Video Game News, April 26, 2006

The Escapist Magazine issue #42: The Answer to Everything is now available at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/42; abstracts online at http://blog.escapistmagazine.com

BBC to Learn From Video Games
by Lisa Foster, MCV: THe Entertainment Weekly 4/26/06
"Revealing an ‘editorial blueprint’ for the future of the BBC, Thompson warned that the Corporation needs to work harder to reach younger audiences."

Video Games Give Your Gray Matter a Workout
by Lou Kesten, AP 4/25/06
"On the scale of intellectual pursuits - with 10 being Mozart and 1 being pornography - video games are usually seen as ranking around 2 or 3, somewhere between hair metal and Larry the Cable Guy. And that's not fair, because a really good, challenging game exercises parts of your brain that movies, music and "American Idol" can't touch."

BLOG: Oklahoma Senate OKs Violent-Games Bill
by Leslie Katz, Gaming Blog 4/25/06
"The Oklahoma Senate on Monday unanimously approved a controversial bill that would make it a crime to sell violent video games to children under 18, according to The Oklahoman."

A Lawmaker's Life: Banning Games, Protecting The Press
by Luke Smith, PC Magazine, 4/25/06
"Yee remained adamant during our chat with him that he was a defender of First Amendment rights and wasn't lashing out at those rights in his construction of AB 1179."

GameHers Group Fosters Love of Video Games
By Lauren Ober, Free Press Staff Writer 4/25/06
" Gelish, a self-confessed zombie enthusiast with a fierce lip ring and tattoos on her arms and neck -- one of which is the symbol of her favorite video game, Resident Evil -- grew up playing video games."

Reading is Virtually Fundamental in Second Life
by Katt Kongo, The Metaverse Messenger 4/25/06
"While most Second Life residents are aware of the variety of ways in which SL is used, from educational classrooms to treatment of mental illnesses, msot would be surprised to learn that SL is now being used by an institution that most think of as conventional--a library."