Playing video games can satisfy deep psychological needs and, at least in the short term, improve people’s well-being, new research shows.

The more a game fulfilled a player’s sense of independence, achievement and connectedness to others, the more likely he or she was to keep playing, Dr. Scott Rigby of Immersyve, a Florida-based virtual environment think tank, and colleagues from the University of Rochester in New York found. And the more fully a player’s needs were satisfied, the better he felt after playing.

Read the truth we’ve always known at Yahoo News.

WOW.. you have got to see this vid to belive it. I didnt embed the vid.. so head over to Kotaku for the actual video. BUt wow.. if only it would ever see the light of day. Looks like fun

So what do you think of this vid? For starters, it’s running in blurry footage from an emulator, so its authenticity is far from assured. Then you’ve got the shoddy “alpha” presentation, which while sticking to Casamassina’s story of it being conceptual also could just as easily be a fanboy job.

Me? I call real deal. There were too many people whispering about this thing for it to not be true. What I want to know, though, is why or how this was even conceived. Were Microsoft ever seriously entertaining the idea of letting Halo turn up on a Nintendo handheld? Would Bungie ever seriously entertain the idea of their FPS masterpiece ending up as a Game Boy side-scroller?

Clips: Halo GBA Footage? - Kotaku

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So, it’s going to take as long to level between 60-70 in The Burning Crusade as it does from 1-60? Apparently that statement, being bandied about World of Warcraft forums and in-game chat was a little off the mark, as one server in Europe already has a level 70 character. A gnome mage by the name of Gawell of the Millenium guild on Europe’s Archimonde server hit level new level cap a mere 28 hours after the expansion launched. A Frenchman, the player and his guild planned out the leveling rush step by step, rotating party members in and out based on where and what they were fighting.

There’s an interview up with the player on the World of Raids forums, where he goes into a little detail regarding the planning behind the accomplishment. While at first I was ready to jump on the “he has no life” bandwagon, the more I think about it the more I admire the planning and dedication the 40 man guild put into the project. Michael Fahey

First Level 70 WoW Character - Kotaku

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“As a Starcraft player I can tell you that I hope it wouldn’t go a decade - we launched Starcraft in ‘98 - I hope it wouldn’t go a decade before we stand here and celebrate the next Starcraft together,” Itzik Ben Bassat told crowds gathered at World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade’s official launch event in London last night.”Don’t forget that we have two more franchises that we love - Diablo and Starcraft,” Bassat had declared.”We haven’t forgotten that we have these two franchises, and what I can tell you is that I look forward to stand here in a few years, or whenever it’s going to be, and celebrate with you the launch of the next Starcraft or the next Diablo.”According to our people on the ground, the Blizzard PRs “looked a bit uncomfortable” around this point. So that’s welcome to the Internet the hard way, really.Whether all that means Bassat knows something that we don’t though, or whether he’s just teasing or speculating, is impossible to say - but Blizzard is notoriously secret and perfectionist about its work, and it wouldn’t be a massive surprise to discover a sequel lurking in development somewhere.

News - Blizz exec hints at Starcraft 2 // PC /// Eurogamer

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From Boing Boing:

knightPhlight sez, “With the advent of the Wii, another generation of Zelda fans are born. My daughter’s 4th birthday is tomorrow and she asked for a Link cake. With two classes of pre-K munchkins coming over, there was only one solution: cupcake pixel art. The icing on the cake(s) would be a happy birthday wish from everyone in the bOINGbOING-isphere…”

Boing Boing: Legend of Zelda’s Link executed in cupcake pixel-art

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From over 220 entries in the Celebrity Mii Contest, the judges have selected their favorite celebrity avatar created with the Nintendo Wii. And the winner is Dave Curry with his Zach Braff Mii:

Celebrity Mii Contest results! (kottke.org)

Some others from that article that we liked:

Jack Black:

Steve Zizzou:

Admiral Ackbar

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