Calls for heavier video game restrictions are once again set ablaze following the German school shooting yesterday, where 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer opened fire in his former high school in Winnenden Germany, killing 16, and himself in addition shortly after. Kretschmer was believed to be a skilled Counter-Strike player, and now European reps in Strasbourg have voted for a resolution in order to prevent retailers from selling inappropriate games to minors.

Game developer Starbreeze has detailed a few of the multiplayer game modes in Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PS3, Xbox 360, PC). Aside from the usual deathmatch mode (Dark Athena's allows for up to 12 players), the game also features a couple of interesting new gameplay modes, including one called Pitch Black. Details are in the full article.

Paul Wedgwood considers it his personal mission to bring more depth to console gaming. With a strong PC gaming background, he knows what he's doing, and now he wants to do it for the consoles. Read more in the full article.

We all know that Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode 2 kicked some serious booty last year, and it's still among today's favorites because of its superior gameplay. The only downside in this scenario is that fans are asking for more, and they've started looking at E3 2008 as the possible birthplace of the next episode. Valve says "not yet", but they've got another thing for itchy trigger fingers. More after the jump.

With all the concerns circulating violent video games, horror author Stephen King joins in on the discussion. Writing novels for more than four decades, he's one of those credible enough to speak about the matter. Instead of writing down what he believes in, King chooses to speak up his mind. Find out what he said in the full article.

The recent shooting in North Illinois University had Jack Thompson appear once again on Fox News, linking yet another tragic incident to violent video games. In this latest development, Thompson faxed a letter to NIU asking for the shooter's history in playing violent video games, ending the letter in what could be construed as a threat of a lawsuit should the documents not be provided. Read Thompson's complete letter in the full article.

 

2K Games' BioShock is still riding waves of success, being top pick for various gamers around the world. The Swedish are no exception either, for the first-person shooter from 2K Games Boston and Australia steals number one spot for their all platforms chart - well the Xbox 360 version, that is.

It also managed to squeeze through four popular PC, MMO games in the region, which include NCSoft's Guild Wars expansion Eye of the North, Creative Assembly's Medieval II: Total War expansion Kingdoms, and Blizzard Entertainment's two-hit combo - World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - in that order from second to fifth.

BioShock's Games for Windows version settled into sixth place, while Insomniac Games' Resistance: Fall of Man and Revolution Studios' Motorstorm also found a place in the top ten titles, having grabbed a solid seventh and eighth respectively. 

Counter-Strike 1: Anthology from Valve Software at ninth closed the PC game count to six in PC-dominated charts, while PS2 title Guitar Hero 2: Rock the 80's from RedOctane concluded the top ten games. In essence, Guild Wars: Eye of the North topped the PC list, Resistance: Fall of Man trumped the PS3 list, BioShock rocked the Xbox 360 chart, and Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess was king of the Wii mountain.

In the handheld scene, Nintendo's Pokemon Diamond was favored in the DS list, while WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2007 from THQ crushed competition in the PSP chart. Here's the top ten in the Swedish multi-format charts:

1. Bioshock (360)
2. Guild Wars Eye of the North (PC)
3. Medieval II Total War Kingdoms (PC)
4. World of Warcraft (PC)
5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
6. Bioshock (PC)
7. Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
8. Motorstorm (PS3)
9. Counter-Strike 1: Anthology (PC)
10. Guitar Hero 2 Rock the 80´s (PS2)

Buy: [Bioshock (Games for Windows)]
Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]

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!

Looking for some hardcore gaming competition? If you are, then you might want to check out the Army Gaming Championships. This U.S. Army-sponsored event is one of the world's largest online video game competitions, and entrants stand to win their share of US$ 200,000 in cash and prizes.

The qualifiers for the Army Gaming Championships begin on July 4, so you might want to hustle if you're looking to join the competition. Those interested can sign up on the event's official website, which you can access via the "Read" link below. Finally, here's a list of titles that gamers can compete in:

• America's Army
• Battlefield 2142
• Call of Duty 2
• Call of Duty 3
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Counter-Strike: Source
• Gears of War
• Halo 2
• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

We feel sorry for the victims that lost relatives and loved ones during the V-Tech incident. However, it's hard not to feel the same towards the video game industry that takes all the blame.

Recently, a Virginia Tech Review Panel was held and it was suggested that violent video games should be banned like heroin. Why? Panelist Don Phau not only mentioned Jack Thompson's allegations against Counter-Strike motivating Cho Heung-Sui, he also claims that the game is related to the Erfurt school shooting in Germany.

According to this Thompson-wannabe, FPS games were made after the Vietnam War by the industry to make money. He also stated that Microsoft developed Counter-Strike. What's next? Mario's mushrooms are actually drugs?

"These games, I propose, should be banned. The same way you cannot buy heroin; the same way you cannot be a 16-year-old and buy pornography," said Phau. He would've been correct, if we lived a few years ago before the law against selling video games to minors have been passed.

This man is obviously uninformed though, so cut him some slack. He even gave figures: 82% of kids can buy M-rated games. His report is pretty much seven years old, according to the Federal Trade Commission.