As more and more video games come into the spotlight for their violent nature (Manhunt 2 springs to mind), a study carried out by L. Rowel Huesmann, a professor at the University of Michigan, claims to show a link between virtual and real-world violence. The study claims to show a strong correlation between on-screen violence and violent behaviour in adolescents and adults, based on more than 50 years of research on the effects of media violence. Huesmann said the following:

The research clearly shows that exposure to virtual violence increases the risk that both children and adults will behave aggressively. Children are also spending an increasingly large amount of time playing video games, most of which contain violence. Video game units are now present in 83 percent of homes with children.

I haven't personally read through the publication, called the Journal of Adolescent Health, so whilst I'm not saying it's wrong, I'd be interested to see how you can prove that a video game is the cause for violence and that it isn't simply the case that violent natured people tend to play more violent video games.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R to Arrive on Xbox 360 Soon; Sequel 'Clear Sky' In Development

This year's 'most delayed game', S.T.A.L.K.E.R., is rumored to be making it's way over to the Xbox 360 console. GSC Gameworld, who created S.T.A.L.K.E.R, finally were able to attain a license from Microsoft to create Xbox 360 games. Instead of a pure re-coding, S.T.A.L.K.E.R on the Xbox 360 will most likely be a port. However, the license GSC Gameworld has allows them to make more than just one Xbox 360 game. When announcing the license, GSC Gameworld also hinted at a prequel-sequel, code-named "Clear Sky". You can expect to see more of Clear Sky next year, and expect to see it on the Xbox 360 around 2010.

Eidos Interactive, known for such classic games as Tomb Raider, Hitman, Lego Star Wars, and the Deus Ex series, recently announced that they plan on adding a new member to the Deus Ex family: Deus Ex 3. The Deus Ex series, for those of us who have not heard of it before, pioneers mixing elements of a first-person-shooter with a role-playing game. Similar to the 2K Games hit BioShock, you can manipulate the behavior of the character and plot of the game by making ground-shaking choices at critical points in the game. You can check out files.neoseeker.com for a Deus Ex 3 teaser trailer.

It's no secret that to get many famous songs while avoiding ridiculous royalties (and to also avoid the inconvenience that half the artists included are dead anyways), the majority of Guitar Hero songs are "covers", or similar versions of the song performed by a completely different artist. 'The Romantics', a classic band that wrote such hits as "What I Like About You", recently picked up Guitar Hero 3. When they heard the rendition of one of their songs, and how it was "virtually indistinguishable" from the real version, they sued Activision. After all, nobody had asked The Romantics if they wanted their song included in Guitar Hero 3. The Romantics are seeking ridiculous amounts of money in compensation, and for Guitar Hero 3 to be pulled off the shelves.

We all know about the controversy surrounding Manhunt 2. It got an "AO" rating, Sony and Nintendo refused to support it, Rockstar blurred out and hid the questionable content, and now Manhunt 2 is out on all platforms under an M rating. This worked fine until some hackers unlocked what seemed to be all the hidden content. As The Inquirer so eloquently puts it...

Western civilisation threatened to collapse as parents across the US feared their children would be turned into axe-wielding zombies. There were even moves in the Senate to ban such computer games and calls to cover children in bubble wrap until the emergency passed.

And so, the ESRB re-evaluated Manhunt 2. They did what any curious teenager would: use the power of Google and persistence to unlock the locked content. However, the ESRB noticed two things. First, the steps required to unlock content were ridiculous, and illegal in themselves. Second, even after the supposed unlock, most of the truly nasty content was still unavailable. And so, with a few giggles, the ESRB maintained Manhunt 2's M rating.

When Rockstar Studios decided to make their game M-rated instead of AO-rated, they didn't actually remove the gore. Instead, they merely hid it within the game. And now, hackers are beginning to find way to unlock this gore. Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive recently confirmed that the hack works for the PSP, and there are almost certainly beta hacks in development for the other consoles. The discovery will very likely get Rockstar Studios in trouble with the ESRB, as this is not the first time Rockstar has hidden something in their games (Hot Coffee, anyone?).

It's hard to find a computer game with more hype than Crysis. And so, it should come as no surprise that Electronic Arts' Crysis recently went gold. "We are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish with Crysis," said Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli. "We wanted to push the boundaries both visually and with open-ended, non-linear gameplay and we believe the end result delivers that vision." At this point, Crytek and EA are planning to release their masterpiece on November 16th.

Microsoft is extremely proud of their Halo 3 franchise, as they should be. Making $300 million in the first week of sales is no small feat. However, some analysts are predicting that Grand Theft Auto IV might have what it takes to break this record. The monetary sales figures do not give us an exact amount of Halo 3 copies sold, but analysts guess that the numbers are awfully close to 4.4 million units sold out of 5.2 million shipped. Analysts claim that Grand Theft Auto IV has all the features of Halo and more: the enormous fan-base, the high-quality graphics, and the relatively early release of a sequel. Combine this with the Grand Theft Auto IV release on the PS3 as well as the Xbox360, and sales figures are already estimated at between 3.5 and 5.3 million units in the first week. And if, for some reason, Grand Theft Auto IV was adopted at the same rate as Halo 3, then there would be approximately 9.5 million sales in that first week, which means $466 million dollars in sales.

While some people would think that the ending of the epic partnership between Microsoft and Bungie would stop Bungie from making games exclusively for the Xbox (360) and PC. Fortunately for Xbox 360 and PC fans everywhere, these rumors have been greatly exaggerated. Bungie saw a lot of previous success by making things Xbox (360) exclusive, and will continue along that path, instead of buying PS3 and Wii development kits. Bungie actually has no intentions to make anything for any other console unless something changes in the future.

Unfortunately for anyone hoping to completely maul a PS3 owner via Unreal Tournament 3, cross platform play between the PC and the PS3 will not be available at launch. According to an Epic representative, "The biggest challenge in doing cross-platform play is synchronizing the builds such that the build on the PC is 100% compatible with the build on the PS3. Unfortunately (or fortunately) when you [put] games on [a] console you have a lengthy certification process to go through each time you release anything new." Hence, every time someone tweaked the UT3 build, it would have to be certified for the PS3 before it could be released for the computer. And since Epic has it's computer-owning customers closer to its heart than those owning a PS3, the PS3 was forced to lose the interoperability. On the bright side, though, PS3 owners still get access to all the UT3 mods and user-created content that PC users make.

We've been hearing rumors about the cost of a game that includes three accessories: a guitar, a drum set, and a microphone. MTV finally has an answer for us: you can get the entire kit for the price of $169.99USD. Rock Band will arrive for the Xbox 360, PS2, and PS3 on November 23rd. Wireless controllers will become available later on.

While manufacturing costs are cheaper than ever for Microsoft now that they are building them with the 65nm "Falcon" processor, there is no price cut in sight. Instead of detracting, Microsoft will be adding a few games for the avid gamer, gratis. A leaked Best Buy flyer revealed that we may soon be seeing the full versions of Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance with the Xbox 360 Platinum and Elite. This will probably boost holiday sales of the Xbox 360, considering most parents hate to buy a console for their children when the package does not even include any games for them to play.

Some lucky Norwegians got their hands on the NTSC version of Halo 3, which will be released in just two days in the United States (three days in Europe). One Norwegian in particular, who goes by the alias "Assclown" turned Halo 3 into a file you can get off of Bit-torrent. The hacked version, once burned onto a disk properly, would obviously need a modified Xbox 360 to play it. The Halo 3 torrent is 7.3GB broken down into 154 RAR files.

According to the NPD, the video game industry is now nearly a billion dollar (USD) business, and a record-breaking holiday season is now just short of expected. And now, without further ado, here are the top consoles/video games, and how well they sold.

Consoles:
Nintendo Wii - 403,600 units
Nintendo DS - 383,300 units
Microsoft Xbox 360 - 276,700 units
Sony PlayStation 2 - 202,000 units
Sony PlayStation Portable - 151,200 units
Sony PlayStation 3 - 130,600 units

Games:
Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) - 896,600 units
Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 643,000 units
BioShock (Xbox 360) - 490,900 units
Madden NFL 08 (PS3) - 336,200 units
Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) - 256,800 units
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) - 218,100 units
Mario Strikers: Charged (Wii) - 147,400 units
Guitar Hero II w/ guitar (PS2) - 145,400 units
Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 138,300 units
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s (PS2) - 127,100 units

With Team Fortress 2 just around the corner, some people have not yet had the pleasure of playing the original Team Fortress. Not anymore, say the makers of Fortress Forever. This free mod for Valve's famous and powerful Source engine does nothing more than bring the classic game to the Source engine, so hardcore fans can be confident that they are playing the original classic. You can download the mod here.

As we have seen in the past, one of the major franchises keeping Sony in the console race is Square Enix's Final Fantasy. In the past, Microsoft has repeatedly tried to buy out Final Fantasy. Fortunately for Sony fans everywhere, Square Enix has not yet yielded to the Microsoft. However, Square Enix recently promised Microsoft it's own RPG. Codenamed "Infinite Undiscovery", the game is "action-oriented, 'dynamic, compelling next-generation RPG' with a focus on real-time events."

When Rockstar studios decided that an AO rating on their gory creation Manhunt 2 wasn't going to get any sales, they had to take some of the more gratuitous gore out of their game. Hardcore Manhunt fans will be pleased to hear that the game itself remains largely untouched. However, stealth-kills were "heavily tweaked visually, adding a blur effect and darkening sequences to obscure violent viewpoints". Gamers will also not see the infamous "testicle ripping scene". Manhunt 2 is on track for a Halloween release.

The Orange Box-featuring Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal, as well as the complete Half-Life 2 experience to date-is now available for pre-purchase via Steam. Pre-purchase The Orange Box before the October 10 release to save 10% off the regular price and get exclusive access to the Team Fortress 2 beta on September 17.

The Orange Box, penned by IGN.com as "the package which could legitimately be called the deal of the century," features three highly-awaited new games by Valve: Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the second installment in the Half-Life 2 episodic trilogy; Team Fortress 2, the sequel to the game that put class-based, multiplayer team warfare on the map; and Portal, the game that blends puzzles, first person action, and adventure gaming to produce an experience like no other.

In what he claims was a fit of boredom, an intrepid user of 1Up stumbled upon the original script for the Halo movie. The 127 page script was drafted in 2005, and was only ditched because of studio problems with making the actual movie. Anyone who is truly obsessed with Halo and wants to read what would have been the Halo movie, please follow the source link.

As the title says, Valve's famous Orange Box will be coming to the PS3 a little later than it will be for the Xbox 360 and the PC. However, this is not due to difficulties with the PS3. The Valve team coding the Orange Box for the PS3 is having some internal difficulties, which will push the final version off for a few weeks in the long run. Valve will still release the Xbox 360 and PC versions as planned, on September 15th.

Edit: It seems as though there is some controversy over the release date of the Orange Box. If it does not come out on September 15th, expect to see Orange Box by October 9th in the USA and October 19th in Europe/PAL territories.

It's no big secret in the gaming world that Vivendi studios and Monolith Productions, the two companies behind F.E.A.R., aren't working together anymore. And so, this means that there was a large battle over the F.E.A.R. franchise. Vivendi got the rights to F.E.A.R., but Monolith got all the characters. While the rest of us scratch our heads in confusion, Warner Brothers Interactive announced that Vivendi was developing a F.E.A.R. sequel. Vivendi is proudly naming it 'Project Origin', a title that gamers chose. There is no word as of yet what Vivendi plans to do with none of the rights to the original characters. We'll keep you posted.

While the first half of this year saw almost no interesting video games, it seems that this half of the year is seeing a new blockbuster every month. The very anticipated shooter Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which was co-developed by id Software and Activision, has officially gone gold. In an unusual move, Europeans/Australians will get the video game before their North American counterparts. Europeans and Australians will get to play the game on September 28th, while the North Americans have to wait until October 2nd for their turn.

The PC version of this game is $49USD, and $59USD for the Limited Collectors Edition. Xbox 360 and PS3 ports are "in the works", but there is no word as to when we can see them.

I think we would all agree that the PlayStation 2 has had a long run, with no signs of recent sales slowing down. To keep things interesting, this November Sony will release a white PS2 bundled with "SingStar Pop" and 2 USB microphones. The packaged deal will be available for $149.99USD. The new paint job is a welcome aesthetic change for those whose home decor doesn't accommodate for the "flat black" original, or anyone with a different taste in colors.

Nokia is bringing games to their current and future N-series cell phones. The new service entitled "N-Gage" will provide gamers with download access to applications, games, challenges and contests. Games are priced from $8-$10 and are currently compatible with N73, N81, N95 series, N93 series and more coming.

The latest patch for Tom Clancy's "Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2", v1.04, is now available. There have been a few fantastic changes made, including multicore support and the ability to run multiple dedicated servers on a single machine! The patch includes various minor fixes as well.