It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Charlaine 
Harris the new queen of multimedia. The author of the best-selling Southern Vampire Mysteries series has watched it smoothly transition to television in HBO’s “True Bood.” Based on characters from those stories, it’s been a big hit for the potent cable network.
Next up for Harris? Video games, naturally. Dying for Daylight, an adventure game for the PC, opens a new avenue for the 59-year old author.
After conquering comic books and 
televisions, “The Walking Dead” are ambling over to the gaming world. And they’re bringing some dinosaur buddies along with them.
Telltale Games, best known for its light-hearted adventure fare such as Sam and Max and Tales of Monkey Island, is taking a turn for the serious with plans to make episodic games out of the successfull comic/AMC series as well as big-screen juggernaut “Jurassic Park.”
It has been two years since the video 
game industry has seen positive growth — and from the looks of things, it may not see it in 2011, either.
Game software sales were down 5 percent last month as compared to the same period in 2010, according to figures released today by the NPD Group. Hardware sales were even worse, slumping 8 percent.
Mere days after Sony confirmed the existence
of the so-called PlayStation Phone, the tech rumor mill is already buzzing about a PlayStation tablet.
The device, which could hit stores as early as September, is said to sport a 9.4-inch screen and is powered by the Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” operating system with a strong focus on media and gaming.
Are video games art? Enthusiasts, critics 
and courts might disagree, but the world’s largest museum is pretty clear on the matter.
Visitors to the Smithsonian American Art Museum are going to see some new faces next year. Nestled among the works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Edward Hopper will be a mustachioed plumber and a physicist who goes by the name of Gordon Freeman.
It’s not hard to find stories that blame video games for 
all of society’s problems. From ill-attentive children to violent, anti-social behavior, they’re often the first place politicians and self-appointed morality guides point as they search for something to blame.
What makes the evening news much less frequently, though, are scientific studies that show the benefits of electronic entertainment. As gaming becomes a larger force in the pop-culture world, more and more academics are taking the time to study the effects of gameplay on the people holding the controllers.
Heavy metal, mind control…Big Bird? One 
of these things is not like the others — and to Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions, that’s just the way they like it.
Due this fall for the Xbox 360, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will let young gamers join Cookie Monster, Elmo and other familiar Muppets in a living storybook via the console’s controller-free Kinect system. Players young and old will interact with characters and solve problems through dancing, jumping and other physical interactions.
Video games have been making headway in the pop 
culture world for a while now, but they made history Sunday night when Civilization IV became the industry’s first title to win a Grammy Award.
Christopher Tin won the award for “Baba Yetu,” the game’s haunting opening theme, in the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists category. Tin also won the Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album for his debut CD, Calling All Dawns, which featured “Baba Yetu.”
Tired of Apple hogging of the spotlight 
in mobile gaming, Sony has unveiled the world’s first cell phone that will play PlayStation games.
The Xperia Play, made by the company’s Sony Ericsson division, will launch this March. The Android-powered phone will come with several titles preloaded (including The Sims 3) and up to 50 games from the system’s top franchises available for download.
With gigantic franchises like Call of Duty and 
World of Warcraft in its back pocket (which apparently has a Guitar Hero-sized hole in it), Activision has a firm grip on the adult audience. Now it’s looking to add children to its customer base.
The company has announced a reboot of the long-running Spyro the Dragon franchise, and aims to combine the video game world with physical toys.
Chris Morris: Journalist 