A study conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates found that gamers are willing to welcome in-game ad exposure in exchange for price cuts in games. If it means seeing a Starbucks shop on every block around GTA if they'd sell the game for half the price, why not?

Some of you may remember when McDonald's UK CEO Steve Easterbrook took a stab at the video game biz last week, relating it to child obesity.

Daily Star writer Paul Vale had a snappy comeback to the McDonald's bigwig saying that the fast food franchise should look at itself first. Read more about this in the full article after the jump!

As promised, the demo for the Xbox 360 version of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 went live today over at Xbox Live Marketplace. Being the wrestling junkies that we are, we immediately downloaded the 1.62GB file and brought out our pen and paper to note down our first impressions on the game.

At this point, we have to say that 2008 is going to be a pivotal point in the WWE series of video game titles. First, this marks the first time that the game will be released on almost all platforms. Aside from the Xbox 360 build, THQ will also be releasing WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, and DS.

Taking off from where its predecessor WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 left, this year's iteration in the long-running wrestling video game franchise does bring a lot of new stuff to the table and at the same time preserving the features that made the title endearing and enduring all these years.

After launching the demo, we immediately felt a sudden rush of wrestling euphoria swell inside us as we heard Triple H's theme song playing in the background. We noticed that this year's build loads a lot faster when compared to last year's, which is actually a very welcome development.

Read the whole article after the jump!

Researchers have come to some data that suggests that there is a connection between drinking soft drinks and a medical condition known as Metabolic Syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a condition that entails increased risk to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Although researchers have no concrete proof as of yet, they have a case on association. Even if soft drinks aren't the cause of metabolic syndrome, it may still be a sign of something else. Dr Ramachandran Vasan, professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, believes that while drinking soft drinks is a marker or how a subject likes sweet foods, it is not necessarily the cause of the syndrome itself.

Other factors may be the culprits, ranging from other types of food intake, lack of exercise and smoking. The research consisted of more than 6,000 participants. Four years of studying this group has shown that those who drink even one can of soft drinks a day is 44% more likely to get metabolic syndrome.

While drink soft drinks may not be the cause, Dr. Suzanne R. Steinbaum, director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says that it certainly doesn't help avoid it.

If you can't get through a day without knocking back a cup or two of freshly-brewed joe, here's something to nibble on: more and more people in America today are turning to caffeine not only as something to perk them up, but also as something of a legal high, to the point that when deprived of their usual supply, 50% of regular caffeine drinkers suffer withdrawal symptoms.

So what's the real reason behind this dependency on caffeine? Common sense tells us that we need that boost to get us out of bed and be productive in the workplace - or, if one is still cracking books and taking tests, fuel for those last-minute cram sessions that burn the midnight oil.

And then there's the videogame-savvy of us, who need to stay up for nights on end during LAN parties or competitions - certainly, we need an edge, and caffeine more than happily gives us that with every gulp of Red Bull, Mountain Dew, or Diet Coke.

The question is, though - do we really need that extra jump? Government statistics have shown that men with children have been clocking the same hours for working and sleeping since 1960. Sure, pressures on the job have increased since then, but with caffeine having that nasty side effect of fraying your nerves when you've knocked back one cup too many clearly never helps.

And the need for the all-nighter cram sessions never help - as they usually stress a student out to the point that when the exam actually takes place, the student gets a mental block, ending up with no answers whatsoever. Ouch.

It's not that caffeine is all that harmful, really. Studies have shown that there's no real danger to being dependent on caffeine - just as long as you don't go over the recommended limit. That limit being 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine per day, this amount equating to three cups of brewed coffee, a tall Starbucks coffee or 3.5 Red Bulls.

Benefits of a good dose of coffee include improved concentration, lifted moods and cured headaches. The downside of an overdose would typically be anxiety, nausea and heart palpitations - definitely not something you'd want to have at work or at school, if you're focused on being productive.

So the next time you take a sip, remember the rule: everything in moderation. That said, cheers!

Drink up! Coca-Cola is going to give everyone in Europe the chance to go on a fizzy binge for the next couple of months as their latest partnership with Apple will reward consumers with free music. Right now, this is Europe's biggest music promotion in history. Maybe even the whole world's history. How big? We're talking TWO BILLION tracks to be given away!

The partnership is to last from May until August, with a launching event during the Cannes Film Festival. The brunt of those free iTunes downloads will be subsidized by Coke.

Alongside the free music, other freebies are to be given away: iPods and free tickets to future concerts to be hosted by Apple and Coke. These concerts are to be recorded and made available for download in iTunes in the future as well.

Looks like a major promotional campaign for both companies. Still no word if they're giving away iPhones though, but we're wishing all the same.

Just about everyone is jumping into the Nintendo caravan these days. The Coca-cola corporation is not an exception as it put on Nintendo Wii and DS units as rewards in exchange for Coke points. The response from consumers was phenomenal.

In a matter of four short days, all of the Wii and DS units put up as rewards have been plucked out of the Coke shelves. You have to hand it to those two as there are lots of other fantastic rewards ranging from movie tickets to computers and iPods which are equally valuable and desirable but the Wii and the DS are clear favorites among the participants.

The Nintendo DS is today's best-selling handheld game system, drawing its appeal from innovative controls and a wide game library. The Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, is the fastest-selling game console of this generation since last January. The machine is credited for expanding the game market and attracting a wider range of audiences than before with its friendly games and fun, motion-sensing controllers.

All-Star Weekend is over (anybody else shoot Coke out of their noses when Shaq did the crossover and the fadeaway?), but that doesn't mean the mad b-ball action's gone for good. The race is still on for the playoffs, and with NBA Street Homecourt out in stores now, you can do some shaking and baking of your own all in the comfort of your favorite chair. Check out the screenshots below for a peek at the game.

EASports' NBA Street Homecourt comes into town featuring a new Trick Remixer that's hyped to redefine the term "shake 'n' bake." The females of the species also get some representation, with six WNBA stars ready to break your ankles. It's also got 3-on-3 streetball, a whole slew of available homecourts, and boasts 1080p visuals.

Check out more screens by clicking on "Full article"!

Buy: [NBA Street Homecourt (Xbox 360)]

Buy: [NBA Street Homecourt (PS3)]

Over at Smarthouse, they've written an interesting article on sodas and how it affects gamers. It's funny how that works though, since the information they've put in is applicable to most soda-drinkers.

The strangest thing about this article is how soda is presented much like a drug. While specifically mentioning Coke and how there used to be cocaine in it a very long time ago, they may have taken the angle a bit too far, even while trying to explain the problems with having too much sugar in your system. That being said, the article is insightful for showing what happens in one hour after grabbing that soda, but also makes it somewhat alarmist.

For instance, they mention that you take in your daily recommended allowance of sugar within the first ten minutes of drinking that one soda. "You don't immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness," the article continues, "because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down."

Even more interesting here is their description at the forty-minute mark:

Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dialate (sic), your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

So, are gamers taking drugs? Maybe, but then so is everyone else as far as this article is concerned. The sugar and caffeine crash they talk about here should happen to almost anyone who drinks a soda, but is probably more noticeable in people whose butts are parked around a PC or console, such as ourselves.

Still, it kind of explains why some gamers fall asleep during those eight-hour raids through Molten Core and still don't mind having gaming marathons. Maybe we should get more exercise besides DDR. What do you think?

"The best things in life are free," as the saying goes, and while we're still waiting for it to rain Coke (The drink, silly) and PS3's like mana from heaven, we thought this other news would suffice: Starting January 4, 2007, no further subscription payments will be required to play ArchLord, with December 4 to January 4 being the last billing month for this MMORPG.

As Codemasters Online Gaming">Adam McGowan, Product Marketing Manager for Codemasters Online Gaming had to say about this latest development:

We are extremely pleased to offer gamers the chance to play ArchLord for free. With both the switch to free to play and huge new forthcoming content updates in the form of the free new Episode 2 expansion, we hope to see many more players joining ArchLord, taking their opportunity to raise an army and rule the world.

In relation to this, Codemasters Online Gaming also announced the release of free in-game credits items for both old and new players to to allow them access to the Chantra shop and to help get them started in this MMO.

Players with three, six or 12-month subscriptions are eligible for a refund in light of the new free to play policy, and guys who've just purchased their copy of Archlord without having to pay for a subscription, and can expect to partake of the freebie play when their initial 30 days finishes. Lastly, expect to still pick up your daily dose of updates, including the much-awaited episode two expansion. For more details on this move, click on the read link below.