video games

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New Call of Duty Game Obliterates Sales Record

Sells 5.6 million copies on first day

(Newser) - Last year, the release of the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 smashed all first-day sales records and astounded industry watchers. This year, the latest release in the franchise—Black Ops—has one-upped that feat. In the first 24 hours, it sold 5.6 million copies and earned...

Playing Tetris After Trauma Cuts Flashbacks

Research could help PTSD sufferers

(Newser) - Playing Tetris probably isn't the first thing most people think of after a traumatic event, but researchers say doing so could reduce the risk of the flashbacks associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. A group of volunteers who played the shape-stacking computer game after being shown a video of traumatic images...

Man Breaks Video Game World Record

John McAllister squashes the former high score for Joust

(Newser) - A Seattle man has broken a video game world record that has stood for 25 years. John McAllister, who already holds the world record for Asteroids (which he won after a 58-hour session), set a new high score in the game Joust this weekend at the Arcade Cabinet. The former...

Video Game Scraps Option to Play as 'Taliban'

Electronic Arts removes choice from 'Medal of Honor' sequel

(Newser) - Following protests and boycotts of its upcoming Medal of Honor video game sequel, Electronic Arts will remove the ability to play as a member of the Taliban. The rival team in the game's multiplayer mode will be renamed from "Taliban" to "Opposing Force" before the Oct. 12 release,...

Berlin Wall Shooting Game Sparks Fury

Victims' relatives slam 'tasteless' border guard game

(Newser) - Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of German reunification—and the German people are none too pleased with a video game that was set to launch that day. In 1,378—named for the length of the wall, in kilometers—players can assume the role of border guards and shoot or...

Site Lets Nerds Pay Girls to Game (Wink, Wink)

GameCrush connects lonely males to gaming females

(Newser) - A site where users pay to play video games against young female opponents is open for business, Mashable reports. Though GameCrush has been in a public beta stage since March, the site formally launched today. Players—generally, men—pay 60 cents a minute to play games on Xbox Live or...

Shoot 'Em Up Games Improve Decision-Making

Action gamers outperformed Sims players

(Newser) - Playing fast-paced shooter video games makes people better decision-makers, according to a new study. Researchers tested young people ages 18 to 25 who weren't regular gamers and split them into two groups. The group that spent 50 hours playing action games like Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament performed...

Retro Gamers Face Drought of Pinball Repairmen

Interest in hobby outlasts machines

(Newser) - Pinball is largely a distant curiosity at this point; a mechanical stepping stone on the way to the fully-digital video game. Still, the machines bring joy to those who spent hours pumping coins into them during their youth—if they work. That's the problem for the vintage pinball enthusiast: the...

Military Bases Won't Get Game With Taliban Players

GameStop won't stock Medal of Honor there

(Newser) - If US soldiers want to face down the Taliban, they'll have to do so in the real world, not a virtual one. Mega-retailer GameStop says it won't stock EA's Medal of Honor at its stores on military bases because it allows gamers to be Taliban fighters. It's "out of...

Resort Offers Trip for Men With Virtual Girlfriends

Japanese guys hang with video game lovers

(Newser) - The Japanese resort town of Atami is so desperate for customers that it’s launched a new promotion aimed at providing the perfect romantic getaway for real-life men—and their video game girlfriends. More than 1,500 men have taken the bait, flying to Atami to recreate the ultimate date...

Virtual Tiger Lost in the Woods, Too...

(Newser) - The new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 video game appears to be in need of a mulligan. The game hit digital fairways across the globe in June, and from there bounced into the rough. Sales are off 32% versus last year's version, and sales of the Wii version are off...

Nintendo Rolls Out 'Stunning' No-Glasses 3D Game System

Nintendo's 'stunning' 3DS can also take 3D pictures

(Newser) - Nintendo made a deep splash at E3 last night with the 3DS, a 3D version of its portable system. The device doesn’t require any glasses to produce the illusion of 3D, and can turn the effect off if your eyes ever get tired. It can also play 3D movies...

Microsoft's Project Natal Reborn as Kinect

Motion control system debuts at E3

(Newser) - Microsoft unveiled its much-hyped Project Natal motion control system—now renamed “Kinect”—at E3 last night, in a performance long on grandiosity and short on actual revelations. After walking through a set of fake living rooms, the white-poncho-wearing audience was treated to a performance by Cirque du Soleil...

Violent Video Games Harmless
 Violent Video Games Harmless 

Violent Video Games Harmless

Study finds no adverse affects on behavior for 'vast majority'

(Newser) - The majority of teenagers can play violent video games without becoming more violent or antisocial themselves, a new study has found. Texas A&M researchers analyzing a group of teens found that only individuals already prone to antisocial behavior would show increased hostility after playing a violent game, CNET reports....

Man Kills Kitten When It Disconnects Video Game

He hurled cat in front of girlfriend's kids: cops

(Newser) - A Virginia man has been arrested after hurling a kitten across a room to its death when it disconnected a video game he was playing, police said. Bruce Jamar Watson was busted after his girlfriend called 911, and he was charged with disorderly conduct and animal cruelty. His girlfriend's children...

Gamer Stabs Counter-Strike Foe—For Real

He plotted revenge after his character's killing

(Newser) - A Frenchman—possibly so divorced from reality that he failed to realize there's no respawn option in real life— hunted down a player who "fatally stabbed" his virtual character in online game Counter-Strike and plunged a real knife into the game rival's chest. The victim survived after the knife...

Parents Crack Over 'Broken Glass' iPhone Fight Game

'More blood' in latest version of slash game

(Newser) - An iPhone video game application that features virtual fighting with broken glass bottles and gushing blood is eliciting screams from parents. "Swing to slash! Thrust to stab!"players are told as they "break" bottles with a flick of the wrist and get down to it, reports the...

Google's Pac-Man Doodle Cost $120M in Lost Work

Playable logo sucked up 5M working hours

(Newser) - Google's playable Pac-Man doodle left the world's bosses short-changed to the tune of $120 million last week, according to Tony Wright, maker of productivity tracking software Rescue Time . Wright calculates that the game caused users—most of whom, presumably, were at work and supposed to be doing something besides munching...

30 Years Later, Pac-Man's Influence Endures

Arcade legend celebrates its birthday tomorrow

(Newser) - Today's teenage gamers probably aren't big on Pac-Man, but they might want to give thanks tomorrow as the arcade icon turns 30, writes Daniel Terdiman for CNET . It just may be the most influential video game of all time. Yeah, titles like Pong came first, but Pac-Man, with its deceptive...

Obama Catches Flack for Dissing iPad

'Entertainment distracts, crazy ideas get traction'

(Newser) - President Obama is catching more than a little flack following his speech at Hampton University yesterday, in which he blasted the venerable iPad, among other devices, as distractions that can lead Americans away from the truth. "With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations—none of which I know...

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