Violent games pose risk

A team at the University of Michigan claims to have found evidence that violent computer games can harm children, according to VNUNet.

The news comes just 24 hours after the British Board of Film Censors admitted there is no evidence to suggest that violent computer games promote actual violence in those who play them.

University of Michigan researchers Rowell Huesmann and Brad Bushman analysed 50 years of studies, and concluded that violent computer games are a major public health threat as they raise the aggression levels of those who play them.

Officials from Nintendo of America have claimed that the company has sold more Nintendo products in the first week of the 2007 Christmas shopping season than at any other time in its history, according to Gamasutra.

For the seven days from Sunday, 18 November to Saturday 24 November (including Black Friday on 23 November) the company claims that more than 653 000 Nintendo DS, 350 000 Wii and "millions of games and accessories" were sold throughout the US.

The Nintendo DS figure has set a new all-time record for console sales during the thanksgiving week, beating the 600 000 Game Boy Advance sold in 2005 and, according to Nintendo`s own figures, putting the Nintendo DS on course to be the best-selling video game system of 2007.

Sony Computer Electronics America today released a video game that it hopes will be the first step in a new business model for its in-game advertising unit, says AdWeek.

The game is called "Pain" and it can be downloaded through Sony`s PlayStation Network, for $9.99. Essentially, players control a giant slingshot that hurtles a figure through the air.

As the figure flies through the air, it passes billboards that can carry real commercial messages. All the billboards are dynamic, meaning the displays can be changed at any time.