Who inherits your online stuff when you die?
Digital inheritance raises legal questions

As more of our personal lives go digital, family members, estate attorneys and online service providers are increasingly grappling with what happens to those information bits when their owners die.

Sometimes, the question involves e-mail sitting on a distant server; other times, it's about the photos or financial records stored on a password-protected computer. Story

Kids naughty, so dad sells their gifts on eBay

There's not much laughter today at the home of a Pasadena information technology specialist who has decided to auction off his kids' Christmas presents - and possibly dismantle the family tree - because the youngsters, ages 9, 11 and 15, have been naughty, not nice. Story

Viz Announces Shonen Jump Advanced
New imprint to offer cutting-edge manga titles

San Francisco, CA, December 20, 2004 — VIZ, LLC, one of the leading publishers and distributors of manga and anime for North American audiences, has announced the launch of SHONEN JUMP ADVANCED, a new imprint under the company's SHONEN JUMP brand that will present the latest cutting-edge manga stories offering titles with progressive storylines and characters to older teens and young adults.

The first three titles to be offered by SHONEN JUMP ADVANCED will include EYESHIELD 21, HUNTER X HUNTER, and I''S. The trio of titles are each rated "T+" for older teens and will hit store shelves in April of 2005 with an MSRP of $7.99. Story

Game Review: Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos: Yugi the Destiny
Windows 98 Windows Me Windows XP Windows 2000

Rated: Everyone
Features: Stunningly detailed graphics, card artwork, and dueling fields, Implements the gameplay and rules of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, Tutorial teaches the basics of summoning, tributes, and more, Duel against Yugi to collect cards and build up your collection, Card artwork faithfully recreated from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game.
More Gamer Reviews

Developing Life Skills Through Play; Trading Card Games helpful in social and cognitive development

Parents looking for games that educate as well as entertain their children this holiday season may want to consider trading cards games. Although youth are constantly stimulated by movies, video games and music, they may be missing out on a key component of cognitive and social development - constructive, interactive play. This is especially important for older, school-age children as it helps them build relationships and life-long strategic thinking skills.

Trading card games foster constructive interaction and cooperation among the players. Introduced in the 1990s, this genre continues to be especially popular with youth who are looking for fun games to share with friends. And, parents are also embracing trading card games because they teach math and strategy skills while promoting social interaction.  Story

Hacking San Andreas
A second round of exclusive cheats to play with.

December 17, 2004 - This year has been freakin' amazing for games. There's pretty much little to dispute that and the biggest title to hit the PS2 this year was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Three cities, tons of other towns and hidden areas, and dozens of missions that required wanton destruction. Pretty much everything that players wanted from the series is in it. Hell, the guy can even swim now.

Of course it's not just enough for people to just play the game and enjoy the epic storyline. Nope, these folks also want to find every graffiti tag, oyster, and whatever else has been hidden in the game.  Story

New Tekken 5 Mode
Free-roaming now available in the classic fighter.

Tekken 5 is looking incredible with the new graphics engine and the lush environments, but according to Namco there's even more in store than that. A new mode featuring Jin Kazama will involve fights with massive amounts of enemies as well as the ability to freely move around the stages.  Story

ESPN NFL 2K5 Reader Review
Although it has flaws, Madden doesn't hold a candle to ESPN NFL 2K5

I am going to compare ESPN NFL 2K5 to Madden because I think you have to. They are the only 2 real contenders on the market for NFL fans. I will admit this, only one thing in Madden is better than in ESPN, and that is the passing game. Many avid ESPN gamers will disagree with me on this, but it is true.  Story

Topless teen wins trivia game ban

A PC, PS2 and Xbox-based trivia game has been banned in the US after a teenager alleged that the title contains topless video pictures of her, used not only without her permission but filmed when she was a minor.

Called The Guy Game, the software poses the player with a range of trivia questions. Answer them successfully and you're shown shots of young women cavorting on beaches, usually in a state of undress. Story

New Pokémon Title in Development

In the latest issue of Famitsu, Nintendo unveiled a new Pokémon title currently in development for GameCube. Still untitled, the game is looking to be a fully 3D RPG set in the Pokémon universe. However, it is not known how the story of the game will relate to other games in the series if at all.
Source

Pokemon
The First Movie

If you don't already know what Pokemon is, you're probably one of those otaku who has shielded themselves from all signs of Western civilization in favor of spending their days locked in a dark room basking in the glow of a cathode ray tube wondering what it would be like to have a torrid affair with a Sailor Scout. So I'll forego the introductory ground that has already been plowed into oblivion by the likes of Newsweek, Time, and countless other mainstream publications.

Of course most parents will fall asleep and most youth will love it to the point of tears. However, what about those of us somewhere in between... Those who can watch Card Captor Sakura and Dragonball Z without feeling a little too grown up for the subject matter? Well, it's not GOOD, but it's not bad either. Story

Brooklyn Park boy wins 2004 Pokemon tournament

John Davich of Brooklyn Park placed first at the 2004 Brooklyn Park Pokémon TCG City Championships Dec. 5 at Outpost 2000 & Beyond in Brooklyn Park.

Competitors were divided into three age categories: 10 and younger, 11 to 14, and 15 and older. The City Championships are the first played in the title series leading up to state, national, regional, and world championships.  Story

Battle for the top
New Xbox, PlayStation duel for video-game dollars

There's a rumor on the Internet that the next version of Microsoft's Xbox will be unveiled next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There's another rumor contradicting the first, saying it will debut in March, not at CES. And both tidbits of video-game gossip appear on the same Web site.

For months, the gaming world has been buzzing with the expectation that Microsoft is about to shake up the $10 billion industry with the introduction of Xbox 2.  Story

Rumor Mill:
Nintendo Revolution Button Gossip – Info Blackout Breeds Guesswork
Buttons and D-pad scrapped.

A D-Pad this morningAccording to unconfirmed reports surfacing from Japan by way of the usually upstanding and efficient (they really are very efficient) German games site Gamefront, Nintendo has released snippets of information regarding its mysterious Revolution console. Source