duncangough writes "With the recent rise in popularity of casual games and the seemingly established presence of community bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, Millionsofgames.com is one of the first websites to provide an amalgamation of these two themes. MOG is a social bookmarking service for flash, shockwave and java games although any type of game can be added, such a MMORPGs or downloadable games like Zuma and Bejewelled."

ILuvJoesMom writes "Hot on the heels of Wednesday's news story, Warcry has an editorial up with strategies for defending the video game industry from the oncoming hordes. 'If you're sick of hearing politicians kvetch about video games, make it worth their while to stand up for them by voting for them and supporting them. Given the choice between a hundred thousand overprotective moms with ballots in hand and a million gamers at their computers, I'm going 'mom vote' every time, and I imagine any politician hoping to stay a politician feels the same. This is that 'elected' thing I was talking about earlier. If you're over 18 and not a felon, then odds are you have the right to vote, and that's more powerful than a thousand 'I think Congress sucks, who's with me?' threads on the message board of your choice.'"

Eurogamer is reporting on a little humor that Rockstar is having at Jack Thompson's expense. From the article: "Rockstar has just launched a new website for forthcoming PSP game GTA: Liberty City Stories, which features a spoof email from 'JT@CitizensUnitedNegatingTechnology'. 'The Internet is an unambiguous evil,' the email reads. 'The only things worse than the Internet are computer games and liberals ... Only last week, I was using the Internet to look up some information for my 15 year old niece, who is a keen water skier and state wide sailor ... Trust me when I say this - searching under the subject matter "Teenage girls water sports" is not for the faint hearted.'" The article goes on to describe some frantic arm waving from the parody's target.

Gamasutra has a follow-up to a previous Question of the Week about the PSP and the DS. The question this past week was: "Which handheld do you think is winning the most hearts, and which the biggest marketshare in each territory?" From the article: " My personal view of the PSP hasn't changed at all. It's not what I'm looking for in a portable system. Seriously, who actually wants to watch a movie on a tiny screen? The DS genuinely has more options for innovation when it comes to unique software, but because the general masses are easily influenced by what is cool, I can foresee less developers spending time on creating innovative software on the DS in an effort to cash in on the popularity (and mass marketing) of the PSP. Still, the DS has sold quite a number of units, also, where I currently reside, the PSP has only just launched recently, so it's still hard to say. -Anonymous "

Very few things surprise me about videogames anymore. I won't claim to be all-knowing by any means, but there are very few genuine surprises these days. Release dates are known well in advance, endless features and interviews are conducted with developers during the course of a game's creation, and what few elements that publishers try to keep under wraps get leaked to the media by individuals wanting their moment in the sun. Even the big gaming news stories of this past year (Hot Coffee, the PS3 PreRendered Movie Debate) were more frustrating than surprising. Happily, Nintendo managed to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Today's announcement of exactly what the revolution behind the Revolution will be is nothing short of a showstopper. Read on for my reaction to Nintendo's new bid for the brass ring.

kakos writes "At the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed what the Nintendo Revolution controller looks like. The new controller is a radical departure from traditional controller types. Has Nintendo struck gold with their new controller design? The reviewers seem to think so. It should be interesting to see how gamers react to Nintendo's new innovation."

RealDSmooth writes "2old2play.com has a nice article up about extending World of Warcraft, Neverwinter Nights, and other games using Lua, a light-weight programming language made specifically for enhancing and extending games. It goes into some great details about what's available today, and where Lua is heading in the future."

1up.com has an interview with director Tetsuya Nomura, one of the men behind Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts. In it, he talks about several aspects of Square-Enixs' gaming library, and admits he'd like to expand the PS3 tech demo into a full revamp of Final Fantasy VII. From the article: "The PS3 tech demo was actually not the perfect forum that he wanted to have. It was just timing that we had to submit something in time for E3, for the press conference. So, again, it was not perfect forum. And the 7 remake idea was always, always in conversation, just because it's so popular. And then just because of that tech demo here in the PS3 conference, that probably based more expectations of fans, obviously."

Now that the Chinese Government is backing online gaming, analysts are predicting the industry to be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.7 Billion by 2010. From the article: "Because of piracy concerns China has been forced to pioneer new business models for video games ... The game market in China is all about online play and charging by usage. There is even a growing market for the items used in games like weapons and characters."

Microsoft's presence at the Tokyo Games Show has resulted in a number of new details about the Xbox 360, set to launch November 22nd. 1up has a look at Japanese impressions of the upcoming launch, some games that may have been under your radar so far, and a new trailer for many of the upcoming games. Next Generation is also reporting that, at a London event yesterday it was confirmed that the 360 is now in mass production. From the 1up impressions article: "Another concern, and a lesson learned from the last launch, was that Japanese gamers at the were hesitant to buy into a new, wholly unfamiliar console. This time Microsoft hopes to entice gamers by opening a 360 lounge in the fashionable Aoyama area a full month before the launch date. The lounge will be a hip, comfortable place where gamers can play demos of 360 games before they buy them."

Wil Harris writes "Bit-tech has been up to Valve's offices in Seattle to play through The Lost Coast, the super-duper add-on level for Half-Life 2. There is an article up talking about the technology behind the level (it's not just HDR!) as well as screenshots from throughout the level, a brief summary of the narrative, and thoughts on Valve's work. There's also a couple of cool photos of the Valve office, including a golden crowbar and Counter-Strike Barbie and Ken dolls."

duck2ducks writes "Adventure game fans had a rough time last year when the eagerly-awaited Sam and Max sequel was canceled, revived, and canceled again. Fortunately, the rights have now been picked up by Telltale Games (currently at work adapting Jeff Smith's Bone graphic novels) - and since Telltale is made up of former LucasArts designers, the dog and hyperkinetic rabbity thing may have found the perfect place to call home."

EGSonikku writes "Microsoft has released an official press release regarding the XBox 360 world wide launch just prior to the Tokyo Game Show. Looks like the US will be getting it just prior to Thanksgiving on November 22nd. Europe will get it on December 2nd, and Japan on December 10th."

hapwned writes "A news release at Warcry writes that the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) plans on filing suit in Michigan to overturn the recent Violent Games Act. From the article: 'The ESA argues that this bill is an effort to substitute the government's judgment for parental supervision and turn retailers into surrogate parents. Lowenstein said that the industry's products were being unreasonably and unfairly singled out. He contends that while there is no question that a few games have content that some audiences will find offensive, the same can be said for some content in TV, films, music, and books. Since the government does not regulate the sales of those entertainment industries, it should follow suit for the sale of video games. Ultimately, he concluded, parents, not government or industry, must be the gatekeepers of what comes in the home.'"

1up.com has up a feature going through the history of the game controller. Starting in the dark ages of the PDP-1, the article moves all the way up to Nintendo's mysterious Revolution controller. From the article: "And when will Nintendo tip its hand? All we know at this point is that the Revolution will be backwards compatible with GameCube controllers, so at the very least the system will support all the functionality you're used to. But apart from that, will the controller feature a built-in touch screen and microphone, like the Nintendo DS? Is it just a box of brain-wave-reading goo? One thing is for sure: if history is any indication, there's no telling what the game controller we use twenty years from now will look like. And just as long as there's no numeric keypad, we should be okay."

The unique elements of Nintendo's Dual Screen handheld have led to titles with very different gameplay. Warioware Touched and Kirby Canvas Curse typify the ways that Nintendo wants game designers to begin thinking about using their hardware. There are still new directions that Nintendo wants to push gaming, though, and they're not content to sit back and let others find the path. Non-game games, then, are what seems to be in store for the DS. Titles like Electroplankton, the music-making system, and the tamagotchi-esque Nintendogs are intended to bring non-gamers into the fold with interactive software that they can enjoy but aren't necessarily games. In the spirit of the non-game games, then, read on for my non-review of Nintendogs.

Baddox writes "Professional gaming, which has for some time now been a popular venture in Asia, is finally starting to get some attention from big US companies. Teams for competitive shooters like Counter Strike are getting sponsored by large corporations like Johnson and Johnson. The article poses the question, "Is 'frags per round' going to be the batting average of the 21st century?" "

The Escapist has a piece looking at the rationale behind joining a Guild, and what it takes to enjoy the experience. Guilds are a core component of most Massively Multiplayer Online Games, but they're also one of the hardest to get right. From the article: "If guild members don't get what they need from their group, whether that need is companionship or gear, they are going to leave it. The guilds that thrive are not the ones that recruit hundreds of members with no common interests - in this case, finding members might be easy, but keeping them would be impossible. Similarly, if players refuse to accept the costs of a guild such as sharing loot or defending castles, the guild will have a harder time functioning as an efficient unit. The guilds with higher rewards and lower costs are the ones that will last."

Games.net has an article up with the somewhat dramatic title of Five Ways to Save Video Games. The piece doesn't feel the need to pull any punches. From the article: "#1 Stop Treating Women Like Whores - Sexy is fine. Titillating can be fun. But when you show stupid jiggle-physics and scantily-clad girls cooing and moaning and wriggling, you show yourselves for what you really are: sex-crazed children. And don't think for a minute that the mainstream media doesn't pick up on this. If you can't stop demeaning women (with skimpy outfits and hyper-sexuality) and men (by glamorizing massive musculature and testosterone-dripping masculinity), then get the hell out of the industry."

Gamespot's series of "The Greatest Games of All Time" rolls on with a look at Final Fantasy IV. Dubbed Final Fantasy II in the states, it was easily one of the best games to be released for the SNES. From the article: "The narrative in Final Fantasy II gripped you and shook you like a rag doll right from the beginning of the game. Your introduction to the protagonist, Cecil, took place on the deck of a military airship that had been ordered to extort a magic crystal from an innocent town (not a very heroic vocation). After his complicity in this war crime, the conscience-wracked Cecil was dismissed from the military and sent on an errand to a nearby town, along with his best friend Kain. Using generic archetypes for characters (like Final Fantasy's White, Black, and Red Mages, for instance) was standard operating procedure in RPGs at the time, but Final Fantasy II went off on a far more interesting tangent."