Niagara has always been an industrial city and that's starting to change. We're going to start seeing things in this region that people are not used to.

We've seen a few "TV shows" about videogames pass across our desks over the years, from bad internet videos to worse internet videos, culminating in the shit-awful G4 series Code Monkeys. We've never seen one that looks this...proper, however. jPod is a new series that's airing on CBC in Canada, and while it looks as excruciatingly unfunny as its predecessors, at least it also looks like it's taking the whole idea of setting a show in the games industry (somewhat) seriously. Based on Douglas Coupland's book of the same name, it's about four nerd-like characters working for monolithic games company Electronic Neotronic Arts. Full run-down and bonus flash games at the link below.
[Official Site, thanks Adam!]

And you all thought I had forgotten about the internships. I'd like to introduce everyone today to Tori Floyd, Kotaku's first ever intern (well, not really, but the first in recent memory. Here's Tori on Tori:

Greetings, all, from the newest (and, apparently, first) Kotaku intern! I'm a fourth-year Media Studies and Journalism student at the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto, Ontario, and decided that working for Kotaku from home sounded much cooler than commuting to the CBC every day. Thankfully, Kotaku, agreed, and here I am. I'm currently writing my thesis essay on video games as they relate to identity development (particularly gender and sexuality), and am in the process of applying to a Master's program so I can continue studying that, and hide from the real world for another two years (or so).

In the meantime, I can generally be found playing The Sims 2 on my Mac, or an assortment of games for the Nintendo Wii and DS (currently playing Super Paper Mario, Mario Party DS, and Trauma Centre: Under the Knife). I'm notorious for not finishing games, but am willing to try everything once.

I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Tori will be helping out around the tower, occasionally posting and working, I hope, on one or two long-term projects. Say "Hi" be nice.

Oh, and I am sorta still looking for another intern, one who is preferably closer to Denver than Canada, like in Denver or its surrounds. As you can probably tell from Tori's intro, the most important thing is that the intern will actually be an intern. In other words can use this experience for school credit or toward journalism experience in their future career.

Canadians seem to be experiencing some Xbox Live issues at the moment. Xbox Canada's website is proudly telling users that while the service is "Up & Running", there might be a slight hiccup or two:

Users may experience intermittent issues with tournaments, posting statistics, matchmaking, and sending messages. Additionally Halo 3 users may experience issues joining matches or posting statistics. We are aware of the issue and are actively working towards a resolution. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Demand has been incredibly strong in the U.S. and Canada and we're shipping Rock Band to retailers as quickly as we can make them, but we suggest lining up early if you want to get one in time for the holidays.

As of today I am hearing that Microsoft plans on releasing the DLC in Canada on the 20th through the marketplace. I believe this will be a monster release of every song we've put out so far as DLC for the game.

Canada's universal healthcare has one catch: patients can go for a long time before seeing specialists—apparently years. That's why at least one Canadian researcher is studying drug-alternatives to pain management. And in a recent study, researcher Simon Fraser found that subjects playing fully-immersive games (they tested a 3D skiing title) reported less pain than the subjects taking drugs.

While this is an interesting idea to pass the time, I wonder how the patients felt when they were done playing. And I wonder which meds were being tested...(is Mario better than morphine?)

Video games beat drugs for chronic pain [via nextgen][image]

You may not be aware that today is the fifth annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, but the Toronto Sun and Anastasia Kuzyk of the Sex Workers' Alliance of Toronto are. The latter was quote in the former as saying that "Sex work is a job, and violence isn't in the job description" and points to depictions of violence against prostitutes in popular culture as legitimizing. Specifically, Kuzyk points a finger at Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series.

There's a video game out there where you can run down prostitutes and kill them and beat them up and take their money. It feeds into the whole subculture of allowing the violence to continue. Violence against sex workers should not be normalized, but it is.

It's somewhat of an odd aside for the topic, but I suppose it warrants discussion. The beating of hookers is one of the Grand Theft Auto's focal points when discussing its level of violence, mostly due to the perception that one benefits greatly or is scored better somehow for the killing of the game's street workers. However, virtually any bystander can be beaten and killed for reward.

One might think that Rockstar would be better off dropping this gameplay aspect in Grand Theft Auto IV and future entries in the series.

Organization advocates end to violence against sex workers [Toronto Sun via GamePolitics]

Father Raymond J. de Souza, a columnist for Canada's National Post, recently wrote a scathing exposé on the dangers of video game addiction. And in this provocative piece, de Souza explores his own troubled past with his own dark demon...known to some as Tetris.

I learned the truth about video games the hard way, and so this is the lesson I offer for free: Don't play video games. Don't own them. And for the sake of all that is good and holy, don't buy them for your children...

Since [deleting Tetris] I have never played another video game. It's too dangerous. Video games take what is most precious -- time and thought. And they are making kids fat.

Joystiq is reporting that Canada may have to wait until 28 December for Rock Band - past Christmas and Boxing Day. Best Buy Canada and Future Shop both have the 28 December release date. Kotakuite Josh K. also pointed us to the Rock Band forums where cranky Canadians are sounded off over the potential wait and extra cost. Now, online retailers have been and will continue to be wrong about this sort of stuff before, so I guess our Canadian friends will just have to wait and see whether they're actually getting shafted on a release date or not.

Rumor: Rock Band Canadian release pushed back past Christmas, Boxing Day [Joystiq]

Eidos has thrown wide the doors to its new Montreal, Québec development studio, and despite their promise to deliver AAA titles, their first game has absolutely nothing to do with roadside service contracts. Instead they has announced that they are hard at work on Deus Ex 3, the next title in the critically acclaimed FPS / RPG hybrid, rumored since May. Gamasutra spoke to Eidos Montreal GM Stéphane D'Astous, who once again lied about AAA titles.

"We're only working on AAA, major titles. We're going to be developing only major AAA games, using only next-gen technology."

Eidos Announces Deus Ex 3, Talks New Montreal Studio [Gamasutra]

I really wish this was sold here in Canada and not just in the US. I mean, a Canadian company made the game. Damn, and that box is beautiful; it would definitely compliment my Halo LE box.

Thanks, Trencher!

...as i walked in the door Uwe Boll was standing right there. So i had to go over and say hi, i grabbed the attached pic of myself and him and made sure to thank him for pissing off videogame fans everywhere. He mubbled something in German and i heard a few shit and fucks coming out his mouth. ...he is quite a nice guy. I picked up his autograph and walked into the theatre.

While Microsoft lowered the Xbox 360 Premium by $50 in the US, Canadians will see a $100 (CDN) price drop on both the Premium and Core systems.

Oh, but that's inflated Canadian money, you say? Not the real, green, American, smells-like-Wendy's money like we have here? But actually, $100 CND equals $97 USD by current exchange rates. Yeah, the difference isn't anywhere near that miles vs. kilometers standard that always makes their speed limits sound so high.

So why the price drop? Canadians had been paying almost $100 more for each SKU. Their Premium is actually running $378 USD after the drop. No worries, America still rules!

Thanks Steve!