1Up's Luke Smith and his facial hair are here to tell you what's what with Halo 3, so listen up! Last week we ran images from a Swedish game mag that had spilled its Halo coverage a little early. Because the mag is in Swedish and might cause mistranslations or misunderstandings, Luke, who doesn't speak Swedish but English, is ready to set the record straight. Loads of guns and whatnot were revealed, but what about the H3 weapon with the unfortunate moniker "Man Cannon"? Luke writes:

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 'Man Cannon" is indeed the real name. Will they be renamed 'Launch Vents' or something far less interesting by the time the game ships? Maybe. But the giggles that crackled through the room when they said 'Man Cannon' didn't bode too well for a name change.

Man Cannon. Heh. Check 1Up on Friday, when the 1Up show will feature for the first time people who've played Halo 3 talk about their experience publicly. Knowing 1Up, some of these people will have beards. Brian Ashcraft

Luke Talks Halo [1Up]

What do you call a PLAYSTATION 3 controller that doesn't rumble? 1Up's Luke Smith says it could very well be "SIXAXIS" (all cap). Patent records show that Sony has reserved the name, but it could mean any number of things. However, the name has been used by Sony before. For example, when the controller's motion sensing was announced, Sony PR said:

The controller for PS3 employs breakthrough technology of high-precision, highly sensitive six-axis sensing system that does not require any devices other than the controller itself for seamless interactive operation, thus eliminating additional settings to TVs. With this technology, ways to enjoy PS3 will be further enhanced by accessing PS3 through the network, while retaining the six-axis sensing capability.

The statement from Sony? "We haven't yet announced the name of the controller." Wait for TGS for the official word on that. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [1Up]

Really into MMORPGs? Want to appear on British television? (And who doesn't?) The BBC is seeking addicts gamers addicts who are really into MMOs. The film will be broadcasted in the UK early next year. Online game addiction, while very real, does seem sooo 2005. I mean, even 1Up's Luke isn't playing WoW anymore. (It would've been nice if he hadn't play it while he worked here, but whatever...) Here's the info from the BBC:

Is your Avatar more like 'you' than you are?

Are you making a lot of virtual money? And turning it into 'real' money?

Are you a typical online gamer, or do you break the geek-mould?

We're particularly interested in hearing from you if:

•You're passionate about your Avatar - whether it's just like you, or contrasts dramatically with your life offline

•You make real money through your dealings in a game

•You are worried about addiction — either for yourself, a friend, or a relative

•You are organising a protest or event in a game

•You regularly meet with other gamers in the outside world

If you're interested, please get in touch by emailing virtualworlds [at] bbc.co.uk. We'll follow up with a phone call.

Any of you out in Kotakuland fit the bill? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [3pointD]

Blogger Joi Ito pens a piece on World of Warcraft addiction in this month's Wired. Old hat for some, but it's Joi Ito! And he used to hang with Timothy Leary, worked on the Dreamcast online and is related to Cornelius!! The piece does a fine job of laying of Ito's WoW addiction, but wraps up nicely with this last paragraph:

The quality and the popularity of World of Warcraft has propelled MMORPGs from a subculture into the mainstream; some call it the new golf. But it's more than that: World of Warcraft is millions of people with diverse backgrounds collaborating, socializing, and learning while having fun. What we're experiencing with this game is similar to the "adhocracy" of many successful open source software projects. It represents the future of real-time collaborative teams and leadership in an always-on, diversity-intensive, real-time environment. World of Warcraft is a glimpse into our future.

Say hello to the new stock response to those that don't "get" MMORPGs. Brian Ashcraft

Read It Here [Wired]

A fan-made music video sets out to settle if Guild Wars or World of Warcraft is better by editing in-game footage of characters in both games dancing. While the video doesn't really answer that debate, it raises a new question: Why isn't there more Hammertime in RPGs? Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, Evin

2 Legit 2 Quit [Wiki]

1Up's parent company Ziff-Davis ('sup Luke) has launched a new search engine that looks for stuff relevant to gamers. It's called Gazerk and places content into categories relevant to gamers: game reviews, cheats and screenshots. It's still in Beta, but eventually should be a worthy supplement for old standards like Google and Yahoo.

More Here [Cathode Tan]

South Korea's cracking down on youth gaming. Politician Kim Hee-jung plans to draw up a bill that will keep kids and teens from playing computer games for insane periods of time. The country has become infamous due to several incidents in which gamers played themselves to death.

"Should this bill gain the green light from the Assembly, parents of minors aged under 18 will be able to require online game publishers to limit the daily game time of their children," Kim explained.

How does it work?

"Given a father asks game firms to set the time at three hours, the gaming username of his offspring will become idle in three hours after notification via a pop-up window,'' she continued.

Companies that do not comply will be fined.

Isn't it somewhat frightening that Kim plucked that three hour number as her de-facto figure? Guess if players are used to six or seven hours a day, then that's a sizable restriction. But, still... —Brian Ashcraft

More Here [The Korea Times]

Back in 2004, a 13-year-old Chinese boy jumped from a building after playing MMORPG World of Warcraft for 36 hours straight. A suicide note said that the kid was joining his heroes in WoW. The boy's parents are now suing the game's Chinese distributor Aomeisoft for $12,500. The suit contends that the game does not include a warning, stating that the game is suitable only for players above age.

According to Aomeisoft's VP Bai Jie, the parents are suing the wrong company because it was set up eight months after the child's death. That's not the only thing the parents got wrong. Thirty-six hours sure is a long time to let your kid spend at computer.

More Here [Examiner] Thanks, Alan!
Judas Priest [Wiki]

Over in Florida, a father fired shot at his son's computer, missing the monitor, nearly killing his son and hitting the wall. Forty-four-year-old Joseph Langenderfer said he and his 22-year-old son were arguing. Instead of doing the laundry, his son was spending all his free time playing computer games. Officers arrested the father Monday afternoon. According to Tampa Bay's 10 News, "Langenderfer is in the Pinellas County jail charged with one count of attempted murder, (accused of trying to kill his son, not the computer.)" Zing!

Full Story Here [Tampa Bay's 10] Thanks, Patrick!

Luke over at 1Up chatted with California politician Leland Y. Yee about freedom of speech and video games. Yee spearheaded a bill through the State Assembly that prohibits selling ultra-violent video games throughout the Golden State. Banning the sale of these games does not contradict First Amendment rights contests Yee.

"When you have information that says there are harmful effects to children - you have to draw the line. Just like adult material laws do not prevent anyone from producing adult movies and adult magazines, just don't let kids buy it, that's all," the politician said.

But, isn't that where the retailers and the ESRB come in? "The Federal Trade Commission's undercover study that nearly 70% of kids would be able to purchase an M-rated video game," he add. "More recently, the Harvard study says that the ESRB doesn't give accurate information."

Hal Halpin read Luke's piece and sent in the following retort: "It is unfortunate the Mr. Yee remains woefully uninformed regarding the FTC's findings with regard to voluntary retail efforts at self-regulation. He is either quoting an out-dated several year-old study, or has missed the press regarding their latest findings: that the nation's leading retailers, our members, are successfully carding for M-rated games 65% of the time - which puts the games industry on par with his "Gold Standard," the movie theatre owners, who card at 69% of the time."

If retailers (and hopefully parents) are handling the situation, should the government be regulating "ultra-violent" games as it does pornography? And honestly, should it let politicians that hob-knob with Paula Abdul propose legislation?

Luke's Article [1Up]

According to 1Up, Konami is working on a Silent Hill PSP title. Not to be confused with the Silent Hill Experience, this will be an entirely new horror title. Besides an upcoming movie, next month will also see "The Silent Hill Collection," a Konami bundle that features Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room. The set drops April 13, and the flick goes wide a week later.

On a side note, this 1Up news bit was written by former Kotaku staffer, Luke Smith. Regular readers might wonder why his name has recently vanished from our masthead. (We didn't kill him.) The kid took a gig at 1Up, where he has started going by "L.M." We wish him all the best with the new moniker.

Full Story Here [1Up]

Story Here [Yahoo News]

Good people of China, rejoice! The iron-fisted government has eased up on their anti-addiction video game policy, which limited players' WoW time to three consecutive hours at a time. Needless to say, gamers went apeshit and created a petition to protest the rule. The new system will let people over the age of 18 play for up to five hours straight. Gamers need to register their real names and ID numbers to verify their ages. This system will allow the evil government parents to monitor the usage habits of their children. No word yet as to when the new system will start. Luke, good thing you live in war-torn Detroit and not Red China, huh? Shudder.

Full Story Here [SecretLair]

Some early released Xbox 360's aren't functioning correctly with Xbox Live. That's what an email tip from a reader with the following email from Microsoft had to say. The text of the email is below:

"Today you will receive a replacement Xbox 360 RETAIL unit. We have identified a potential issue with your unit.

The default configuration on the Xbox 360 retail unit we sent you earlier may not have been set correctly, so you may be experiencing problems connecting to Xbox Live.

Please note, this problem may be specific to your unit and does not exist in consoles that are currently being shipped to retailers."

The rest of the email concerns the FedEx shipping policy, but the above is the meat and potatoes. Microsoft is tracking down the plagued 360s so don't sound the alarms just yet. Can you imagine the disaster if an issue like this found its way into retail? Shudder.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But this blurry-ass thing is probably only worth about ten words. However, you can see the important stuff, Crecente and number 2. Nintendo's Wi-Fi is up and working fine.

Who the hell plays as Donkey Kong, anyway?

Last night, my guild killed Nefarian, the current end boss of World of Warcraft. What does this mean? Well, we're done with the game, right? We've beaten it. The current equivalent of Bowser is dead. Sure, there's no more content for us to kill, but now the grind continues with getting ready for the next zones which will come out whenever Blizzard finishes them. That there is no true finality in MMOs is both the bane and the best part of them. Every night when I log on (and I do log on every damn night) there's something to do, even though we've killed everything in the game. Beating WoW's end game and still having stuff to do, quite the paradox, I'd say.

I've got a twelve-sided die.
Regardless of my tabletop Dungeons & Dragons habits, pretty soon we can all gather around the digital table with the MMO Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Beta. The closed beta is taking applications to begin testing the waters. The readers who apply and get in will get a +5 to comment value and could provide Kotaku readers with insight from beta.

But they said, "No."
Last week, my stay in Seattle was an hour for a connecting flight to Vancouver on my way to Next Level Games to mess around with Super Mario Strikers. This week, I'll be hanging around in Seattle for a bit longer for the Nintendo Experience at the Gamers Summit. They've got games that need playing, announcements that need announcing and I'll bring it to you as fast as I can pretend that I have to use the restroom and slip away to a WiFi station.

Clive Thompson over at Wired News puzzles over the reasons we become addicted to certain games. After picking up Burnout: Revenge, he was immediately hooked, ditching writing deadlines and ignoring his misses. Thompson fantasized about the game when he wasn't playing, and gorged himself in gaming binges. Then suddenly, he went cold turkey.

Certainly, every gamer knows this experience. Why does this happen? Thompson contacted several of his hard-core gaming associates to see what they think.

"For a while, with a really amazing new game, it's all you do, all you think about," says Luke Smith, who writes for the game blog Kotaku and recently has spent weeks fanatically rolling a level-60 character in World of Warcraft. "But then it's balance issues, buggy play, poor online optimization. You keep trying to 'make it work,' and it won't."

Hey, Luke's not only hardcore, but a certified WoW insomniac. Now that his AIM name has been posted, feel free to hit him with late night tips. He'll be up, leading raids until dawn. Trust me.

The End of the Affair [Wired News]