Earlier this week, Wired reported on Wikipedia Scanner, a new tool that cross references the IP addresses of people who edit the online encyclopedia with companies that own the related IP ranges. The end product is a tailor-made snooping tool that can help shine a light on companies' attempts to manipulate their corporate histories.

For instance, Wired found evidence of someone at voting machine manufacturer Diebold editing out 15 paragraphs critical of the company from its entry. Wal-Mart and Montana Senator Conrad Burns' office were also found to have altered pages to put a positive spin on their pasts.

The practice of wiki-washing likely extends into industries of all sizes; an article on Shacknews today reports that gaming is no exception. The site found evidence that an IP address at Electronic Arts' Redwood Shores headquarters made multiple changes to the company's Wikipedia entry.

In addition to updating information like the total number of EA employees, the user's edits also cut out a number of passages that were either critical of the company or referenced unflattering events like company-wide layoffs.

For instance, a passage referencing the EA Spouse scandal and subsequent lawsuit originally read, "Electronic Arts has from time to time been criticized for its employment policy of requiring employees to work extraordinarily long hours--up to 80 hours per week--as a general rule and not just at 'crunch' times leading up to the scheduled releases of products." After the user in question edited it, it said, "Electronic Arts has led the industry in reforming work/life balance issues that are endemic to the software industry." The user also added mention that other publishers have also faced lawsuits over similar issues.

While portions of the entry saying EA was notorious for rushing out games and then did a poor job supporting them postrelease were edited out, the entry was not entirely scrubbed of criticism. Remarks about the company's practices of buying smaller studios like Origin or Westwood for their intellectual properties were left in, as were notes saying the company shuts down its acquired studios once they make an underperforming game.

Other passages, like one suggesting the publisher's exclusive NFL license is bad for the business, was simply added to with a note that the NFL itself sought out an exclusive deal. That edit even changes the phrase, "Some think Electronic Arts' sports licenses are threatening the game market..." to the more damning, "While it is widely think [sic] Electronic Arts' sports licenses are threatening the game market...."

Other alterations to the article involved the downplaying of EA founder Trip Hawkins and deletion of other early company employees. A mention of Hawkins' current venture, mobile game developer Digital Chocolate, was also axed.

AnEA representatives commented on the matter, saying, "EAsometimes updates Web sites with info about the company, games and employees.For example, EA has sent acorrection toYahoo Financewhen they had misspelled the name ofan EAexecutive. Many companies routinely post updates on Web sites like Wikipedia to ensure accuracy of their own corporate information."

A new survey shows that the stereotypical massively multiplayer online role-playing gamer as socially inept is in fact, massively incorrect. Researchers at Nottingham Trent University in the UK have found that three quarters of online role-players become close friends with others in their online worlds, with almost half meeting up in real life. Furthermore, one in 10 have--how do we put this?--had a "physical relationship."

The study, titled "Social Interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Gamers," also found that females were more likely to fancy and/or go out on a date with people they played games with, and that 30 percent of all players found themselves attracted to someone else online. However, offline relationships didn't fare so well when MMOs became involved, with one in five gamers saying that they thought online gaming had a negative effect on relationships if their partner wasn't also into it.

The reasons men and women play MMORPGs were different, with women saying that they played for "therapeutic refreshment," whereas men said they played due to "curiosity, astonishment, and interest."

Almost 1,000 MMO gamers were quizzed for the study, with World of Warcraft being the most popular game, and the average time spent on an MMO per week being 22.85 hours.

Professor Mark Trent commented on the findings, "Previous research has suggested that gamers are socially inactive, but MMORPGs are actually extremely social games, with high percentages of gamers making life-long friends and even partners. As well as making good friends online, 81 percent of gamers play with real-life friends and family, suggesting MMORPGs are by no means an asocial activity, nor are the players socially introverted."

The Entertainment Software Association's Video Game Voters Network is putting out a call to action. Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that California's law restricting minors from buying violent games was unconstitutional. Shortly after that news broke, the state's governor and former film star Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his intent to appeal the ruling.

"I signed this important measure to ensure that parents are involved in determining which video games are appropriate for their children," Schwarzenegger said, promising to "vigorously defend" the law.

The VGVN is imploring gamers to put up some vigorous defense of their own, asking California residents to write Schwarzenegger and urge him to withdraw his appeal (which has not actually been filed yet). The group's official Web site even includes a form letter to make it as effortless a process as possible.

"Video games, even violent ones, are a protected form of expression, just like movies," the letter reads. "Do you really believe that it should be illegal for a 16-year-old boy to watch True Lies? The answer is no--it is a decision for parents to make, not the government."

By providing an e-mail, name, and address, gamers can have the VGVN send Schwarzenegger a copy of the form letter. They can also add in their own remarks, and the VGVN even provides a list of talking points to consider making to the governor. It should be noted that filling out the form on the Web site also automatically registers a person in the VGVN.

Need further proof that the Wii craze is permeating virtually every nook and cranny of the Western culture? Then head on over to the ubiquitous social invitation service Evite, which has launched a Web page exclusively for those planning Wii parties or Wii-themed family reunions.

Besides such basic features as budget planning (1 Wii - $249) and party supplies (Wiitis-fighting ice packs - $5 each), the Evite page includes a bevy of Wii party ideas. The site offers some common-sense tips, such as wearing althetics-friendly clothing and clearing out any potential obstacles Wii Sports players could trip over. It also offers some more questionable advice, suggesting Welsh Rabbit as an ideal après-Wii snack and a whiskey sweet and sour as the perfect "Wii-ed up" party cocktail.

Video games have been accused of inspiring murder, inducing musculoskeletal ailments, and originating from Satan's sulfurous bowels. Over the weekend, game consoles were singled out by the government as being a possible aid for another heinous act--airplane-based terrorism.

The Seattle Times reports that on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) imposed stricter security guidelines on game consoles in carry-on luggage. Along with other large electronic devices, such as DVD players, game consoles must now be removed from bags and sent through baggage screeners on their own. The rule was previously only applied to laptop computers.

"The focus is on large electronic equipment," TSA spokesman Jennifer Peppin told the Times. "The policy recommendation came from a frontline security officer who screens passengers every day who observed that game consoles and DVD players are complex devices much like laptop computers. This change brings more uniformity to their policy."

Peppin told the times that the rule affects "Xbox and PlayStation" consoles. The article made no mention of the Wii, perhaps indicating its small size allowed it to sidestep the new inspections, which are not required of portable gaming devices, such as the PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS.

With the stock market growing increasingly skittish, these are uncertain financial times. That is, unless you're hawking wares in Linden Lab's Second Life, the popular PC life simulation/virtual world whose generation of real-world cash with in-game real estate deals have created at least one real-world millionaire.

This week, Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale told Business 2.0 the scale of trade in Second Life. He estimates that virtual merchants make over $1.3 million every day hawking in-game goods. He said around 830 of the game's 200,000 daily players take home over $1,000 a month from their Second Life-based businesses.

In other Second Life commerce news, realtor Coldwell Banker announced it is selling a real house via Second Life. The property is a house in suburban Seattle, and is valued at over $3 million. It will be reproduced in the game to allow potential buyers to take virtual tours.

Capcom's Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is an adventure game for the Nintendo Wii that follows a young boy and his magical pet as they travel through several fantasy worlds, solving puzzles and acquiring prizes. About as inoffensive as it comes, right? Not so, it would seem, as the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced today that it has successfully petitioned Capcom to edit a portion of the game it found offensive.

CAIR had asked Capcom to remove the common Arabic phrase "Allahu akbar"--which translates to "God is most great"--from the game. CAIR did not say how the phrase was used in the game or why it found the phrase offensive. However, it did note that it is one of the most commonly used religious statements uttered by Muslims and is used often in daily Islamic prayers.

Responding to CAIR's inquiry, a Capcom spokesperson stated, "The phrase has been removed from the game and will not be heard in future videos released to the public."

For more on Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

For all their focus on gore galore, zombie movies have traditionally been rife with social commentary and allegory. George Romero's Living Dead series of films have touched on terrorism, class warfare, rampant commercialism, and in the original Night of the Living Dead, race relations.

The two subjects are intersecting again, as the recently released trailer for Resident Evil 5 has a number of commentators concerned about how the trailer portrays a white hero--the returning Chris Redfield--against hordes of black zombie foes in what could be an African village. In an editorial for The Village Voice's Runnin' Scared news blog, Bonnie Ruberg notes one forum-goer's concern that gunning down mobs of angry Africans could be "subtly racist." Ruberg herself says she finds the trailer "strangely disturbing."

"It's not just that these zombies are black, but that the uninfected black villagers are zombie-like too," Ruberg wrote. "See all those spooky shots of the villagers before they get infected? It's as if race itself were a disease. The white protagonist has to fight back or be infected."

She also notes that according to the zombie mythos, the barest contamination, a bite or a single drop of blood in an open wound, spells doom for a person. That could be a parallel to Africa's ongoing HIV and AIDS crisis, Ruberg wrote, or a reminder of the segregationists who used a "one drop rule" stating that black ancestry of any sort was justification enough to deny a person access to basic rights.

Ruberg is not the only commentator to blog on the issue. In a post titled "Blackface Goes HD?," Jason from Microscopiq takes issue not only with the race of the parties involved in the trailer, but also in the setting.

"With all the positive steps being taken of late to raise awareness of the good things happening in Africa as well as the urgent need in some parts of the continent, we really can't afford this kind of step back. We need to find ways to humanize Africans, not dehumanize them."

On Black Looks, a group blog focusing on African women and social concerns, Kym Platt briefly recaps the trailer, noting that it's apparently the white character's job to destroy the black people and save humanity.

"This is problematic on so many levels," Platt wrote, "including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young...fearing, hating, and destroying Black people."

Platt's blog--like the others--has spurred a number of responses, most overwhelmingly in defense of the game or against the original author. One response to the "Black Looks" post points out that the Resident Evil series has seen its share of zombies of European origin.

"According to the statistics of racial make-up in the world, I'd actually say that whites have been unfairly discriminated against in the series, if anything, since so many of them have been enemies in RE," said one commenter. "It only seems fair that Africans get treated equally, and with only one game full of primarily black enemies to six games full of primarily white, from a racial viewpoint I'd say that the Africans are getting off easy."

"There is plenty of real racism alive and well in the world today and words cannot describe how disgusting it can be," wrote another, "but it is garbage rants like this that take attention from real problems. It is absurd and insulting to everyone to suggest this game is in anyway being designed to teach anyone to hate black people."

A third poster merely commented, "That game looks so awesome."

Over on the Village Voice blog post, one commenter approached the issue from another direction, writing, "Many of these games, including [Resident Evil 5], are being made in ethnically homogenous Japan, where concepts of race are hugely different from those in America. On some level, I think Japanese developers simply don't understand how potentially flammable these kinds of scenarios could become, let alone some of the even more blatant stereotyping often found in Japanese games (think Barrett's penchant for Ebonics in [Final Fantasy 7], just for starters.)"

One of the many pleasures of both Halo and Halo 2 are the small snippets of dialogue spoken by non-player characters. When confronted by a variety of situations, both human and Covenant NPCs will shoot off a variety of humorous one-liners, including: "Okay, purple hearts for everybody!", " I wonder if those aliens have insurance?", and "Having a lovely time kicking ass in outer space--wish you were here!"