MMORPG.com has returned from PAX with information about what is to come in issue 17. Article by Michael Bitton.

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An XBox Live account with the username "mpeach obama21" was recently banned on the grounds that it might offend someone. Never mind that political views are not forbidden by their TOS. Wait until you read Microsoft's reasoning! The link goes to an in depth editorial on the subject.

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Announced via a posting on the European PlayStation Blog, Media Molecule, the developers behind PlayStation 3 smash-hit LittleBigPlanet, have been purchased by Sony Computer Entertainment for an undisclosed sum, making them an official part of the Sony family. While the developer only has one game under their belt, Sony Europe studios boss Michael Denny says there's much more in the pipeline, and then posted an extensive list of awards won by LittleBigPlanet to further justify the move.

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From today through Sunday, March 7, City of Heroes is free to play and has double XP. Free server transfers have also been extended until after the event.

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Back in 2006, the US Army approached Microsoft with a lucrative contract offer: supply a ton of Xbox 360 consoles to the Army for the purposes of training soldiers. Microsoft's answer? No, thank you. Roger Smith, the man responsible for buying the Army's training gear, says that four years ago - despite the promise of both positive exposure and cash money - Microsoft "refused to sell him the consoles." Read Microsoft's reasons for turning down the sale at Kotaku.

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Alexander Sliwinski interviews Richard Garriott about his past, present and the future of his new company.

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Sony confirmed this morning that Heavy Rain has been banned in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier today, Middle Eastern gaming website, megamers, said that the game had been banned and Sony later released this statement confirming that the noire thriller would not be available to gamers in the UAE: "The UAE’s National Media Council (NMC) has banned Heavy Rain on PlayStation3. Heavy Rain has an 18+ PEGI rating and has been conceived from the earliest stages as a genuinely adult experience. This means that it deals with strong content including blood and nudity, but treats this content in a mature and sensitive manner. The game is not intentionally controversial or sensationalist, and all the themes and content are consistent with what consumers would expect to see in a mainstream Hollywood thriller."

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Xbox LIVE general manager, Marc Whitten posted an announcement of the sceduled end to Live service for the original XBox and all games released for the original XBox, including games which are still playable on the X360. "On April 15 we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals. I want to start by saying this isn’t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community." You can follow the link to X360 Press to see what else Whitten had to say.

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i will be adding these videos once a week maybe more so check the website daily to see if i posted anything. He also made a coupe songs such as Doin Your Mom and a couple others he also does daily bolgs and he adds that to the description on every video he has. http://www.youtube.com/user/pacboyz92 that is my youtube account you guys can go to my favorites and watch some of those videos cause i have some pretty funny ones.

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One of the first announcements of a PC to iPad port comes today from HeroCraft, regarding their strategy game Majesty, a Paradox Interactive property. The game will be released to several mobile platforms in the coming months, including Apple’s new flagship handheld device. “We’re impressed by the new Apple tablet device,” said Alexey Sazonov, Sales and Marketing Director at HeroCraft. “We believe it will provide the ideal platform for gaming, filling the gap between traditional desktop and mobile phone devices. Coming from a strong PC background, ‘Majesty’ will work tremendously well on a high resolution portable device like the iPad.”

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This is not so much a top 5 list as it is 5 important tips for anyone trying to introduce anyone to video games.

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Sony Computer Entertainment issued a press release today, indicating that the release date for its still unnamed motion control system (though rumored to be called Arc) has been moved from Spring 2010 to Fall 2010. In the press release President and Group CEO Kazou Hirai stated that, ”We have decided to release the Motion Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users.” No other information explaining the reason for the delay was given.

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G.I.R.L is a program that is designed to influence more women to get involved in the gaming world. The goal is to get video game designers to develop video games that are more interesting for women to play and to help entice more women to become developers. One student will win a scholarship worth up to $10,000, which will be applied towards tuition and other school expenses. The winner will also be offered a internship for up to 10 weeks at one of Sony Online Entertainment’s studios (note that room, board and transportation will not be included). So far two scholarships were offered in the last two years (winners' names where not given) and both still continue to pursue careers in the gaming industry. Although the scholarship is geared towards women, you don’t have to be a woman to be eligible. However, since G.I.R.L is aimed at getting more women to play games, the judges will award points in the essay portion of the application towards improving the images of women in games and increasing the interest of women who play games. Entrants are required to complete an online application along with an existing piece of art and, if chosen as semifinalists, submit two pieces of concept art and one essay that will be reviewed by a panel of SOE judges. Online applications must be completed and submitted on or before February 15, 2010. SOE will announce the winner on or about May 20, 2010.

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An Italian man giving video game advice to his son Sunday evening was repaid with a 15-inch kitchen knife to the neck. A 46-year-old storekeeper identified as Fabrizio R. was watching his 16-year-old son, Mario, play EA's FIFA 2009 on the PlayStation Sunday evening. According to reports, the father began giving his son advice on how to play the game better, which led to an argument between the two. In response, Fabrizio turned off the PlayStation in the middle of Mario's game. That's when Mario got up, went into the kitchen, grabbed a 15-inch knife, and then returned to the living room, stabbing his father in the neck. He then returned to the kitchen to clean up, according to Fabrizio's wife, identified as Monica B., who discussed the incident with Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. Fabrizio was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, and hospital officials say he will recover from the wound. "Mario is obsessed. He's forever playing on his PlayStation, and we bought him FIFA 2009 because we didn't want him playing violent games," his mother told Il Corriere.

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The Apple Tablet is still just a unicorn, a publicly unseen beast of questionable evolutionary logic, but research group Flurry Analytics claimed yesterday to spot its presence at Apple headquarters and detected a heavy amount of gaming on the thing. In a blog post on Sunday, Flurry's vice president of marketing, Peter Farago, announced that his firm, which offers developers the ability to track activity of mobile applications, sniffed out heavy usage of programs running on "approximately 50 devices that match the characteristics of Apple's rumored tablet device." Flurry claims to be able to "reliably 'place' these devices geographically on Apple's Cupertino campus." The Apple Tablet is an unannounced keyboard-less computer that many observers expect to be announced at a major Apple showcase event this Wednesday. Apple representatives have invited Kotaku to the event, a sign that the new product will have a major gaming angle. Flurry claims to have detected "approximately 200 different applications in use by testers," about 150 of which if classifies as games (Flurry's accompanying chart appears to show well more than 200 apps being used). Later in the post, Farago noted that, among the detected applications, "there was a "strong theme of sharing and/or social interaction including social games..."

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Gamerzine is giving away 500 beta keys for Star Trek Online, and all you have to do is answer one trivia question. Winners will receive their keys Monday, so you don't have much time to waste. Get Star Trekkin' across the universe!

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Ten-year-old Kade Goodman's holiday dreams were shattered on Christmas Day, when it was discovered that someone had left a penis on his used PSP. The PSP-nis was uncovered by Kade's thirteen-year-old brother shortly after the gift was unwrapped, as thirteen-year-old boys have an uncanny knack for uncovering porn no matter how hard their fathers try to hide it. In this case, the offending image was lurking in the background images for the used system, where Omaha used game retailer CD Tradepost had neglected to look while performing its traditional cleansing-of-the-PSP-porn ritual.

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Industry watchers predict that the purchase of virtual goods -- i.e those special weapons for Mafia Wars or a fancy ranch house in FarmVille -- will be worth upwards of $5 billion in the next five years. This year, virtual goods are expect to break the $1 billion mark. To put that into perspective, virtual goods sales in Asia -- which have been booming for years -- has already hit the $5 billion mark and continues to expand rapidly. Venture capitalist Jeremy Liew, whose company has invested millions into virtual goods, tells the BBC that "[t]his is just an exploding part of the gaming business right now ... it is the most exciting area in gaming." "We have seen companies go from nothing in the last 18-24 months to tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue," Liew says.

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A 9-year-old boy visiting his family in Harlem sat down Saturday to play a video game starring his skateboarding hero, Tony Hawk. Police said Alejandro Morales, 25, plunged a knife in the boy's chest, sending him staggering to his uncle's bedroom door. Paramedics rushed Anthony from the La Salle St. apartment to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, but the New Jersey boy died in less than an hour, police said. "Anthony was playing ... on PlayStation when his friend came and stabbed him," said the boy's distraught grandfather, Antonio Juela, 59. "My grandson died over a video game." NY Daily News has the full story.

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A young woman told police she came home Monday to find an intruder playing her video game system. The 22-year-old victim left around 2:45 p.m. and returned 25 minutes later to her apartment in the 900 block of Lois Place. "When (she) opened the door, a man ran out ... and fled toward Black Road," reports said. "The victim's Nintendo DS was on, and it appears the suspect had been playing it," Deputy Chief Mike Trafton said. The victim's bedroom was ransacked, and a pink iPod Touch was missing. The burglar was a black man around 20 years old, 5-foot-11, 140 pounds, with a thin build and short hair. He had letters tattooed on his right forearm and was wearing a black and gray jacket, blue hat and dark jeans. It was not reported just which video game the burgular was playing.

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