It appears that Protestant churches around the country are using Halo 3 as a recruiting tool to draw in young congregants. This comes despite it’s violent subject matter and mature ESRB rating. Naturally, this development has many churchgoers in an uproar, but supporters argue that Halo is an effective tool in “reaching the elusive audience of boys and young men”–a crucial demographic. So, if you want old people, set up Bingo night. If you want young people, set up a Halo 3 tournament.

Does the fact that Halo 3 helps recruit young men into the congregation justify it’s use in church? According to James Tonkwich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy–”If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it. My own take is that you could do better than that.” Not necessarily buddy, I like your first idea.—Sean Fallon

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Though GTA IV might be causing more controversy since the release of its trailer than the other games in the all-around controversial Grand Theft Auto series, the buzz around the game might even overwhelm the political backlash. These scanned photos from the newest Game Informer magazine reveal a little more detail about the game and its pretty incredible graphics.

The shot shown above is a great example of the realism the game offers, which we’re pretty sure is the reason NY politicians are steamed over the game. Hey, as long as there isn’t airplane themed terrorism going on, who the hell cares right? The main character is Serbian for gods sakes, not Afghani. Everyone just has to chill about it. It’s a game, not a cultural revolution. Or is it? Either way it looks absolutely amazing. (more…)