Not just physical games like Wii Fit, mind you — even regular thumb-based gaming can help you fight the flab.

Before you all rush off and cancel your gym memberships, bear in mind that this report was in UK tabloid The Sun as opposed to, say, New Scientist or Nature.

The key may lie with this quote -

Tests showed holding a control and moving your arms to navigate characters burned 40 per cent more calories than doing nothing.

Well, ok. Calorie-Count.com estimates that you burn 68 calories an hour just sitting around breathing and growing hair. An extra 40% of that comes to around 95 calories an hour. A short walk will burn around 275 calories - around the amount found in a Snickers - which might explain why you see so few games consoles in your local gym.

Computer Games Can Help You Stay Slim [The Sun]

In retrospect, it was silly of me to be so worried that being an "adult" meant I wouldn't be able to play videogames. I believe that part of my maturation into what I consider to be real adulthood came in the form of learning to juggle all the new "adult" responsibilities I've taken on with the hobbies I've always held dear, most notably gaming.

Thinking back to when I was growing up, my parents kept up with their hobbies just the same as I do now .... I can vividly remember both of them pursuing their favorite pastimes on a daily basis while still keeping up with their parental and familial duties.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Balance is a hard skill to master, and I'm looking forward to having more time to game in future years when I've nailed down the best way to fit in everything I love to do. It's occasionally painful to come to grips with having to reconfigure well-loved hobbies in sometimes dramatic ways (I've given up much loved hobbies entirely until I get out of grad school, mostly because the time-money conundrum cannot be worked out), but it is nice to 'have it all' when you can make it work.

'All Grown Up: A Gamer Comes to Grips With Adulthood' [GameSetWatch]

We've been doing this for over eight years — we have more experience in this field than any other company — and by now we've made offers to just about every Hollywood name you can think of... When it comes to Damon, we've [made] several game offers to him over the years and have consistently found that he's not interested in working in the field.

Top Ten List [Jyouhouya]

• Installing PC games using MS-DOS (and often boot discs)
• Switching auto-fire on and off during a game
• Blowing into a catridge to get the damn thing to work
• Trying to grab every single extra life to use on a difficult final boss
• Getting into actual playground fights about who was better, Mario or Sonic. Now that was extreme fandom rather than all this message board fighting that modern console rivals do.

Anything other ideas? Let's hear 'em!
What Are Your Obsolete Gaming Skills? [Guardian Unlimited] [Pic]

What does hardcore gaming mean? Do we have a similar term for books? Do people say, "He's a hardcore reader"? I guess they'd say so-and-so is a bookworm. But "hardcore"? It's such a severe term. If games are going to be a truly dominate form of entertainment, they need to be approachable. Approachable doesn't mean a lesser game experience in any way, but rather, a streamlined one. That should actually help gaming!

I think what people are worried about is dumbed down gaming. Like that casual players will need some pandering. If developers are smart, they'll make things more intuitive, rather than dumber. That way they can appease new and experienced players.

Unsurprisingly, those not weened on joysticks, like 55-year old mother Karen Kimball, bemoan"the violence, the obsession" their kids are subjected to while gaming. One might think that more time alloted to spending time with your kid and a wireless controller might help one relate a bit better.

Kids, it's time to add copies of Scene It? and Wario Ware Smooth Moves to the Amazon wish list. Get a wireless controller into the hands of your crusty old folks the sooner the better.

Poll: Parents and video games don't mix [CNN]

It's a common misconception that gaming is a solitary activity, as today an increasing number of titles are for gamers to get together and play in turn. In this respect, it's no different to golf — a game which can be a source of marital friction but is rarely accused of incitement to murder... Games like Halo are part of such a large sub-culture that people who don't play them are likely to be seen as oddballs and excluded from many conversations — in much the same way as people who aren't interested in football or who don't have a television.

BBC to make a play for computer games market after phone-ins scandal [Scotland on Sunday via Gamasutra]

• Animators
• Mission/Scenario/Level Designers
• Marketing/PR
• Business Development
• Script writers

Interview responses can be kept confidential (if you say bad things) or made public (if you say good things) at the interviewee's request. There is no financial compensation for the interview, but the authors will be more than happy to send any interviewees (whose answers they use) a copy of the book when it's published this Fall. No, they will be tickled pink.

Please respond to bryan_stratton@hotmail.com by July 2nd if you are interested. If you're not, then don't! Brian Ashcraft

With the standard line being that "video games are bad," it's nice to see people actually being encouraged to play them. Nicer when it's librarians being encouraged to play them. At the annual American Library Association meeting in Washington, a room full of librarians were recommended to get their game on. The reason? Today's students are "digital natives," while librarians are "digital immigrants" — meaning that librarians might have embraced tech and learned the language, but it's still not their first language.

According to James Paul Gee, a linguist who is the Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Why Video Games Are Good for Your Soul author, digital natives never read the instruction booklet before playing. Rather, they just figure it out as they go along. So students shouldn't be expecting to read a big instruction booklet of tools they'll be using in the library. What's more, tools should be designed with this in mind. In hopes of connecting with today's students, George M. Needham, vice president for member services of the Online Computer Library Center, even suggested that libraries host LAN parties in the libraries after hours and that librarians themselves play more video games.

Wow, libraries just got a little cooler. Brian Ashcraft

Librarians Urged To Game [Inside Higher Ed via Game|Life]

Some of our readers have bred, which might or might not be a good thing. But, it does give them an understanding of what gaming is, that it's not bad or evil. The Guardian points to a gaming parent post written by the mother of a 16 year-old son. It details how Super Mario 64, Halo and PG-13 rated trash talk has brought them closer. There's From the post:

I played badly at first but I would sneak into his room at night while he was asleep to practice and hone my skills. His gaming time was limited because he was young and reading and learning were more important at his age; each night we would play for an hour and on weekends a couple of hours per day. We would take turns on the controller. I would usually only play if he was having a hard time getting through something. We each would have our attempts at defeating the unbeatable bosses. I shared in the excitement when after 20 grueling tries he would finally beat a level or boss and I would bask in the hugs, kisses and pride when I beat a level or boss he could not defeat. And yes I even spent late nights while he slept looking for hints and walk-throughs.

How sweet. The post is gooey, schmaltzy and slightly heavy handed — Important words are put in bold to drive home the point. Still, it's really nice to see this kind of stuff. What about Kotaku-land? Anyone game with their children or parents? Brian Ashcraft

Gaming Parents [2old2play via The Guardian]

More Dutch bashing over the interweb as Commodore is releasing the sale of their new box-thing dedicated to PC gamers. As of today, those living in Great Britain and Ireland who want to shell out from $1,759 GBP ($3,500 US, baby) can order it online at the Commodore Gaming site.

From BBC News:

The first four PCs in the Commodore range sport Intel Core Duo or Quad processors, have up to 4GB of RAM, two video cards and hundreds of gigabytes of hard drive storage. All the machines run Windows Vista...

Commodore also has a library of almost 100 designs that consumers can have painted on the case of their machine. Eventually it hopes to encourage customers, artists and others to submit designs that can be painted on PCs.

As most of you know, I'm Mac scum, so I'm not shelling out my Euros for this. However, as a visitor in their country, I want the Dutch to do well, so show us "IT IS POSSIBLE"! Kim Phu

Commodore Gaming releases high-end PC [Joystiq]

Brandon Sheffield over at Insert Credit points to a delightful post by Mathew Kumar (pictured happy dude) and his lady friend that lists 52 game similes to describe your relationship. Just dive right in and take a look at some stand outs:

Our relationship is like...

4. Tetris. Shit keeps piling up.

7. Red Steel. I'm just waving my hands in the air and nothing is happening.

31. Ico. You're completely helpless, and I'm sick of dragging you around everywhere.

27. Kirby's Dream Land. No matter how hard I suck, I can't get you all in my mouth.

42. Oregon Trail. It's dying of dysentery.

The whole list is clever and cute as hell. Swing by, take a peek. Brian Ashcraft

The Rest [Mathew Kumar via Insert Credit]

I came across this little Princess Lea and R2-D2 figurine made by Gentle Giant and was like, "Why is Lara Croft with R2D2?" when I realized that this is the new look for cartoon Lea. So of course, a hunt down to find other babes in gameland ensued and I found QJ's Top 10 List of gaming vixens, which are as follows:

1. The Dead or Alive Girls (Dead or Alive series)
2. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider series)
3. Tifa (Final Fantasy VII)
4. Zelda
5. Chun Li (Street Fighter series)
6. Samus Aran (Metroid series)
7. Morrigan Aensland (Dark Stalkers)-
8. Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)
9. Mai Shiranui (King of Fighters)
10. Maria Renard (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)

Now I'm not opposed to big breasts or blond hair, I'm just saying if there have been medical breakthroughs in the real world that some of the girls in the digital realm should, I don't know, LOOK DIFFERENT?! Every girl on this list falls under Chun-Li clone or Lara-Croft look-a-like. Kim Phu

Weekend Slowdown Our Top 10 hottest game babes to date [Wii QJ]

BBC is reporting that World of Warcraft gamers are being targeted by a group of hackers using the cursor hack that takes advantage of a flaw in the way Windows handles animated cursors.

The story says Warcraft players have become targets because there's so much money tied to the game's millions of accounts.

Research by security firm Symantec suggests that the raw value of a WoW account is now higher than a credit card and its associated verification data.

One card can be sold for up to $6 ( 3) suggests Symantec, but a WoW account will be worth at least $10. An account that has several high level characters associated with it could be worth far more as the gold and rare items can be sold for real cash.

In a bid to head off the growing threat from the animated cursor flaw, Microsoft took the unusual step of releasing a patch for the bug on 3 April.

Now get out there and download that patch. Brian Crecente

Cursor hackers target WoW players [BBC]

No, I'm not talking about those half-horse, half-humans, this is about people 100 or older.

According to the second annual Evercare 100 @ 100 survey, nearly a third of centenarians have watched a reality show, more than a quarter have seen a music video or watched MTV, nearly a quarter have purchased a CD and one in seven have played a video game. Brian Crecente

Evercare 100 @ 100 Survey [Evercare Health]

Wow, just wow.

Norwegian Cruise Line just announced that they are installing Wii consoles on all of their cruise ships over the next month.

The systems will be equipped with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Excite Truck and WarioWare: Smooth Moves. The consoles will be located in the ships' atriums and other public rooms where guests can gather and play. Also, each ship's Kid's Crew facility will include to Wii kiosks with games and the ships plan to host tournaments.

"With its active, engaging and inviting game experiences appealing to every age from kids to parents to grandparents, the Wii from Nintendo is a natural fit for Freestyle Cruising," said Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO. "With the addition of Wii to our on-board activities, we can now offer bowling, boxing, golf, tennis and baseball across the entire fleet. Cheering, yelling and high-fives will be highly encouraged." "Millions of people around the world continue to discover the fun of playing Wii with their friends and families," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Norwegian Cruise Line is a great partner, as they offer us direct access to non-traditional gamers. Our partnership reinforces how Wii's social phenomenon continues to grow, from the centerpiece of gaming parties, to a workout supplement, to a fun facet of vacation cruises."

The Wiis are already installed on the Norwegian Pearl and will be hitting the rest of the NCL fleet by next month.

This essentially elevates video gaming to rock climbing and karaoke on cruise ships. Sure it's good for Nintendo, but I think it's good for all gamers as well.

We totally need to do a Kotaku Kruise. Brian Crecente

Me, I like easy games. Games with LOTS of save points that I can coast through and finish and not frustrate myself in the process. As soon as it gets super duper hard, I check out. But, I'm a big pansy. Some of you are not pansies, but skilled gaming humans. Good for you.

Polling editors, IGN put a list together of the hard games. They are:

• 10. Ninja Gaiden Black
• 9. Devil May Cry 3
• 8. Battletoads
• 7. R-Type
• 6. MDK2
• 5. Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts
• 4. F-Zero GX
• 3. Shinobi
• 2. Mega Man
• 1. Contra

Agree, disagree, got anything to add? Brian Ashcraft

Hard Games [IGN via The Last Boss]

Some people just never learn. After GamesRadar's last attempt at gay humor went sour, writer Matt Cundy has inexplicably decided to try it again. Maybe he's trying to make up for past transgressions, or maybe he's just trying to grab some readers who would be intrigued by a headline like "Men Kissing Men", but in either case, the mark has been missed again. It's not that the material is particularly homophobic as much as it is poorly executed. The attempts at humor get a bit lost in the pure blandness of the article itself and after reading it I'm left with the feeling of "What's your point?" and more importantly, what is your intended audience with this piece?

At the GDC I had the pleasure of sitting in on a GLBT (That's Gay, Lesbian Bi and Transgendered for the uninitiated) developers roundtable. One of the things discussed was how to create more visibility for gay people within the gaming community, but I don't think this is exactly what they had in mind. Unfortunately, I think articles such as this one do more of a disservice to gay people by giving the whole thing the air of a circus sideshow. Perhaps if this was written for ingestion by a gay audience it would seem a little different, but somehow I doubt it.

I'm sure there are plenty of those who'd still be shocked to learn that there are men who do kiss men, but in this age of Bully and Brokeback Mountain, I think that number is slowly dwindling. I would like to think that we have progressed to a point where this type of thing wouldn't be such a big deal, but being myself a gay man in a gamer's world, I know that it's just not the case.

In the case of Mr. Cundy's gay articles, however, I leave you with the immortal words of the venerable Mr. Quentin Crisp: "If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style." Flynn De Marco

Heard the latest? "Video games aren't for kids anymore" says Reuters. Had no idea! Oh yes, just look at this Nielsen/Net Ratings data:

• 37 percent of American adults who go online own a game console.
• 16 percent own a portable gaming device.
• 71 percent of those adults are married.
• 66 percent of them have one or more children.

Not only adults, but adults who have had SEX. With other people. And can prove it. Incredible. What is the reason for this, pundits? Says Nielsen's Carolyn Creekmore:

As game consoles have become increasingly sophisticated, families have incorporated them into their centralized home media centers, which include the television, digital recording device, digital music player and the PC.

Huh. And here we are thinking that video games were just played by teenagers in their basement. Brian Ashcraft

Video Games Grown Up. Finally! [Reuters]

While the game adaptation of 300 ended up on the PSP, the film's director, Zack Snyder, hopes his upcoming cinematic version of Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen will end up on consoles. "It has to be more than the movie," he says. Synder, who also directed the Dawn of the Dead remake, is a gamer himself. What's the answer for the movie gaming marriage? Synder says:

The game-playing experience is different from a movie. Kids who play video games like to watch movies. And people who watch movies like to play video games, but they're like lunch and dinner. They inform the other thing, but they don't replace it.

Zack Snyder is one smart man. Brian Ashcraft

300 Director Talks Gaming [Game Daily via 1Up]

A 330 pound (150 kilogram) Chinese man spends "almost all" of his seven day holiday playing online computer games and dies. And guess what's blamed for the 25 year-old's death? Yup. Says a local teacher in LIaoning province where the man passed away:

There are only two options. TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV and cafeterias are shut down?

Are you sure there are only two options? Brian Ashcraft

Gaming Blamed For Obese Man's Death [CNN]

This promotional video is a pretty good Akihabara introduction for newbies. Though, the lady's wooden line readings might lull you to sleep before you finish watc.... zzz.... zzz.... Brian Ashcraft

Learn About Akiba [Japan Sugoi]

It appears the news we broke last week of Slamdance removing the Columbine game from their lists of finalists and why has created quite the shitstorm, for lack of a better word.

Ian Bogost reports over on Water Cooler Games growing list of reactions to the decision:

Kelee Santiago pulled Slamdance finalist and future PS3 title flOw from the competition in protest.

To hear that the game had been pulled was deeply discouraging. As a group, our opinions on the quality of the game itself range, but we can all agree on one thing: it deserved to be there.

We also agree that the act of pulling SCMRPG is one we cannot condone. But how best to protest this action? Going to the festival, at which prizes are awarded, only to criticize its organizers seemed unfair at best, and hypocritical at worst. Therefore, we have decided to withdraw flOw from the competition. We agree with Jonathan Blow:

Jonathan Blow, creator of finalist Braid, has also pulled his game from the competition.

The game lacks compassion, and I find the Artist's Statement disingenuous. But despite this, the game does have redeeming value. It does provoke important thoughts, and it does push the boundaries of what games are about. It is composed with more of an eye toward art than most games. Clearly, it belongs at the festival.

So, in protest of game's expulsion, I have dropped Braid out of the competition as well.

Raph Koster has spoken up on the subject.

Dismissing the game "on moral grounds" essentially argues that it is exploitative; yet we do not necessarily consider clearly issue-driven films or books as exploitative. Rather, the sensitivity of the subject seems to be what is pushing the needle here. Can games, which some allege caused Columbine, then comment on Columbine without being regarded as exploitative?

SCMRPG is no great shakes as a game in its own right. It doesn't even try to do something new on that front. Instead, it's incurring controversy based on artwork, content, and most importantly, the medium that it happens to be in. Were its RPG plot excised and written out as a book, would anyone raise an eyebrow? Probably not.

As has Slamdance Game Fest sponsor Greg Costikyan, of Manifesto Games. Costikyan, while continuing to support the fest, has created a permanent place for the game on Manifesto's site.

As gamers, and those who love games, our reponse to this game, and to the criticism of it, should not be to hide, or run away, or hope that it goes away. Instead it should be to say: You do not understand, nor are you attempting to understand. This is not a glamorization of the murderers, nor yet a trivialization of the tragedy; it is a work of serious artistic intent and accomplishment, based on considerable research, that in fact illuminates and reflects the horror of that day. Just as there are novels of the Holocaust, there can be a game of Columbine, and neither need trivialize a tragedy.

Andrew Stern and Michael Mateas, winners of last year's Slamdance Grand Jury Prize, have written an open letter to the festival, asking for the reinstatement of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG.

We give no judgment here about how successfully "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!" addresses its topic. However we feel it is extremely important that the game community, including high-profile festivals such as Slamdance, support such experimentation. Games, as a medium, are as fully deserving and appropriate as film and other more established media forms, to deal with such subject matter.

And how can we forget Newsweek's N'Gai Croal.

This is a recipe for the continued infantilizing of a young medium whose potential, for all of the compelling works already released, still remains largely untapped. We haven't played Super Columbine Massacre RPG, but from what we've read, it strikes us as a fairly serious and well-intentioned attempt to grapple with the shootings and suicides through an interactive medium. And while we certainly recognize that many will see SCMRPG as ghoulish, offensive and trivializing of a horrific event, we reject the premise that it is inherently so—any more than Art Spiegelman's "Maus" or Pablo Picasso's "Guernica"—and any attempts to paint Ledonne's game as inherently so should be firmly and loudly repudiated. For those of us who care about the future of videogames, this is a time to stand up and be counted.

If you have any interest in gaming besides the playing of them, you must read all of these links. Seriously. Artistic expression in video games is the most important topic that will likely be faced by developers, perhaps ever. The fact that the game that seems to be bringing this topic to a head happens to be one that many find repugnant is incidental to the bigger issue here.

To be clear: This is not about SCMRPG. This is about whether video games will forever be relegated to the position of mindless entertainment and child's play or whether gaming as an industry can make that final leap into artistry, expression and tackle topics that evoke something more than fun.

This is why I finally decided to become a games journalist. I enjoy writing reviews, but what finally pushed me to make that leap from police reporting to features writing is the chance to be covering a medium at the cusp of becoming something so much greater. Brian Crecente

Update: Jan. 9
Three more finalists have dropped out of the festival. Bringing the the number of finalists no longer in the competition to five, six if you count SCMRPG, or nearly half.

Once Upon a Time withdraws from the finals.

"We are very saddened by the news of Super Columbine Massacre RPG being pulled from the Slamdance Guerilla Gamemakers competition due to loss of financial backing.
Regardless of the merit of SCMRPG being a finalist in the SGG competition, having chosen the game and then only removing it when pressured by outside influences brings the impartiality of the competition as a whole into question. Who is truly judging these games: the Slamdance judges or their financial backers?
We unfortunately feel that we cannot be part of a competition that does not rank artistic expression and free speech as priorities and would therefore like to withdraw our entry of Once Upon A Time from the competition.
We thank you for your support of our game and wish you continued success."

Finalist Toblo withdraws from festival.

We cannot condone removing Super Columbine Massacre RPG! from the Slamdance Festival on moral grounds. Along with the developers of Braid and flOw, we are pulling our game from the Slamdance Festival. In the unlikely event that Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is re-admitted to the festival, we would be happy to participate.

Fest finalist Everyday Shooter withdraws

As you may have heard, Peter Baxter, the president of Slamdance, decided to pull Super Columbine Masscare RPG! from the competition.

I do not agree with his decision. His action is part of a the ball and chain that continuously represses the games medium from advancing beyond superficial entertainment. Because the Slamdance games competition now carries the sharp undertones of this sad repression, I am withdrawing Everyday Shooter from the competition.

Grand Text Auto Publishes Letter of Protest from Finalists

We object to this decision and strongly urge the festival organizers to reinstate the game in the festival. It is legitimate for games to take on difficult topics and to challenge conventional ideas about what video games can do. No game should be rejected for moral or other reasons after a panel of judges has found the game to be of artistic merit and worthy of inclusion in the festival. We find it very unlikely that a similar decision would have been made about a jury-selected film, and see this decision as hurting the legitimacy of games as a form of expression, exploration, and experience.

Grumpy Gamer Calls for Finalists to Put Up or Shut Up

Apparently some people in the game industry are pretty upset by this, but my question is: Why haven't the other finalist pulled out in protest?

Seems like it's for one of two reasons:

#1 - They agree the game should have been pulled.
#2 - They don't want to lose the chance of winning the award to stand up for something they believe in.

Lastly, but not leastly, our formerly very own John Brownlee breaks down the argument for both sides and asks for help writing his Wired piece on the subject. Go... help.

It's bleak just to look at those questions: perhaps I'm too cynical, but for me, it's clear that the progression there signifies the complete death of art as a medium of deep personal expression.

I need your help. I'd like you guys to help me brainstorm and bring alternate perspectives to the table. Questions and viewpoints I haven't considered. Maybe you can try to answer some of the questions and give me a better idea on what people besides me think the logical progression is. The intention is that you guys will help me think about this n a wider and more three-dimensional complex, which will hopefully make my story at Wired News richer and better thought through.

What do you guys think? Hit our comments and let us know.

It's the day after and my house is filled with bits of shredded colorful paper and lots of toys for Tristan. While I didn't get anything specifically gaming related, I did get some nice computer dodads including a brand spanking new desk from my son, a Zune and one of those funky Bluetooth virtual keyboards.

What about you, get anything gaming related for the holidays? Brian Crecente

Analysts at TNS Worldpanel Entertainment have released research indicating that over the past four years the number of female and older gamers is on the rise. Old codgers (here interpreted as over 45) buying games for personal use has risen over 40%, while the female figure (rawr) is up 67%. They didn't say how many women over the age of 45 were buying games for themselves, which just goes to show I should be a market analyst, since they obviously didn't follow through here. Slackers.

I can only see these numbers rising as Nintendo's Wii continues to make good on its promise of appealing to non-standard gamers and those of us who have been gaming for a good 30 years now march inevitably towards death. Yeah, I'm a hoot at birthday parties. Michael Fahey

Huge growth in numbers of female and older gamers [GamesIndustry.Biz]

The problem is he has Muscular Dystrophy and because of it has a limited range of motion. Unfortunately, this means he's been having some major problems with some Wii games.

He still loves the system, but he wants to make sure developers and Nintendo keep in mind not everyone can swing their arms around like a spider monkey on meth when they game and to perhaps include some sensitivity options in game settings.

Hit the jump for his full, open letter to Nintendo.

Open letter to Nintendo:

To whom it may concern,

The first thing I should mention is that I'm an avid gamer and a huge Nintendo fan. I've owned nearly every Nintendo console, so as you could probably imagine, I eagerly anticipated the release of the Wii, both as the next Nintendo console and for what it signifies in terms of a revolution in the way we play and perceive games.

As the console neared its release, I began having certain fears about it.
I'm disabled; I have Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic neuromuscular disease that makes me weak and limits the range of motion of my joints, which becomes increasingly limited slowly over time. I began fearing that the Wiimote was something I may not be able to use effectively due to my limited range of motion. I hadn't seen anything published regarding the adjustment of control sensitivity for the Wii and its games.

After buying a Wii on launch day, I discovered my fears were partially justified. I can't really play some of the games in Wii Sports, because of the broad physical movement required. Bowling is the most glaring example of this. I can however play games with more subtle movement controls such as Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This leads me to believe that more options related to the adjustment of movement control sensitivity could have been included in games like Wii Sports, as would fit the precision that the Wiimote seems capable of providing.

Games are something I'm very passionate about; they are an arena in which I can compete on even ground with others despite my disability. It's very frustrating to have home video games, which have always been open and very liberating for me, become limiting. So, my goal in writing this letter is to voice my concerns to Nintendo and other developers, so they could address my concerns and perhaps take them into consideration when developing games for the Wii. I'm certain that I'm not the only disabled gamer with these issues.

Sincerely,
Samuel Kahn

The week is winding down and the Kotaku staff is just about to head on down to our local TGI Fridays for some artery clogging, cellulite building appetizers and mind erasing fruity cocktails. We'll hit on the staff, take in about 4,000 calories, then come home for some hair washing, toenail clipping and video game playing.

What will I be playing? I'll be keeping it strictly portable this weekend (and for the next few weeks) as my consoles are packed away, ready to be shipped to sunny Los Angeles, California. Fortunately, I've got Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 to keep me busy. The game is great, but I must admit that it's not necessarily my style. I'm almost physically incapable of managing three Mario toys at once, to the point where I've come close to blacking out from the brain straining combination of strategy and stylus control.

What are you playing? Video games-wise, that is. I'm quite aware that most of you are cranking up the Loverboy right now, ready to get buckwild, but you must be playing something fun! Let us know in the comments. Michael McWhertor

Can someone explain to us what's going on here? It seems that VIA Technologies hired female gaming crew "girlz 0f destruction" to do some event called "Couples, Computers & Gaming" with them in SF on November 11 (as evidenced by their press release landing in my mailbox). But can someone explain to me why "girls 0f destruction" looks like a hamburgered up version of the Fragdolls?

Exhibit A: G0D left, Fragdolls right.

Exhibit B: I actually went to college with the head Fragdoll. – Jason Chen

It is Friday. Bully has come out in Europe and, thanks largely to the tireless efforts of closet panty-wearer Jack Thompson, I have gone from disinterested in what appeared to have been one of Rockstar's throwaway games to very in the blink of an email icon proclaiming me the threatened subject of another of Jack's baseless lawsuits. So what the hell do you think I'm playing this weekend?

I find it decent so far. I'm not quite so enamored of it as Eliza is: to me, it seems relatively clear that it was toned down thanks to the publicity. Yet I also suspect that it's a better game for the outside scrutiny: it certainly does seem to me to be the last gasp of the GTA engine, wrapped up in slightly different trappings. I wouldn't be surprised if this was intended as a disposable Rockstar title. Yet the scrutiny, I think, helped focus it; they seemed to realize that the controversy meant that, no matter what they did with the content, the game needed to be excellent and well-written. And it is well-written. Like Crecente, I find the game's message — if there is meant to be one &mdash' rather muddled; Jimmy Hopkins seems rather transparently tamed. Luckily, I can forget all that, because it has a strong antagonist. Gary? A total fucking cunt.

What about you? What are you playing this weekend? Is it all Bully? Or have less high profile titles sneaked into your list? Florian Eckhardt

At first, she was a bit bashful, so I put it in her hand. "Don't be afraid, baby..." I cooed. "Just hold it in your palm. Get used to the feel, the contour, the shape, the slight ergonomic curve."

"It's heavy!" she remarked.

"I know! But you'll get used to it. Just wag it around a little bit. Yeah, like that."

"I don't really feel comfortable with this, Flor..." she complained.

"No, no, keep playing with it, dammit. You'll learn to love it. Bond with it. Give it a little kiss. Well? What are you waiting for?"

"But I don't like it! It makes me feel self-conscious."

"Listen, I don't care. If you want this relationship to last, you'll damn well get comfortable with the Wii. What? Wait, where are you going?" But with the sound of hysterical weeping and a resounding bang of the bathroom door, she'd run out of the room to cry. Women!

This may not be the advice that The Girl Next Door gives, however. "Calling [your girlfriend] over to watch you pistol whip a hooker in GTA or solve the riddle of the moon druids in Myst IV is not the way. Maybe you should buy that new Nintendo system with the stupid name, Wii. It was designed to suck video-dissing women into the virtual world. Personally, I'm addicted to Rockstar's Table Tennis and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory."

So pistol whipping hookers doesn't appeal to women, but slitting guys throats from behind does? I'll say it again: women! Utterly inexplicable. Florian Eckhardt

Wii pumps iron with Men's Health [Infendo]

My third date with my wife? We went to Yodobashi Camera in Umeda, and she bought Space Channel Five 2 for herself. Then proceeded to play it for the next five hours. Same for the DS and the 360 to an extent. Games magically appear and are played into the ground. Without explanation.

The above photo (via the divine Alice) comparing a guy's game collection to his girlfriend's hits home. Likewise, the majority of the games in casa Ashcraft are probably my better half's. Brian Ashcraft

Most Are Hers [Wonderland]

Well, I hate to say it, but probably World of Warcraft. But it's so boring when I say the same game two weeks running, so let's plumb the gelatinous depths of the old noodle more deeply, eh?

Actually, wait. I did buy Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow this week. It's like a better looking, slightly expanded Aria of Sorrow in a slightly better looking and expanded simulacrum of Dracula's Castle. Lucky enough, Aria of Sorrow was so good that's good enough for me.

What about you guys? What pristine, shimmering disc did you get your hands on this week? Let me know in the comments section. Florian Eckhardt

So how are we going to mesaure actual gaming services in the library (not just collections or supporting materials)? Do we use the same outcomes we do for other groups that meet in the library? We use attendance figures for so much - programs, knitting group members that gather in the meeting room, kids and parents attending storytime, people who attend movies we show, and the like. Even in academic libraries it's still about the door count, the number of books checked out, the number of times a database is used, the number of times reserves are checked out, and the number of reference questions asked.

An interesting question. Obviously, games have almost no literacy value... but neither do knitting clubs that meet in a library, or DVD rentals, or any of the many other activities that happen in libraries.

The question actually seems to be "In the days of Amazon, how do we get people to come INTO libraries?" Jenny points out that everything is measured by door count, which sounds a lot like the business of blogs. Things are ultimately justified not really by how literate they are, but how many people it brings in the door.

The larger question seems to be, "Can libraries afford gaming?" Rooms in your local library filled with consoles and games would, perhaps, be rather cheap to upkeep, but PC gaming would have to keep up with a constant upgrade cycle.

Still, if you equate libraries with the preservation of culture in all forms of medium, and not by literacy, it makes sense. Though I don't really want to have to deal with some 14 year old smacktalking loudly into his Counterstrike mic while I'm trying to puzzle out Ulysses. Florian Eckhardt

How Do We Measure Gaming? [Shifted Librarian, via Game Set Watch]

It's official: gamers are no longer a subculture. Once you've been merchandised by Hot Topic, you're mainstream. Norm. Mundane. Muggle. However you want to phrase it. You're just done. Time to find a new claim to individuality, a new tribe, a new set of anti-establishment credos, because it's over.

This is your deathknell:

World Of Warcraft Barrens Chat T-Shirt 3XL

Warcraft fans! Check this out. This black T-shirt has a front screen that says, "I survived Barrens Chat." The back has a Blizzard Entertainment logo. 100% cotton. Wash warm. Dry low. Imported.

$26.00

I betcha all it took was that Blood Elf Napoleon Dynamite dance.
Eliza Gauger

WoW Merch at Hot Topic [Hot Topic, thanks Angel]