Blur (PC, Xbox 360 and PS3), Bizarre Creations' first title since severing ties with Microsoft, is a racer that features races ranging from the realistic to the more frantic and arcadey thanks to a variety of customization options and power-ups. If that sounds right up your alley, you might want to make sure you have some extra money this November.

A release date for Blizzard's StarCraft 2 has been revealed! Well, not exactly. It seems that some big name retailers including Best Buy, GameStop, and Circuit City have posted a launch date for the game. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

Gather 'round the campfire and strum that guitar as we share another terrible tale of customer service gone wrong, and this time it's about a staff of a popular chain of stores stopping a gamer from buying Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)) outright. Check out the full article for the entire details.

As we all know Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare by Activision (for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) will be out on November 5. However, a quite telling video posted on Youtube by user F2sT details a phone call to a local Best Buy employee, which revealed that the Best Buy branch in Westminster, Colorado carries four or five copies of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360. The employee also mentions the phone number of the said branch, so the caller can verify the availability of the Call of Duty 4 copies himself.

Do take note that this may not necessarily mean that the copies of Call of Duty 4 are already placed in the shelves, though. Best Buy Westminster may just have it in stock but will release them to the public on its official November 5 release date. In any case, do check out the video below!

Buy: [ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) ]
Buy: [ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC) ]
Buy: [ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) ]

Earlier this week, controversial anti-video game attorney Jack Thompson announced that he will be filing a lawsuit against Best Buy on charges that the company sells M-rated games to minors through its website. Apparently, he's also named the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in the lawsuit.

Here's a quote from a press release issued by Thompson, courtesy of GamePolitics:

The ESRB has been sued by Thompson because it is well known that it a) is owned and operated by the video game industry, b) does not even play the games it rates to conclusion, c) routinely mislabels games as to age appropriateness, per testimony before the U.S. Congress, and is engaged in representations to American parents that the age label are accurate and are keeping "Mature" games out of the hands of kids...

According to GamePolitics, Thompson also took a shot at the National Institute for Media and the Family (NIMF), a media watchdog group headed by psychologist Dr. David Walsh, who publicly distanced himself from Thompson's brand of anti-game advocacy two years ago. Thompson claims that the lawsuit details the relationship between the NIMF and Best Buy, which are both located in Minneapolis.

Jack Thompson's "secret shopper" ploy along with his credit card-toting 15-year-old son continues. Thompson has recently given out a statement that he will file a lawsuit against Best Buy today for charges of selling M-rated games indiscriminately to minors in their online store.

Thompson will use Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act as his trump card to use against the retail sales mogul Best Buy. The controversial lawyer drafted a letter addressed to Best Buy's corporate counsel, part of which reads as:

Best Buy, despite promises made to the American people and to me personally, has continued to sell Mature-rated video games to children under seventeen years of age. Best Buy has been doing this at its cash registers here in Miami, Florida, and it is presently doing so, this very moment, at www.bestbuy.com, as it sells Mature-rated games to anyone of any age with no real age verification whatsoever.

At this point it should be noted that according to the Federal Trade Commission, the mere use of a credit card is already an acceptable proof that the buyer is of 18 years of age, since most teenagers under 17 years cannot be issued credit cards.

How will ole' Jack Thompson fare this time? It looks like he is indeed on a roll, what with his recent plea to ban Manhunt 2 through Fox News. Do stay tuned for more updates!

 

Anti-violent video games lawyer Jack Thompson doesn't spend his free time educating parents about M-rated games. Instead, he sends his own 15-year old son in a mission to get a copy of Take-Two's BioShock (Xbox 360, PC    ) something that should be in the hands of adults. Back when the child was 10, he also made him purchase Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

According to the email Thompson sent Joystiq, the ace attorney is trying to prove that "hyperviolent and sex-themed Manhunt 2 (Wii, PSP, PS2) and Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, PS3) will be widely sold to kids of all ages despite promises by Take-Two, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), and major retailers."

Thompson also demands to fire the Best Buy's store manager and the female clerk who sold the game to his son. "The entire video game age rating system is a fraud perpetrated upon American families from sea to shining sea," he said after using his own child to demonstrate such fraud.

Even as the Entertainment Software Association's (ESA) E3 Media & Business Summit draws closer this week, the invite-only event may have scared off many publishers and developers, aside from consumers, due to extraneous costs and a smaller retail presence. Reports are coming in that companies have declined their invites, while others have wanted to go but never received an invite.

Tecmo (Ninja Gaiden Sigma) was one company that had turned down the invite to the E3 Media & Business Summit, following a history of impolite treatment from the organizers, lower retail presence and a pessimistic outlook on the part of Tecmo. "New show management didn't seem to know what they were doing," said John Inada, vice president.

A representative from GameStop had claimed that the company had "limited folks" who were going to attend the show, but it appeared to major publishers that no retail presence was going to show up at all. Retailers such as Best Buy have been reported to opt out entirely, prompting other publishers to high-tail it out of the event.

"Why should we bother dealing with the ESA's confusion when we can meet with our retail partners separately and then stage our own gamers' day event later on in the year where we set the rules? It just doesn't make any sense," said a source, coming from a publisher not going to E3.

In contrast, XSEED Games (Brave Story: New Traveler) didn't have a choice laid out for them. Even while the publisher decided to go to the event, they didn't receive an invite. "Assuming we had a chance to participate, the costs of securing a meeting area in one of the hotels, from what I've heard indirectly through third parties, would have been cost-prohibitive for us," added XSEED's Ken Berry, head of sales and marketing.

Money was another issue, forcing even some of the big name publishers to re-think their showcasing strategies and host their own events, rather than attend E3. GameCock Media Group (Sector 8) created their own little E3 in response to the new invite-only arrangement.

Publishers believe that E3 needs more tweaking if they're to attend the succeeding events - a possibility that's fast fading after many other companies anticipate 2007 as E3's final year. In an end-note, GameCock's co-founder Mike Wilson said:

We're going to have some fun on the beach and say good-bye to the magical beast of yore that was E3. I'd say there's a fair chance there won't be a show called E3 anything next year, which is why we're saying farewell to it on the beach. But I can't wait to see what emerges.

 

For those who are planning to pick up both Halo 2 and Shadowrun, or even just Halo 2 for Vista. Circuit City is running a sweet deal where you can get Shadowrun for free if you buy a copy of Halo 2 for Vista. Yup, you're getting two games for the price of one. Halo 2 for Vista is going for US$ 39.99 which is pretty good if you don't have a copy of it already for your Xbox or just want to play it on your PC (Keyboard + Mouse = pwnage).

Both games are playable over Microsoft's Games for Windows Live service where you can play against players on the Xbox 360. Halo 2 is about Master Chief fighting against ... why bother, you probably know this by now. Shadowrun however, is an online based game where you go head-to-head against other players using magic and some heavy ordinance to take out your opposition. Counter-Strike fans might want to check this out since both games have similar gameplay.

That said, click on our read link to head straight to Best Buy to view their promo. Be sure to keep checking back here for the latest deals and bargains for your PC.

 

Best Buy has partnered up with Common Sense Media to help parents make better decisions when picking up games for their kids. It has been agreed upon by both parties that Best Buy will start including reviews, content descriptions and user comments from Common Sense Media in their site, BestBuy.com. This is to facilitate better decision making when it comes to buying video games for the household.

It should be known that Best Buy is the first retailer to use Common Sense Media reviews as an online guide. They plan on expanding from video games to movies as well. The vice-president of entertainment at Best Buy, Jill Hamburger, had a lot to say about their decision of adding CSM reviews to their site.

At Best Buy we understand the importance of giving customers clear and accurate information to help them make good decisions about the video games they buy. The information from Common Sense Media provides guidance about both the content of a game and its entertainment value. We want parents to be confident they are buying games that are appropriate for their families and fun to play.

Common Sense Media reviews games based on childhood development criteria for age-appropriateness. The organization has even developed their own ratings system which the press release claims to give "parents detailed information about the content of video games – including violence, sexual content, and profanity – as well as guidelines to help parents find great titles fast." 

James Steyer, the CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, also spoke about their organization's goals and the implementation of this new campaign.

Our goal is to give parents the information they need, when and where they need it to make the right video game choices for their families. With Common Sense’s video game reviews incorporated prominently throughout BestBuy.com, we hope to help parents find the games that are right for their kids, whatever their age and their family’s preferences.

The CSM information will be accessible via a link on the page for all game titles that have been reviewed. It will be right beside the ESRB Ratings information for that game. The added input is said to further enrich the ESRB Rating information by providing comments and reviews from people who have tested the game.