Kotaku: Dumb

Guide Gives Gamer Girls Handholding

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:40:31 MDT

Book time! British publisher Black Dog Media is releasing The Girl's Guide to Gaming, which is apparently a girl's guide to gaming. And because the book is a girl's guide, it is pink! Didn't you know that girls like pink? They do! And the DS Lite on the cover? So pink. Black Dog's James Gale explains:

Nintendo didn't want to fight over the same demographic as Sony, so they created a complete new one, a market in which it wasn't only boys that played games... It's hats off to Nintendo. Without their bravery to push the market away from the old boys' club, I doubt we would now be part of a fresh marketplace, where female gamers have been given a long overdue voice.

Yeah, because before the DS, girls just sat around, stared at the wall and ate rocks, too. No way they could play something as complex as the PS2! Good thing there's this guide — otherwise, we're sure they'd be totally at a loss. Hey, we haven't read this book and don't want judge this literary work by its cover. But damn, it's sure as shit hard not to.
Girl's Guide to Gaming [Digital Spy, Thanks shu!]

Yes, Stoves Do Melt Xbox 360s

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:00:14 MDT

The Xbox 360 is a fragile piece of hardware. Keep it running for long periods without proper ventilation, and it just might Red Ring of Death on you. Leave it running on a hot stove, and it will, well, it'll melt. Hell, pretty much leaving anything on a hot stove will cause gooey meltdown. Here's what apparently happened: Ty and his buddies were setting up for a Halo 3 LAN match and ran out of space to set up consoles. So, Ty and his buddies decided that, say, instead of putting it on the floor, they should put the Xbox 360 on the stove. And whoops, someone forgot to turn off the stove. You know, like people do. Look closely at the picture to see two things: 1). A third party cooling device 2). The handiwork of nitwits.
Don't Leave 360 on the Stove [Engadget]

Boy Fries Himself with Hot Hot Xbox 360

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:00:14 MDT

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Apparently, a 14 year-old North Carolina boy was almost killed trying to keep his Xbox 360 from overheating. According to local news, the boy's mother found her son unconscious after he attempted to submerge the console in a pan of water. "When I left to go next door he was playing a game but when I got back he was laying on his back on the floor and unconscious," she said. The console, wrapped in plastic and tape, was still plugged in. The kid has read online that he could keep his 360 from over heating by cooling its power supply. By the time the ambulance showed up, the boy had regained consciousness. Thankfully, when the ambulance arrived, the boy had regained his senses. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and suffered small burns on his hand and foot. Kids remember: No matter what the internet says, electricity and water are NOT friends. They're not even on speaking terms.
Boy Nearly Killed [Fun Tech Talk Game|Life]

Moron Pisses On PS2, Gets Electrocuted

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 16 May 2007 00:00:55 MDT

In honor of getting a PS3, some really smart students at the University of Wyoming (go Cowboy Joe & Pistol Pete!) decided to destroy their PS2. I mean, why not? The PS3 is sooooo much better than the PS2. One of the students thought it would be so hilarious to piss on the console, which happened to still be plugged in the wall. He was electrocuted and fell to the floor unconscious. After coming to about ten seconds later, the student was rushed to the hospital where a doctor's prognosis confirmed he was in fact an idiot. Brian Ashcraft

Man Pees On PS2 [Fox News, Thanks to all who sent this in!]

Wii Don't Need No TV

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:40:53 MST

Want to know the best thing about the Nintendo Wii? You can play it with the TV off! That is, at least according to Toys "R" Us Wii catalog. This is very good news for me, personally, as I do not currently own a television.

Wait. Maybe this is that last "secret" aspect of the Wii that not even Reggie knew about!

Thanks, Jesse, for this groundbreaking, revolutionary electronics news! Michael McWhertor

Jack Bitches About Bully's "Gay Sex"

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 08:22:03 MST

When asked how babies are made, a typical childhood response is kissing. Professional lawyer and idiot Jack Thompson still thinks this. Why? Because he is a child. Rockstar's Bully features two male characters smooching, which is enough for Thompson to go into bonkers mode. In a typically off-mark email to the company's CEO Paul Eiberler, Thompson cites the game's "gay sex" as "harmful to minors." Because, Jack wouldn't want a rash of boys unknowingly impregnating other boys by lip-locking. His characteristically small and bitter logic after the jump. Brian Ashcraft

Re: Gay Sex in Bully Video Game; Retail Sale of Sexual Material Harmful to Minors
It turns out that the school violence simulation game Bully also contains homosexual activity between the game's hero, Jimmy Hopkins, and other male students.

It is my legal opinion that the sale of this game to minors, which is presently occurring at your stores in Florida, violates Florida's "Sexual Material Harmful to Minors Statute," Florida Statute 847.102. Each such sale to a minor constitutes a separate felony. Such sales are occurring to children of all ages because of the game's wholly inappropriate "Teen" rating, as opposed to the "Mature" rating it deserves. A recent Reuters story indicates that parental concern about this is growing, as reportage of this new video game industry scandal is making headlines today around the world.

I already have pending a Florida lawsuit to stop the sale of Bully to minors, and now that we know that it contains not only high levels of unpunished violence but also homosexual acts the lawsuit will be amended to proceed against it and some of you who are defendants therein on these dual grounds.

I suggest strongly that all of you cease and desist all such sales in the United States immediately. Neither the game's maker, Take-Two, nor the Entertainment Software Rating Board, told you of this homosexual content, which constitutes a fraudulent and deceptive trade practice, in my opinion, on their parts, and I have alerted the Federal Trade Commission to this.

However, now each of you knows, and from now on, from this minute forward, you are all on the hook.

First guns, now gays and always games. There's only one thing Jack Thompson doesn't hate, and that's himself. Pitiful. Brian Ashcraft

Read Toots' Thoughtful Post [GayGamer]

Video of Mindless Drones Protesting Rockstar's Bully

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 09:11:14 MDT

This clip is BANANAS. B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Peaceholic's flock of bleating sheep do not make a good case for Take Two or Rockstar to worry about intelligent debate on the issue of Bully's level of violence and impact on younger players. Warning: This video contains words like "TURR'RISTS" and "MURICA" and arguments that might just make your eyes roll clean out of their sockets. Michael McWhertor

Video Games Rot Yer Brain Says Aussie Paper

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 15 May 2006 12:22:22 MDT

Video games rot your brain. So says The Sydney Morning Herald in a gloom and doom piece on the video game industry. To support this tired argument, the paper has university professors saying "The video game industry is taking the same approach that the tobacco industry took for many years." The Sydney Morning Herald then quotes Jack Thompson.

About what? No clue. I pretty much stopped reading the article at this point. There's something about Brain Age professor as someone who used to be against gaming, but has changed his mind due to Nintendo money. But who really cares? The Sydney Herald just proved it knows zlich about gaming.

More Here [SMH] Thanks, Jan!