The prospect of Netflix adding video game rentals to its mailing service continues to grow dim. Back in September, Netflix announced it was spinning off its DVD business as Qwikster. Qwikster was to operate separately from Netflix and include game rentals similar to GameFly. However, earlier this month Netflix decided to kill Qwikster, and games may die with it. In a letter to investors ahead of its third quarter 2011 earnings call, Netflix is still on the fence about games.

The game debate is over – for now. I never thought I would say it, but, rather than trying to appeal to people’s sense of reason, I can actually commend the Supreme Court on their decision to do away with California’s game sale regulation law. It’s a major victory for the game industry, the retail industry and those who partake of both. That’s the good news for us. Then again, there is still the risk of a resurgence of similar bills in the future.

With the fear of child obesity steadily on the rise in California, Anthem Blue Cross and the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo joined forces to improve the health and physical well-being of children in California.

The idea for the project started when Dr. Harvinder Sareen, director of clinical programs for Anthem Blue Cross, visited the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo with an idea according to Bill Locker, CEO/President of BGC of Camarillo.

“She asked about the idea and we said we were very interested. We then did some research on exergaming and thought it would be a great program for our kids…

Semi-regional Disc Replay stores are getting in on the sweet Black Friday sale action.

Disc Replay sells and buys used copies of DVDs, CDs and video games of all kinds. There are stores all over Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.

If you visit any location from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., you can buy two items and get the third free. That includes nearly everything in the store including mix-and-match movies, music, box sets, games and accessories.

Last Friday (October 29, 2010, High Voltage Software (Iron Man 2, Conduit, Dora the Explorer) threw an awesome Halloween party for it’s staff and the press in Hoffman Estates Illinois. And we were there.

There was live music, dancing, food, and a free bar all night. The live music was preformed by Mana Kintorso and Warm Ones who both performed very well.

They served hot dogs and veggie wraps to all the guests plus a plenty of soda and alcohol. They also had a lot of candy laying about and free glow sticks for everyone.

Plus High Voltage was awesome enough to give out free games.

How often has this happened? It’s Halloween time again and you spend days and days making the coolest Link costume ever and you show up to the party and EVERYONE else is dressed as Link!

The problem is that you picked a video game character that is very common and that everyone else wants to dress like. You need to come up with something, less common. Perhaps obscure even! You have to pick someone no one would ever think to dress as due to it’s obscurity.

So to help you out, I have listed 10 obscure video game related costume choices that it is practically guaranteed that no one will be dressed like at the cool, hip Halloween party. Heck you may even win the costume contest!

The finalists have been selected for the Video Game Voters Network badge contest, now it’s up to us to narrow it down to the winner.

The VGVN is a website dedicated to stand up for gamers’ rights. If there are any political or other matters that effect the sale of video games, or effect our ability to choose what we want to play, the VGVN is there to back us up.

Earlier in August 2010, the VGVN asked its members and anyone else with artistic talent to submit a badge design that will be used to promote it’s site. They, from the tons of entries, they narrowed it down to their top 10 favorites and have left it up to use to pick the best one. The one with the most votes will be the winner and receive a $750 Best Buy gift card. The second-place winner will receive a $250 Best Buy gift certificate.

Gamers Outreach Foundation founder Zach Wigal and the gang at Gamers Outreach Foundation is hosting its third annual Gamers For Giving 2010 Video Game Competition May 1, 2010, to benefit charities and the foundation’s initiatives at the Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Through Gamers for Giving, Gamers Outreach Foundation aims to generate additional funding to fuel the GO-Kart (Gamers Outreach Kart) initiative with up to $15,000 to complete additional GO-Karts for Mott Children’s Hospital and hopes to raise $30,000.00 overall to support its work throughout the course of the year.

I had a chance to talk to Wigal about the upcoming event and to explain the GO-Kart and Fun For Our Troops initiatives.

The Game Audio Network Guild just announced the finalists for its 8th Annual G.A.N.G awards. The finalists will be judged and winners will be awarded during the March 12, 2010, Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, CA (USA).

This year’s nominees include Assassin’s Creed 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves…

A new study in the Cerebral Cortex journal suggests that people not be doing well in games just because they’ve built up their skills, they’re doing well because their brains are bigger. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois, University of Pittsburgh and Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a study at the University of Illinois that monitored 39 adult participants as they played a game specially created for the study.

There were two versions of the game created for the study, and the people involved would be asked to play one of the two. In one version, they would be given a single goal or task to achieve. In the other, they’d have to keep attending to multiple tasks and not focus on a single endeavor. The researchers then used an MRI to look at the brains of the people taking part in the study.

It turned out that the people who’s brains were larger did better than the people with smaller brains…