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Will BlizzCon Bring News of The Northrend Expanson?

Filed under PC News on July 29th, 2007

Well with the Northrend files in WoW Model Viewer and some rumored leaked maps and now we have even more evidence…

According to WoW Insider, an “anonymous tipster” sent them a note stating that the Video Games Live orchestra has received their sheet music for the final performance at BlizzCon. Three pieces of the sheet music have been named “Northrend 1, 2, and 3.” Apparently, the track doesn’t appear in any game surrounding the Warcraft universe. So, everything now points to Northrend.

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Protect Your Right to Play Games, Join The Video Game Voters Network!


The Video Game Voters Network is a place for American gamers to organize and defend against threats to video games by registering to vote and letting Congress know how important this issue is to the community. Without a critical mass of adult video game players who are registered to vote and willing to stand firmly behind their games, politicians will continue to fire criticism at games and game players in order to score easy points for their political campaigns.

Video Game Voters Network


Video games are fully protected speech under the Constitution, and receive the same First Amendment protection as books, movies, music and cable television programs. The Network opposes efforts to regulate the content of entertainment media, including proposals to criminalize the sale of certain games to minors, or regulate video games differently from movies, music, books, and other media. The Network also enables gamers to stay educated about issues, reach out to federal, state, and local officials, and register to vote. The Video Game Voters Network is a project sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group representing America’s video game publishers.

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The Video Game Voters Network brings you this web video about the attack on video games, which is in the spirit of a game trailer. The “Fight For Video Games” trailer shows how politicians and media critics have set their sights on video games, just as they have with comic books, movies and music before, but now you can ensure they lose this struggle, just as they lost in other battles against free speech.

Do your part to raise awareness of the attacks on video games and help promote the “Fight For Video Games” Trailer - Watch It, Share It, Comment on It, and Embed It on your website.

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Honey Should We feed The Kids?

Filed under General news and Rants on July 16th, 2007

A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect. The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence. Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give their children proper care.

“They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games,” Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal. Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.

Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said. The Straws have been given public defenders. Jeremy Bosler, head of the county public defender’s office, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.

Michael Straw is an unemployed cashier, and his wife worked for a temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work, according to court records. He received a $50,000 inheritance that he spent on computer equipment and a large plasma television, authorities said. While child abuse because of drug addiction is common, abuse rooted in video game addiction is rare, Viloria said.

Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is like alcoholism, while others said there was no concrete evidence it’s a psychological disease. Patrick Killen, spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention, said video game addiction’s correlation to child abuse is “a new spin on an old problem.”

“As we become more technologically advanced, there’s more distractions,” Killen said. “It’s easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children. Whether it’s video games or meth, it’s a serious issue, and (we) need to become more aware of it.”

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