While I love kart games, I've never been a big fan of "realistic" racing games. I like a little fantasy with my games, something that makes me forget that I live in the real world. But, I decided to put my reservations aside and take the game on it's own merits.

The track I tried out had an African Safari theme and the graphics were nice if not a little typical. It looked very real and the terrain physics were well done. As you raced around the track, your car would leave ruts in the dirt that would still be there when you came back around and would affect your driving. Tearing through puddles will cause you to slide around, but I would have loved to have seen some mud splashed on the screen for a little extra effect.

Three times around the track and it was over, leaving me feeling a little blase'. Overall it seemed like a pretty decently put together driving game but with nothing terribly new or spectacular to really make it stand out. Fans of the genre may enjoy it as another addition to their library, but if you weren't a fan before, I doubt Sega Rally will change your mind.

Harvard's new afterschool club called Harvard Interactive Media Group, or HIMG for short, is laying the groundwork for all of those Ivy League students to have the ability to communicate to each other the values and virtues of the gaming experience without the added benefit of, I don't know, playing the games with each other. Instead there's a lot of forum discussions on comparisons between games, art, and film, as well as relationships between gaming and real-world scenarios. It's riveting. Any club with a mission like this is bound win a lot of members:

(HIMG) bring(s) together Harvard students and professors with members of academic and professional communities beyond to explore the form and impact of interactive media.

It's a frat party without the beer and we all know how long those last. Kim Phu

PLUGGED IN [The Crimson via Joystiq]

The corporate world is about to get its game on. Newly founded TrainingPort Strategies plans to develop video games and sims for white collar workers. Company founder Joe Biglin says they'll;

help corporations improve employee skills and capabilities through the use of engaging educational experiences.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz.................

The "corpo video games" run the gamut of boards games to "fully customized, highly visual fidelity simulators." Heh, sounds like a blast! A step up from instructional videos, but way worse, because you are actually required to pay attention. Brian Ashcraft

White Collar Games [QJ.Net]

I kinda felt sad when I heard that New York City was declaring today Final Fantasy XII day and that I wasn't going to be able to catch it... and then I saw the videos, they're almost as boring as the plot to most of the FF games.

If uninspired cosplay, politicians yammering on endlessly and lines of fanboys and girls alternately cooing over Square art and asking stupid questions, is your cup of tea, here's two heaping mouthfuls courtesy of The Software Pirates. Brian Crecente

Happy Final Fantasy Days [The Software Pirates]

Here's something that's perfect for the UK and its former colonies. This plug-and-play cricket features realist bat and ball. Motion sensors detect the batsman's swings and the bowler's bowl. Apparently players must use the "proper" bowling motion for the action to register on the game. What's more, the motion-sensitive ball is outfitted with a directional pad and three buttons that dictate spin!

Confession: I hate cricket. And no, it's not because I am American or because I grew up on baseball. It's because any sport that goes on for days and can end in a tie is utterly insipid. That being said, indoor cricket I played years back in Australia was the bee's knees. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [New Launches]

TITS AHOY! Do not click this unless you are in a T&A safe place, you dig?

Behold, the utterly nonsensical trailer for the new Jenna Jameson porn game. Jenna wakes up in the Matrix, blasts some truly shitty techno, and does the best impression of Elaine's infamous dance from Seinfeld that I have ever seen in a pornographic medium.

Florian assures me that her mammaries don't bounce in real life, either, and I think we can all take his word for it.

What's really weird is that Florian has that exact same pajama set. I kid you not. Eliza gauger

Anyone expecting the anime equivalent of Dragon's Lair will be sorely disappointed, but if you accept Muta Juice for what it is, it's a fun little story of a boy who drinks an alien liquid, turns into a giant robot, takes on an alien force and gets to choose which girl he falls in love with at the end.

So it's a mecha dating sim alien invasion mashup that plays like a Choose Your Own Adventure. With crappy graphics. Score! Eliza gauger

(thanks SomethingAwful for the pic)

Read full review here, just for the amazing plot synopsis. [Siliconera]

According to the Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry, or EFATCAVGI as I like to call it, the average age of gamers is now 33, or just two years younger than me. And the average age of the typical game purchaser is 40. Wait, does that mean that people are getting their older brothers to buy their games for them?

The industry sold 228.5 million games last year for a total of $7 billion and forty-two percent of Americans have purchased or plan to purchase one or more games in 2006.'

Hit the jump for more lid-drooping numbers. —Brian Crecente

Demographics: Sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer or video games. The average age of a game player is 33, while the average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 40. In 2005, twenty-five percent of game players were over the age of 50. The average adult gamer has played for 12 years. [1]
Game Content: Forty-nine percent of games sold in 2005 were rated "Everyone," while thirty-two percent were rated "Teen." Sixteen out of twenty of the best selling games were rated "E" or "T". [3] Eighty-nine percent of parents are present at the time their children purchase or rent games, and sixty-one percent believe games are a positive part of their children's lives. [2]
Parents and Games: Thirty-five percent of American parents play computer and video games. Among these gamer parents, eighty percent report playing video games with their children, and sixty-six percent say playing games has brought their families closer together. The typical gamer parent is 37 years old, and forty-seven percent of gamer parents are women. [2]
Online and Wireless Games: Forty-four percent of the most frequent gamers report playing games online, up from nineteen percent in 2000. Thirty-two percent of heads of households report playing games on wireless devices such as cell phones or PDA's, up from twenty percent in 2002. [1]
Industry Sales: The industry sold 228.5 million game units in 2005, for total sales of $7 billion. [3] Forty-two percent of Americans have purchased or plan to purchase one or more games in 2006. [1]