Nobody tell the sick children that the money raised for the Child's Play charity is from a death-panel promotion. I don't care if Gears of War 3's Carmine is a fictional character -- this is still morbid.

News Blips:

Epic Games raises over $150,000 for the Child's Play charity with its Fate of Carmine campaign. To determine whether the newest Carmine character (who's lineage traditionally kicks the bucket in the GOW games) lives or dies in Gears of War 3, Epic sold both real-life and avatar T-shirts in support of each camp. Each purchase counted as a vote. Naturally the developer is keeping the results a secret until the game's release. I wonder what the outcome will say about us as a gaming society?

Game designer Keita Takahashi (Katamari Damacy, Noby Noby Boy) has split from Namco Bandai. The company confirmed the departure with Play.tm. Recently, in an interview with The Setup, Takahashi referred to Namco Bandai as a "so-so company" and lamented over his body of work by stating, "I am so inefficient I only made four games in 11 years." I admit that I'm a bit saddened by this news and plan to roll one tonight in the man's honor -- err, a Katamari, that is. 

Microsoft apologizes for banning an Xbox Live user from Fort Gay, West Virgina. The company admitted they made a mistake when an employee misinterpreted the town to be a pejorative and subsequently banned proud resident Josh Moore, 26. Stephen Toulhouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, says that they have now updated their "training to account for that." I imagine this is encouraging for the good people of Gaylord, Michigan to being proudly repping their city on Xbox Live. [Yahoo!]

Brain Age guru Dr. Ryuta Kawashima plans to bring his mentally stimulating brand of games to Microsoft's Kinect. The new title, roughly translated to "New Brain Training You Answer With Your Body," tasks players with using their bodies to complete brain-training exercises. No word yet if the game will feature Dr. Kawashima himself, patronizing the player for not using the software every day. [1UP]

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