In this week’s edition, Germans put holes in things with homemade laser guns, and Ubisoft cancels its raunchy Wii game in the UK.
Therapist Compares Gaming to Cocaine – Again
British therapist Steve Pope says that playing videogames for a couple of hours has the same effect on the brain as taking a line of cocaine. This is almost exactly the same claim he made in May of last year, even to the point of repeating himself nearly word for word. He referred to videogames as the “silent killer” of our generation, and said that videogame addiction was the fastest growing addiction in the UK. (Link)
Raunchy Wii Game Not Coming to the UK
Ubisoft has dropped plans to release its naughty party game We Dare in the UK, citing a negative reaction from the media. We Dare isn’t intended for children, but its content is sufficiently tame that it only received a 12+ PEGI rating. PEGI has defended its rating however; saying that the negative press reaction was based on the advertising campaign, while the rating was based on game itself. (Link)
Atheists Urge UK Jedi to Take Census Seriously
The UK census is coming up and a group of atheists are trying to get people to stop putting “Jedi” down as their religion, when they actually mean “No Religion.” The group asserts that by putting anything other than an unequivocal no on the form, people skew the data, leading the UK government to fund more faith-based programmes than it should. (Link)
Laser Lover Builds a Blaster
A German laser enthusiast has constructed a working pulse laser pistol capable of burning wood and punching holes in thin metal. The gun uses energy stored in capacitors to generate a pulse that lasts for around ten billionths of a second. The gun only has a range of about ten feet, so it won’t be revolutionizing warfare anytime soon. It could still give you a nasty burn though, or even blind you if it were to hit your eye. Hit the link for a video. (Link)
GameStop Hit With DLC Lawsuit
Retailer GameStop is in hot water this week after angry customers issued a class action lawsuit against the company for its “deceptive” business practises. The suit alleges that GameStop will allow customers to think that the free DLC that comes with a new game is still included if that game is bought pre-owned, even when that isn’t the case. According to the suit, it’s like “selling a book without telling the customer that chapters are missing.” (Link)
