You'd think that with Circuit City out of the way, competitors will have a better chance of riding out this crazy economy, but that's not the case. Best Buy and Target are both letting go of hundreds of employees to cut costs. Details after the link.

Earlier this week, controversial anti-video game attorney Jack Thompson announced that he will be filing a lawsuit against Best Buy on charges that the company sells M-rated games to minors through its website. Apparently, he's also named the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in the lawsuit.

Here's a quote from a press release issued by Thompson, courtesy of GamePolitics:

The ESRB has been sued by Thompson because it is well known that it a) is owned and operated by the video game industry, b) does not even play the games it rates to conclusion, c) routinely mislabels games as to age appropriateness, per testimony before the U.S. Congress, and is engaged in representations to American parents that the age label are accurate and are keeping "Mature" games out of the hands of kids...

According to GamePolitics, Thompson also took a shot at the National Institute for Media and the Family (NIMF), a media watchdog group headed by psychologist Dr. David Walsh, who publicly distanced himself from Thompson's brand of anti-game advocacy two years ago. Thompson claims that the lawsuit details the relationship between the NIMF and Best Buy, which are both located in Minneapolis.

2k Sports second annual Hit-n-Run Tour for Major League Baseball 2k7 will be arriving to your college campus for a video game batting showdown pitting your school's best virtual bat hurlers for a chance to win a trophy and prizes. Starting April 9, the public will be invited to compete in the Home Run Derby mode of Major League Baseball 2k7 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

Coming from the Take Two Interactive's official press release, all participants will be receiving a gift bag loaded with select 2k Sports games, 2k Sports soundtrack CDs, ISO50-designed t-shirts, limited edition Rawling baseball mitts, retro style baseball jerseys, and a whole lot more.

While waiting for your turn to swing at the home mound, you can listen to the antics and arrangements to be brought to you by Shade 45's DJ Statik Selektah.

And because Major League Baseball 2k7 is redefining the the musical repertoire of sports games today, following the tourney will be XL Records' Tapes 'n Tapes to deliver rocking alternative tunes to your campus grounds. Starting April 16, The band hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota will be performing select songs from their album, including MLB 2k7-featured "Insistor," to present the new face of MLB 2k7 to the musically inclined public.

It is already January and the new month wouldn't be complete without the Xbox Live Artist of the Month! Last December, we all went crazy with the amazing and quirky duo of Tenacious D. God, I'm sooo afflicted with the greatest song in the world syndrome, if you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, January's spotlight belongs to Minneapolis-based punk and rock quintet Quietdrive. Well, we've never had the opportunity to see them perform yet but we dig their song especially "Rise from the Ashes." A little bit of trivia here, the same song was part of the official soundtrack of EA's NHL 07.

Anyway, Xbox Live members, as usual, have the chance to download exclusive Quietdrive content at the Marketplace. But more interestingly, a sweepstakes is also currently underway with top prizes including an Xbox 360 console, a copy of Gears of War as well as the chance to go head to head against the band in November.

The said sweepstakes will run all month long and end on January 31.. The Read link, by the way, will lead you to the contest's official page. Punks not dead! Congrats to Quietdrive!