If you are a white male, the chances are pretty good that you will have something in common with the character you play in your favorite video game.

If you are a woman or ethnic minority, not so much.

At least, that's the conclusion drawn by researchers from the University of Southern California, Indiana University, Ohio University and Virginia Polytechnic. The research is published in the current issue of New Media & Society.

Study leader Dmitri Williams of USC commented on the data:

Latino children play more video games than white children. And they're really not able to play themselves. For identity formation, that's a problem. And for generating interest in technology, it may place underrepresented groups behind the curve.

Ironically, they may even be less likely to become game makers themselves, helping to perpetuate the cycle. Many have suggested that games function as crucial gatekeepers for interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

According to the study, only 3% of video game characters are Hispanic; all of those noted were non-playable characters. Only 10% of characters are women.

African-Americans are more proportionately represented, but mostly appea

Awesome and impressive! Hope you guys enjoy it too. Hmm, gotta have a cigarette now, see ya

Finally, according to the news, the whole hubbub surrounding World of Warcraft China comes to an end, a one-week closed beta test of WoW has re-launched today, no surprise, you can imagine how millions of anxious Chinese WoW players flooded into every server. As one of the stupendous crowd, I can't tell how I feel, but after a few minutes randomly playing, unexpectly we realize the price of the return of the game. Something has changed.

In the former World of Warcraft(CN) operated by The9, we all know it was censored because the undead race showed too much bones. How about now? I'm totally speechless when I notice something even worse happens. Not only the undead bones are covered by muscles but also those skill icons which may contain blood, crania, devil are turned to BOX! You hear me, BOX!

WHAT THE FUCK??

Look at these fucking stupid things

World of Boxcraft?

Oh yeah, another box, what should I say?

You tell me what the FUCK is the DIFFERENCE between the two models??

Yeah, it becomes my another reason to rage-quit, Although I am not such a big fan and holic of WoW, I still feel awful, especially when the fucking censorship thing occurs. Tod

I don't remember how many times I've watched parodies based on Downfall...So it doesn't surprise me that this time Hitler became a Starcraft gamer, and showed his anger to Blizzard for no lan gameplay in the upcoming Starcraft 2. Here you can watch the video [via Gossipgamer]:

Maybe you were wondering the possibility of turning Grand Theft Auto series game into a movie, it's not gonna happen because Rockstar does not have any plan on GTA's film adaption so far. As a matter of fact, vice president Dan Houser says the prospect of one considered, and then quickly tossed aside.

"We don't believe that the Grand Theft Auto games, which are massive in scope and structurally complex, can be adequately compressed into a two-hour movie," he told the LA Times. "It seems obvious to us that maintaining the long-term integrity of any entertainment property has been dependent on not making substandard spin-off products to people whose primary interest is making a quick buck.

"If we ever decide to do a film, it will be because we have resolved our creative doubts, and while retaining enough control to ensure that if the movie is terrible, at least we will know we ruined the property ourselves. Via [ VG247 ]

Completely agree, just take Resident Evil as a counterexample, it's nice to see Rockstar chooses the best way to protect their property.

Still remember the petition to marry a 2D character? A branch of Japanese otaku(s) asked for a law to allow human to marry with a 2 dimensional character. Whatever the case was going, somehow a man in Japan admitted he had already been in a loving relationship with a 10-year-old videogame character, and...he meant it.

Nisan, who refuses to mention his real name, is a 37-year-old man living a otaku style life. He once had a real girlfriend, but she dumped him. Nisan's new "girlfriend" is what we've seen in the picture above, a lovely 2D girl known by the name of Nemutan, in the PC game Da Capo.

According to the original report of him:
He carries Nemutan almost everywhere he goes, though he is more self-conscious about it than he may seem at first. "Some people don’t find this funny," he said, "and it also takes up a lot of room." He treats her the way any decent man would treat a girlfriend - he takes her out on the weekends to sing karaoke or take purikura, photo-booth pictures imprinted on a sheet of tiny stickers. He doesn't take her to the work place, but has a spare pillow case with her likeness at the office, just in case he needs

Seems more good news in current two days? Yesterday I was glad to hear that Blizzard confirmed World of Warcraft's adaption to movie, and today the breaking news of Halo anime really excite me. Here's your first peek.

The Los Angeles Times has broke the news, while Kotaku has somehow got wind of the production houses involved.

They are:

Bones (Fullmetal Alchemist), Casio Entertainment, Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell), Studio4 C (Transformers Animated), and Toei Animation (Dragonball). The LA Times also report that Microsoft’s creative staff is approving ‘major visual and storytelling decisions’. [Source: latimes, kokugamer, kotaku]

Can't wait. What do you THINK!

Cry! Uwe Boll, cry!! Thanks God we don't have to care the petition against him any longer because Blizzard has confirmed that Sam Raimi signed on to direct the Word of Warcraft movie, according to VG247.

Blizzard and Legendary Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the motion picture based on the Warcraft universe.

“At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story,” said Raimi. “I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen.” Charles Roven (The Dark Knight, Batman Begins) is set to produce, and Blizzard senior VP of creative development, Chris Metzen, will co-produce.

“Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have a shared vision for this film and we searched at length to find the very best director to bring that vision to life,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard.

“From our first conversation with Sam, we could tell he was the perfect choice. Sam knows how to simultaneously satisfy the enthusiasts and the mainstream audience that might be experiencing that content for the first time. We’re looking forward to working with him

Seanbaby at Cracked.com posted a hilarious article about understanding the World of warcraft using Super Mario Brothers. Although I didn't play WoW for a long term, I do have a sense that what he said are all true! Well I've noticed there are some WoW fans over this site, you might want to say something after reading this...

My award-winning “Learning with Super Mario Brothers” system has helped thousands of children get their plumbing and pizza-making degrees, and is the leading cause of turtle extinction. You’re welcome. Now the power of this educational program can be used to achieve something that was at one time impossible: understanding World of Warcraft.

You might be asking, “How can one video game help explain another?” If you are, please turn to section )*) to kiss my learning program on the ass and butthole. Everyone else, let’s continue.

WoW isn’t like other nerd things. You can theoretically never see Star Wars, but during your everyday life you’ll pick up a basic understanding of what a Chewbacca is. However, if you never played World of Warcraft, listening to someone talk about it sounds like senseless and frigh

[Via VG247] While speaking at develop regarding thatgamecompany’s flow and Flower, Jenova Chen told attendees that games need more mature content by way of emotional engagement, not necessarily violence. Otherwise titles become nothing more than “toys”.

“I never see that sense of thrill any more in today’s games,” he said. “Yes, today’s games are more real and satisfying but the underlining mechanics are no different from toys. But the human brain likes information – it’s like a sponge that sucks up information and wants more all the time.

“Other pursuits are enjoyed by adults and not viewed as toys. As grown up gamer I don’t want to see the games I have been playing with love turn into toys. I think games need to have more mature content – but not like [Dead of Alive] or [Manhunt], but more sophisticated works.

“Games should make the player think and touch the gamer’s emotion. Gameplay needs to be like any other medium – it has to evoke all kinds of responses. Otherwise our industry will flatline. “It shouldn’t be about one feeling – like excitement or happiness. Humans h