In the 1990’s you could own most  of the games released and have beat them, now it would be near impossible to even name them all;

According to listings at MobyGames, 2,840 games were released in 2008. The folks at gaming sites like MobyGames have devoted themselves to comprehensively listing all titles, and they are essentially databases. Even they make choices about what to exclude — MobyGames only includes commercially released games. The sheer amount of product ensures that no source can truly be definitive.

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It’s not to surprising that video game’s make children fat, but  its not the only contributor to this epidemic;

The World Health Organization, which called out video games as a prime contributor to sedentary lifestyles obesifying the planet’s children.

Nearly a third of kids globally spend three or more hours per day playing sitting in front of a screen, whether that’s to play video games, watch television or chat online with friends. The WHO says kids aren’t getting enough exercise whether they live in a rich or a poor country.

“Growing up in a poor country does not necessarily mean that kids get more physical activity” the WHO’s Regina Guthold told Reuters.

What’s enough exercise? According to the WHO, it’s at least an hour of exercise – not counting any P.E. at school – per day for five days a week. By this measure, the WHO says just 25 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls get enough exercise.

By contrast 25 percent of boys and 30 percent of girls qualified as sedentary, which means three or more hours per day sitting on one’s ass playing games and such. The WHO conducted its study of 72,845 kids ages 13 to 15 from 2003 to 2007; the kids lived in North and South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

I wouldn’t say gaming make’s children fat though, it’s just that children use their time gaming instead of doing regular exercise. If children played video games 4 hours a day and did 1 hour of exercise a day there wouldn’t be a problem.

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The game Air Raid, has gone for sale on Ebay reaching an astonishing $6,500 with still 8 full days of bidding to go.

It’s the box, not the weird T-shaped handle on the cartridge, that makes this game so rare. The game itself was a Taiwanese hack of a game called Space Jockey, and until now, a box of the game had never surfaced.

“We had a chance to view the box in person and have no reason to doubt its authenticity,” says Atari Age. The seller says he bought it in the mid-1980s from a store in Texas. The price tag is still on the box.

Now its a matter of time to see if this game will beat Stadium events record auction price or not.

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A study conducted by Robert Weis, a psychologist at Denison University in Ohio has discovered that boys owning a game system would have slower academic development;

The results show that boys given a PlayStation II are slower to progress in their reading and writing skills and have more learning problems reported by their teachers than those not given a system.

The study is the first controlled trial to look at the effects of playing video games on learning in young boys. That is to say, the findings aren’t based on survey data of kids’ game habits, but instead on a specific group of children that were randomly assigned to receive a PlayStation or not, and followed up for a certain period of time.

Before parents go out and throw the Playstation away Robert Weis has some sound advice;

“There’s nothing evil about video games per se,” “It’s just that we need to monitor kids’ usage of these games and to urge moderation in the amount that kids play these games.”

The gaming aspect seemed to have no effect on the children the only reason grades suffered is because the children played to much, taking away time from their studies.

While several studies have found an association between playing video games and poor academic performance, they don’t reveal which direction the cause-effect arrow points. For instance, it could be that children who struggle academically turn to video games, because they enjoy it more than homework, Weis said.

Weis’ new study involved 64 boys aged 6 to 9 who didn’t currently own a video game system, but whose parents were thinking of buying one. The boys did not have previous learning or behavioral problems. The parents were told this was a study looking at child development, and they would get a video game system for participating. The scientists chose not to include girls, because they wanted to look at the effects of playing video games, and they were worried that girls might not play as much as boys would, according to Weis.

Source Live Science

Whats bandai been up to lately? They having been putting together all there amazing and creative ideas to give us something truly great. Presenting the Bandai game simulator:

Bandai has released a new toy, thevMoso Controller, that simulates game playing through sound effects. The main unit is designed to resemble a video game controller. By listening to the sound from the speaker the user imagines the scene of the game and presses the keys of the controller.

Five models are available including “Pro Yakyuu Famista” by Namco (currently Namco Bandai Games) and “Street Fighter 2” by Capcom. The user can enjoy a simulated experience of these popular games from the 1980s.

So other then making sound effects its pretty useless, bandai sure loves making useless stuff lately. At least the fellow in the picture is enjoying himself, and for a cost of 888Yen its not to bad on the wallet.

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Handheld’s are still just popular as ever in Japan; Nintendo DS Lite/DSi/DSi LL sales combined are at around 52,000 units while the PSP and PSP go sales are around 45,000 units. Wii has sold around 35,000 units, while the Ps3 has sold around 25,000 units.

PSP – 43,163

Wii – 36,149

Nintendo DSi LL – 28,080

PlayStation 3 – 25,450

Nintendo DSi – 19,116

Nintendo DS Lite – 5,410

Xbox 360 – 3,651

PlayStation 2 – 2,047

PSP go – 1,738

Data is from February 1st to 7th

Xbox360 is still in fierce competition with the Playstation 2, coming out on top with 3,600 units sold compared to 2,000 units of Playstation 2 sold. High PSP sales can be attributed to the release of God Eater which sold close to 300,000 units in the week of February 1st to 7th.

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Video game sales are down 8% in the U.S, Japan and the U.K for the year 2009.

The Top Global Markets report said videogame sales declined 14% in Britain, 2% in Japan and 7% in the United States last year compared with the previous year.

Console software sales fell by 6% in Britain while portable game software sales were off by 25%.

In Japan, console software sales dropped by 5% and portable game software sales fell by 1%.

In the United States, console software sales fell by 7% while portable game software sales dipped by 8%.

The report attributed much of the decline to the shrinking PlayStation 2 market, which declined in unit sales by 56% in the United States, 67% in Britain and by 55% in Japan.

It’s no surprise that video game sales are down  for 2009, worse economy, and less releases can be attributed to the slight decrease. Sony has already begun working on its newest creation which is sure to boost sales.

Why do you think game sales were down for 2009? And do you think there will be an improvement for 2010?

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This years top selling pc game is none other then… The Sims 3;  The Sims 3 takes the place as the number one selling pc game in all US retail stores. According to the games publisher Electronic arts The Sims 3 also takes the place as the worlds most sold PC game. The Sims 3 sold an astonishing 1.4 million units in its first week of release and over 3.7 million units in EA’s fiscal quarter. The Sims 3 was also able to best World of Warcraft in sales no small feat.

Little info on the game for those who have never heard of it;

The Sims focuses entirely on the lives of “Sims”, placing the player in control of their virtual “world” and their daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, reading, and bathing. Will Wright, the game’s designer, calls it a “digital dollhouse”. Although players are encouraged to make their own characters, certain pre-made characters, such as the Newbie and Goth family, have become popular.

The player controls almost all aspects of the lives of a family, either premade or self-created, sometimes being referred to as a god. Many choices can lead a player’s Sim to a large household or a single life.

Source: Gamasutra