The Daily Mail reports that Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation believe World of Warcraft is dangerous. The report follows news that a boy collapsed after playing Warcraft for 24 consecutive hours.

However, a report from Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation describes it as ‘the most dangerous game on the market’.



The report’s author Sven Rollenhagen said: ‘There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.



‘It is the crack cocaine of the computer game world. Some will play it till they drop.’



The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has backed the report, adding: ‘Computer game addiction is becoming more widespread across the world.’



The warning comes after a Swedish boy of 15 collapsed after playing it for for 24 hours earlier this month.

The Daily Mail also says that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours per day of “screen time” for Warcraft. People can get addicted to just about anything. If Warcraft is something that causes certain people problems then maybe they should avoid video games. Warcraft has been around long enough now that it is clear that most people aren’t playing Warcraft until they are exhausted and then collapsing on the ground.



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Posted under Computer games, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Games, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii Games, Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games, Playstiotion, Playstiotion 2, Playstiotion 3, Uncategorized, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Games, Xbox Games

About two years ago, a proud father began work on a custom pink arcade cabinet for his then 2-year-old daughter. Well, now she’s four, and he just moved it into her room.

Welcome to “Bella’s Arcade,” built by James, who has built and restored other arcade cabinets. This cabinet is built 80 percent to scale, so little ones can play it standing straight up, while adults would have to sit down to see the screen fully. He put in a Windows 98 machine that boots up to a MAME custom skinned with the Bella’s Arcade theme. Players can choose from 250 arcade classics.

For me, the best feature about this is the coin box. Instead of crediting your game with a button on the dash, you press the coin slot - or you can insert a coin. And why not, this is the age when kids get piggy banks, too. Good work, daddy! Someone got a huge, huge neckhug when this rolled in.

Bella’s Arcade [production blog]

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I love it when the ESRB rates music games, because it means someone, somewhere, is marking down every “damn” “ass” and “bitch” they hear on a clipboard.

In this case, we can piece together a few of the songs that might be on the Rock Band Classic Rock Track Pack, which just got rated and put on the site

• “Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his castle.” That’s “Take the Money and Run,” by the Steve Miller Band.

• “Then your head is skewered on a stake.” This is “Holiday in Cambodia” by the Dead Kennedys.

• “I’m a midnight toker.” That too is Steve Miller Band, this time “The Joker.”

If I was the ESRB rater, I would have cited Take the Money and Run for trying to rhyme “Texas” with “what the facts is.” I’m thinking offensive language, or at least an offense against language.

This’ll be the third retail disc bundle that Harmonix and MTV Games are selling for the franchise. It’ll be available for PS2, PS3, Wii and 360.

Standalone Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock Disc Headed to Retail [Destructoid]

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Earl Weaver Baseball, the heavyweight of baseball simulations in the late 1980s and one of the titles that helped create EA Sports, is being ported to the iPhone by its original programmer.

It won’t be called Earl Weaver Baseball, as he’d need to be paid for his name, and this is probably a $4.99 iPhone game, after all. But Eddie Dombrower does own the game’s engine, and in an interview with GameStooge, he said EWB Baseball is already under development.

For the first release, I intend to leave them pretty much as you see them in the screen shots. If time allows for the initial release, I’ll begin to add texture mapping to fill in the stands, improve the look of the grass and dirt. The animations are, in my opinion, strong enough for the resolution of this device.

If the game makes Dombrower enough money, he has plans for a second phase that ramps up the stadium graphics and game camera shot selection. But the first release allows the player to manipulate an entire league in a single commissioner mode, and Dombrower has plans for two head-to-head modes with another iPhone EWB Baseball gamer.

Earl Weaver Baseball was a widely acclaimed game - making Computer Gaming World’s Top 25 of all-time in 1996, and the hall of fame in two other publications. For seamheads who ride the train or fly frequently, I could definitely see this as a strong buy. But Dombrower would have to pool them with nostalgia buffs and casual fans to get the project to that second phase he’s already envisioning.

For those who have no clue who Earl Weaver is or why he’s important, this clip (very NSFW for language) should tell you everything you need to know about the Hall of Fame manager for the Baltimore Orioles. A delight for baseball fans and non-fans alike.

A Baseball Classic Comes to iPhone [GameStooge, thanks reader Jonah F.]

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ESA top dawg Michael Gallagher took home more than $800,000 in cash and prizes in his first year on the job, GamePolitics reports.

That compensation package came in an IRS filing covering April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008, so it precedes the 25 percent decline in ESA membership, and the fun-size, booth-babeless E3 of last year. However, the jacking of membership fees and other conditions that created both lowlights were in place before Gallagher came aboard. GamePolitics also points out ESRB President Patricia Vance earned more than $500,000 in salary.

Considering the ESA spent $42 million to lobby for a $22 billion industry, this kind of compensation doesn’t seem out of proportion. Still, it’s a nice paycheck, and good work if you can find it.

Nice Work If You Can Get It: ESA, ESRB Heads Make the Big Bucks [GamePolitics]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

February 2009

• Rare Spawn
  A Brief History of Getting Knocked Up In Video Games
  by AJ Glasser
• Fear And Loathing Down Under
  No, World Of Warcraft Has Not Been Banned In Australia
  by Luke Plunkett
• You’re Fired
  The Face of The New Gaming Economy
  by Brian Ashcraft
• Obsessive Game Design
  From Warcraft Obsession to Game Creation
  by Michael Fahey
• Thumbs Down
  Why You’ll Never Be Happy With Video Game Films
  by Leigh Alexander
• Retro Cameo
  The Making Of Wrestle Jam: The Wrestler’s Unsung Hero
  by Michael McWhertor
• 
  

  REVIEWS

  • LocoRoco 2 Review: Arming The Mui Mui
  • Puzzle Quest: The Battle Of Grulkar Micro-Review: A Piece Of The Puzzle
  • Flower Micro-Review: All We Are Is Dust In The Wind
  • Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And Damned Review
  • Street Fighter IV Review: Seth’s Soliloquy
  • F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Review: Scary Made Simple
  • Afro Samurai Review: Hip Hop Hack and Slash
  • Halo Wars Review: A Fistful of Spartans
  • Dapple Micro-Review: A Rainbow for the Colorblind
  • The House Of The Dead: Overkill Review: A Blast From The Past
  • Dawn Of War II Review: Once More, With Tyranids
  • Killzone 2 Review: A PS3 Must Have

  PREVIEWS

  • 90 Minutes With GTA: Chinatown Wars
  • Battlefield 1943: Pacific Preview: A Much Needed Upgrade
  • Resident Evil 5 Preview: A Building Sense of Dread
  • inFamous Preview: Ride The Lightning
  • Sonic And The Black Knight Preview: It’s Probably Not For You
  • Velvet Assassin Preview: Metal Gear Lite
  • Red Faction: Guerrilla Preview: Search And Destroy
  • The Sims 3 Preview: Smooth Criminal

  WELL PLAYED

  • Electronic Arts Won’t Run From Risk
  • Wii Fit Is No Fad
  • Can the DSi Become the Portable Wii?
  • Three Reasons This Could Be the PSP’s Year

  COVER

  • Sims 3
    Designed by Michael McWhertor

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Calling California’s violent video games law “an embarrassment,” the L.A. Times says the state shouldn’t create another by appealing its overturning to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Times pointed out the law’s obvious flaws - too broadly defined, zero causal link between violent games and the harms claimed, etc., before winding up with the common sense that seems to flee this sort of debate whenever it gets into a statehouse:

The primary responsibility for protecting minors from potentially harmful influences lies with parents, as it did long before video games were a twinkle in a programmer’s eye. Parents don’t need a law to urge makers of video games to strengthen their current voluntary ratings systems. More important, they don’t need permission from a legislator or judge to keep an eye on what their children are doing - or playing.

Remember, the law didn’t ban violent games, just required their labeling and stiffened fines for selling them to minors. It still fell short of justifying any prior restraint of free expression.

The state’s struggling with cutbacks to balance a budget that was $50 zillion in the hole, and the worst drought in a generation is expected later this year. Plus Brown’s tangled up in the Prop. 8 appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. This stupid law should not be anywhere near a priority.

Violent Video Games: who Controls the Joystick? [Los Angeles Times via GamePolitics

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Our friends across the pond who don’t game on the 360 will be pleased to learn Rock Band 2’s finally gotten its Great British release dates.

PlayStation 3 and PS2 gamers get the game March 27; Wii gamers will see it April 24. The game had been Xbox 360 exclusive in the UK since its release last year.

Further, the individual instruments have been priced. Guitars for £39.99, drums for £49.99, and an instruments-only bundle (git-tar, drums and mike) for £89.99.

Rock Band 2 Dated for UK Releases [Play.tm]

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So Lost Planet is $5 on Steam and Warhawk’s down to $20 on PSN. That we knew. What other values can be had out there?

• For those waffling on getting into PS3 gaming, Best Buy is hoping a console bundled with either Guitar Hero III or Guitar Hero; Aerosmith (game and guitar) AND a $50 gift card will get them past the tipping point. That’s if you have the $400 for an 80GB PS3, or $500 for the 160GB. [Cheap College Gamers]

• The coupon code Z0WPL1J0CC3W47 gets you 20 percent off gaming consoles and accessories from Dell. So if you want a PS3 but not all that other stuff from Best Buy, you can get one for $310 or $400 depending on your flavor. And a 360 Arcade model is $160, a Pro is $239.20 and the Elite is $319.20. The code’s applicable with other items, too. [Slickdeals, and thanks reader Eddie M.]

• The code 35OFF gets you $35 off any version of Guitar Hero: World Tour at Red Octane’s site. Shipping is free, too. That said, you could drive over to Circuit City, which is officially in 50 percent off territory and the one near me is overloaded with Guitar Hero and Rock Band stuff. [Cheap College Gamers]

• Gamestop’s doing its usual trade-in credit boost thang, this time offering progressively higher percentages for trading in 2, 4 or 6 games. The rest of the circular has inducements for Killzone 2 and RE5.

As always, smart gamers can find value any day of the week, so if you’ve got a deal, share it with us in the comments. Thanks!

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But this is a working Dreamcast inside an iMac G3 case. Modder logicdustbin had some spare G3s and a 15-inch LCD monitor laying around, had a moment of inspiration, and soon the iCast was born.

“So I started taking shit apart,” he says, and seeing the monitor fit in nicely the Dreamcast was the next logical step. It wasn’t a piece of cake, but he pulled it off.

“A lot of work went into this, like getting the original power button to work for the new monitor and adding a power switch for the DC, then adding a sound amp to power the iMac’s speakers … getting it all together was a bitch. It was all pretty fun to do, and it plays just great!”

You can get a look at it in this video:

How Frick’n Cool is This? [CGCC.ca via Engadget]

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