Male teens who play videogames are less likely to smoke or take up drugs, and do better at school than their non-gaming classmates, according to new research.

However, the same can not be said of girl gamers – apparently they're more likely to get into fights or bring a weapon to school.

The research, carried out by the American Academy of Pediatrics and reported by Games Radar, surveyed 4,000 Connecticut high school students.

The study found that boys who were regular gamers generally posted a higher grade average at school, were less likely to take up smoking and more likely to claim that they'd never tried alcohol or marijuana.

On the other hand, "girls who reported gaming were less likely to report depression and more likely to report getting into serious fights and carrying a weapon to school."

76 per cent of boys and over 29 per cent of girls questioned said that they played played videogames, 61 per cent of whom claimed they played for less than seven hours a week.

The report went on to add that a small minority of those surveyed suffered more serious problems related to their gaming habits.

"Among gamers, 4.9 per cent reported problematic gaming," claimed the report, "defined as reporting trying to cut back, experiencing an irresistible urge to play, and experiencing a growing tension that could only be relieved by playing.

"Boys were more likely to report these problems (5.8 per cent) than girls (3.0 per cent). Correlates of problematic gaming included regular cigarette smoking, drug use, depression, and serious fights.

"Results suggest that gaming is largely normative in boys and not associated with many health factors," the report continued. "In girls, however, gaming seems to be associated with more externalizing behaviors and fewer internalizing symptoms."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-to-take-drugs ...

After so many years in development we'd hope that Gran Turismo 5 offers some moderately realistic racing action. However, Sony reckons its racer is so lifelike that it's offering gamers the chance to swap the controller for a real steering wheel and go pro.

According to the PlayStation Blog, the game's developer Polyphony Digital has teamed up with Nissan North America to launch the GT Academy competition.

From 20th December, a series of regional heats will narrow entrants down to the best 32 virtual racers. This elite group will then be whittled down to 16, who will all be invited to take part in a live national finals event in March 2011.

The final will see contestants testing their skills in a number of events, some of which will be in a real Nissan race car.

The eventual GT Academy winner will then go on to train with elite drivers and race as part of a professional team – the precise details of which Sony is yet to reveal.

There are smaller prizes on offer for regional winners and all contestants will grab some free digital content.

Alas, the event is only open to US gamers for now, but Sony will be filming the whole thing for a multi-part TV series to be shown on the SPEED channel and PlayStation Network next year.

If you are in the USA and fancy giving it a shot, registration details are up on the game's official website.

It's not long until you can start practicing. After a seemingly endless series of delays, Sony is finally releasing Gran Turismo 5 on 24th November.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...me-a-pro-racer ...

Sales of Xbox 360 in the UK doubled last week off the back of the launch of Kinect, Eurogamer has learnt.

The spike was confirmed this afternoon by sales monitor Chart-Track, a spokesperson stating that, while specific figures could not be revealed, it was "more than a fair reflection" to say the figure was double that of the previous week.

The boost is understood to have widened substantially the gap between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with Sony's biggest hope for a pre-Christmas surge coming next week with the release of the long-delayed Gran Turismo 5.

A senior publishing source added: "360 doubled last week and it was already selling a lot. Wii and PS3 have been beaten by 360 consistently over the past few months.

"Wii is still outselling PS3 – the numbers are going the wrong way for Nintendo year-on-year but it's certainly not a disaster."

Kinect went on sale last week both separately and as part of official hardware bundles, the latter likely to be responsible for the jump in numbers.

Microsoft revealed yesterday that over one million units of Kinect has sold worldwide in the ten days following its 4th November US launch.

The US giant reckons it's on track to sell five million units by Christmas.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-uk-xbox-sales ...

ThatOtherPerson has just released the very first SixAxis compatible homebrew game for the PlayStation 3, Neo Race v0.1! Although at the moment, racing has yet to be implemented. To control your vehicle you simply tilt the PS3 controller to the left or right. To accelerate you press the [X] button. For now, all you can do is go around the track. ThatOtherPerson promises that racing will be added sometime in the near future. This definitely has a TRON feel to it.



Source: ThatOtherDev Blog ...

Hi All,

Thom is one of the best emulator of the Thomson TO7 home computer running on MacOS, Windows and Unix.

It has been initially written by Sylvain Huet in 1996 (see http://www.sylvain-huet.com),
then Eric Botcazou (see http://nostalgies.thomsonistes.org/) continued this project and added many news features.

Here is a port on Caanoo of version that i had previously ported to Wiz, Gp2X and PSP.

How to use it ? Everything is in the README.txt file.

it's available on my blog



Enjoy,

Zx. ...

Hi All,

gPSP is a famous Gameboy Advance emulator written by Exophase. It has been ported on several portable consoles such as the Wiz, and more recently to the Caanoo.

Here is my very small contribution to the Caanoo port project, all credits remain to Exophase for this great emu, and to other coders such as Notaz for the Wiz port / improvements.

Changelog :
- Fix rom file selection menu (long filenames etc ...)
- Fix sound issue (makefile)

Sources are included, and this package is under the GNU public licence v2, read COPYING file for more information about it.

Source code and binary archive is available here :
on my blog

Enjoy,

Zx. ...

Winners will be contacted via Twitter for mailing address.


We're back again with another contest for our loyal followers and readers. Having just posted our review of the X3Max x3Jailbreak USB microSD SDHC, why not have a contest!? If you own a PlayStation 3 and looking to play homebrew games and use homebrew applications, this is the jailbreak choice! Not only can you use an HEX file, but there is also a microSD(HC) slot. This DOES NOT work on PS3's with firmwares 3.42, 3.50 or above. If you have firmwares below 3.41, this will work.

Sponsor:
We would like to thank X3Max North America for sponsoring this giveaway and we highly recommend all of you to pick up your X3Max x3jailbreak from them.


Be sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for more news and future contests!

How to enter:
All you have to do is retweet the post about the giveaway (http://www.twitter.com/#!/dcemurevie...66524752826368), become a follower on Twitter and you will be automatically entered. If you already are a follower on Twitter, no worries! Just retweet about the giveaway. Only 1 entry per person. The contest ends December 1, 2010 and winners will be chosen randomly and first post will be updated with winners. Winners will be contacted through Twitter for mailing address.

Please note that none of the "upgrade" products listed in this site are endorsed by Nintendo, Sony and/or Microsoft. DCEmu Reviews and DCEmu Network does not condone piracy. The primary functions of a "modchip" and/or "flashcart" are to allow you to play imported games and homebrew software that you legally own or simply just for experimenting with hardware. We in no way endorse piracy, and encourage all users to do the right thing and support the developers/manufacturers that support them. We do not take any responsibilities for any use outside of these parameters or where the use of such a device is illegal.

*DCEmu Reviews and DCEmu is not responsible for lost or damaged packages and/or electronic devices. All shipping of prizes are handled by X3Max.ca. Any concerns in regards to X3Max or shipping, please contact X3Max.ca. ...

We're back again with another contest for our loyal followers and readers. Having just posted our review of the X3Max x3Jailbreak USB microSD SDHC, why not have a contest!? If you own a PlayStation 3 and looking to play homebrew games and use homebrew applications, this is the jailbreak choice! Not only can you use an HEX file, but there is also a microSD(HC) slot. This DOES NOT work on PS3's with firmwares 3.42, 3.50 or above. If you have firmwares below 3.41, this will work.

Sponsor:
We would like to thank X3Max.ca for sponsoring this giveaway and we highly recommend all of you to pick up your X3Max x3jailbreak from them.


Be sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for more news and future contests!

How to enter:
All you have to do is retweet the post about the giveaway (http://www.twitter.com/#!/dcemurevie...66524752826368), become a follower on Twitter and you will be automatically entered. If you already are a follower on Twitter, no worries! Just retweet about the giveaway. Only 1 entry per person. The contest ends December 1, 2010 and winners will be chosen randomly and first post will be updated with winners. Winners will be contacted through Twitter for mailing address.

Please note that none of the "upgrade" products listed in this site are endorsed by Nintendo, Sony and/or Microsoft. DCEmu Reviews and DCEmu Network does not condone piracy. The primary functions of a "modchip" and/or "flashcart" are to allow you to play imported games and homebrew software that you legally own or simply just for experimenting with hardware. We in no way endorse piracy, and encourage all users to do the right thing and support the developers/manufacturers that support them. We do not take any responsibilities for any use outside of these parameters or where the use of such a device is illegal.

*DCEmu Reviews and DCEmu is not responsible for lost or damaged packages and/or electronic devices. All shipping of prizes are handled by X3Max.ca. Any concerns in regards to X3Max or shipping, please contact X3Max.ca. ...

The studio behind a controversial Iraq war game still hopes to bring the project to market despite it already having caused a vehement public backlash and a cancelled publishing deal.
Six Days in Fallujah, developed by US independent Atomic Games, was according to the studio an attempt to engage in serious subject matter through the medium of video games. Its subject matter was the Second Battle of Fallujah, a conflict that took place in Iraq six years ago and saw the deaths of numerous US Marines, Iraqi insurgents, and local civilians.
The announcement of the project sparked outcry for apparently trying to stir controversy at the expense of serving armed forces.
Konami dropped its publishing deal, and Atomic Games had to shed staff.
Yet the developer’s president, Peter Tamte, still believes Six Days in Fallujah can restore its image, and describes the code as an “opportunity for the world to experience the true stories”.

In an interview with news site VG247, Tamte appeared to still be at odds with popular opinion that the game is of poor taste.
He brought the issue into a wider debate of whether videogames can be seen as credibile and legitimate forms of story-telling – a discussion which he believes Six Days would have added to.
He asked if games were “just high-tech toymakers, or media companies capable of producing content that is as relevant as movies, music and television?”
Of the project, Tamte said the studio “needs the funding to complete it.”
“I really hope it’s not finished,” he added.
The battle at Fallujah resulted in extensive damage to residences, mosques, city services, and businesses.
Tamte made clear his view that censoring the title would impact on its legitimacy.
“Six Days takes place during the most relevant event of an entire generation,” he said.
“Some people suggested, ‘Why not just make it Six Days in Bullcrapistan?’ We could have done that, but that would have taken away one of the reasons why we made the game, which was to recreate the specific stories of some people who are our heroes – I can’t do that in Bullcrapistan because it loses its context.”
He added: “My frustration with [the situation] has grown over time, if that’s even possible. The retail sales of videogames in the US have declines in the last two years.
“That may be partly because of the economy, but it’s also because the games industry has stopped creating anything new, and consumers are starting to say, ‘Hey, what you’re selling – I’m not buying.’ I have conversations with senior people at publishers all across the world, and they’re telling me that videogames are trivial, and we’re going to keep making trivial games. Someone needs to slap them on the side of the head and say, ‘Hey, guys, sales are going down. Something is wrong.’
“We should experiment with new categories of games. That’s what we wanted to do [with Six Days]. It has to be made into a purely commercial argument, ignoring all the arguments about the importance of the medium, and the things that we can do for consumers that can’t be done via passive forms of entertainment – because most of the publishers are interesting in the economic argument.”
Elsewhere in the interview with VG247, Tamte lifts the lid on the studio’s upcoming self-published and download-only multiplayer shooter, Breach.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...-Iraq-War-game ...