Shocking!  According to a new survey from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average video game player in America is 35, obese and has a higher proportion of “poor mental health days.” 

They also rely on the internet and P2p gaming for their social outlets.  This is the inevitable outcome from an entire generation of kids being raised on video games.  But with all averages, they tend to be skewed by the extreme outer-participants.  And with a sample size of only 552, the average could look much worse than the norm.

I’ve never played Guitar Hero, but if there was ever a moment when I’ve contemplated buying a video game system just to play a game it was after seeing this trailer, featuring The Man in Black. 

I heard the game was getting a few Cash tunes, so here’s hoping that a few of his unsavory ones are on the list, like “Cocaine Blues,” aside from the hits and Christian gospel ones.

“Guitar Hero 5″, the latest rendition for rocking out but not really, is due September 1 from Activision. Late last week, the game’s full set list was revealed, and it includes some surprising choices outside the usual hard rock anthems.

Like Vampire Weekend’s “A Punk” or Elliott Smith’s “L.A.”, Sunny Day Real Estate’s “Seven”, Band of Horses’ “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”, and Weezer’s Pinkerton-classic “Why Bother?”.

I would play the shit out of Elliott Smith on Guitar Hero.  Check out the full set list here.

[via The Daily What]

Steve Weibe is trying to break Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong record live. If you don’t hear from me for a little bit, you know why! The pair’s exploits were chronicled in the excellent, albeit not necessarily honest, documentary The King of Kong. (via waxy)

The mother lode.  The Fab Four finally make it in life by having their catalogue added to Rock Band. As if anyone on this planet needed to be reminded why they’re the greatest fucking band ever, you’ll be reminded at the 1:25 mark of the trailer, when it takes a hard left turn towards blowing your mind out the back of your skull.

I call dibs on playing George or Ringo.  I’m not picky, as long as it’s one of those two.

In stores 09.09.09.

Here’s the cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO video game.

Republic leaders have traveled to Alderaan to engage in promised peace talks with the Sith Empire. The most powerful Jedi have accompanied them to safeguard against an Imperial deception. The Empire’s real motive, however, was simply to lure the Republic’s strongest defenders away from Coruscant and set the stage for an audacious attack. Under the command of Lord Angral, the Sith fleet approaches the Republic’s capital planet for the first time in centuries. In advance of the fleet, the strongest Sith Warriors have flown a stolen Republic ship into Coruscant’s orbit. Their mission is critical – to destroy the planet’s defense grid mainframe hidden in the heart of the Jedi Temple.

More of this please.  Not only is this three-minute trailer better than anything that Lucas did in the prequel trilogy, but it’s also better than anything he did for the animated Clone Wars show.  It’s also why I don’t want to give up on the Star Wars universe, because there are great adventures to be told.  I just wish something like this had been the story Lucas decided to tell in Episode III.  [via Daring Fireball]

The classic NES boxing game is coming to the Wii, sans Mike Tyson unfortch, and this live-action, documentary-style trailer is from the guys who brought you the Wario Land: Shake It YouTube takeover sensation.  The gam is due in stores May 18.

Oddly, I always imagine Mac to be a little more Irish and a little less Italian?  Middle Eastern?  Vague ethnicity I can’t determine.

Also? Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (Clay Davis from The Wire) as Little Mac’s long-time trainer Jerome “Doc” Louis.

Steve Wiebe has set a new high score for Donkey Kong Jr., according to Twin Galaxies.

We’ve been anticipating this and glad to see it happen.  According to the AV Club, however, “Billy Mitchell wasn’t even the current champ–it was some dude named Ike Hall. Mitchell is only the third greatest Donkey Kong Jr. player in the world.” 

Your move Billy Mitchell – or not, since you’ve still got the Donkey Kong record.  We’ll have to wait until June 2, to see if Wiebe can claim that crown.

There are resignation letters and then there are resignation letters. Jarrad Farbs created the latter when he built a Super Mario Brothers game with his resignation letter built into the game play.

It’s a playable game, modified with “I Quit.”  Once you play, and you should, you’ll realize he didn’t quit or peace the fuck out, he simply wanted a creative way to say thanks, but I’m moving on. 

My new hero.

Anyone who saw the Seth Gordon documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters without a doubt began rooting for Steve Weibe like Rocky Balboa.  Even if the documentary, about a down on his luck science teacher attempting to break the world record in Donkey Kong, fudged some of the facts, it was undeniably a fantastic underdog story. 

Now Steve Wiebe will attempt to reclaim the world record from his nemesis Billy Mitchell.  And you know that because this is being hyped like it’s appointment television, that something bonkers is bound to happen. 

Let’s back up a second for those who haven’t seen the documentary and are scratching their heads right now. 

Steve Wiebe lived a quiet life in Washington until he lost his job at Boeing and found solace in his video game obsession, “Donkey Kong.”  At the time, Billy Mitchell, a hot sauce mogul and a mulleted-icon in the world of competitive gaming, held the record for the highest “Donkey Kong” score, and Wiebe made it his sole purpose to break that record.  And in doing so he found a sense of purpose and drive he didn’t know he possessed. 

He not only perfected his game but surpassed Mitchell’s record and ended up with a thought-to-be-impossible 1,000,000 points.  A wave of media coverage followed and Wiebe quickly became a celebrity in his hometown of Seattle.  

Meanwhile, Mitchell hatched a plan to reclaim his fallen “Donkey Kong” record and, in the months that followed, Wiebe and Mitchell engaged in a cross-country duel to see who could set the high score and become the real “King of Kong.”  Billy Mitchell currently holds the world record. 

G4TV will air Wiebe’s latest attempt to reclaim the world record at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 2.

I still say that if they ever make this into a feature film, and they should, that Nathan Fillion should play Steve Wiebe.  Maybe then he could finally have the breakout role the dude deserves.

From Supermandolini. But why mostly Nintendo related consoles?  I mean, sure there’s a PS1 and Sega Genesis on there.  But still.  Is throwing something out of the ordinary too much to ask.  Collecovision, Atari, Neo Geo, etc.

Expanding, well more like blowing it out, the game board in Tetris makes it entirely unplayable.  Maybe the word is unenjoyable.

You must have OCD or the patience of a Buddhist monk to tackle Tetris in HD.  It took me about 20 minutes just to complete one line and then I gave up and will never play again.  Still, it was fun for that first twenty minutes.  [via waxy]