WeebMac writes "IGN has a new career-themed section and one of their first stories is about the earning potential available to those who make their careers in the gaming industry. From TFA, 'Beginning programmers, whether you're working on tools, gameplay, networking, audio, AI, or animation, you can expect to start off with a salary in the area of $60K with the potential for more in the way of sales-based royalties or bonuses or stock options depending on the particular company you've been hired by."

djflipstarx writes "Jack Thompson, famous anti-videogame lawyer, has found himself in the position of being investigated by the Florida Bar Association after trying to get Penny-Arcade writers Gabe and Tycho arrested. A bunch of people from the Penny-Arcade forums then went and sent letters to the FBA asking for them to check up on Thompson's current actions and review his license to practice law. The fact that even the National Institute on Media and the Family distance themselves from Thompson doesn't help his case either." The lesson here? There are many nerds in the world. Some of them have a posse. Be careful who you pick on.

The always excellent Game Over feature on CNN reports on the upcoming launch of the Gizmondo portable console, and what a colossally bad idea it is. From the article: "Assuming you do want to play one of those games, it's going to be a frustrating affair. The system's D-pad controller doesn't lend itself to accurate aiming, particularly in fast-paced games. Of course, you have to turn on the Gizmondo to play games or take advantage of any of its offerings. This is not a quick task. In fact, it takes 48 seconds. (Compare that to less than five seconds on the Nintendo DS.) "

Gamasutra is reporting on Yee and Schwarzenegger's response to the lawsuit brought in response to the violent games bill passed recently in California. From the article: "History has proven in cases of child labor and physical assault on children that we can and should pass laws to protect them. I am a strong believer in the First Amendment and in free speech, but when a game allows a player to virtually commit sexual assault and murder, as a society we must do what we can to protect our children, as we do for alcohol, tobacco, and pornography, among other items," We've previously reported on the passing of the bill and the filing of the lawsuit.

Next Generation is reporting on the use of games in educational situations. From the article: "Age of Empires III deals with the conquest and colonization of the Americas; fertile ground for imaginative students. Taking on the role of a European power - desperate to grab land and resources - helps students understand the motivation and planning behind invasion. It also paves the way for learning about its consequences. That, at least, is the theory."

Joystiq wonders out loud if the shortage rumours going around about the Xbox 360 may not just be a marketing ploy on Microsoft's part. From the article: "The bottom line: in all likelihood, you'll be able to walk into just about any store on November 22nd and obtain an Xbox 360. But all it takes is a little, good, old-fashioned FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) to drive sales through the roof and make this rumor a self-fulfilling prophecy." If this is in fact a ploy, it may be backfiring on them. Gamasutra is reporting that an analyst is downgrading his opinion of how the launch will go based on these hardware shortage rumours.

Craig Sender writes "BusinessWeek Online has a piece on the expansion of the gaming market into the octogenarian, market." From the article: "Though some may find it surprising, the senior gaming trend isn't hard to understand. For starters, many folks living on Social Security find they don't have a lot of money for entertainment or travel, and video gaming is a fun and affordable diversion, especially if you rent games or trade titles on the Internet."

gavriels writes "TransGaming has just released SwiftShader, an ultra-fast software-only 3D renderer that supports Vertex and Pixel Shaders. SwiftShader dynamically compiles the geometry and rasterization pipelines to produce code that exactly matches the graphics features a game or application is using. Demo download and tech details can be found on their website."

Heartless writes "On the heels of Vanguard's beta 1 announcement, Heartless Gamer blog has an article looking into why MMO beta processes are overly involved and detracting from the game they are meant to improve. From the article: 'But why even have such a process in the first place? If they honestly think they are going to get any sort of actual *testing* (I use the term loosely) from an over-hyped MMORPG community... they obviously failed basic MMORPG sociology. I could link hundreds of beta leaks and broken NDA contracts, but what would be the point? What you need to know is the fact that betas are infiltrated by those that want sneak peaks at the game. Definitely not by those that truly wish to test the product. Internal testers and paid testers have proved for years to be able to produce very finished products in the single player market.'"

Gamespot is reporting that the VSDA and the ESA have filed a suit against the California governor in response to the passing of that state's violent games bill. From the article: "The complaint alleges that the new law violates the First Amendment by restricting access to games 'based solely on their expressive content' and unconstitutionally compels speech by manufacturers, distributors, importers, and retailers by requiring them to label violent games with a 2-by-2-inch sticker of a solid white '18' outlined in black."

An anonymous reader writes "RPGamer has posted an interview with Atlus USA's Tomm Hulett, who has played pivotal roles in bringing various RPGs to North America, as well as the recently-released Trauma Center: Under the Knife. The interview, however, revolves around Tomm's experiences and the advice he would give to those looking to make a living off of the video game industry. From the article: '...You don't get to make games by sitting around playing RPGs and dreaming (unfortunately)--you have to get out there and work hard. I've known a lot of really smart people who just never applied themselves. So, now they're just playing FFXI and talking about how they're going to make games someday.'"

Anon1001 sent us the latest developments in the ongoing saga between Miami Attorney Jack Thompson and Penny-Arcade. So far the story goes that Jack has filed a wrongful death suit against Rock Star, claiming that GTA is a cop killing training simulator responsible for the murder of a pair of cops. He also offered $10k to charity if anyone who would develop some ridiculous murder spree game. When someone did it, and he changed his mind and Penny-Arcade donated the cash instead. All of this is being documented on the Penny Arcade website, in phone calls, rants and comics, as well as an 'I Hate Jack Thompson' T-Shirt. (Note, Slashdot's parent company owns ThinkGeek). He has now called the cops claiming harassment. Update: 10/18 17:40 GMT by Z : It seems like this confrontation has been brewing all summer. The most recent altercation is just another link in the chain made by Thompson's reaction to Hot Coffee and his crusade against the Sims 2. Further, PA has put up the scan of the letter to the cops, and a photo of the check.

redemtionboy writes "According to IGN, "Nintendo of America on Tuesday will announce a groundbreaking partnership with Wi-Fi provider Wayport to make available free Internet access to DS owners at McDonald's restaurants across the nation." " There are so many potential jokes here that I'm gonna just leave it to you guys to make your own.

Edge Online has a short piece on Xbox VP Peter Moore's announcement of the Live Arcade's full potential. Gamespot has a list of the planned titles, which is thoroughly impressive, including hits like Bejeweled 2, SmashTV, and Wik:Fable of Souls. From the Edge article: "Amongst the 40-odd developers slated for further Live Arcade development are Namco, SEGA, Konami, Capcom, SNK Playmore and Hudson Soft providing a selection of their retro titles, as well as the usual lineup of casual PC game producers like Wild Tangent, PopCap, and GarageGames, but the two most unexpected additions to the list are Mizuguchi's upstart Q Entertainment and AntiGrav/Guitar Hero developers Harmonix."

1up.com has a lengthy feature up today about everything that's currently known about Nintendo's next volley in the console wars. From the article: "Once again, Nintendo has single-handedly flipped the videogame market on its head. After a generation of mockery and snickering from Sony, Microsoft and even diehard fans, Nintendo's come out of left field with an idea that's more reminiscent of what the company stands for than anything they accomplished during the GameCube era. Let's break it down and see what it all means." Update: 10/17 22:08 GMT by Z : I'm getting over being sick. Link fixed.

Gamasutra is reporting on Microsoft's loud exclamations on the advantage their November launch will afford them, compared to the expected 2006 launch of the PS3. In fact: "UK Xbox boss Neil Thompson has boasted that Microsoft expects to have a even more significant lead on the PlayStation 3 than previously supposed, suggesting that, in his opinion, the PlayStation 3 might launch in Europe as late as spring 2007 ..." More on this FUD from Next Generation.

Mike wrote to mention an apology from the creator of the DS Trojan. From the article: "I won't release any more of this crap for DS and I don't think parts of this trojan or the idea itself will emerge in future homebrew releases. The point is probably clear. Do not run any form of untrusted code that just suddenly appears without any name."

Trounce writes "Game Guides Online has a lengthy article exploring how farmers work in World of Warcraft, including their daily quotas, techniques, schedules, and how they hide their gold surplus from employers and possibly thieving partners. It has a section on how players can benefit from shift changes and score items at low prices (which can then be re-listed at a profit). From the article: 'Of course, farmers who stay on past the ends of their shifts, while their boss and/or partner breathe impatiently down there necks, are even more amenable to agreeing to ridiculously under-market offers; so keep looking for bargains after 6:00 as well.'"

Goalmaster3000 writes to tell us Joystiq.com is reporting that Jack Thompson has rescinded his offer of a $10,000 donation to charity if a video game were made to fit his model. Recently a group of GTA modders cooked up a scenario to fit the bill but apparently Thompson is claiming that his piece 'A Modest Video Game Proposal' was intended as satire that the video game community was not bright enough to grasp. Perhaps Thompson was just afraid he was going to have to sue himself? Update: 10/17 20:02 GMT by SM: It appears that the Penny Arcade crew has taken the next step by donating the promised $10,000... in Jack Thompson's name.

Craig writes "PSP Owners have long been interested in watching the UMD films and playing games on the TV, well now according to a report from Lik Sang they can, the new PSPTV being produced eventually by Gametech will be a no modification addon. From the article: 'The TV Adapter for PSP lets you hook up your PSP to your home television (NTSC and PAL) via Composite or S-Video and Stereo connectors. This adapter requires no modification of your PSP console. This new peripheral takes a completely different approach and clips on top of your PSP screen, with two screws to fit at the back of the handheld (in these two holes you can see on the top of the UMD drive). Some sort of pyramid grows from the base, with a precision lens and mirror system at the top, capturing the image and light, in a similar way a scanner or camera would. It then converts it into a video signal that is sent through video leads going from the adapter to your TV set.'"