Jesus, British gamers don’t like variety much, do they? A month after release and Activision’s decision to exploit theCall of Dutyfranchise is paying dividends in the United Kindom, whereWorld at Waris still number one. This week’s chart positions are not much different from last week’s, with the usual suspects includingFIFA 09,Need for Speed: Undercoverand, as always,Brain Training. God, mainstream game consumers really have no imagination. BUY OTHER THINGS! As ever, MS’ big “casual” hopeLIPSfails to chart, whileResistance 2, which debuted at a humble number 10 last week, has now slipped to a dismal number 20, just hanging in on the charts by a thread....

Piracy is, and always has been a threat to creative industry, and the gaming industry is no exception.However, a survey conducted by TIGA, a regional trade body, suggests that while the majority developers in the UK see piracy as a problem, only a small percentage believe it to be ahugeproblem. 60 percent of developers surveyed viewed software piracy as a “constant and growing” concern, but out of those respondents, only 10 percent felt that the threat piracy posed by piracy to their survival was “high....

Earlier today, I broke thedisappointing newsthatManhunt 2was deemed too harmful for an overprotected British public, pushing back the progression of civil liberties several decades and making me wonder if I lived in the UK or communist China. With that in mind, it seems that America has no intention of being left out of the overreaction happy fun party as the ESRB has seen fit toslap an ‘Adults Only’ ratingon Rockstar’s much maligned boogeyman-in-DVD-form....

I’m going to take the easy route here and justassumethat this is what it looks like when the ESA and the VGVN try to make me laugh, because this ishilarious. While I’m most certainlyin supportof the cause, I don’t know if I’m quite ready to associatescary-ass latin choir musicto our epic struggle against video game legislation. And while it stings just a smidge that there are some who associate my pastime (and me, by extension) with baby-slaying, unicorn-roasting evil, comparing our plight with that of women who were vilified for, y’know,readingpushes the proverbial envelope a hair too far....

No sh*t. But at least someone is backing up what we already knew with some science. Here’s the short version: If you’ve got a kid that has mood issues, or sometimes acts unfriendly, then you should probably keep him away from the violent videogames. It’s the kid that’s mostly to blame, and not all the game. This is the meat of what Psychologist Patrick Markey of Villanova University presented at theAmerican Psychological Associationrecently....

I figureif we talk aboutSplinter Cell: Convictiongetting ported to PlayStation 3 enough, it will happen. The latest factoid to give new life to the rumors is a listing onUbisoft’s support page. Simply put,Convictioncan be seen under the PS3 banner at the support’s answer page. Obviously this means the port is complete fact and must be acknowledged as such. Well, maybe not. In all likeliness, we probably will one day seeConvictionon PlayStation 3....

According toone loudmouth with a radio show, the Wii needs to pull its products from store shelves until they make significant changes to their advertising. Instead of promoting family fun and active lifestyles, the Wii actuallycontributesto obesity and injures people, claims a new lawsuit. Michael Torchia has decided to press a suit against Nintendo for the injuries that stupid people sustain by not knowing how to waggle an electric plastic stick properly....

For ourDante’s Infernosin contest, we wanted you to take a picture or a video of yourself doing a sin. Thanks to AttentionUSA and Electronic Arts, the prizes were well worth the eventual damnation. First place prize of the nine beautifulDante’s Infernoposters, aDante’s Infernoaction figure, signed copy of theDante’s Infernocomic and the extremely limited “3 Cerberus Moon” shirt all go to ZWilliams for his gluttonous ways. The eight first-place runner-ups were GearsofAve, xenoaroe, ran24, Gimic300, Bstaples, Ensky, Overindulgence, Diego Alberto Garcia Aldana and they’ll all be getting the figure, signed comic and shirt....

The firstCall of Duty: World at Warmap pack — aptly and generically named “Map Pack 1” — wasa massive success. Pyrotechnic sales typically spawn a follow-up. Activision and Treyarch haven’t missed the opportunity. Late this afternoon the publisher and developer tandem announced “Map Pack 2” forWorld at War. It’s due out this June and appears on paper to bequite similarto “Map Pack 1” The new downloadable content will have three maps: Banzai, Corrosion and Shi No Numa....

Microsoftrecently decidedit would be fun for the consumer if third party memory units weren’t able to work on the Xbox 360, effectively forcing everyone to buy proprietary machines or screw themselves to a wall. Datel, manufacturer of its own Xbox 360 memory units, is understandably unhappy with the news, accusing Microsoft of “disappointing” behavior. “… We’re disappointed to see that Microsoft are taking these steps to prevent customers from exercising their freedom of choice,”said a Datel spokesman....

My favorite part of the Yakuza games is the time spent wasting time. Sure, kicking ass is fun, but wandering around town wasting time is awesome. I think I enjoy it because it’s a perfect parallel to my real life. I don’t have pachinko parlors and onsen around here, but I do end up wandering and wasting most of my days doing a whole bunch of nothing. You only have one life to live....

It seems that everyone is capitalizing on the casual gaming market these days. WithWii Sportsbeing such a worldwide phenomenon, 2K Sports figured they’d get in on the action. To that end, they’re working onMajor League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Starsexclusivelyfor the DS. Yep, you heard right: a sports game is being developed specifically for Nintendo’s best-selling handheld. Their ever-popular sim baseball game,MLB 2K8, is coming out for the PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, and PSP this year, but now DS owners will finally get some love....

Ah yes, another excellent video from freddiew. In the past, he’s taken some of gaming’s more unrealistic concepts — like the ever-classic rocket jump — and applied them to real life with great results. In this video, we’re shown what a first-person shooter could look like once graphics have peaked; assuming, of course, videogames retain thatCall of Dutystyle so presumably far into the future. It’s a heck of a lot better than the FPS segment in theDoommovie, and I actually kind oflikedthe film....