Last month we posted an article about the confirmation of Doug Lowenstein's resignation as President of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Further reports have revealed that Lowenstein will be making his last speech as ESA President before attendees and guests at this year's DICE Summit.

According to Games Industry, Lowenstein's talk is titled "The ESA: Past, Present and Future". He will be delivering the talk on the second day of the summit, which will take place at the Green Valley Ranch Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from February 7 to February 9. Later in the month, Lowenstein will start his new role as as head of the new Private Equity Council in Washington DC.

The keynote speaker for this year's DICE Summit will be Yair Landau, vice chairman for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Personages such as Sony's Phil Harrison and Will Wright, creator the popular Sims games, will also be speaking at the summit.

The Emsdetten shooting in Germany has only fired up even more the likes of Jack Thompson into pushing for not only having stricter gaming regulations, but actually making the creators and the consumers liable. Their battlecry: We must protect our children, and these video games are only feeding their minds aggressive and potentially criminal tendencies.

Now, who would dare contest that noble goal? Who wouldn't want to protect their children, and who would want them to grow up as criminals? No one, naturally. But if that is the case, then why is this issue making such a ruckus, if in the end, we only want to forward what is best for the children's interest?

Because the issue goes way deeper than just what these kids get their hands on for entertainment. Blaming the violent video games for the criminal actions of teenagers is but the tip of the iceberg. Considerably, the proposed legislations of prohibiting the sale of violent video games to minors and penalizing the producers and players alike of the said games encroach into other deeper primordial issues, such as privacy.

But let us not get into that yet. Allow me first to lay out to you what exactly are the basis for the aforementioned proposals. We all know for a fact that this anti-violent video games campaign is nothing new. Several countries, at one point in time since video games became such a hit, have already come face to face with legislations that would curb the reach of video games.

While there may be a lot of cases involving minors and shooting sprees, the landmark case would have to be the Columbine High School shootings. The event proved to be absolutely shocking, that people for the most part were just dumbfounded at what transpired that fateful day. The perpetrators, mere students themselves, did not show any signs of aggressive behavior prior to their killing spree. They were, however, avid fans of first-person shooter games.

To see more analysis on whether or not video game censorship is the way to go, read on to Full Article.

One very cool way of earning money is by playing videogames and joining competitions. While it sounds easy and heavenly, it is actually not. Just imagine the number of participants in any given gaming event. Of all those players, only the top three would be getting prizes normally. So if you want to make a living out of playing games, you better make sure you end up on the top of the heap.

Anyway, to all of you who are interested, the Electronic Gaming League (ELG) will be hosting a regional tournament this coming January 19 to 21 at the Sheraton Reston in Washington, DC. This is actually the fourth regional tournament of the league's inaugural interstate U.S. pro tour for this season. According to EGL Tournament Director Ryan Baron:

The D.C. tournament is one of our most ambitious venues yet and promises to be a real battle of wits. We're expecting to see some of the most intense gaming of the season. We've got people coming from all over the east coast to either make a name for themselves or defend their reputations. The area is known for fostering some the world’s elites and it's definitely going to be a shootout.

Speaking of shootout, the games roster for the competition include Halo 2, Super Smash Brothers Melee and Dead or Alive 4 as well as some unannounced ones. Group or team competitions involve cash prizes of US$ 3,500 while individual winners can bag in up to US$ 750.

The EGl 2006-2007 season will end sometime in May of 2007. Top teams and players by then will be invited to  a post-season finals in Las Vegas to contend for the National EGL.  Prizes there, needless to say, are much higher totalling up to US$ 15,000 for the grand winner.

Yes, we love our violent video games, but the truth is, we're entitled to them. Most of us gamers are over 18 after all, so we should be considered "mature" enough to handle and at the same time be entertained by all the blood, sex, and gore that we immerse ourselves in while playing our favourite games.

The problem with that, is that's all that the outside world thinks about us. Outsiders generally view the gaming sub-culture as a collection of violence addicted pre-pubescent-underage or overage-yet-still-stuck-in-the-basement, pimply anti-social avoidant, self indulgent, will never enjoy the company of the opposite sex, individuals. Despite the presence of gamer-culture/geel-culture centric websites and TV channels, a lot of old farts in power still don't "get it."

They tend to forget that a lot of gamers now-a-days aren't only young people who play games, but are people who make art, people who earn billions making games, people who have children of their own, and people who are care.

Think of this post as a collection of recent news stories that show very good examples of how we gamers should represent ourselves to the world.

Giving back to the community...

You've got to hand it to those guys from Penny-Arcade, they know how to give back to the community. They really do their best to make claims that say that gamers are know-nots or that gamers are violence addicted yahoos irrelevant. For one thing, officials of the Child's Play Charity, a gamer-focused toy drive organized by Penny Arcade, has recently announced that more than $495,000 worth of toys, games, and books on the wish lists of more than 35 participating children's hospitals have been donated as part of the gamer supported charity.

It doesn't stop there. The annual charity auction dinner of Child's Play is set to be held next week. All proceeds from the auction will be set to assist hospitals within the charity's network. This year's dinner is scheduled to take place on Wednesday December 13 in Bellevue, Washington.

Items up for bid this year include a Wii console autographed by Reggie Fils-Aime, a speaking line in Halo 3, a PS3 console, an appearance in the Penny Arcade comic strip, Penny Arcade artwork, tickets to the Halo 3 launch party, an Xbox 360, ATI Radeon video cards, collectors edition of Guildwars Nightfall, and a whole lot more.

With items like those, people will definitely bid.

Get the rest of the article after the Jump!

It was widely spread as an unconfirmed report that a poster on the official Xbox forums has filled a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft regarding the Fall Update for the Xbox 360 and its minor probability of bricking your console.

Apparently the poster was telling the truth and GameSpot was able to obtain a copy of the original complaint which was filed in a Washington district court. The suit basically accuses Microsoft of breach of contract, negligence, and violation of the Consumer Protection Act of the state of Washington.

The suit states that the consumers affected by the questionable update number in at least the thousands, and the suit also contends that Microsoft refuses repair or replace broken systems unless the users pay up to $140 to ship it back to the company.

The plaintiff demands that Microsoft pay at the least US$ 5 million in damages for breach of contract, and an additional US$ 5 million in damages for an unfair and deceptive act under the CPA. Should Microsoft argue that it had no agreement to breach with the affected users, then the plaintiff contends that Microsoft was negligent and should be made to pay yet another US$ 5 million in damages.

Here's Microsoft's response to the matter:

A small percentage of consoles (less than 1 percent) were affected by the Fall Update. An updated version of the Fall Update was made available on Xbox Live on November 1 which eliminated issues relating to new or refurbished consoles malfunctioning after applying the Fall Update.

Users affected by the initial Fall Update would have seen an error message and should call Xbox Support (1-800-4-MY-XBOX in the US and Canada). Microsoft is making every effort to resolve this issue for its customers as fast and easy as possible. It's also important to note that Xbox Support is paying for the shipping and repair/replacement of all Xbox 360 consoles that malfunctioned as a result of the Fall Update on October 31, before it could be fixed on November 1. They just need to phone Xbox Support and give them the proper error message indicating it was the Fall Update that affected their console.

Next generation reports that the state of Michigan has been ordered to pay the game industry over US$ 180,000 in legal fees associated with a failed video game law.

If you're memory is sharp, you'll recall that way back in April when Judge Steeh struck down the law, Saying that the proposed measure was "discriminating against a disfavored 'newcomer' in the world of entertainment media."

Well, Judge George Carem Steeh has recently ruled that the state is required to pay-back the money that the game industry spent fighting a game law that was supposedly meant to ban the sale and rental of violent videogames to minors. The legislation was found unconstitutional as it infringed on First Amendment rights.

This is another notch in the ESA win belt. Illinois has been ordered to pay the industry US$ 510,000; Washington state US$ 344,000; St. Louis US$ 180,000; Indianapolis US$ 318,000; and Michigan US$ 128,000.

As much as we don't want 8 year olds to get high on GTA, and discover the joys of puberty via extreme beach volleyball, bans are far from being the only solution.

Major Nelson has just announced a bunch of new stuff already up and available on Xbox Live Marketplace. And among them are brand-spanking NHL 2K7 team themes, a Viva Piñata theme, new Kameo UNO theme deck, and the Rainbow Six: Vegas demo.

Alright, first things first, as of 1:00 a.m., the Kameo Uno theme for Arcade has been pulled out due to a deck issue, but it will be fixed and put back up as soon as they fix the problems. But the Viva Piñata theme is now up for grabs in all Xbox Live regions for 150 points. Download this theme and prettify your dashboard with the piñatas!

EXCEPT for Hong Kong, Japan, Korea,  Singapore, and Taiwan, you can now have the following NHL 2K7 team themes for 150 points each:

Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and a general NHL 2K7 theme.

And lastly, some of you guys may already be aware of this, but for those who don't check their XBL constantly, the Rainbow Six: Vegas demo is now downloadable for free, but ONLY in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The QJ staff is on board 24/7 to bring you the latest Xbox Live updates so stay tuned for more.

You've already seen the tutorial videos, and by now you're probably starting to get weary from playing the game since its release. Well now, you can spruce up your playing by getting Madden NFL 07 themes of your favorite football teams, now available for download at the Xbox Live Marketplace. All the themes are worth 150 points each, and aren't available across all regions. So consider yourself lucky if you live in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the U.S. The following themes are now out on XBLM:

San Francisco 49ers Theme; Chicago Bears Theme; Cincinnati Bengals Theme; Buffalo Bills Theme; Cleveland Brown Theme; Tampa Bay Buccaneers Theme; Arizona Cardinals Theme; San Diego Chargers Theme; Kansas City Chiefs Theme; Miami Dolphins Theme; Philadelphia Eagles Theme; Atlanta Falcons Theme; New York Giants Theme; Jacksonville Jaguars Theme; New York Jets Theme; Detroit Lions Theme; Green Bay Packers Theme; New England Patriots Theme; Oakland Raiders Theme; St. Louis Rams Theme; Baltimore Ravens Theme; Washington Redskins Theme; New Orleans Saints Theme; Houston Texans Theme; Tennessee Titans Theme; and Minnesota Vikings Theme

A common dream of many adolescent hard-core gamers is to get past high-school, and enjoy the Utopian world of Higher Education. Thing is, when most kids get there, they discover to their horror that the grass isn't really greener on the other side. You've got more homework, tuition is more expensive, and despite the easily accessible alcohol via the staple college party, your gaming lifestyle isn't really that secure.

If you want to live it good, then this list we found might just be able to help you out.

The Global Gaming League has released a listing of what is in their opinion the top ten best games colleges you'd want to go to if you want to make it big in the gaming industry, or at the least just enjoy a healthy gaming lifestyle during your stay in Higher Education. The colleges were evaluated based on several Factors, namely the size of the student body, its geographical location, student organizations within the college, frequency and number of tournaments and LAN parties, tech-friendliness,  internet connections and curriculum.

• 10 - Full Sail Real World Education - Orlando, Florida
• 09 - University of Michigan, Dearborn Campus - Dearborn, Michigan
• 08 - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus - Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 07 - Georgia Institute Of Technology - Atlanta, Georgia
• 06 - University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
• 05 - Digipen Institute of Technology - Redmond, Washington
• 04 - University of California at Los Angeles - Los Angeles, California
• 03 - Rochester Institute of Technology - Rochester, New York
• 02 - Penn State University - State College, Pennsylvania
• 01 - University of Texas, Austin - Austin, Texas

The University of Texas gets top spot for its student body of 50,000 students, its proximity to all the major LAN gaming festivals, its old school and new school arcades,and its blazing fast internet connection. Connecting from your dorm there will get you LAN pings of 30 milliseconds of latency from Texas to the East coast and 40 to the West coast.

So, pick a college, go there, live high on the gaming life, and earn a good chance of getting into the industry.

Despite claims by Penny Arcade that they don't want their Penny Arcade Expo (otherwise known as PAX) to become E3, it appears that more and more visitors are flocking to the annual gaming Expo. Penny Arcade have today announced that 19,323 people who love to play videogames descended upon Bellevue, Washington last weekend for the third annual PAX game festival that included exhibits from leading developers and publishers, tournaments, concerts and more.

Read the rest of the article and see more of PAX by clicking on 'Full Article'.