Thanks to EvilAvatar for the heads up about a new Kaiser Foundation study showing that parents are simply not worried about video game violence. "Overall parents are more concerned about inappropriate content on TV than in other media: 34% say TV concerns them most, compared to 16% who say the Internet, 10% movies, 7% music, and 5% video games."

crashnbur writes "Rockstar has updated their Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas web site with new information about the game's soundtrack and the in-game radio stations! Two versions of the soundtrack will be available Nov. 23 -- one 2-disc set of selected tracks, and the massive 8-disc boxed set! Rumor has it we'll hear in-game news and weather breaks just like real radio. Audio samples are available on the web site, and a full track listing is expected this Monday, October 18. But no word yet on Lazlow..."

meganthom writes "The BBC is carrying a story about how an Engineering Rehabilitation Unit at Swansea's Morriston Hospital adapted the chin controls Sam Mansel used to play video games to create a special wheelchair that has signicantly improved the teen's life. Mansel, who has athetoid cerebral palsy, hasn't been able to use a traditional wheelchair for years. Now, with the skills he learned playing video games, Sam is able to drive himself almost anywhere. "

SuperStar writes "XLink Kai, the only global gaming network that allows you to tunnel all link-compatible games for Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube, launched their new client. As almost all 'Online-enabled' games also allow 'link/network play', this makes Kai a free and legal alternative for Microsoft's Xbox LIVE and Sony's online PS2 service. Using psSDK (instead of WinPCAP) and a new MAC caching subsystem allows them to become the fastest frame tunnel available. They not only offer a win32 binary, but also one for Mac OS X and Linux. A hands on of this release is available."

vasqzr writes "CNN has a story about Dungeons and Dragons celebrating its 30th birthday. 'An estimated 25,000 fans in 1,200 stores celebrated the anniversary Saturday, said Charles Ryan, brand manager for role-playing games at Wizards of the Coast, a Renton, Washington, company that owns Dungeons & Dragons.'"

According to the Everquest 2 Player Site, the NDA has been lifted on the upcoming Massively Multiplayer Game. If you've been looking forward to detailed information on the game, EQ2 Vault has a special feature on available in-game information. Tobold, of Grimwell Online, has commentary both on game mechanics and on his personal opinion.

Brian writes "The long awaited Doom 3 SDK has been released. It is available on the official id software developer site."

AhabTheArab writes "IGN is reporting that Half Life 2 has gone gold. After months of speculation and delays, it is finally true this time."

BlueMoon writes "A moderator on the official Halo 2 forums posted some speculations and warnings about the Halo 2 leak. To the question where the leak originated he answered "is almost positively the work of some jerk in the manufacturing plant who pocketed the game". They also send out a warning that posting any kind of information about leak will result in "having your XBox Live account's ability to play Halo 2 crippled as we can and we will ban your gamertags from access to vital parts of Halo 2's online experience"." TalkXbox has a repost of an official statement asking community members to assist in the capture of the folks who leaked the game.

OneHungLo writes "Today, Ubisoft released an international demo for Prince of Persia 2: The Warrior Within. The demo is around 470MB. For those of you who would like to use the /. effect to help others get the file, get the .torrent here."

PSP launch delays have been discussed before, but GamesIndustry.biz is running an article today in which network systems exec Izumi Kawanishi confirms the system may be delayed. This despite continuing announcements regarding launch titles for the system. From the article: "Speaking in an interview with Impress Watch AV, Kawanishi said that it is still possible that the console will be released this year in Japan, but that this depends on whether game publishers will have software ready for launch."

Neopoet writes "Players of the online virtual pet game Neopets (claims 70 million pet owners worldwide) have gone nuts against an Australian current affairs show called Today Tonight after the show ran segments railing against the Neopets for introducing children to gambling. Click below to read on.

Fanfan writes "Chessbase is reporting that the man vs. machine championship ended badly for the humans : The event ended in a depressing 3.5:8.5 loss by the humans to the computers. Both Fritz and Hydra scored a remarkable 3.5 points out of four games, while an out-of-form Junior ended up with 1.5 points after the only computer loss in this tournament (to 14-year-old Sergey Karjakin)."

Phantom69 writes "Ixbt Labs have spent a month testing 101 graphics cards in 14 different games. They used one reference system, and tested at two different resolutions (800x600 and 1024x768). The cards cover virtually all the major manufacturers ATi, nVidia, 3dfx, Matrox, PowerVR and S3 from 1999-2004."

Thanks to MaxoidHumanoid (a Maxis employee) who writes "The latest title of the Sims franchise, The Urbz, comes out next month, and there is a new feature on the website launched only yesterday called Urbz Comix. A new comix will be released weekly for 10 weeks. A stellar line-up of indy comix artists has been assembled. Here's part of the roster: Peter Bagge, Evan Dorkin, Jay Stephens, Jim Mahfood, R. Stevens"

securitas writes "Metro International newspapers Toronto edition reports that Canadian gamers must now provide photo identification to buy computer and video games. The restriction is part of the Retail Council of Canada's Commitment to Parents initiative, in cooperation with the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The RCC says that it has the support of 90% of game retailers in the voluntary program. Read the RCC video game photo ID press release. There don't seem to be any guidelines for how the program will be implemented - whether it will be a simple flash of a photo ID card (which many teenagers don't have) or a more detailed user database, with its inherent privacy concerns. The Ontario government plans to come up with its own game ratings system after the Ontario Film Review Board gave Manhunt an 'R' rating. More coverage at the CBC and CTV before and after the official announcement."

Thanks to still_sick, who alerted us that GTA: San Andreas has probably gone Gold. From the Inside Gamer Article: "Arguably the most anticipated game for the Playstation 2, GTA: San Andreas is gold. In a report confirmed by Inside Gamer Online's own Steve Dotolli, GTA: San Andreas is finished and looking great. GTA: San Andreas is the latest in a series of Grand Theft Auto games that only became popular when GTA 3 came out for Playstation 2. "

An anonymous reader writes "CNN/Money's latest Game Over column spills the beans on Xbox Live Arcade (previously mentioned on Slashdot), Microsoft's forthcoming effort to attract more casual gamers to its console. The feature, which will offer classic arcade games and popular online fare like Bejeweled, will launch Nov. 3, but as the column points out, it will have a very small line-up of titles and will charge rather high fees to purchase them."

BlueMoon writes "TeamXbox released information today about the launch of the Voodoo VIBE, a Central Home Theater and Entertainment PC running on Windows MCE 2005 that is designed to sit in your home office as a central media server PC. What's special is that you can then hook up a custom VIBE XBOX to your TV that will allow you to record and pause live TV. You can also stream videos, display slide shows, play MP3, play live FM Radio, and even burn recordings to DVD from your VIBE XBOX on the VIBE HTPC."

pashdown writes "Namco has announced a Nintendo 3-in-1 arcade game that contains Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario Bros. The new upright has a 25" monitor instead of the traditional 19". Arcadeflyers.com has the flyer."