CCTV is China's state news channel, and the program (the second part in a series), which visited a juvenile prison to speak with those apparently influenced by the titles in question, blames online video games for contributing to everything from teen pregnancy to drug addiction to murder.

The timing of the program is no coincidence, as Chinese bodies have spent much of 2009 cracking down on online games, banning some titles while suspending others. Even the mighty World of Warcraft has been in the government's sights, shutting down for 3 months earlier in the year and more recently being the subject of a to-and-fro between two competing government agencies.

China Blames Online Games for Drugs, Murder, Teen Pregnancy [Yahoo]

Those findings back up a study from the University of Southern California published last year, which said that women played "more intensely" than their male counterparts. In hourly terms, according to Scientific American the women surveyed played EQII an "average of 29 hours a week, versus 25 for the males."

Hardcore players more than doubled those numbers, with women still in the lead.

But The Journal of Communication says that women tended to lie about (or lowball) their EQII addictions. USC's study said almost the same thing, and we're starting to see a trend here—Everquest II player surveys simply cannot be trusted.

Gal Gamers Geekier Than Guys [Scientific American]

Fashion Fantasy found that after the 65% that wanted cold, hard cash for Christmas, a whopping 59% wanted a laptop. Coming in at third fourth and fifth place were cell phones, shoes and MP3 players. Only 8% would even consider a VIP membership to FashionFantasyGame.com as a gift worth having.

So what does this say about teen girls today? Are they all tacky shopaholics who would debase themselves with requests for cash this holiday season to feed their addiction? Or is the younger generation simply becoming more practical in these trying economic times?

Here's what the press release answered:

"For young women, even holiday gifting is about style and empowerment," said Nancy Ganz, founder and CEO of Fashion Fantasy Game. "Giving money as a gift provides young women with the resources to express themselves and to learn budgeting skills. These are two core components of Fashion Fantasy Game, where girls can create their own virtual fashions which are then bought and sold in virtual boutiques operated by other players."

Yes, I'm sure that's what they'll spend their money on if they get it for Christmas: virtual fashion. Not real fashion.

Hm... I wonder if any of them would spend their money on a Nintendo DS and a copy of Style Savvy. But then we'd be getting into the question of "Are all style games created equal?" as opposed to the question of what teenage girls want for Christmas.

While Nimoy won't be starring in the game, per se, he will be lending his voice to the intro, as well as "key scenes and events in-game".

This of course won't be the first game he's appeared in. Anyone who has played Civilization IV will, like me, have gone weaker at the knees for his description of pottery than at any previous juncture in the series.

Star Trek Online Casting News [IGN]

It's moving into beta as we converse, with 100,000 spots available, but since those spots are Korea-only, that information is presented only as information, not a recommendation.

Still, you'd expect the final game to be a little easier to sign up for, especially given the Western origins of the IP. In the meantime, feel free to blunder your way through the Korean site below, which has plenty of media for you to find randomly, all the while wishing Google Translator did as good a job with Korean as it does with French or Spanish.

[Quake Wars Online]

The game launches today, featuring a new game space accessible through a teleporter in the Plaza. If any of you regular Home users were wondering what that tank in the Plaza was, here's your answer. Home Director Jack Buser and several members of Sodium's development team from Outso were on-hand to give journalists a little taste of what is now out there for all you Home users to enjoy.

Buser's hinted before at his intentions for Home to become a gaming platform as opposed to a virtual world tacked onto a gaming platform. He's used the words "mini-MMOs" to describe what he envisions the spaces within Home becoming. We've seen the beginnings of it in places like the Uncharted Nepal space (also developed by Outso) and now we're getting the first bite of Buser's ultimate vision for Home.

Sodium can best be described as a Facebook game. No, seriously – any of you who've played Mafia Wars or any of the "freemium" games where microtransactions drive gameplay will know exactly what they're getting into when they discover that only the first five out of 50 levels of Sodium are free. Sodium features a futuristic sci-fi setting where players pilot tanks to shoot up other tanks in an arena setting. There are other quests, too, such as stomping neon colored scorpions or a drinking game called Desert Quench – you'll have to check with the cyborg non-playable character Vicky to get them. Some quests are isolated experiences where you blow up NPC tanks; others are social games where you work cooperatively with other players to, say, squash a certain number of scorpions. Also, the developer said there were tower defense missions and proper boss fights at the end of each level.

Within Sodium, there are also social spaces that look a lot like the rest of Home – or any tavern in a fantasy MMO role-playing game. There's a big stage for where the developers plan to have live music events, a bar where you can buy virtual drinks in funky shaped glasses and even a VIP section where only tank pilots can go. (And tank pilots are always going to be people who paid for the game – the dudes with special colors on the sleeve of their jumpsuits to denote rank.) The whole setting looked like a cross between Burning Man (which turned out to be a major inspiration for the developer) and Dune. As in David Lynch's take on it with a lot of neon.

What makes this interesting from a gamer's perspective is that it's freemium gameplay on a major console. There are smaller, 3D games that have existed before Sodium on PC – like this game Korean shooter I used to play in college – but I'm hard pressed to come up with anything like Sodium on Xbox Live that functioned purely on microtransactions.

From a purely intellectual perspective, I find Sodium interesting because of what it will do to Home. I've talked before about how Home isn't as static as Xbox Live because when you go in, everything is instantly changeable. But if you've got a network of people who only log into Home to play these games – and their appearance changes in the game based on how much they've played or how much they've paid for – will it make Home more static?

Static or not, Home is definitely still growing. Buser was proud to announce that since the last time I spoke to him in November, Home has shot up from 8,000 8,000,000 users to 10,000 10,000,000 and the number of virtual items has doubled to something like 2,000. Home celebrated its first birthday just last Friday.

ETA: Sorry! I misheard Buser — thanks for the catch, Mathew.

And now for a Sodium trailer:

Sodium Two is already in the works for sometime early-ish next year.

P.S. Also, Monty Python and the Holy Grail costumes are on Home today. Send me pics!

That's not going to stop Square Enix boss Yoichi "Imperial Hot" Wada from taking a crack, though. Asked by Develop what he thought Final Fantasy XIV's chances were of challenging WoW, he says "WoW is a tough competitor, but whether you are talking about EverQuest, Ultima or Lineage there has never been a company that has a continuously successful number one and two MMO".

As in, the sequel to a big MMO has never been as big as the original.

Taking that to heart, Wada believes that, despite WoW being "tough competition", Final Fantasy XIV could definitely become a "serious rival" to Blizzard's juggernaut.

And why not! It's always the second game in a series that tanks, not the 14th!

Final Fantasy XIV a serious WoW rival, says Wada [Develop]

So sign up now, if you're interested. But only if you would like to beta test the PC version, as Square Enix says "Details regarding recruitment for the PlayStation 3 version will be released at a later date."

And please be at least 18 years old. And have a Square Enix ID account (or sign up for one). And only apply once. Thank you.

Final Fantasy XIV Online Beta Test Application Site [FFXIV.com - thanks, many tipsters!]

"Winterfest" is what Earth Eternal is calling the Christmas season within their fantasy MMO land. From now until presumably the end of December, players can find new candy cane weapons, new creatures in the world that drop snowballs and corn cob pipes, the Santa suit and some weird looking snowmen.

Additionally, players can redeem any corncob pipes they pick up for special Winterfest prizes. But I bet none of those prizes will be gelt (chocolate coins).

Happy Fifth Night of Hanukkah everybody!

Global Agenda is a combination of free and subscription-based team-based online shooter, but either way you've got to buy the game to play. Hi-Rez has nailed down February 1st, 2010 as the launch date for their first big title, with preorder bonuses in store for those who reserve a copy via Steam, Amazon.com, or directly from Hi-Rez. Fans putting their money down early get access to the game's closed beta events, a special in-game helmet, and a chance to reserve character and agency names before the masses arrive.

Amazon and Hi-Rez will also be selling a limited edition boxed version of the game, which comes with a poster and a Commonwealth art book, which details the rise of the game's totalitarian government.

Remember, each copy also comes with one month free subscription to the subscription-only Global Agenda: Conquest mode. Check out the difference between free and subscription pay and get more preorder details at the Global Agenda website.

Pets vs. Monsters is a free-to-play MMO targeted at children between the ages of 8 and 12. Kids create an avatar, select between dogs, cats, and bears (just like at the pet store, only with bears!), and set off on an adventure destroying monsters while riding on the back of their trusted companion.

Like Sony Online Entertainment's Free Realms, Pets vs. Monsters will integrate streaming technology, allowing children to start playing within minutes of download. Parents worried about exposing their children to foul language and internet predators need not worry, as Funcom has included a constructed chat system to ensure that no foul words pass their players' fingertips.

Check out the game in action, along with a couple of screens, or visit the game's website for more information.

SweetRobot is Funcom's newly established subsidiary, focused on the casual and social MMO business, which is a far cry from the sort of games Funcom is used to developing. Age of Conan is a pretty hardcore MMO, and Anarchy Online is so hardcore it requires advanced math to put your equipment on. I'm not kidding.

That having been said, simply slapping the Funcom name on some casual titles would have, quite frankly, confused the hell out of Funcom fans. Instead, the company has launched SweetRobot, which while desperately needing a little Japanese robot mascot still ranks right up there with my favorite studio names of all time.

"SweetRobot will be focusing on publishing games outside the traditional high-end MMO-segment which Funcom has been focusing on the last years," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "This will allow us to explore new market opportunities that differ from what we have been doing before while still retaining Funcom's familiar profile. This definitely marks a new and exciting direction for us."

And Funcom isn't the sort of company to found a new subsidiary and then make us wait years before they produce anything. A team of fifteen people have been working on a kid-friendly MMO called Pets vs. Monsters for the past two years, developing a flexible game engine that can be used across multiple projects. Pets vs. Monsters will hit public beta later this month. We'll have more on that later. For now, check out a screen of the game below to get a basic idea of the demographic SweetRobot is aiming for.

The Looking for Group Expo is planned as a fan gathering for everyone who plays massively multiplayer online games, from the most obscure Korean import to the World of Warcraft player who couldn't get into BlizzCon. The show's goal is to "provide the ultimate experience for all MMOG and virtual world fans to check out what's new in the world of MMOs as well as meet friends across all games and participate in exciting MMO related events." Events like LAN parties, concerts, private screenings, guild meetings, and game demonstrations.

The first annual show is being held on June 25th through the 27th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which could possibly be the most neutral ground on the planet. The event is being organized by Last Straw Productions, itself an MMO Studio and organizers of the annual Independent MMO Game Developers Conference.

Events and exhibitor listings are still pending, though the show does have a website you can keep track of, as well as a rather primitive-looking CG advertisement video, which you can check out below.

It's a great idea, but we won't know how the Looking for Group Expo pans out until the first one goes down. We'll see what happens come June!

It's not just the GW used a more realistic art style than the dreaded juggernaut, World of Warcraft. Guild Wars was different because it was mostly instanced (which I think might've made it easier to break down new content into meaty packs that just added a massive batch of instances in new zones). Personally, I liked the way Guild Wars was because if nothing else, you could at least say it was different than everything else in some fundamental way.

But to hell with what I think. Here's what Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer Eric Flannum thinks:

We use a lot less instancing than we have in the past. The game is structured much more like other MMOs, with the world consisting almost entirely of fully persistent areas. That being said, we have a number of different ways in which we use instancing. Dungeons, for example, are instanced areas designed for group play. We also use instancing very heavily in the players' personal quest chain to reflect decisions that the player has made on those quests. For example, Logan Thackeray, captain of the Seraph, has an office located in Divinity's Reach; his office is instanced because we need to update his status based on choices the player has made.

You can check out the rest of his interview (which includes World Designer/Writer Ree Soesbee and Environment Art Lead Dave Beetlestone) at MMORPG.com. Reading the whole thing definitely put Flannum's quote in perspective and there's some interesting tidbits about what else we can expect from the sequel to the MMO that will still always be a special snowflake in my mind.

Guild Wars 2: Exclusive Interview [MMORPG.com]

*Trekkies are true Star Trek fans, for all you readers unfamiliar with Sci-Fi**.
**Sci-Fi is science fiction for all you readers not familiar with science fiction. Don't ever call it SyFy to my face unless you want a dirty look.

In addition to a Guild Renown leveling system for guilds, inc Gamers reveals that Update 6 will introduce Thoth-Amon's stronghold as Tier three raid content. The big bad guy himself lies at the center of the dungeon surrounded by his allies — many of whom most players haven't seen before.

"As far as the encounters go we don't really want to give away too much. But who knows: perhaps someone will have to pay the ultimate price, having the Mark of Acheron reapplied, and maybe washing up on a beach near Tortage, again? Ok, so maybe we won't do that. We do hope the encounters will prove a fun and interesting challenge for everybody. I'd dare say the foundation we're building our raid encounters on has improved radically since Wing 3 was released, and I think that will be reflected in the encounters."

Update 6 also lets you fight along side Conan himself in a plot-related quest that ties up a major story arc. But details on that are more closely guarded than the secrets of Thoth-Amon's stronghold.

The only thing I'd like better than that is a Thulsa Doom dungeon modeled after the one in the film, Conan the Barbarian. I know, I know — Thulsa Doom is a Krull baddie by canon, not a Conan villain. But James Earl Jones was awesome in that movie and the snake orgy scene would be a great player versus player environment.

Age of Conan Update 6 Preview [inc Gamers]
Image Cred

I get that they're supposed to be a more badass version of a Sith Warrior with different ranged abilities. But if that's the case, wouldn't all players playing as Sith Warriors graduate to Inquisitors after playing long enough? Jedi Consular — the other new class revealed — confuses me less. "Consular" sounds like a political position; one you'd have to train for specifically as opposed to a rank you achieve over time.

So I guess I'll be playing on the Jedi faction simply to avoid asking myself uncomfortable questions.

What Is It?
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer online game set way, way back in the ancient history of the galaxy far, far away. The Sith and the Jedi are rival factions and apparently things are getting explosive between the two. Enough so that players who choose to play on one faction side or the other will have plenty to shoot at, lightsaber cut or otherwise inconvenience on various planets in the Star Wars universe.

The classes are Jedi Consular/Sith Inquisitor, Jedi Knight/Sith Warrior, Smuggler/Bounty Hunter, Trooper/Imperial Agent. Companion characters will figure heavily into gameplay, as will storytelling (come on, it's BioWare). Space travel has yet to be revealed or discussed.

What We Saw
I played through about 95% of a quest we'll call "The Tomb of Tulac Horde" because I'm not sure what its official name is, but that just about sums it up. I was in the role of a Sith Inquisitor acolyte with a nice rack and red hair — and I was role playing her with an attitude problem that somehow didn't get her Force-choked even once during the play through. The quest involves going into a tomb to collect three tablets and returning to your Sith master. Additionally, you could accept a quest to activate something in the tomb called the Red Machine for some other dude standing outside the tomb. Also, you could talk to and accept another quest involving mind-raping a Jedi being held in a Sith dungeon, but I was told by a LucasArts representative not to pursue that quest.

How Far Along Is It?
It's hard to say with so limited an experience. Furthermore, no release date has been suggested and while names have been collected for the closed beta, there's no word on how that's progressing. I think I was playing on a very unfinished product on account of some missing text, the fact that I wasn't allowed to explore very much and the part where I was playing an MMO strangely devoid of other players.

What Needs Improvement?
I can't tell the difference between Sith Warrior and Inquistor: Just looking at the list of powers suggests that the class difference between Warrior and Inquisitor is supposed to exist. But while playing my big jugged female character, I just didn't feel any different from a Sith. I shocked people, I drained life force, I cut ‘em up with lightsabers. How is this different whether I'm a Warrior or Inquisitor?

Wow, is the whole galaxy a size D or just the Sith chicks? I'm not as annoyed as I am bemused by the boobs I saw in Old Republic. I almost missed half of what my acolyte was saying during the opening quest cinematic because I was watching her bosom stay oddly stationary while the rest of her body would shift when she sighed in boredom at her boss. Then, I practically ran into the bosom of another Sith female just trying to walk out the door. Finally, the Sith who assigned me the Jedi mind-rape quest I wasn't permitted to explore must've been using the Dark Side to keep her rack from sagging. Seriously, they took up one third of the screen in some camera angles during her quest-assignment cinematic.

What Should Stay The Same?
Excellent Voice Work: This is where BioWare really feels different than other MMOs to me. Every character I talked to had a different voice and sounded like they could actually act. It definitely speaks to the quality of the product LucasArts is encouraging BioWare to produce.

Good Use of Camera Angles: During cinema scenes, the camera would cut angles – much like they do in Mass Effect cut scenes. It kept things interesting and gave me more opportunities to look at things other than my character's chest. Also, they didn't over-use it, which is crucial to its success as a storytelling tool.

Hey, It's A Star Wars MMO: The quest involved navigating a series of rooms around an open space. The enemies were all slime-filled worms, reprogrammed droids or escaped Sith slaves. There was also a larger worm near the Red Machine — but it died just as quickly with a quick life drain followed by a lightsaber ground pound. Overall, the experience felt exactly like I'd expect an MMO to feel. The controls worked exactly like you'd expect them to (WASD to move, M for map, numbers or clicking for attacks, etc.), the menu system was familiar and it wasn't hard to master the combat once you got used to lightsaber fighting. Old hats of MMOs will have zero trouble adjusting and the rest of us will overcome the learning trauma for the sheer joy of swinging a lightsaber around.

Final Thoughts
I'm happy I got to see the game, but I'm sad that it was such a limited experience that basically amounts to your average fetch quest in any other MMO (only with more story behind it and higher production values). Also, I would've really liked to see that Jedi mind-rape quest because that sounded like it would yield more of the BioWare dialogue I'm addicted to.

But, from what little I saw, I can say that it's coming along. And no matter how many times I see that E3 trailer, it still looks badass. They actually let us re-watch it in LucasArts' super-huge theater with surround sound. LucasArts Old Republic Producer Jake Neri actually cautioned me when I headed for the third row back from the screen, "Don't sit there, you'll throw up." It was awesome.

March 2010? Best of luck to you, Hellgate.

A friendly source has sent us these pieces of concept art for the game, used in the early stages of development. They're mostly by Billy Wardlaw, an environment and character artist at Vigil, with a little help from character designer Kolby Jukes, who's most recently done a little work on Mass Effect 2 (he designed frogman assassin Thane).

They're not exactly screenshots, we know, and being such a long-term project, early concept art is just that: early. They still look great, though, especially the Marine, so we figured they're worth sharing.