Can’t make a 
call without digging into your smartphone’s contact list? As we all grow more and more reliant on technology to do the heavy lifting, Wang Feng is using more and more of his brain.
The 21-year-old winner of the 2011 World Memory Championships shattered his own record last week, recalling 300 of 400 spoken numbers. That’s over 100 more than he previously recalled.
In his latest IG 
column, veteran journo Chris Morris addresses the Xbox 720 rumormill and offers up advice for Microsoft’s next console.
As whispers of a looming next generation Xbox announcement grow to a fever pitch, it’s hard to open a browser window these days without encountering a screaming headline about the still unannounced system (which, more often than not, contradicts what another outlet is claiming).
While the truth about what Microsoft has in store will find its way to the light eventually – likely next year in some way at some point – there has been precious little discussion on what the system needs to do to ensure it matches (or betters) the success of the Xbox 360. With that in mind, we’ve got a few humble suggestions about what Microsoft should – and shouldn’t – do with its next generation console.
While there’s 
no pleasing all of the people all of the time, by most accounts this year’s Video Game Awards on Spike TV were an improvement over previous installments, with several big new game reveals, developers actually making it on stage to accept their awards, and obvious sponsor pimping (like the “Most Addictive Game Fueled by Mountain Dew” from last year) jettisoned.
But for Mark Hamill, they were still pretty crummy.
Activision’s “Call of 
Duty: Modern Warfare 3″ has joined the billion dollar club — after just 16 days on store shelves, setting yet another entertainment industry record.
James Cameron’s “Avatar” was the previous record holder for a property to hit the $1 billion sales mark. It took a day longer than the action/shooter video game to achieve that, however. (“Black Ops,” the previous game in the “Call of Duty” series, took six weeks to hit the number.)
Spike TV’s annual 
Video Game Awards program always tends to divide the gamer audience, which grumbles about the flashy nature of the programming, but the event is still very much a can’t miss event among those players.
With several announcements of new game franchises, including Epic Games’ “Fortnight” and Sony/Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us” making bows this year, it’s a second E3 of sorts. But the real focus is on the awards.
Last month saw 
the biggest launch ever in the video game industry, but flat sales of hardware kept things about on par with last year saleswise.
All totaled, the gaming industry took in $3 billion in November, roughly $10,000 more than last year, according to the NPD Group. But the overall picture was rosy for the industry — as game sales were much higher than predicted.
For years, 
video games have been pointed to as a contributing cause of childhood obesity. Now, a group of Canadian researchers are saying today’s crop of titles could actually help solve the growing problem.
The Bloorview Research Institute, in combing through 18 different research reports conducted between 1998 and 2010, found that while the amount of exercise varied from game to game, most children who play video games got the same amount of exercise as they would from a brisk walk.
Led by “Modern 
Warfare 3″ and a surprisingly strong “The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim,” video game software sales soared past analyst expectations in November.
Retail sales of console and portable software were up 15 percent to $1.67 billion. Analysts had expected a climb of just 3 percent.
Minton co-founded 
DDM in 2005 to help represent vidgame development studios and to act as a strategic adviser for Hollywood licensors.
The company has clients in the U.S. and Europe and is in the midst of helping Red Stallion set up a development studio in Qatar. Lately, Minton has been working with Hollywood directors who want to retain the videogame rights to their films, allowing them to continue to grow the properties in a new medium.
Shigeru Miyamoto 
is royalty in the video game world. There is no other game creator whose name instantly commands respect and awe — and to whom a company’s fortune is so indebted.
Now, the man who created such classic franchises as Donkey Kong, Mario and The Legend of Zelda says he intends to step back from his current role to focus on more personal projects.
Chris Morris: Journalist 