Possession of illegal weapons might be a class 1 misdemeanor. Sending them out as swag, especially for a company like Electronic Arts, is a grade-A f***-up.

Now, speaking as someone who once had a cool swag idea that ran afoul of a corporate legal department ex post facto (very long story, do not ask) I'm sure the marketer behind this one was not considering the criminal code when he greenlighted the distribution of brass knuckles as a Godfather II promo. But I'm also sure he had a very adult conversation with risk management. And that he's not going to sit in the front seat next time two of his colleagues suggest they go out for lunch. Especially if cannolis are brought along.

On our end of things, bet half your ass and all your balls Jack Thompson just contacted the cop departments of his mostleast favorite games writers to alert them to the evildoing in their jurisdiction.

Still, corporate stupidity was not limited to the publishers; GameStop was called out for its "really-that's-new-ok-not-really" practice of letting titles played by staff go out the door advertised as brand new. That might acquaint them with the FTC, which is not a new genre (first-tower combat?). And I'm out of breath. That only covers two of the most outrageous things in the week of original reporting.

Lies, Damned Lies and Packaging
GameStop Sells Played Games As New, Sources Say, Practice Could Be Illegal

Statistics
Two Million Copies Of Deca Sports Shipped
British Sales Charts: The Early Bird Gets The Early British Sales Charts
Nintendo: DSi Sales Numbers High, No DS/Wii Price Cut
What Ware Did You Buy For Your DSi?

But You Shoulda Seen What GameStop Sent Us
EA Ships Illegal Weapons To Press, Wants Them Back

News
Play Final Fantasy VII On Your PS3... Now!
Gearbox: "Borderlands Is Not Cel-Shaded"
How Fighting Robots Helped Wright Quit EA
Cheap Bastards Can Play Final Fantasy XIII Too
New Tales Of Title For The Nintendo Wii

Feature
A Claim to Fame, in the Dodge City of Video Games
Spore Creator Wants to Make Toys Fun Again

Reviews, Previews, Impressions
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena Review: Fumbling In The Dark
Metal Gear Solid Touch Micro-Review
Frankenreview: Nintendo DSi
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Preview: Claws of War
Nintendo DSi Review: Not Quite Yet
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Hands-On
Dead Space Extraction Shakes Things Up

Speed Dating
Wii Sports Resort, MotionPlus Out In July
Rock Band Unplugged Dated

Rumortaku
Harmonix Designer Unwittingly Confirms LEGO Rock Band
Three Companies Eye Midway For Buy Out
What Were Big Huge Games Working On (And Have They Found A Buyer)?
Amazon Selling Xbox 360 Digital Games, Wii, PS3 Incoming?

Roomateaku
Room 4 Rent (No Zombies!)

Sweet Home, Chicago
A Little Floor Play
How To Waste $5 on the Xbox 360 in Chicago

Kotaku Reader
K3

Send an email to the author of this post at .