Players strum real strings on latest music video game

August 18th, 2009 LONDON - The average age of an adult video gamer has been found to be 35, which is higher than previously believed, reveals a new US study. According to a team from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), players were also less healthy, fatter, and more depressed than those who stayed away from the device.

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - The first ever "virtual census" of the human characters used in US video games has shown that males, adults and white people are over-represented in such games, while females, black people, children and the elderly are under-represented. Dmitri Williams of the University of Southern California-Los Angeles (UCLA), who carried out the study with colleagues at Indiana University, Ohio University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, says that the mismatch between real-world and videogame populations could be excluding some groups of potential players from games.

October 8th, 2009 'Project Runway' to become Wii gameLOS ANGELES — "Project Runway" is strutting to Nintendo's Wii. Atari Inc. is developing a video game based on the popular reality TV fashion competition.

August 15th, 2009 'Forza Motorsport 3' for Xbox 360 is revving upLOS ANGELES — The next installment of Microsoft's flagship racing franchise won't offer any clunkers. When "Forza Motorsport 3" is released for the Xbox 360 in October, the latest edition of the popular driving simulator will feature hundreds of high-end cars.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A comprehensive study of gaming characters has revealed that video games do not accurately represent minorities. The study encompassing the top 150 games in a year across nine platforms and all rating levels, and weighted by each title's popularity, shows that the video game industry showed that less than 3pct of game characters were "recognizably Hispanic." Latinos were nearly invisible and women and other groups were underrepresented.

April 28th, 2009 Islamic group calls video game offensiveCAIRO — The designers of an online video game depicting religious figures in mortal combat say they will take it off the Internet after an influential Islamic organization complained it is offensive to Muslims and Christians. Italy-based Molleindustria told The Associated Press by e-mail the game "Faith Fighter" was intended to satirize intolerance but was misunderstood.

November 6th, 2009 Activision Blizzard shares rise after 3Q resultsNEW YORK — Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. rose Friday after the video game publisher posted strong third-quarter results and backed its full-year outlook amid a difficult time for the video game industry.

September 10th, 2009 Nirvana members dismayed by 'Guitar Hero 5'LOS ANGELES — Kurt Cobain's appearance in the latest "Guitar Hero" video game is not hitting the right notes with the surviving members of Nirvana. Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl said in a joint statement Thursday that they were "dismayed and very disappointed" that an avatar of the late Nirvana frontman could be used to play songs by other artists.

August 14th, 2009 Sector Snap: Stocks shrug off low video game salesNEW YORK — Investors seemed to look past dismal July video game sales on Friday to expectations of a better second half to the year, with shares of game makers holding up despite the fifth straight month of declines. Market researcher NPD Group reported a 29 percent drop in sales of game hardware, software and accessories Thursday, an even steeper decline than analysts were expecting.

April 28th, 2009 Company pulls plug on 'Fallujah' video gameNEW YORK — The publisher behind a video game based on one of the Iraq war's fiercest battles has pulled the plug on the title, called "Six Days in Fallujah." A spokeswoman for Japanese game company Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. confirmed that the company is no longer publishing the game, which was set to go on sale next year.

March 10th, 2010 more images more imagesSummary Box: OnLive game streaming to come in JuneTHE SERVICE: OnLive will let you "stream" popular high-end games over the Internet, using a mechanism similar to watching TV shows or listening to music online. THE NEED: Players don't have to own consoles such as the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 or the latest, most powerful personal computers.

November 27th, 2009 'Avatar' video game to expand film's alien worldLOS ANGELES — James Cameron was thinking beyond the big screen when he created the alien world of Pandora. The "Titanic" director worked in tandem with video game developer Ubisoft Montreal on the game based on his upcoming sci-fi epic "Avatar." Opening Dec.

November 18th, 2009 'Uncharted 2' leads Video Game Award nominationsNEW YORK — "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" has seized a leading eight nominations for this year's Video Game Awards, Spike TV announced Wednesday. The action-adventure "Uncharted 2" is bucking for Game of the Year, as is "Batman: Arkham Asylum," which logged a total of seven nominations, according to Spike TV, which presents the awards.

November 13th, 2009 'Star Trek Online' to beam gamers to the bridgeLOS ANGELES — The most iconic setting in "Star Trek" almost didn't make it into the series' online video game. The developers at Cryptic Studios were focusing on recreating the sci-fi franchise's universe for "Star Trek Online," the upcoming massively multiplayer online game that boldly casts players as captains of their own starship.

September 13th, 2009 LONDON - Two researchers at University of Birmingham, UK claim to have found the key to designing a hit video game. According to Russell Beale and Matthew Bond, it may just be a matter of social interactions and avoiding bad pricing.