Those worried that these new-fangled video games are taking vital attention away from the written word likely won't be too happy with the news that Borders Books is reportedly testing game sales in its Oxford Street London store. A handful of PC titles sit alongside the store's selection of CDs and DVDs as part of a pilot program that Borders UK and Ireland Commercial Director David Kohn thinks could expand to be a core part of the store's business.

"When it comes to Borders, we believe that computer games could deliver a level of sales equal or greater than our current DVD business," he said. "This could amount to as much as ten per cent of total Borders sales."

Kohn seemed particularly interested in adding Wii and DS titles to the stores' selection in order to "complement our market-leading children's line-up." Great idea ... just be careful which Wii games you put in the children's section. Flesh-eating zombies don't necessarily complement Hop on Pop.

Last week we managed to catch the Venture Capital panel at the Virtual Worlds Forum, an event set inside a nightclub situated within a rather eerie warehouse district behind Kings Cross train station. Plenty of black leather sofas with bloggers and attendees basked in purple lights, a glitter ball, and three bars provide an odd backdrop for discussions about monetizing the latest WoW wannabe. The overall atmosphere of this panel was very businesslike -- £995 a head means most attendees were on their respective company's ticket -- so if you want to continue believing that video games are solely a creative medium designed to further society through creation of fun, look away now.

If you're interested in this subject, make sure to check out ex-Joystiq editor Vlad Cole's newly relaunched blog on video game venture capital. Now keep reading.

PC gamers eager to clean London's streets and sewers of demonic infestation this Halloween can expect to do so against a backdrop of "orchestral, rock, and ambient" music as Splinter Cell: Double Agent composers Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan have once again partnered for Hellgate:London's apparently eclectic soundtrack. Additionally, those who pick up the game's obligatory 'collector's edition' will also find the soundtrack CD neatly tucked away inside.

Both gentlemen seem to be making a habit of working together, as in addition to the aforementioned Double Agent, the pair has also tag-teamed on other titles, including the TMNT movie tie-in and Spyhunter: Nowhere to Run. Individually, Velasco has lent his musical touch to such games as God of War as well as a Castlevania arrangement for the Video Games Live concert series, while Dikiciyan's credits include titles like Stranglehold and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

[Via press release]

A gigantic statue of American McGee's interpretation of the Cheshire Cat? He's known to disappear from time to time, but Simon Crubellier managed to snap this shot in Soho, London several years after the release of Alice. We used to have one guarding Joystiq HQ, but one day he vanished and never returned. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Readers pick best webcomic: my pokemans, let me show you them!
Today's best crossover video: Fighters and shoot-'em-ups

News
Keeping up with the Smash Bros: Final Smash
Everybody hurts, everybody cries, SingStar 90s tracklist
John Woo directing Ninja Gold film in conjunction with Warren Spector's game
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror infiltrates PS2 from PSP
GameTap officially getting Grimm
Dirty Dancing, we never felt like this before
New Worms content on Xbox Live tomorrow
This Wednesday: Mad Tracks races onto XBLA
Chinese government raids company, attempts to seize funds
Halo 3 beta officially gets 2v2, unofficially VIP and pistol
Leisure Suit Larry gets mobile love
Dene Carter interview: no nudity in Fable 2
Ubisoft defends Splinter Cell series changes
Surprise ruined: Fallout 3 countdown is for teaser trailer
TGS 2007 show theme announced
Objection! Capcom registers 'Apollo Justice'
New details on Unreal Tournament 3
Croft's Anniversary gains Steam

Rumors & Speculation
PlayStation Network coming to PSP, hints PS3 update
Ubisoft president 'still considering' EA acquisition

Culture & Community
Sexy64 is first all-male gaming league
Lost Garden's new prototype challenge: CuteGod
Escape the ghetto ... Czech style
Gamer shot while saving robbery victim
The most impressive Mario cake ... EVER
Game therapy at Walter Reed Medical Center
Make your N64 look brand new again

In an effort to protect the citizens of London during the PlayStation 3 launch this Friday, police expressed security concerns and two major retailers on Oxford Street have canceled their midnight launches. Virgin Megastore will still proceed as scheduled, but Game and HMV are opening at their normal time the following morning.

Great examples of the right and wrong way to hold a launch occurred in Boston last year during the PS3's U.S. launch. Best Buy at Landmark saw the writing on the wall and canceled their midnight launch, placing public safety above profit. On the other hand, the Sony Style Store at Copley Square took a very different approach. Although they didn't hold a midnight launch, they withheld information from customers about how many units were available and caused tensions to escalate over the evening. It all came to a head the following morning with screaming crowds and panic. The mayor ended up billing Sony for the chaos, but at least nobody got shot. Best advice to our fellow gamers across the pond: Stay calm Europe, stay calm.

Amateur archaeologist Andy Darley has discovered the Receda Cube, ending the first season of alternate reality game Perplex City and earning a hefty $200,000 reward (before taxes). Darley was joined by more than 50,000 other registered players, spread throughout 92 countries, on the two-year hunt. The cube was unearthed in Wakerley Great Wood, England, about 110 miles north of London.

Perplex City's first season was "played" using a deck of cards (collectible in packs) that featured various types of puzzles, from simple trivia to optical illusions; to an answer masked with heat-sensitive ink. Solutions often pointed players to further clues posted on websites, written in books, recorded in voicemails, and held by real-world individuals. Creator Mind Candy has confirmed that plans for a second season are underway.

EA chief creative officer Bing Gordon will be featured in a special Q&A session at the Game On exhibition in the Science Museum in South Kensington, London next Wednesday night. The event is open to the public, but space is limited (reservations can be made via email). Beer and soda will be provided.

Gordon began his career with EA in the marketing department back in 1982, the year Trip Hawkins established the now dominant company. Gordon also holds a faculty chair at USC's Interactive Media Division program, which EA has co-funded.

The people of London must be really trustworthy, considering they were treated to outdoor Wii-osks yesterday. Any self-respecting American in a metropolitan city would have asked to demo the unit, taken the Wii-mote, cracked the marketing flack over the head and run off with the system. But alas, these are not Americans.

Reader Limpit writes, "The unit itself consisted of a Wii, nice Samsung HDTV, Wii Sports, 2 Wii-remotes, and 2 guys in some very funky looking white Wii puffer-jackets. They seemed quite happy, and so did the little crowd of people who had gathered to witness the marvel that is Wii Sports."

Limpit correctly goes on to say this display is part of Nintendo's massive marketing machine storming across the globe. Any readers see these outdoor kiosks in your neck of this third rock from the sun?

[Thanks Limpit]

Sure, Europe has to wait for a lot of things, but one thing they did get first was the Game On exhibition. Game On is a touring video game exhibition started by London's Barbican Art Gallery in 2002. Since then, it's been all over Europe, Israel, Chicago (twice), San Jose, most recently Seattle, and is now returning home to the UK where it will run at London's Science Museum from October 21st to February 25th, err, rather 21 October to 25 February.

Your £8.50 adult admission nets you access to a lineup of consoles, dating back to the PDP-1 (the Space War machine), drawings by Shigeru Miyamoto, and hundreds of games. Anyone hit up this show previously and care to offer a recommendation to your fellow gamers?

[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]


Read - Video game exhibition announced (BBC)
Read - London Science Museum's Game On info
Read - Game On tour page

This October, the London Games Festival will be hitting the UK's capital with a whole bevy of gaming events. (If you're in the industry, or you want to be, that is.) First up, we have the European answer to GDC, GDC London, for the development types -- sessions range from the excitingly-titled-yet-probably-dull "Combat: The Ninja Way" through to a Molyneux special on design inspiration.

More a business sort? The Games Summit is up your street, with buzzword-compliant "hard-hitting business content" for all tastes, from ARGs to -- surprise! -- another Molyneux special, this one on Lionhead. The newly-announced Games Summit keynote will be given by Michael Denny of SCEE, focusing on the networked age and digital distribution, which should provoke some interesting thought.

Other events in the Games Festival lineup include the London Game Career Fair and the BAFTA Video Games awards (a British Academy Awards, for games, with more swearing). For those of us interested in playing games, celeb-spotting and the slightly offbeat, events throughout the week of the Festival -- 2-7 October -- will hopefully deliver, with a showcase at HMV's Oxford Street branch and a 'fringe' show which both look to be worth attending.

Those of us this side of the pond may have been reading the various Video Games Live tidbits with a detached air of mild interest, but finally we'll be able to get in on the musical action. The concert of videogame music will be hitting London's Hammersmith Apollo on November 25th, and tickets went on sale last week.

We'll be there, so watch out for the Joystiq t-shirt amidst the crowds; now, if only the concert would do a UK or European tour for those of us aware that London isn't the only city on this continent.

Joe Malia, a student at the Royal College of Art in London, created a series of face scarves with special attachments that, at least in the above example, "lets PSP players explore their passion in complete privacy". There's also a special design that fits neatly over a CRT; the perfect way to prevent your roommate from copying your finely honed Counter-Strike tactics.

Former cellmates Nullsleep and Bitshifter have announced plans to embark on a world tour, blasting their blend of bleeps, bloops, and blizzasts from Boston to Brussels and back again.

If you're not an 8-bit believer yet, nothing will win you over except trying it out for yourself. To that end, here are links (1, 2, 3, 4) to some MP3s these torturers of Gameboys, Famicoms and other old-school video game consoles have kindly provided for downloading.

If you like what you hear, check the tour page and maybe even drop a few dollars in the donation bucket to help make it happen.

In the wake of Sony's graffiti-fuelled advertising campaign, the games giant has tried a fresh start, plastering public transport in the UK with enticing slogans. However, the slogans seem to have caused more trouble than necessary; an advert on a Manchester platform encouraging travellers to "take a running jump" has been deemed inappropriate and is due to be removed.

Elsewhere, in London, large Tube ads encouraging users to seemingly fill their PSPs with porn have caused some confusion. Could this be another attempt to whip up interest in Sony's advertising campaign, or are they simply a couple of misguided messages that looked better in the boardroom?

[Thanks, Dave]