A word of 
warning to pig farmers in Finland: Keep away from playgrounds.
After invading the worlds of apparel, stuffed animals and board games, Angry Birds are now adding playground equipment to their repertoire. Two Finnish towns — Rovaniemi and Espoo — will get the first products next year, with worldwide distribution planned at a later date.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You’re king of 
the hill on your friends list in Modern Warfare 3. You prey on noobs whenever you encounter them online. And you never, everget tired of playing.
That’s when the thought occurs to you: Maybe, just maybe, there’s a way to make a living at this.
The good news? There is. The bad news is that it isn’t easy. At all.
To say that 
Nintendo got off to a rocky start with the 3DS is something of an understatement. After a slight surge when it went on sale, consumer interest nose-dived, forcing the company to slash pricesand admit to being guided by hubris.
These days, though, things are looking up for the handheld system. It recently surpassed the first year sales totals of the DS system, and life to date system sales are at a solid 3 million. By February, the company expects to cross the 4 million mark.
For a pastime 
primarily concerned with having fun, video games sure know how to push the wrong buttons. And while 2011 was relatively tame — no Grand Theft Auto title was released, for instance, though we did see a new Mortal Kombat — there were still plenty of reasons to get mad about games this year.
From an unprecedented security breach to mobile-gaming mudslinging, here are the topics that kept us talking.
Electronic Arts 
is bringing the classic game Theme Park back from the dead, but the price of admission may make most players choke.
The new take on the old management simulation will be a free download for owners of iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. But if you want to build some of the better attractions in your park, it could cost you more than the original version did at retail back in 1994.
Chris Morris: Journalist 