USA Today’s Marc Saltzman lays out the controversial aspects of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV.  GTA IV will be the subject of much scrutiny when it launches on April 29th. Saltzman writes: Not unlike previous GTA games, Grand Theft Auto IV will ruffle feathers among concerned parents, politicians and activists. You still can kill police, but it’s wiser to avoid these shootouts because if you’re arrested, you’ll lose all your money and weapons and fail the mission. Though they’ll try to jump out of the way, you also can drive into pedestrians. Read More…

Gaming News: Powerful Iraqi Cleric was Once Known as “Mulla Atari” GamePolitics GamePolitics has previously reported that the powerful and militant Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is a hardcore gamer. JT + FBI = LOL GamePolitics The Federal Bureau of Investigation apparently has had enough of Jack Thompson. The rise, fall and deafening crash of Sonic the Hedgehog GamesRadar A teary-eyed examination of gaming's greatest casualty Top 20 console features no-one uses GamesRadar DS' thumb strap and 19 other utterly redundant console features Assassin's Creed, I can't quit you GamesRadar Video proof of why PC Gamer can't stop playing NCsoft Fighting IP Theft in Europe GameDaily While opportunities for online gaming are increasing, potential piracy is also a problem, as NCsoft has discovered in the case of numerous game servers throughout Eastern Europe. Poll: Sex in Games Is Worse Than Violence Wired This week's poll at What They Play shows that although violence in games is what tends to get all the negative attention, some people, at least, find games' sexual content to be far more offensive. Read More…

Pokémon Trophy Telegram Yes, you are seeing what you are seeing above. It is a Pokémon trophies that you can send as a telegram. You know, for when you have to be a thunder stealer in the message sending area. Some may just prefer to send an e-mail or something in today's age, but wouldn't it be awesome to get one of those instead? Think about it. You know you would love it. Read More…

Tattoos based on video games... how do YOU feel about them? I make it no secret I have a mario mushroom tattoo... but for now I shall spare you the picture of my ass. Below you will find some of the good, bad, and ugly when it comes to injecting permenant ink into our skin. AND Quite possibly the two coolest pics evar: -Navie, Supporting gamer tattoos since 1985. Read More…

“I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don’t know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense. The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times has to be deliberate.” YOUR HOUSE JUST GOT PWNED! Read More…

Funcom Announces plans to conduct a PvP Age of Conan beta event for 15,000 players from April 18-20.  Conjunction with GameSpot, so a free registration is required, as detailed on this sign-up page. Word is: Durham, USA – April 9th, 2008 – Eidos and Funcom is proud to announce a unique Beta partnership with GameSpot.com, one of the world's biggest gaming websites. In a highly exclusive event, 15,000 gamers from across the world can log in and play Age of Conan, non-stop, from Friday April 18th to Sunday April 20th. Read More…

Microsoft is working on a new motion-sensing controller similar to Nintendo's Wiimote controller for the Wii. "Wii Sports"; it's slightly more ambitious. "They want the usual assortment of 'Halo'/ 'Gears'/ 'Forza'/ whatever, just in waggle form," our source told us. Such idea-generation has not gone smoothly. "The whole thing is a colossal clusterf---," the source said. "[Microsoft] marketing just want it so they can match the Wii point for point. Read More…

Gaming News: Kane & Lynch Ads Banned… Five Months After Release GamePolitics Better late than never? Industry Types Discuss How Video Game Biz Can Police Itself GamePolitics A panel at this week’s MI6 conference pondered how the video game industry might police its own content in an era of intense political attention as well as potentially chaotic user created content. Analysis: 49 Million U.S. Read More…

Wii Gets A New GameCube Controller Ok, I know my title was a little misleading, but it got you to look into the actual New bit. So Ha! It worked. :) The short and dirty of it is that Nintendo is releasing a GameCube Controller specifically for the Wii. It's not wireless or have motion controls. At least not from what I read. But it is the nice white color of the Wii and the controllers for it. Read More…

Gaming News: Who is the Biggest Political Hypocrite? …Vote in New GP Poll GamePolitics Video games, as every GamePolitics reader knows, have become a political football. Arizona State Senate Rejects “Dangerous” Media Content Bill GamePolitics As GamePolitics detailed yesterday, the Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HB2660, a measure which would potentially hold media content producers liable for violent acts committed by consumers of books, movies, video games and the like. The Political Game: Welcome to the Slippery Slope Joystiq If you pay attention to the First Amendment arguments offered in defense of video games, you'll often hear reference to something called the "slippery slope." What a World: Byron Review - Parent Edition Boesky. Read More…

We all know that America’s financial situation is getting worse, especially with the gas prices rising, the housing market suffering, and the war in Iraq which has cost the United States an estimated $3 trillion. There is one thing in the American economy that is keeping afloat and growing, which is gaming, and the nations largest retailer of games and consoles is GameStop. "As we analyze our sales deployment, we can't find evidence of the economy affecting our business," GameStop company officials said recently. "In fact, like we did after 9/11, we're seeing [comparable] store growth as consumers travel less and stay at home more, as well as trade in more games on new game purchases. Read More…

More Rock Band News So I got a few things for all you Rockers from the US to Europe. Seems like EA drops all the info at the same time, so this will have a few Newiscles (Yes I know that's not the name. :)) here. First EA announced the pricing that the have planned for the European version of the game. It kind of sucks too. First, on May 23rd the game will only be dropped on the XBox with now solid dates for the Playstation or Wii versions. Read More…

EA Games to Use Unreal 3 Engine If you haven't picked up Unreal Tournament, I would highly recommend it. It is a great game and it is an awesome engine to putter around with. Actually working on a full game mod with a armature development team. From what we've got so far, this engine is phenomenal. The image is not a rendered 3D film, but actual gameplay graphics. Now onto why I've been giving some good ass kissing to the engine and the actual topic of this Narticle. Read More…

Gaming News: Arizona Bill Worries Video Game Industry GamePolitics A piece of legislation under consideration today by the Arizona State Senate has video game industry representatives concerned. Could EA Takeover Delay GTA IV Release? GamePolitics Oft-quoted Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter (left) speculates that an EA acquisition of Take-Two could delay the much-anticipated April 29th release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Stephen King: Videogame Lunacy Entertainment Weekly EW's pop-culture columnist peels away the hypocrisy a Massachusetts proposal to ban sales of violent games to minors, another attempt by politicians to act as surrogate parents that he says is not only doomed to fail, but is undemocratic to boot EDITOR’S VIEW: Are Games Immoral? Next-Gen. Read More…

Ignition Entertainment is hosting a launch party this Saturday, April 12th at Nintendo World for the launch of Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys. Like a Zombie game isn't enough to get you there, Ignition has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters to help out disadvantaged children. If you purchase the DS game before the release date at the event, all the proceeds will be going to BBBS of NYC. Which is reason enough to go. Read More…