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The old “will someone please think about the children?!” line didn’t quite work this time.
News Blips:
An Illinois judge struck down the Chicago Transit Authority’s ban of M-rated game advertisements. Ruling in favor of the Entertainment Software Association, the judge determined that ads, such as those promoting Grand Theft Auto 4 which were pulled in 2008, are protected under the First Amendment. Hear that, Chicago public transit riders? You’re gonna see M-rated game ads, and you’re gonna like it! [1UP]
The annual Child’s Play charity drive, put on by the guys over at Penny-Arcade, managed to raise over $1.7 million in donations for 2009, despite tough economic times. Kudos. Hopefully this helped to make some children’s time in the hospital during the holidays a bit more tolerable. [Joystiq]
Silver Xbox Live subscribers with copies of Left 4 Dead 2 will be able to kill zombies online for free between Friday, January 15 (10:00am PST) and Monday, January 18 (same time). CVG is reporting that despite 2 million people buying L4D2, only 1 million have actually taken the game online with a Gold account. Come on guys, step away from split-screen multiplayer for a minute — you might like it. [CVG]
As a result of less-than-expected holiday sales, GameStop stock has dropped 15 percent. The company has gone on to lower its forecasted Q4 revenue by about 8.5-9.5 percent. All right troops, we need to start donating our video game collections to help GameStop get back to Olympic-sized-swimming-pool-full-of-money status. Who’s with me? [gi.biz]
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