit?", all these were questions thrown at the Japanese video game juggernaut.
While it's clear the 'Old Nintendo' is long gone, the 'new' Nintendo still has the most valuable feature of... More »
Pinnacle Software and developer Doublesix are excited to announce the upcoming release of what will surely prove to be one of the most addictive and charismatic arcade shooters of 2009 - Burn Zombie Burn, available on PlayStation®Network early Q1.
Press Release: GUILDFORD, ENGLAND, October 24th 2008 – You play Bruce – an average every-day Joe who was looking forward to some ‘quality time’ with his girlfriend Daisy. In true B-movie style their Saturday night is ruined by an invasion of zombies.
Set across six classic American horror movie inspired levels, Burn Zombie Burn is a third-person shoot-em-up in the classic coin-op tradition featuring next-gen game play mechanics, and possessing that ‘one-more-go’ addictiveness which define all of the great shooters.
The aim of the game couldn’t be simpler; shoot, burn and blow up as many brain munching zombies as possible using a variety of classic zombie killing weapons before they overwh... More »
Press Release: Burlingame, CA -- October 21, 2008 -- KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that a free demo of DYNASTY WARRIORS®6 for Windows-based PC is now ready for download. Gamers can visit the recently re-launched DYNASTY WARRIORS 6 minisite at www.koei.com/dw6 for more details.
The full version of DYNASTY WARRIORS 6 for Windows-based PC will be available for purchase on November 18, 2008 exclusively through digital download for residents of North America and Brazil.
The new Xbox 360 Dashboard OS update is coming soon and it is going to be one of the biggest changes to the Xbox 360 since the system hit the market.
It is going to include the first complete redesign of the Xbox interface called the NXE by all the cool kids. The New Xbox Experience (NXE) is going to be the best thing to hit the Xbox and it is going to completely redefine how we use it.
One of the niftiest things at Penny Arcade Expo 08 was seeing the new Xbox dashboard. Xbox Live's own Major Nelson showed it off. He made sure to stress that it is still a work in progress and that there was an army of programmers over in Redmond that were cranking out code and testing it as he gave the demo.
As a side note if you ever go to a game expo or press event and Major Nelson asks you not to film something in the presentation and you do it anyway and then go on and keep on filming after he notices you and calls you out and you don't stop it then y... More »
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