Sparty the Spartan from the Michigan State University has been chosen to be the Cover Mascot for Electronic Art's upcoming NCAA Football 09. The fearless and loveable mascot is well-known for being a National Mascot Champion. Find out more on this joyous occasion in the full article.

More fire has been added to the issue of video games influencing gamers' behavior. A recent report from KCTV tells of a Kansas teenager who strangled his little sister after she interrupted him while he was playing Bioshock (Xbox 360 and PC).

The teenager, Sean Conner, told KCTV the following: "I get really into my games and when Brit’ came over to me to watch TV I forgot I was in a game and accidentally strangled her."

Conner's parents admitted that they felt that their son's behavior was influenced by Bioshock's gameplay. They further stated that they were not to blame as their son was old enough to purchase the game by himself.

Anti-violent video game advocate Jack Thompson also released a statement regarding the incident, saying that "Justice will be served to the bastards that caused this crime."

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Update: Video game news site Destructoid has received word from KCTV that this story is, in fact, not true. The Jack Thompson statement, however, has yet to be officially debunked as fiction.

Richard O. Jones, a writer for Black Voice News, wrote about his concerns regarding what he sees as racial stereotyping in video games; gamers everywhere form contrasting views on the issue.

In "The Bad News and Good News of Obsessive Video Games", Jones wrote that negative video games reinforce poor self-images in Black youth, that playing such games for prolonged periods of time mentally implants anti-productive images. In the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Jones relates that players assume the lead character of Carl Johnson, a down-on-his-luck Black criminal, who roams city streets stealing cars and helping gang members knock off rivals in drive-by shootings.

Jones quotes John Murray, a psychologist who's studied violence and stereotypes in the media. According to him, Blacks and Latinos being portrayed as villains or victims who get killed often and easily is the code for powerlessness. Murray adds that these images persist because too few minorities are in the industry, that roughly 80 percent of video game programmers are white, about four percent Latino, and less than three percent are Black.

In part two of Jones' article, he quotes Eileen Espejo, who said African American females in video games were far more likely to be victims of violence; African American characters in general were least likely to respond to pain. Espejo also said that in a study, it was found out that characters in games for young children were exclusively white, ergo, video games are not a representative of the world we live in.

Jones expresses his concern that unless minorities are motivated to get on the business end of the video game industry, Blacks and Latinos will continue to be portrayed in a negative light and also miss out on a ten billion dollar a year industry.

Jones also points that if minority players would spend a portion of their life learning to create these games instead of wasting their lives playing them, there would be as many Black millionaire video game designers and illustrators as there is athletes and music artists.

His article has spawned heavy debate among the members of the gaming community. Gamers comment on whether it is really true or not that Blacks and Latinos are often perceived as the villain in most video games; and if it's true that most game developers are educated whites who perceive minorities as such.

Back in September, one of our MyQJ contributors talked about Kansas Senator Sam Bronwback (R) and his introduction of a bill called the Truth in Video Game Ratings Act. The gist of the bill is that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's (ESRB) game ratings should be based on the game's entire content and not just on viewing a game's most offensive content.

Fast forward to today. Doug Lowenstein has relinquished his ESRB presidency and Senator Brownback is gunning to be the next top inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (that's the White House for those who don't know). He is also re-introducing the said bill. This is what he said in a statement about it:

Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating. The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate. The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to determine the efficacy of the... ESRB ratings system.

Former ESRB head Doug Lowenstein said in September that this bill will not succeed and that people would not be represented by the average American parents. With him out of the picture, what happens next?

Having a hard time keeping up with all of the legislations that target games and gamers alike? A recent post on 2old2play.com lists quite a few of them for your perusal. While the list may be incomplete, it's still a great resource for gamers who want to know more about the laws that may directly affect them and their gaming lifestyles.

Here are a few examples, straight from 2old2play:

• HB 2104, of the Kansas Legislature, not only makes it illegal to sell games with an ESRB rating of M or above to minors, but bans them from displaying them in a manner viewable to minors. (Either the kids can't come in the store or the games have to be locked behind the counter.)
• HB 1029, of the Arkansas Legislature, exempts the sale of video games and equipment from the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday. (Meaning for you Arkansas Folks, you can no longer buy tax free games during the sales tax holiday.)
• H 5136, of the Rhode Island General Assembly, prohibits retailers from offering electronic equipment at a "reduced price" for a "limited time" without posting the number of items available. (Looks like someone waited in a long line this Christmas and then walked away empty handed.)

Click on the "read" link below to read them all. Remember, knowing is half the battle, so familiarize yourself with these pieces of legislative literature.

Guitar Hero II by RedOctane and Harmonix features a new multiplayer co-op mode that lets players choose between playing bass, lead, or rhythm. It also features all forms of rock - from classic rock to "hair" metal and alternative to heavy metal.

As was previously reported, Guitar Hero II retails at US$ 89.99 at EBGames and will ship out on March 1. A fair price considering the guitar controller plus handling fees. For those just itching to get their clammy hands on Guitar Hero II, here's a sweet list for you. The complete track list and bonus tracks for the upcoming sequel.

Complete Track List:

• Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
• Danzig - Mother
• Cheap Trick - Surrender
• Wolfmother - Woman
• Spinal Tap - Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight
• Kiss - Strutter
• Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box
• Police - Message in a Bottle
• Van Halen - You Really Got Me
• Kansas - Carry on Wayward Son
• Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench

The complete track list plus the bonus tracks after the jump!

Here's a happy bit of news for you, and just in time for Christmas, too! Casey Winners, a boy from Florida who was robbed of a newly-bought PSP system in November, got himself an early Christmas gift in the form of a replacement PSP.

An unnamed stranger took action after hearing about it from the news, and the stranger from Kansas worked with the media outlets and sent Casey a brand new Sony handheld, a new game, and a game jacket, valued at US$ 250.

According to the report, the stranger "wanted to reward the 13-year-old for getting straight A's in school." He was also impressed that Casey seemed to place his grandma above the PSP, a trait the robber probably didn't seem to have at the time of the snatching.

Still, the robber is yet to be found, but at least the victims in this little fiasco just happened to be the Winners. Grats to Casey on the good grades, too!

Sports builds, aside from muscles, camaraderie among players. Kidding aside, at the core of every competition is the desire to unite each and every participant. The Global Gaming League (GGL) together with its partners were probably thinking along this line when they launched the Professional Baseball Videogaming League (PBGL).

PBGL aims to enable online gaming competition between actual major leaguers and fans. Aside from GGL, the concept was approved by the Major League Baseball Advance Media, Boras Marketing and New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon. Also, Damon will serve as the league's first ever commissioner. He announced:

Both baseball and video games play a huge role in today's culture in the US and around the world, and the PBGL is doing a great job of bringing these two communities together. More importantly, the PBGL is allowing me to invoke another passion of mine.

The Wounded Warrior Project raises funds and awareness for wounded veterans. As Commissioner, I'm proud to add former U.S. Army Sergeant Steven Andrew Robison of Kansas City, Missouri, to this season's PBGL line-up.

Well, that's hitting two birds with one stone! Anyway, PBGL for its first season will be employing Project Gotham Racing 3 on Xbox 360. PBGL has a lot of in store for everyone. For details regarding these activities and how to join, refer to the Read link below.

They're rather manly men, those cops. They're not the type of people we'd associate the color pink with, and if it's possible, some cops in Kansas City would prefer if they never had to escort criminals into a pink jail cell.

After hearing a scientific report about pink jail cells making inmates less aggressive, the Kansas City Police Department decided to put the info to good use by repainting their jails pink. Needless to say, the pink scheme didn't turn out well, having no visible effect on the inmates and becoming an annoying fact of life for some members of the KCPD.

To give you an idea of the "pinkitude", the Associated Press described it as such: "The Police Department covered the ceiling and door and part of the wall in the isolation room with a Pepto-Bismol shade of pink. Another cell was made bright pink. Door trims and moldings all around the jail were painted pink, accented with turquoise." Yes folks, that doesn't sound very manly at all. The turquoise may have had something to do with messing up the calming effect, but you can be sure they won't test that theory with another all-pink prison.

Alas, Kansas criminals will have no choice but to accept their sentence in the middle of a lonely, gray cell. Perhaps they like it better that way.