Brother/sister (no, not really) duo The White Stripes will be making their Rock Band debut next week via a track pack featuring three of their songs. For the handheld rhythm gamers, No Doubt and Dropkick Murphys are also on the way to Rock Band Unplugged's in-game music store.

Uh-oh! I hope our friends from Left4Friends didn't catch this. PAX sources are now reporting that they do have a confirmed case of the H1N1 virus (commonly but misleadingly known as Swine Flu) from their recently-concluded Washington event.

Getting ready the purchase some contents on PSN Europe tomorrow? Well SCEE got you covered as they release the full list of update, one day ahead of schedule. This week, you can grab the much awaited PSN game Fat Princess, Watchmen: The End is Nigh part 2 and a demo of Numblast. A free Fight Night Round 4 DLC pack, Rag Doll Kung Fu Time Savers pack and the usual music DLC's round up the list of add-on contents. For the PSP, Unbound Saga will be available this week along with Samurai Warriors and Numblast demo.

A GameStop listing for Rock Band: Unplugged has revealed a partial list of playable tracks that'll come packaged with the game. The list, along with some game details, was on the back portion of the official box art shown in the GameStop listing.

Penny Arcade has released a schedule of activities for this year's Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). If you're planning to go to the event, we recommend checking it out so you can plan out your own schedule in advance.

Are you concerned with Take-Two's move to develop the sequel to BioShock in 2K Marin instead of Boston and Australia? Are you excited about a possible sequel to Max Payne next year? Is Take-Two locked down for EA's taking? All these were answered by the controversial publisher's top execs as they met up with investors. All the details after the jump.

"This is a horror genre. People who like horror will love it." Rockstar spokesperson Rodney Walker may have been right when he said that. Especially with the recent controversy surrounding Manhunt 2 - it's been nothing but horror for them and Take-Two Interactive.

Despite the fact that the developers wanted an M rating for the game - so that it could still be sold to 17 year olds who are horror fans - Manhunt 2 fell from 1) an Adults Only rating in the US to 2) getting banned in Europe to 3) an utter halt in distribution.

We're sure a lot of you guys have your own opinions. And we're pretty damn sure that lots of other people are affected as well. We've heard from financial analysts, other developers, and even pro-family groups of what their take on it is. The Boston Globe has even compiled a couple of pros and cons from other people as well. For example, with 30 years of studying the effects of media violence on children, Joanne Cantor says:

The more realistic and involving the game gets, and the greater the similarity between the action in the game and real life action, the stronger the negative effects would be. No, your son may not turn into a criminal. But exposure will take a toll on his life somewhere, probably in interpersonal relationships. These are subtle effects. They take time to surface. A teen isn't going to notice them.

This statement seems to be nodded in agreement by the director the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial - Free Childhood, Alvin Poussaint, who can't quite imagine teenagers playing Manhunt 2. His reason is that "The level of participation makes the game worse than any that preceded it. It might not make anyone a killer, but could it make someone prone to domestic violence or child abuse?"

Other people don't blame Manhunt 2 for creating murderers also. Family Research Lab co-driector  David Finkelhor even claims that juvenile crime rate has decreased in the 10-to-12 period that violent video games have been distributing in the market. His sentiment lies in the fact that a video game isn't the sole factor that would induce a kid into criminal activities:

It's when you have other potentiating factors -- family problems, mental health issues, extreme stress, dangerous neighborhoods. Playing these games with or without the Wii enhancement is not going to take the typical teenage boy and make a killer out of him.

A mouthful, yeah? Let these thoughts sink in for a moment. Has the Manhunt 2 issue now blown up to unfounded proportions? Will we ever find closure with this? There's definitely a lot of things going through our heads right now. And if you don't mind, we'd like to hear your reactions to this as well. Do note that commenting won't create murderers (but it can still have side effects of summoning a certain environmentalist hero).

Mature=rated games are under fire again as the Parents Television Council (PTC) is seeking to get ads for violent games off of public transport units in Portland, Oregon and Chicago.

It is well documented that some months back, Boston's MBTA trains had to cease displaying Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories ads because of pressure from concerned parents and other organizations.

In the latest skirmish between parents and M-games, the PTC issued a press release together with the organization Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) asking Denver's Regional Transport District (RTD) to bar such games from advertising on public transport that reads:

In the latest mass transit controversy, the Parents Television Council (PTC) has partnered with the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC), which led the fight against Boston’s GTA ads. The organizations issued a joint press release yesterday calling upon Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD) to reject future ads for games rated M and AO.

Citing ads for Vice City Stories which ran on RTD trains last Fall, the PTC formalized the request at the RTD’s monthly board meeting on Tuesday. PTC Denver Chapter Director George Robison said at the meeting:

Our public transportation network serves more than half the residents of Colorado and is doing them a disservice with its tacit approval for the dangerous content in the Mature-rated video games that are advertised throughout the system. I’m here today to remind Chairman Chris Martinez and the board that they have a responsibility to act in the best interest of those who voted you into these important positions…

The Denver RTD has yet to post an official statement in response to the press release.

Remember last month when we told you guys that some people in Boston were saying that the GTA: Vice City Stories ads should be pulled off the subways and other forms of public transit?

Well, it seems that the backers of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood were able to pressure the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) enough to take down the ads for Vice City.

According to a Daily Comet report, the MBTA has decided to stop displaying ads for video games that touches on "sensitive" adult material. This is due to a complaint filed by a citizens group that sees VCS as a game that "encourages players to steal, murder and have sex with prostitutes."

In a letter dated Monday, MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas told the people behind CCFC that the MBTA's board had approved the move to ban advertisements for games suitable only for persons aged 17 and above. Here's what Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood had to say about this:

We are thrilled that the MBTA has been so responsive to community concerns. The children of Boston can now ride the MBTA without being targets for advertising that glorifies violence. [The decision] sends a strong message to the videogame industry that public property cannot be used to promote violence to children. We hope that other cities will follow suit.

The NIMF or National Institute on Media and the Family are also on GTA's case, listing Vice City Stories as one of the non child-friendly games that parents should persuade their kids to avoid. Now I dunno about you guys, but I really think we oughta give kids (and people in general!) more credit. They're not that stupid to think that it's okay to go out and commit various crimes just because video game characters do it. Surely the gaming community knows how to delineate virtual realities from the real world, right?

And the saga of the GTA ads pull-down continues. We've just crossed out Denver and Boston on our list of places to look for GTA ads, and from the looks of it, Oregon will be joining the duo.

Oregon's TriMet public transport agency announced the pullout of GTA ads from the sides of their buses in response to protests from passengers who said the game promoted criminal violence.

TriMet mentioned they didn't endorse ads that encouraged illegal activity, and that they were unaware of the game's nature when the national agency that purchased the space posted the ad. (You guys NEVER played GTA titles?)

TriMet's set to lose around US $71,000 for the pull-down, and further notes that they will be adding an extra review board to make sure similar slip-ups will not be happening again. Okay, videogame ads encouraging illegal activity - now to go after comics, movies, TV, magazines, anime (No way!)...