Video Game Articles

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081008/ennew_afp/usitvideogameseducationcompanymicrosoft
Microsoft is basically putting up money to research games as educational tools which sounds like a great idea to get kids to learn something while they play games if all they want to do is play games. I've always thought games could be a great teaching method. However, when the article mentioned the main aim of this research is to improve math knowledge, I thought, "Well, why don't we just look at programs that are successful at teaching math for help." Maybe it's easier to tailor education to our kids' ,in the US, lack of attention and motivation rather than look at outside cultures for assistance.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/07/counting-rupees-feeling-used/
This article is about video game developers generally not liking GameStop's used game business model. Since GameStop buys its used games off of its customers., the developers see no money from the the used game sales. Maybe it's just my personal bias against Gamestop for the generally poor service I've received in the past and that fact that they'll buy games for $10-15 and sell them at $45 (about $5 under the average new retail price), but I'd much prefer if my money when to the developers themselves rather than a middleman. That said, Developers don't have a leg to stand on in this argument. If they want to make more money, they could sell games cheaper in the hopes of having more people buy their games new or they could start up their own personal used game store to compete with GameStop.