Following the Grand Theft Auto IV copycat crime in Thailand, the government's Ministry of Culture has tightened its grip on video games and banned five games from being sold in the country. Details after the read more link below.

Recently, a member of the Thai media was quick to point out the problems inherent in the Thai Government's reaction to the stabbing of taxi driver Kuan Pokhang.

The editorial in the August 18 edition of the Bangkok Post was critical of the Thai government's plan to crack down on videogames. Learn more after the jump.

New Era Interactive Media, the distributor of the Grand Theft Auto games in Thailand, has opted to pull GTA from store shelves after a teenager confessed to robbing and killing a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the game series. Learn more after the jump.

If you're one of the many Street Fighter fans constantly refreshing the Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li production blog like a demon for more developments, then here's an update direct from that source of information: three more actors have been inducted into the legendary cast. Want to find out who they are, and what roles they play in the movie? Then you need to head on over to the full article.

We know that Smallville's Kristin Kreuk will portray Chun Li in the upcoming Street Fighter movie. As it turns out, that's not some small role at all. Capcom's latest movie venture, dubbed Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, will focus on the Oriental Hundred-Kicker and is now on production in Bangkok. Head over the full article for a movie storyboard sample.

It's always a nice surprise when a classification board indirectly lets the cat out of the bag when it comes to upcoming games, and it's no exception here as the Classification Board of the Australian Government recently rated World Class Baseball as an impending title for the Virtual Console.

For the uninitiated, World Class Baseball is a game about America's favorite pastime (read: baseball, duh) and it lets you take on the other countries' teams in the world stage.

Featuring a brutal single-player mode, the Pennant Mode, players must face off against rather funnily-named teams (Tokyo Ninjas, Paris Fries, Bangkok Buddhas, etc.), until you come toe-to-toe with the game's All-Star team, the Turbo Tigers.

Certainly a very good opportunity to get back into the ball game, don't you think? And with a versus exhibition game mode fully available, you can go head-to-head with a friend and see who gets to eat the other's chalk dust.

As always, we'll be here to update you on the developments regarding the Wii's channel of non-stop retro loving, so keep it locked right here!

Putting the "heaven" in Heavenly Sword are these screenshots from GamePro (just in case the watermarks didn't make it obvious enough). In celebration for their May 2007 issue's cover story, they're going to be releasing a couple of screenshots of the said PlayStation 3 title from Ninja Theory for the next couple of days this week, and today, we get to see the first batch of 10 pics.

Here, we see shots taken from what seem to be gameplay and cinematic clips. What I want you to direct your eyes to, though, is the pic with the statue head being consumed by overgrowth - kinda reminds me of Wat Mahtat's Buddha head in Bangkok; Google it, if you don't know. Lovely like hell (err, heaven, in this case).

Now I've been talking to resident "Weekend Slowdown" mainstay, Ian C., about these pics, and despite discussions of how gorgeous Heavenly Sword's landscapes and facial graphics are, it all basically boiled down to Ian's last statement: "Strategically-placed sword FTW. @_@;;"

Go straight to heaven; click the Full Article link below for more pics!

There are certain kinds of food that are gauged by their odor. The smellier it is, the better. Like fine French cheeses, the durian emits a strong smell that is far from being enticing. But underneath all that lies a flavor that is well-loved by its fans, mostly from Southeast Asia.

So what happens if that smelly appeal is removed from the durian? Apparently, the idea is found to be even more revolting than the putrid smell of the fruit itself. In Thailand, a  government scientist has claimed that he has successfully managed to removed the stink from the fruit, hence making it possible to attract a wider fanbase.

Songpol Somsri has concocted the Chantaburi line of durians, naming them by numbers, depending on the gradation of smell emitting from the fruit. Chantaburi No. 1, he says, would smell only mildly, like a banana. Chantaburi No. 3, meanwhile, would still smell as bad as the original, but only after three days from the picking, hence making odorless transport possible.

But many are skeptic, and many are unconvinced. See, in Southeast Asia, the durian is more than just a smelly fruit. It stands for something deeper in society, even being pointed to as a source of local culture. Ultimately, the smell of the durian is what defines the fruit. Hence, the creation of an odorless variety is just a step towards the degradation of the durian culture.

Economically, an odorless durian, while sure to be an instant novelty, especially to those who are repulsed by the smell, would be less beneficial. "If the durian doesn't have a strong smell the customer only pays one-third the price."

Bob Halliday, a Bangkok-based food writer, concurs. "To anyone who doesn't like durian, it smells like a bunch of dead cats. But as you get to appreciate durian, the smell is not offensive at all. It's attractive. It makes you drool like a mastiff."

Seemingly, as well, the odor provides flavor to the durian: "nutty, sweet, with hints of vanilla, and an occasional bitter bite." Says Suchart Vichitrananda, director of Thailand's Horticultural Research Center, where the odorless durians are bred, "I can't say it's better than the original durian, but it'll do."

The new variety of odorless durians will soon be getting its approval from Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture in the coming weeks. The official presentation of this variety to the public is yet to happen, though.