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Late last monthI ran an interview with Dr. Jerald Block, an Oregon psychiatrist with an interesting theory on the role on videogames in the Columbine massacre. He suggested that rather than inciting the violent actions of shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, videogames such asDoomacted as a cathartic sanctuary, and that the banning of the boys from their computers was instrumental in pushing them to murder. It was an unusual approach, but one which earned a lot of interest, both within the Destructoid community and throughout the internet at large....

The Burlingrecently postedthis community blogabout a Destructoid community member’s awesome new license plate. Who is this user? Why, it’s none other thantazartheyoot! He’s got this bad boy for the next two years, so give this man a dollar whenever you see him rolling down your street. Seriously. However, this is both a celebration and a temporary going-away party for Tazar. It seems that he’s taking a bit of time away from the Internets, as well as Destructoid....

Without question, some of rock’s most memorable and fun guitar riffs were born from the 80s. Songs like Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock” and Accept’s “Balls to the Wall” are the kind of songs that make you want to smash a beer can against your head, throw up your rock fist, and uncontrollably pee on your friend’s couch. And it was only fitting thatGuitar Hero, a videogame that warrants a similar reaction, would one day collide with the hard-partying, brain-melting rock of that particular era....

While most people may have seen thepreviewsforNinjatownand thought the art design was adorable, I had a more personal interest in the progress of the title: it marked the first marriage between the designer toy worldso close to my heartand the gaming world. Artist Shawn Smith has been the mastermind behindShawnimalsfor years now, creating iconic characters such as the Wee Ninja and immortalizing them in plush and vinyl forms. Just because you have great character design does not always make for a great game, though — God knows there are plenty of games out there with characters that didn’t quite stick or gameplay that didn’t cut it....

The firstTrauma Center: Under The Knifefor DS was a fantastic game, but it also came with a reputation — that of being one of the most difficult games to grace the portable console. Placing you in the role of newbie doctor Derek Stiles, you performed surgeries of increasing difficulty due to GUILT, a man made disease causing major medical havoc. The story and gameplay were great, and it was by far one of my favorite games of 2005, but I can testify that I nearly hurled my DS across the room more times than I can count out of pure frustration....

Sandswept Studios’ upcoming transport warfare RTSDETOURis coming to Steam on May 17th. The indie studio sent along this press release as an image, which features the game’s star “The Crease.” DETOURfeatures up to four-player multiplayer, a map editor, and singleplayer challenges to unlock trucks and provide you with some comedy. It looks like you’ll be busy with PC games on May 17th.

The above footage comes courtesy ofHigh-Score Magazine Onlineand showcases one of the most criminally underrated series soon to be peddling its wares on Sony’s tiny handheld. NIS’Disgaeaseries has always been overlooked in favor of theFinal Fantasy Tacticsgames simply because they weren’t infested with swarms of Chocobos, and that’s truly a shame. While theFinal Fantasy Tacticsseries continually provides quality fan service at the cost of innovation, NIS is working hard to fill every last possible nook and cranny of their niche-strategy games with intuitive, yet creative gameplay, and adorable demonic penguins....

Driveris a game series that has followed the stereotypical trend of a gaming series; it starts off good and then steadily becomes boring and repetitive. It is still a franchise though and that means that letting it die a quiet and peaceful death is out of the question, because in the world of gaming creating a name that people know is half the battle. Thus Ubisoftapplied to trademarkDriver: The Recruit, which will most likely be the fifth game in theDriverseries....

I’ve got some great news for the three of you who have been closely following Destructoid’s coverage of 2K Sports’Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars, a DS-exclusive arcade baseball game. You’ve seen theannouncement, and you’ve read the entireinterview (including screens)with the game’s developer, Deep Fried Entertainment. You’ve been waiting with bated breath, and now the time is nigh for you to get your swing on. Today is what industry insiders like to refer to as “new release Tuesday”, andMLB 2K8 FASis one of the DS games coming out this week....

This little 200 DSi Point game looks pretty great, especially for…200 DSi Points. Company Genterprise has a series of games in Japan called the G.G Series. The thinking behind this series is to make games that bring you back to the old days of gaming. They’ve committed themselves to releasing two games in the series every month, including puzzle, action, shooting and sports games, and now we’re getting the first North American release....

No Apparent Reason Parties, NARPs for short, are a long standing tradition here at Destructoid. NARPs are parties hosted by Dtoiders for Dtoiders and everyone is welcome to attend a party. It’s about playing games and interacting with other people all in the name of having a good time. Can you believe the summer is almost over?! August means taking those last minute vacations before the school year starts, and trying to enjoy the summer sun before fall hits....

During the Xbox Press Conference, Cliff Bleszinski got on stage and showed off another portion fromGears of War 2. Marcus Fenix, along with Dom, are running through the remains of the planets final home for humanity. Some of the new weapons, enemies and other new new features are shown throughout this six-minute presentation. Towards the end of the video, the building Marcus and Dom are in collapses and they need to escape by taking an elevator, sideways....

Cliff Bleszinski has taken the stage for EA’s press conference where the release date was announced for the awesome lookingBulletstorm. That date is May 31, 2025. Developer People Can Fly showed off the first level of the game, revealing loads of awesome looking new stuff for our eyes to gobble up like greedy piglets. Shooting mechs, kicking people into electricity, dragging people to you with magic traction, and hearing a character shout “YOU SCARED THE DICK OFF ME” is all part of the fun....