It might not be as famous as the Boston 
Marathon, but a marathon taking place in the Mushroom Kingdom sounds like a lot more fun.
A group of civic-minded — and seriously dedicated — Nintendo fans have kicked off Mario Marathon 4, a fund-raising effort for the Child’s Play Charity, which provides hospitalized children with toys and games.
Harry Potter is going digital, but 
he’s bypassing the gaming world for the literary one.
Despite early reports – and an alleged leaked memo – that indicated Pottermore would be an online game with real world prizes, author J.K. Rowling announced a different sort of experience Thursday morning with the formal unveiling of the site.
For the past few weeks, the Web has been 
buzzing about J. K. Rowling’s mysterious Pottermore project. And while details won’t be officially unveiled until Thursday, all signs are pointing to it being an online game revolving around the Harry Potter universe.
A leaked memo has revealed Pottermore to be a persistent world that blends World of Warcraft with real world treasure hunts. Users will dig up clues, which will let them find prizes in the real world.
While there’s no end to the people who steadfastly 
maintain that things were better in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there’s one fact they can’t dispute: It’s safer these days.
Violent crime in the U.S. has dropped precipitously since 1991; robberies and murders are the lowest since the mid-1970s. And the BBC says video games could be partially responsible for the improvements.
In late April, there wasn’t a company 
in the world — inside or outside of the video game industry — that wanted to be Sony. By the end of December, though, there are likely to be several willing to switch places.
While there’s no denying that 2011 will not go down as the PlayStation’s greatest year, Sony actually seems poised to bounce back significantly from its hacker problems (and the accompanying PR disaster) by the time we’re singing Auld Lang Syne.
Given the breakout success of Microsoft’s 
Kinect voice and motion controller, it was only a matter of time before the ad weasels took an interest in the platform.
On Tuesday, Microsoft introduced NUads, which allows viewers to interact with ads in games, videos and the Xbox Dashboard via their Kinect controller.
Bob Hoskins sports a resume that 
most actors would envy. Best known, perhaps, for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” he also played key roles in “Brazil,” “Mona Lisa” and “The Cotton Club.”
He has appeared in nearly 100 films and television shows — but there’s one he’d like to erase from that list: 1993’s Super Mario Bros.
The retail availability of video 
games just grew dramatically.
Redbox, whose movie rental vending machines are scattered in all sorts of unlikely locations — from convenience stores to pharmacies to fast-food restaurants — has added video games to its selection.
The curse that has plagued Duke 
Nukem Forever over its infamous 14-year development cycle is adding new victims.
Less than a week after its release, the game has torpedoed a PR firm and dinged the stock of a publisher whose investment was minimal. And, in a sad, ironic twist, it’s still likely to qualify as a hit.
Plenty of publishers have done a lot of saber 
rattling when it comes to selling direct to consumers, but that’s generally as far as it goes. So when EA began touting its Origin service a few weeks ago, no one was quite sure how serious the company planned to compete.
These days, though, it’s looking like EA intends to put its full efforts into the fight.
Chris Morris: Journalist 