A conservative Christian Investment firm, The Timothy Plan, puts out a warning for parents on getting some games for their kids for the holidays. For that, they put out a list of the 30 "most offensive" video games out there today. The list includes your usual suspects, but The Timothy Plan flags games that ring the gay-dar, even those little negligible things like Niko Bellic turning down gay ads in online dating.

More game legislation today. GamePolitics reports that, due to one consumer's difficulty in cancelling his MMO subscription, a new law has been passed in Illinois that essentially makes it illegal to have difficult unsubscription processes in MMORPGs. Find out what that spells for MMOs everywhere after the jump.

It was big news when Activision made plans of acquiring Blizzard last year. For this year, CEO Bobby Kotick has announced the plans made by the company for popular game titles such as Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft. Details in the full article.

Here's a quick update for those keeping their eye peeled for any updates regarding the gamer's edition of the Guinness World Records. The book's official site is announcing a worldwide Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock marathon that's being prepped for this February, in celebration of the book's 2008 Edition launch. Wondering how to join up? Read on and find out!

Got some cash to burn on video games? Well you might want to check out the "monster sale" that Play.com is having. They've got some pretty good titles such as Conan for the Xbox 360 and the World of Warcraft Battle Chest for PCs and Macs.

Want to find out more? Head on over to the full article for more details on the sale.

It seems safe to say that World of Warcraft and the PS2 are still some of the best bits of gaming you can find anywhere. The Nielsen Company agrees wholeheartedly, as their Top 10 lists attest.

The Nielsen Company recently came out with their Top 10 lists for 2007, and according to their research, WoW happens to be the king of PC gaming and the PS2 is the king of consoles. For the full story, click on "Read More" to know more.

What are they playing over at Sweden? Aren't you curious? This bit of info just might save your life one day, y'know. The region's data trade firm, Dataspelsbranschen (now try saying that as fast as you can, ten times consecutively), has just released the top sales charts of video games for Sweden.

The Multiplatform chart is dominated by the MMORPG mogul that is The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade from Blizzard. This is followed by Pokémon Diamond on the Nintendo DS. MotorStorm and R:FoM have also landed a place in the multiplatform chart, and unsurprisingly, both titles get bragging rights in the PS3 chart.

The 360 chart has Guitar Hero II fronting the musical act - and smack dab in the middle is Gears of War on fifth place. The Wii has Leon Kennedy and Ashley Graham running up to first place with Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, while Twilight Princess is galloping up to the Top 2 spot.

On the handheld side, the DS chart has both Pokemon (Diamond and Pearl) titles on top, while the PSP chart has Pro Evolution Soccer 6 kicking into the goal - Konami's sports title is enjoying the kingly spot on top.

 Multiformat

1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
2. Pokémon Diamond (DS)
3. World of Warcraft (PC)
4. Counter-Strike 1: Anthology (PC)
5. Guitar Hero 2 Rock the 80´s (PS2)
6. The Sims 2 H&M Fashion (PC)
7. Pokémon Pearl (DS)
8. Motorstorm (PS3)
9. Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
10. Singstar 90's (PS2)

Check out the Full Article link below for each individual chart per platform!

Want to see how games fare in the land down under? Games Industry GfK Australia gives you the skinny on what games wins the Aussie's hearts - and wallets - with its list of Australia's top-selling games for the first half of this year. In this list not Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo wins the top spot, as it is now owned by an expansion of the epic online game: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

The list clearly shows that the perennial PS2 is still going strong down under, with about 5 entries in the charts, including Final Fantasy XII. Sony snagged the half of the top ten slots, and for a country which gets the PS3 at a very expensive price (estimated to be about US$ 900), two games still managed to snag the 6th and 7th slots: Resistance Fall of Man and MotorStorm, respectively.

Nintendo, however, is the overall winner in dominating the entire chart with about 8 games making it into the Top 20. It's cute doggie simulation, Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends, also found a place in Aussie's hearts and was able to hang on the 20th spot in the list.

As for Microsoft, it only had one entry in the whole chart: Gears of War, which landed on the 14th spot.

The winning Burning Crusade expansion also propelled sales of World of Warcraft, with the original game landing in a very comfortable 5th place.
Check out the numbers:

1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, PC
2. Final Fantasy XII, PS2
3. Pokemon Diamond, Nintendo DS
4. God of War 2, PS2
5. World of Warcraft, PC
6. Resistance: Fall of Man, PS3
7. MotorStorm, PS3
8. Nintendogs: Dalmatian and Friends, Nintendo DS
9. Cricket 07, PS2
10. The Sims 2: Seasons, PC
11. Guitar Hero 2 bundle, PS2
12. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo Wii
13. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, Nintendo DS
14. Gears of War, Xbox 360
15. Pokemon Pearl, Nintendo DS
16. SingStar Rocks! bundle, PS2
17. The Sims 2: Pets, PC
18. Nintendogs: Labrador and Friends, Nintendo DS
19. New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo DS
20. Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends, Nintendo DS

Big titles like Gears of War which sold a lot for its mother console are bound to get awards from all places. A good example is Entertainment Merchants Association's (EMA) Video Game Home Entertainment Awards 2007, in which Gears of War racked up four awards.

GoW bagged "Xbox 360 Game of the Year", "Shooter/Military Game of the Year", "Best Game Graphics of the Year", and the ultimate "Game of the Year" awards. All games released between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007 were eligible, but GoW took the cake.

For handhelds, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories grabbed "DS Game of the Year" and "PSP Game of the Year" awards respectively. Lego Star Wars II' PS2 edition also took the win in its own category.

Resistance: Fall of Man dominated the PS3, while launch title Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was branded the best game on Wii. WoW: The Burning Crusade took both "PC Game of the Year" and "RPG/Strategy Game of the Year" awards.

Here's the rest of the list:

• Most Innovative Game of the Year - Guitar Hero II
• Casual Game of the Year: Guitar Hero II
• Fighting Game of the Year - WWE Smackdown! vs RAW 2007
• Racing Game of the Year - Need for Speed
• Sports Game of the Year - Madden NFL 07

Retailers and distributors from EMA's roster nominated and selected the winners. Their criteria on choosing, we would love to know. When Lego Star Wars II and WWE Smackdown! vs RAW 2007 are up there as creams of the crop, you know something special is going on.

Australia's game charts are turning out to be mighty predictable this month.

What's new? Aside from the fact that Spider-Man 3 is top Xbox 360 game down under, nothing much. There still isn't much motion in the Wii charts. The PlayStation 3 charts still has Resistance: Fall of Man on top, and World of Warcraft is still wowing people, so to speak. Perhaps the most noteworthy game this week is Guitar Hero II, whose large fan-base pushed big sales on the Xbox 360.

As for the all format charts, God of War 2 for the PS2 is still king, but you probably expected that.

The GfK Australian Game Sales charts follow below. If you want to take a look at them in closer detail, just click on the pics to magnify.