A proposed bill by Fourkiller, if voted in, would levy a 1% tax on games rated “teen”, “mature” or “adult only”. The funds raised would go towards making kids less fat and less violent. How this would be achieved exactly is not mentioned, but the “Childhood Outdoor Education Revolving Fund” and “Bullying Prevention Revolving Fund” are where the dolllars would be diverted.

Fourkiller explains the urgency of the problem:

“it being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety…[the law] shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.”

In any event, the representative seems very happy in his picture and I hope he has good luck fighting laziness and obesity. The bill would take effect July 1st of this year if it were passed. One question I would ask Fourkiller is, “why are these lazy children playing games which are rated to be only for teens and adults?”. It will be interesting to see what happens with this one.

Kit says:

“It’s absolutely super, I can’t speak highly enough of it. I don’t know what I would do without it, I’ll play it in the evening, then I’ll have a break and a cup of tea, then I’ll go back to playing my Nintendo.

The 100 year-old gamer loves her DS and she owns over a dozen games of which include, Scrabble, Art Academy and Family Fortunes; all to keep her mind sharp.

She says one game in particular, Brain Trainer, scored her at a mental age of 64 years old, which is an incredible 36 years younger than her apparent age. Kit says she has always spends her afternoons and evenings playing games on her Nintendo up until she retires for bed. Ms. Connell recommends that children have a go at the spelling games, she went on to say:

“If children had this at school, it would be wonderful”.

At the Digital Life Design conference yesterday, Bushnell outlined his plans for Speed to Learn according to the DLD tumblr. The new service aims at updating the classroom for modern students to learn in new ways.

“ADHD is misspelled – it’s actually called boring teacher syndrome,” Bushnell said.

He went on to say that the traditional system is not up to date on the kind of learning processes that are needed to keep students engaged.

At this point, he says that the education system can learn from video games. He says that the classrooms should be rid of lectures and homework, and introduce individual learning styles. He went on to say that the classroom should in incorporate notions of different learning cultures, and add the power of computers. Such a move would create an education revolution he said.

The Speed to Learn initiative aims to do that. Teachers can not handle the difficult levels of students, but computers can. He says that through using software that mimics the structures of computer games, initiatives like Speed to Learn can speed up the education process and help individual students reach their potential.

“Matching difficulty with ability makes teaching fun,” Bushnell said.

Here are some more priceless quotes from the talk with Bushnell:

[Lead image courtesy of DLD tumblr]

No, I’m not talking about the NFL with its Conference Championships; I’ve got a the 49ers and the Patriots for those of you who are wondering. In fact, with the release of not one, but two trailers — granted, one’s for the video game and one’s for the movie — apparently today, Friday, January 20th, belongs to the Resident Evil franchise.

The question is, which one is the winner? Are people more excited about the yet another video game sequel or yet another movie sequel? Considering the smash-hit success of the video game franchise and the lukewarm reception the Resident Evil movies have received, the nod goes to the sixth installment of the video game, and not the fifth installment of the movie series, Milla Jovovich or not.

Confused yet? Good, let’s watch some trailers. First, the trailer for the movie, Resident Evil: Retribution:

And now, the long-awaited video game sequel, complete with Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy, and Ashley. If you played the incredible Resident Evil 4, you are very familiar with keeping Ashley safe. This time, however, it looks like Ashley will take part in the zombie ass-kicking, which should those of you who can’t stand escort missions.

All things considered, after watching both of those trailers, I’d much rather see a Resident Evil movie done by the same guys who designed the game’s cutscene segments than another ho-hum, “hey, isn’t my wife, Milla hot?” entry from Paul W.S. Anderson.

While such descriptions will remain only superlatives, a trio of students from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands decided to turn the idea of “the biggest” on its ear and, five months and over $6,000 later, have literally built the largest video game controller in the world.

The gargantuan controller, certified by the Guinness World Records, was unveiled for the first time today at the Liverpool Street station in London as part of today’s release of Guiness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2012.

The design of the controller is based on the classic NES model and, yes, is completely function. You might have some trouble toggling those Tetris pieces with this controller, though, as it literally requires two people just to operate it. Well, I guess you could try to play a game by yourself using this controller but, I mean, if you think you can do that you might as well try sprinting to Jupiter or eating dinosaur meat because… ah, c’mon, you’re just not going to be able to do it. Admit it. This warlock is 30 TIMES the size of the original NES controller! If you were to stand it up on its end, it would stand 167 feet tall. To put the truly Brobdingnagian device into perspective, The Daily Mail shared these photos of the controller on display today:

It almost looks as if you might need more than two people to go stomping Koopa Troopas. And because you are dying to know how (un)tenable the remote is, Gamezine was on hand at the exhibition to give the controller a try and had this to say about the experience:

Within its pleasingly chunky wooden frame, the giant pad uses light-sensitive technology to detect when the buttons and D-pad have been pressed. Commuters looked on aghast as Gamezine tried its hand at evergreen classic Super Mario Bros. Despite some frantic button clobbering and careful ‘communication’ (shouting), we failed to make it past level 1 – but it was a memorable experience that brought a new dimension to a classic game, even if you need a sizable spare room to store it in.

I don’t know about you, but the image of grown ups shouting at a funny 8-bit video game in a crowded subway station while stomping away on a HUGE controller puts an incredibly sincere grin on my face.

In case you were curious about what the competition looked like for gaining entry into the famed Guinness World Records, here’s a look at a couple of guys from G4 who constructed “the world’s largest” NES controller a few years ago.

I think somebody’s got their work cut out for them. Game on, gamers.

NPD data was released today that cemented Microsoft’s position as the leader of 2011 in video game sales. That $6.7 billion worth of sales equated to Microsoft’s sales accounting for 40 percent of all video game sales in 2011.

The entire industry made between $16.3 and $16.6 billion in 2011. This includes both retail and digital game and hardware sales. The sales are down 2 percent when compared to 2010.

New physical content at retail still accounts for the majority of video game sales. Retail generated about $9.3 billion, an 8 percent decrease from last year.

HD console software sales were up 9 percent in 2011. Used games, full-game digital downloads, downloadable content and mobile gaming app sales were up as well.

“Overall industry results are not entirely surprising given that we are on the back end of the current console lifecycle, combined with the continued digital evolution of gaming. Core gamers continue to be engaged and spend on established franchises across both the digital and physical format using multiple devices for different gaming occasions,” Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group, said.

This ties into December seeing only 6.3 million console sales, down from 8.4 million a year ago. This is the lowest level since 2005 which was at the end of the previous console cycle. These are usually the signs of a new console cycle starting up soon.

December was the main factor that brought the year’s sales down. December is typically a strong month for software and console sales, but the NPD notes that sales were down across most software and hardware that month. In fact, the only two platforms to see an increase in sales in December were the DS and 3DS.

The top 10 best-selling games in December were:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)
4. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
5. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
6. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
7. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)
8. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
9. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
10. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)

The top 10 best-selling games of 2011 were:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
3. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)
4. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
5. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC)
7. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)
8. Gears of War 3 (360)
9. Just Dance 2 (Wii)
10. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)

The December and annual sales, even though they are down, represent the fact that gaming is a huge industry that continues to strive. With the increase in mobile gaming and the proliferation of digital sales, it can only get better.

Also, with new hardware like the PlayStation Vita and Wii U launching this year, there should be some good news and sales for video games in 2012.

The guys over at GamingChronicles.com are currently embroiled in a 72-hour video game marathon, and their game of choice for this excursion? Sonic the Hedgehog. The proceeds from the Sonic marathon will go to the Child’s Play charity, which, according to their description, is:

…a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 70 hospitals worldwide.

The Gaming Chronicles marathon began at 12:01am, Friday morning (1/6) and runs until Sunday (1/8), and for your viewing pleasure, the gang has set up a UStream channel so you can watch them endure their arduos battles with Dr Robotnik.

It should be noted the content of the stream is just a couple of guys sitting around with video controllers in their hands. In the lower portion of the video player, there’s in-screen footage of the Sonic game in progress. The page also features a ChipIn! widget so you can donate right then and there. Those who make donations can make requests of the guys playing, which they will perform live on camera. An explanation from the site:

Your donations will affect the marathon in the following ways:

• Punish us for failure via a “Fail Pie”. And we’ve activated the FAIL PIE! When a donation is made in honor of the FAIL PIE (currently a $4 donation will suffice) the pie comes out. If the current player loses a life during the level the pie is issued he will receive said pie to the face. If that player finishes his level the pie is passed to a player of their choice.
• Keep a frustrated gamer playing through a tough level
• Voting for the next game played
• Earning yourself a shout out or hilarious request (performance, singalong, etc)

Unfortunately, it seems as if the donations are slow going. The current ChipIn! total is $157, thanks to the eight people who contributed. Considering the worthiness of the cause they are supporting, surely we can do better than that. To donate to their worthy cause, check out their GC Marathon page.

In fact, these titles did as much, if not more business than other arms of the entertainment industry, especially for popular titles. If you need an example of just how popular the concept of gaming has become, just spend some time with Reddit’s gaming section, and it will become clear. Granted, the mega-popularity of the three aforementioned games — particularly Skyrim — only helps in regards to attractive sales figures, but it takes more than just three titles to sustain an entire industry.

Other releases like L.A. Noire, Batman: Arkham City, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Uncharted 3 also reached states of massive popularity.

All in all, 2011 was another fine year for gaming. It could also be seen as a time the true gamers took the title away from those who play on social networking platforms and mobile devices, although, that battle has yet to be decided. However, thanks to a strong end-of-the-year push, helped in large part by the three aforementioned titles, when gamers are mentioned, the first image that pops into your head should not be related to someone playing Angry Birds on their iPhone.

To help remind us of how great a year it was for the video game industry — not just Nintendo, or Xbox, or the PlayStation, either; the entire industry — here’s a two-minute reminder, courtesy of Malcolm Klock. While it may be difficult to encapsulate the industry in under two minutes, Klock’s video does an admirable job:

Battlefield 3
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Assassins Creed: Revelations
The Witcher 2
RAGE
Uncharted 3
Dark Souls
Gears of War 3
Catherine
Saints Row: The Third
Portal 2
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
From Dust
Yakuza 4
Dirt 3
L.A. Noire
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Rayman Origins
Shadows of the Damned
Child of Eden
Dragon Age 2
Infamous 2
Alice: Madness Returns
Batman Arkham City
Resistance 3
Driver: San Francisco
Outland
Dead Space 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Fear 3

As indicated, this is not a comprehensive list. Far from it. It does, however, do a fantastic job of highlighting the many bright spots the industry had this year.

The sad thing about this video is, if SOPA or PIPA were approved, such a thing wouldn’t exist because it’s doubtful Klock received permission from these publishers to use their IP in his video, but then again, who needs fair use, right?

H/t to Neatorama for the lead image.

Norcas, a charity organization that provides assistance with drug and substance abuse, commissioned an independent study about gaming and addictive tendencies among 10 to 16-year-olds and found that 40% of children under 16 thought they knew at least one person they considered to be addicted to video games. The Norfolk Evening News spoke with Norcas on Monday:

Maggie Williams, chief executive of Norcas, said: “It is a generational issue, with almost 100pc of young people engaging in gaming. If played responsibly, gaming is a good pastime, but we need people to be aware of the problems that will arise if the gaming takes hold. Some 86pc of the people we spoke to agreed that gaming can be addictive and revealed lack of exercise and poorer relationships with friends, partners and parents as some of the problems experienced as a result of gaming.”

While video games aren’t naturally bad things or implements of some digital dark lord, they can be fantastic time-wasters. Having said that: all things in moderation, people. Take small bites and chew twenty times before swallowing. No binges. And think of it this way: not only are you honing your hand-eye coordination, but you’re developing spatial perception skills:

According to police in Madison, Wisconsin, two men were arrested after they attempted to sell stolen video games at a local video game exchange store. The police were waiting for the two thieves when they arrived, guns drawn. How did the police know they were going to try to cash in on their crime? Well, that’s the good part.

After making away with their loot (video games and DVDs from Target), our two master thieves started to discuss their crime. They talked about how they were better at stealing than other thieves, and how others fail to act nonchalant, and that’s their biggest mistake.

What they didn’t know was that one of them had butt-dialed 911, and an operator was listening to the entire conversation. Reportedly, this went on for about an hour.

The key part of their conversation (the one that eventually led to their arrest) was the tidbit about going down to the video game exchange to sell the stolen merchandise. After the 911 operator told the police of their plans, snagging the criminals turned out to be a pretty simple operation.

For some snippets of the unknown 911 call, check out this video below:

[ABC News via Kotaku]