Science Daily reports that a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that playing a video game before bedtime has only a mild effect on the sleep of older male teens.

Results show that after playing a stimulating video game it took these adolescents a median of 7.5 minutes to fall asleep, which was only slightly longer than the three minutes it took them to fall asleep after passively watching a DVD documentary. Although no participants fell asleep while playing the video game, almost one-third of them fell asleep while watching the DVD. Subjective sleepiness after playing the video game was only slightly lower than after watching the DVD, and playing the video game was associated with a small increase in cognitive alertness. However, no significant differences in physiologic arousal or sleep architecture were found between testing conditions.

The authors concluded that the adage “everything in moderation” should guide parents as they set limits on bedtime video-game playing for adolescents.

So back in 2007 when Mass Effect came out, I played a few hours of it and returned it to the store that day. I hated the combat and the game was just too talky for me.

Fast-forward to Dragon Age. Before this game was released, I wasn’t into games that required a lot of character interaction. I played Dragon Age while home after having an appendectomy, so all the talking didn’t bother me because I had a lot of time to kill. As I played, I found that I loved talking; I’d spend hours just conversing with NPCs and filling in whatever story blanks I could.

When Mass Effect 2 came out, my newfound love of “talkies” got me interested. After reading that the combat system had been improved, I decided to dive in. I loved it, and have beaten it twice already.

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Tor Books and EA’s Visceral Games have just announced the first novel based on the Dead Space franchise, Dead Space: Martyr. The book delves into the back story of the game, including the history of the Church of Unitology, the discovery of the enigmatic “Black Marker” and the mysteries behind an alien artifact of unknown power.

When geophysicist Michael Altman learns of a mysterious signal emitting from deep within the Chicxulub crater, he cannot resist the lure of an undiscovered artifact. He soon learns that being in close proximity to the artifact, however, causes strange visions of the dead, vivid dreams, and violent murders. Altman’s experience with the alien artifact leads to this crucial first chapter in the Dead Space saga.

Dead Space: Martyr will be available this July.

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Sucker Punch
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

A trend has begun to rear its ugly head in the gaming world. Some developers have heard your cries about games being too short and have responded with stories that reach completion lengths previously only seen in Final Fantasy games. The real key is to make the gameplay interesting and involving enough to make you want to invest the considerable time and energy required to reach the end. Developer Sucker Punch has succeeded in this regard with inFamous, a multilayered thrill ride that pushes all of the right buttons.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
System requirements: Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7, 2.0 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 8.1-compatible sound card, 128 MB DirectX 8.1-compliant video card, DirectX 9.0c or better
Genre: Adventure
Release date: April 15, 2010

There’s a limited number of ways to run a railroad, so it’s always a welcome treat when someone comes up with a new wrinkle that works. Publisher/developer Telltale has found that wrinkle in their brand of point-and-click adventure games with Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Episode 1—The Penal Zone. Nothing earth-shattering, but different enough to breath new life into a rapidly aging genre.

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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: SCE Santa Monica
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

In 2005, SCE Studios Santa Monica introduced us to Kratos, a former Spartan who was tricked by the god of war himself into killing his own family. After this, Kratos became consumed with one thought: revenge on the gods who had forsaken him. Three games and thousands of dead Olympians later, Kratos’s journey will come to an end, one way or another.

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Alawar Entertainment and independent developer, mif2000, have put a hilarious twist on a beloved classic in Hamlet, or the last game without MMORPG features, shaders and product placement. This unique PC game is available now, and presents an unusual, interactive take on one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays. There’s also a one-hour “try before you buy” demo available.

It may be based on a literary classic, but mif2000’s Hamlet is not your English teacher’s Shakespeare. The game reconstructs the Bard’s drama by dropping an explorer from the future onto the scene of Prince Hamlet’s bloody revenge. The player must guide this man on an absurdist mission to save Hamlet’s beloved Ophelia from the clutches of the evil King Claudius. The game’s creative storyline and point-and-click gameplay aims to appeal to a diverse audience, from casual gamers to old-school adventure game fans to hardcore Shakespeare buffs.

Turbine has released their fourth update to Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. The update adds a brand new adventure pack, Sentinels, as well as dozens of new items to the DDO Store. Update 4 arrives as Turbine officially introduces the DDO Player Feed, a new Facebook application that is the latest in Turbine’s line of social features that extend player’s experiences to the world’s largest social network.

In Sentinels, adventure steals in from the sea! The high walls and crack troops of House Deneith are not enough to protect it from the most vicious, blood-crazed crew of pirates ever to rove the crashing seas of Eberron. That’s why the Deneith Sentinels are sending out a call for aid. In this new series of five adventures, join the Sentinels as they seek to defeat the pirate scourge. Sentinels is free for all DDO VIPs and available for purchase in the DDO Store.

The Land of Arad is a crowded place, as Dungeon Fighter Online now has over 197 million registered players and Nexon America won’t officially launch the multiplayer online action-adventure game until this June.

Players can currently sign up for a beta test, which has offered an early look at the game since it September. Dungeon Fighters who take part in the beta retain everything acquired during the test after the game launches this summer.

Dungeon Fighters are devouring the beta content and have thus far killed more than 1.6 billion monsters while invading over 25 million dungeons. In addition to the party play and solo dungeon adventures, players have faced off against each other in the PvP Arena over 28 million times.

Since opening the beta, Nexon America has adjusted the leveling curve, added new content and improved technical issues. Nexon is also preparing an East Coast server to help players enjoy smoother gameplay.

One of the major differences between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 is the elimination of the Mako, the ground transport vehicle you used to get to mineral deposits and enemy bases on the various worlds of the original game. But the clunky, gravity-defying Mako seems to have a considerable fan base among the players, so BioWare has thrown them a bone in the new ME2 mission pack, Firewalker, available as a free download for those who have joined the Cerberus Network.

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The alarm went off at 6:45 am today, and my body desperately tried to convince my mind that it was much too early and, please, could we have a couple more hours of sleep? I had had one too many Frangelicos on the rocks the night before at the 2K cocktail party, I was up until 2 am writing yesterday’s blog, and one of the clever youngsters rooming at my hotel thought it might be fun to pull the fire alarm around 10 pm, causing the local fire brigade to evacuate the hotel in 34-degree cold. My mind agreed with my body that a bit longer under the covers might be a good thing, but I couldn’t afford to miss the media-only hour available to me on the show floor at 9 am, so there I was, dragging my sorry butt into the shower to prepare for another long day at PAX East.

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My first day at PAX East 2010 started and ended with great things, sandwiched around an unfortunate crossing of signals, a mystery meeting room, some interesting new games for the Wii and the DS, an RPG sequel with some amazing production values, and a very creepy survival horror game. All of that, plus a vast sea of game-loving humanity taking up residence in the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

The day actually began for me 28 floors above the action in a hotel around the corner from the venue. Jamie Cheng, CEO of Vancouver-based Klei Entertainment, let me get some hands-on time with Shank, a side-scrolling action game that Cheng describes as “a cinematic brawler.” “We love the movies of Robert Rodriguez, and we also love games like Double Dragon,” Cheng explained, “and we felt that we could do something really special.” And from what I saw this morning, they’ve succeeded. Shank takes visual elements from movies such as Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns and the “Kill Bill” films of Quentin Tarantino, dresses them up in a comic-book graphical style, then tops it all off with a playable character who can carry four weapons at one time, including twin hand cannons and a chainsaw. One of the most interesting parts of the game is that, unlike many side-scrollers, you’re not always going from the left edge of the screen to the right. Shank makes use of both the horizontal and vertical axes, allowing the action to move in both directions. Toss in some blood-soaked finishing moves (there’s no gore toggle, so an “M” rating is almost assured) and you have a bloody good time. I am a bit worried that the game will lack replayability, but the demo that I played was ridiculously fun. Shank is being published by Electronic Arts and is scheduled for a summer release. I’ll have more about Shank at E3 in June.

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True Games Interactive and Petroglyph have announced that the closed beta of the action/RPG, Mytheon, will go dark for one hour this Saturday (March 27) in honor of the global initiative to fight climate change. At 8:30 PM PDT, the game’s closed beta will go dark for one hour in support of the WWF’s “Earth Hour 2010″. The game will be back online at 9:30PM PDT.

“As a company based in Austin, a city that has active policy that protects the environment, we feel a duty to proactively participate in saving the planet,” said Jeff Lujan, CEO of True Games Interactive. “All of our titles, including Mytheon, are based on a strong belief in digital distribution of games-which means we do not have excess waste like retail packaging, and transportation, but we are willing to go one step further on Saturday and we call on others to do the same. Working together we can make a difference.”

From the humble beginnings of 1,500 users during Conquer Online‘s OBT phase in 2003, players of the MMO have been on a long journey, shaping the game’s world and playing experience through community fueled expansions and events. Thanks to the team working on the game, more than 65 servers had to be opened between 2004-2006, to support the over 60,000 online players at any given time.

Now, heading into a 7th year, the MMO is available in English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic (and more), has millions of active players and is still growing daily. With new features and adventures on the horizon in the upcoming, entirely free Legends Return expansion, Conquer Online is set to conquer well into the future.

This morning I saddled up the four-wheeled pony and hit the road to Boston for the very first PAX East gaming festival. This show has been happening in Seattle for years, and has been described as E3 for the fans instead of the media. Last year’s west-coast event was also notable for the swine flu outbreak that happened there; hopefully I won’t be seeing too many folks wearing surgical masks at this show.

For those who might not know, PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo (yes, I know that Expo begins with an “E”; somehow I suspect that PAE East would’ve been tougher to market). The show gives the fans the opportunity to check out the hottest upcoming games, attend dozens of panel discussions on a myriad of subjects, and basically do what they can’t do at E3 because they can’t get in (or so we’re told). This show also includes console and PC game tournaments, a PC LAN setup and console room where you can sit down and play as long as you like for free, and a keynote address by the hero of TV geekdom, Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”). The lines will be long and strong for that one.

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