After a dozen tips pleaded with us to cover a seemingly scandalous story on Yahoo this morning headlined, "Playstation 2 component incites African war" some of us here at Joystiq HQ thought the story didn't sit right. First of all, we'd already read that story seven years ago when shortages of the newly launched PlayStation 2 were later attributed to coltan, which is later refined into tantalum, a heat-resistant element that (according to a 2001 New York Times story on this very same issue) "can be found inside almost every laptop, pager, personal digital assistant and cell phone."

So how is it that a commonly used material that briefly made headlines in 2001 because of its association with PS2 shortages has now filled our inbox with tips exclaiming, "The PlayStation 2 kills children" (really, we got that tip)? Easy! A major outlet, Yahoo in this case, runs a story on a report by activist site Toward Freedom who include a sensational, albeit predictable, quote from former British Parliamentarian Oona King, who cleverly analogized, "Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms." Of course, we wonder if she offered that quote to them over her mobile ... or maybe email using a laptop computer.

Point being, laying the blame on the PlayStation 2 – built by Sony who, it should be noted, had already begun trying to limit their use of Congolese coltan back in, all together now, 2001 – is scapegoating of the worst kind. Then, citing things like increased prices for coltan – also taken from 2001 (the New York Times story notes that in the Spring of 2001, "the price of coltan crashed, falling from $80 a kilo in March to $8 in June") is selective reporting. That's to be expected from an activist website tasked with a political agenda, but it's disappointing coming from a major video game outlet tasked with, one would hope, providing a more thoughtful consideration of the already besieged industry it's covering.

Source – Playstation 2 component incites African war (Yahoo / 2008)
Source – The Dirt in the New Machine (NYT / 2001)

We always think it's so bizarre when fanboys and girls start filling up our tips box with vitriol about the latest unpopular decision made by Sega, Square, Microsoft or practically anyone involved in the gaming industry. "Where do they get all that hate?" we wonder aloud, before going to donate more hugs down at the clinic. They would be a complete mystery to us were it not for Brett Ratner, who, according to a passing mention in a recent press release from MGM, has been tapped to direct the God of War film.

See, we hate Brett Ratner. Well, no, we don't hate the person. We're sure he's a perfectly nice man. But we hate everything he's ever put on film from Money Talks to X3 aka Brett Ratner's First-Person Theatrical Abortion. ... You know what? Forget what we said, we do hate Brett Ratner as a person. And if he directs God of War, it'll be awful, because all of his movies are awful and we don't know why he keeps being allowed to make them. The end.

If there's one entertainment genre that has a worse track record than movies turned to video games, it's video games that have been transformed into movies. At least movies to games have a few bright spots; when people have to summon up Mortal Kombat as the most admirable adaptation of a medium, you know something's gone awry.

So it's with a spirit of mild skepticism that we present the first two posters for Mark Wahlberg vehicle Max Payne. The problem is that we think the above poster (and the one after the jump) look pretty outstanding. AICN has some bigger versions; take a look and let us know what you think.

The Prison Service in England and Wales will not allow prisoners to play 18-rated games after September 30. The BBC reports that well-behaved residents and those at risk of suicide will still be allowed to play games -- we hope the suicide folks aren't playing Persona.

The government apparently spent £10k ($19,763 USD) last year on consoles and games for inmates. Effective immediately, inmates will have to buy their own consoles and games. Those who can't afford the video game distraction are sure to occupy their time with more constructive ventures ... like shiv production.

[Via GI.biz]

Former head of Tecmo's Team Ninja and leather aficionado, Tomonobu Itagaki, is proving himself to be quite the legal eagle hawk whatever bird a ninja might keep as a pet in his ongoing lawsuit against his old employer. In addition to upping his claim for damages from 148 million yen ($1.3 million) to 164m yen ($1.6m) for bonuses and salary not paid, the Dead or Alive creator delivered a blow to accusations by Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda that he was never promised bonuses in the first place.

The evidence: an audio recording of Yasuda specifically stating that a legal document known as a ringi, which outlined the contested bonus plan, had in fact been approved by Tecmo's board of directors. Take that! If that didn't sting, Itagaki said (in what we're guessing was a stern voice): "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice." Hear that? Greater justice. Everything the guy does is intense.

While Konami is already exercising options with Gradius Rebirth, Castlevania stalwart Koji Igarashi has now expressed interest in dipping his own whip into the Wii's digital waters. Given that 3D fighter Castlevania Judgment promises to take face-to-palm when it's released, Iga's interest in WiiWare looks to rekindle fans' triple-shot prayers for a traditional 2D Castlevania for consoles.

"I'm definitely interested in WiiWare and I think it's one of the areas that 2D can still be very strong at," Igarashi told MTV Multiplayer. In a separate interview with Wired's Game|Life blog, he also noted that he's watching Capcom's decidedly retro Mega Man 9 "very closely" to see how it's received once it debuts later this year, noting that "if it is successful that definitely opens up doors for what I can do." Now all there's left to do is wait, though if you get hungry we hear that there's some delicious turkey hidden inside the wall.

Everyone likes to prepare for big video games in different ways. Some like to watch video walkthroughs or even trailers, both of which are very normal. But some people, get this, like to read. And not even normal internet reading like you or me, but reading from paper. Rather than scold this deviant subset, EA is actually encouraging their perversion with a six-part comic book series based on upcoming Mirror's Edge, on DC's Wildstorm imprint.

Here's the weird thing: After fans pick up the first issue at their local shop or at San Diego Comic Con, if they get bored while reading it, do you think they can just poke a different part of the page to read something else? No. No, they can't. They have to literally put the comic down and pick up something else to do. C'mon people, live in the now!

Market research firm Parks Associate has released a study claiming subscription-based MMOs aren't dropping enough loot for its players. According to the group's Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home II study (via Worlds in Motion) only the hardcore gamers were into the subscription model, whereas the casual gamer showed "significant interest" in the free-to-play, microtransaction model.

Another part of the study found that, of the non-MMO players polled, 14% would be interested to play if they could play for free, whereas only 2% of that group was interested in subscription-based MMOs. As we always caution, studies generally aren't worth more than the pixels they're displayed on (unless it's a nice monitor, then they're probably worth less). In a recent polling at Joystiq HQ, games that are "free to play" were also seven times more likely to grab our attention than games that weren't free.

Said Director of Broadband and Gaming Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai: "World of Warcraft, with over 10 million players, exceeded expectations for subscription-based MMORPGs, but it's unlikely any other publishers will achieve the same in the near term using a subscription model." Of course, that's kind of a no-brainer even for WoW's competitors.

[Via Eurogamer]

Contrary to the previous post on the matter, some of us think this shirt is awesome. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The games that weren't there: Missing from E3
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Tomb Raider: Underworld
Joystiq impressions: FutureU, Kaplan's SAT prep game for DS
Joystiq interview: Nintendo spins 'core' gamer appeal, more
Ryan Davis talks up Giant Bomb's explosive re-launch
Wii Fanboy Weekly: July 10 - July 23

News
BBC: Unsafe charging devices 'flooding' UK
Sci-fi author Bruce Sterling to keynote, predict future at Austin GDC
EA inks talent agency deal, more game movies coming
Nintendo launches Wii Digicam Print Channel in Japan
Watchmen getting episodic games on PC, PS3, 360
Watch the direct feed Mirror's Edge demo
Iwata 'sorry' for Nintendo E3 briefing; Wii supplies may still be tight this holiday
Battlestar scribes working on Aliens: Colonial Marines
ESA: E3 2009 'will occur'
Horror filmmakers try hands at comedy on Xbox Live
Penny Arcade Adventures coming to PS3 this fall
Wii third-parties nonplussed by surprise MotionPlus reveal
PixelJunk Eden demo available tomorrow
N+ gets new, 200-point level pack
MS to take larger cut of best-selling Community Games
Finally! It's your turn to watch last year's Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer
Facebreaker demo coming July 31 with create-a-character sharing
See first trailer for Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
Molyneux: 'I feel sorry for Denis Dyack'
Reggie: GTA welcome on Wii, but only if it's not a port
Kingdom Hearts DS ad points to 2008 release in Japan
Ticket to Ride's Europe expansion boards next Wednesday

Rumors & Speculation

Culture & Community
Capcom to sell intentionally awful Mega Man 9 shirts
Zero Punctuation visits Conan in Hyboria
Penny Arcade's original Fallout 3 webcomic debuts
1942: Joint Strike E3 shirts now available for purchase
Rush fails Rush on Colbert Report
C-list celebrities + Gamespot party = Awkward

The latest episode of Glitch in the System makes it horribly obvious that the "celebrities" attending Gamespot's E3 bash had no idea who was hosting the party. That street probably goes both ways because, straight up, we had to Google almost every single one of the "celebrities" that we saw in the video. Check out the cringe-inducing footage o the red carpet interviews after the break.

PS: Thanks again to the 300+ people who attended -- or used astral projection to attend in spirit -- our Joystiq E3 meet-up. Watching something like this makes us appreciate you all even more.

The 1942: Joint Strike shirts from E3, featuring Street Fighter's Cammy doing her best bomber nose art impression, are available now from Meatbun.com. The shirt will cost $26, plus shipping, and is available worldwide in the three colors seen above. A close-up of the shirt's image can be found after the break.

Fun fact: Yoshiki Okamoto created both 1942 and the Street Fighter series, so the shirt's image with Cammy isn't an entirely random cross-promotion.

[Thanks Jared, Via John D's blog]

Check out the NSFW review of Age of Conan after the break.

When Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann was abruptly fired under controversial circumstances late last year, it set off a sort of domino effect. In the wake of the scandal, Gamespot staffers Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella all decided to leave the venerable site to start a new project with Gerstmann: a project called Giant Bomb. A skeleton of the site has been up since March, but the project really got going Monday with an overhaul that mixes user-created, wiki-style pages with editorial reviews, videos and podcasts from the four-man ex-Gamespot crew.

We talked to Giant Bomb co-founder Ryan Davis about his thoughts on the new site and his departure from Gamespot, and game journalism in general. Some excerpts from our conversation (be sure to click the "Continue" link for the full interview):

On Gerstmann-gate and the state of game journalism
"Obviously we still have lots of friends and a ton of history there [at CNET], but we're so focused on the good stuff we're doing now. ... [Gerstmann-gate] certainly helped get our names in people's mouths in certain circles. ... Before [Gerstmann-gate] even happened, I felt like people needed to be more skeptical about what they read, with the massive influx of news-blogs giving little distinction between rumor and fact.

"We're not in the business of reporting news, but as far as the review process goes, we're being very open about a review being that person's perspective. We don't use fancy math to come to our reviews, we just go with what the reviewer feels the game merits. I think when a review has to represent an entire organization's perspective on a game, that's where you can run into trouble. Also, for what it's worth, I've never considered myself a 'game journalist.' I think they exist, but I'm a reviewer and a commentator more than anything."