Canada. It's cold up there. But that hasn't stopped one in five Canadian men tapped by a recent survey from coming clean, admitting that they have played games in the buff. The poll, commissioned by none other than Microsoft, asked about a thousand gamers up North about where and how they get their game on, with 17 percent of those men asked responding that they play games naked. A smaller number of women, 9 percent, indicated that they, too, shed their clothes when it's time to game.

How does this happen, exactly? Do they start off wearing clothes, and then slowly disrobe over an especially heated round of Call of Duty, or are they sans pants from the minute they lay the controller in their lap. You know what, we don't wanna know. And what does such a survey tell us, pray tell? Among other things, when you go over to someone's house to play games, bring your own controller. And disinfectant.

[Via Digital Home Canada]

It's common knowledge that game companies have been migrating to Canada's developer-friendly shores for some time, a side effect owing more to the region's inviting tax breaks than to its scenery or love of winter sports. Now the UK's Independent Games Developers Association, a gathering more commonly known at Tiga, has cried foul, referring to Canadian government subsidies to game developers as unfair, and that by offering tax incentives "the playing field is increasingly tipped against UK based games developers."

Tiga CEO Richard Wilson has issued a statement calling for the UK government to investigate whether or not Canada's tax breaks for game companies violate any World Trade rules -- something the organization feels is "likely" -- and if so, to "take action via the World Trade Organisation against Canada at the earliest opportunity."

Until such a ruling can be made, however, Wilson has asked the government to "introduce tax breaks for game production in the UK in order to level the playing field against unfair competition." Honestly, nobody likes a crybaby, and if the UK would would match the efforts of Canada, maybe developers like Eidos or Ubisoft wouldn't be so keen on bundling up and setting up shop in America's great white north.

What was just a rumor as recently as this morning has apparently already become reality -- the Canadian Toys R Us web site is showing $50 reductions in price for the Xbox 360 Pro (now $349.99) and Halo Edition - (now $399.99). An informant at a Canadian Toys R Us has also told us that the Xbox 360 Arcade has been reduced $20 (to $279.99) and the Elite has come down $50 (to $449.99 -- all prices are in Canadian dollars, eh?)

Ironically enough, FutureShop, where this morning's rumor first originated, has not lowered their web site prices as of press time. Perhaps they're waiting until Friday to unleash that Turok Elite bundle on an unsuspecting public?

Does this surprise move mean an American price drop is in the cards? Probably not -- much like the previous Microsoft Canada price drop, the adjustment seems designed to bring prices up North in line with the weakening American dollar.

Update: Apologies for the inadvertent act of bad foreign relations. No offense was meant, Canada. Are we still cool?

[Thanks Stephen]

Update 8:15 PM EST: Toys R Us Canada has apparently lowered their prices already.

Thanks to an anonymous tipster, we have early word on what might be an upcoming price drop for the Canadian Xbox 360. The above phonecam photo comes from a FutureShop Canada employee, who says he was "quite surprised" to find a $50 price drop for the Xbox 360 Pro Console advertised right on the front page of next week's advertising fliers. Our source also tells us that the inside of the flier trumpets a $50 price drop for the XBox 360 Elite (to $449), an offer which allegedly includes a free copy of Turok.

Both price drops should be effective Friday, if this rumor proves true, and while we have no way of confirming this information as of yet, we have no explicit reason to doubt it either. Regardless, if you're a Canadian looking to buy an Xbox 360, it couldn't hurt to wait a couple of days to see if you can save a bit of green, er, funny multicolored money.

Despite Silicon Knights being in the middle of a major lawsuit, the company still needs to make finish games and do business. The Too Human developer is planning to add 80 employees to its studio thanks in part to a Canadian initiative called the Niagara Interactive Media Generator (nGen), which seeks to "nurture a new generation of interactive entertainment companies."

The Welland Tribune reports nGen is a partnership that includes Brock University, Niagara College, regional and city governments, Niagara Economic Development Corp. and the Niagara Enterprise Agency. The Ministry of Culture will provide $245,000 to nGen's two-year $560,000 budget. Hopefully Silicon Knights will put those kids to work fast and finally get Too Human out the door sometime in '08.

[Via GameDaily]

Today was supposed to be the big Rock Band launch in Canada, and from what we're hearing in our tips box it ain't goin' so smoothly up there. Irate parents and upset gamers are telling us that no stores around their areas have received shipments, and current estimates from retailers push the actual release into next year. So, what's the frequency Canada?

We know what the official line is from MTV/Harmonix, but we're going straight to the citizens of Canada to tell us what the scoop is. Oh noble Canucks (even the non French Canadian kind), call around your area and leave a comment below with your location, what stores you called, and if the stores have supplies or an ETA on shipments. At this point we just want to know if this is a vocal minority issue or if Canada has been left out in the cold.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in. Please use the comment thread here with updates if you can]

Gosh, this Rock Band release has been a bit dramatic, eh? We hope this is the end to Canada's Rock Band tribulations, as Joystiq has been informed by a Harmonix representative that December 20th is the final Rock Band release date for Canada. This applies to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions; we are currently awaiting confirmation on whether the PS2 version shares the same date.

The announcement should hopefully lay to rest those rumors which pushed Rock Band's Canadian release into January. For Canadians near the border it's probably still a good idea to just take that recently empowered currency and purchase the package in the US. We reckon Dec. 20th is cutting it awfully close to the big day, especially if purchasing by mail.

A columnist in Canada has called video games "crack cocaine," bluntly proposing to readers: "Don't play video games." Writing for the conservative National Post, Father Raymond J. de Souza (pictured) explained that he "learned the truth" about video games the hard way -- he hasn't touched one after deleting Tetris. De Souza went on to label video games as "dangerous," blaming them for fat kids and missed pockets in time. Just about what you'd expect from "the crack cocaine of the electronic world."

As if approaching Godwin's Law wasn't enough, Father de Souza also insisted that too many games celebrate graphic violence, multifarious delinquency and borderline pornography. We guess Father de Souza will be missing out on the joys of Peggle too, what with Tetris being "deadly enough" for him.

[Via GamePolitics]

As expected, and later confirmed, the Xbox Live Video Marketplace just went, err, live in five more regions, which we'll present to you here in order of density of stand-up comic talent: Canada, followed by the UK, Ireland, France, and Germany (sorry, Germans).

After what seemed like an eternity spent watching the US hoard the video marketplace's direct-to-video horror films and forgettable sci-fi action flicks all to itself, our international friends can finally throw their Microsoft Points down on some SD and/or HD content delivered in clean, environmentally friendly zeros and ones. Coincidentally, that's about the Metacritic average of most of the movies on the service. Experiment in Torture? Really?

Ah, Canada. Our northern big brother has spawned some of our favorite musical groups of all time; Rush, Moxy Früvous, and, of course, Loverboy. Why, then, do Canadians seem to be getting the shaft over their release date for Rock Band? We would think it would be more popular than the NHL 2K series and Metric System Hero combined.

We reported (and MTV confirmed) about a month ago that Rock Band had been delayed until Dec. 17 in Canada, possibly due to sales regulations that required them to include English and French-Canadian text on the box and instructions, and also because of the shipping issues associated with moving a large number of boxes that are the size of a small car.

However, residents of America's Frosted Hat may be getting the game even later according to Best Buy Canada and Future Shop, who have a release date of Dec. 28 posted for the game. Even though French-Canadian is an ancient, dead language, we're pretty sure it's not taking them a month and a half just to translate an instruction booklet. We'll make sure and keep you updated when a final, final Canadian release date for the game is confirmed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Like a thunderbolt hurled from Mt. Olympus, "Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store" (aka Video Marketplace) clashes onto Canadian and select European servers next Tuesday, December 11th. As promised, Microsoft will deliver its digital movie rental service (TV content is on the back burner for new territories) before the winter solstice, bringing endearing classics like Demolition Man, Lethal Weapon 4 and Analyze This into the homes of millions of Xbox Live users.

As foretold, Video Marketplace's initial European expansion will be limited to the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Germany. Films will be available to rent in both standard definition and high definition for 250 and 380 MS Points, respectively. While that may sound like a bargain to Americans used to the 320/480 points tag, the European pricing has simply been adjusted to reflect the strength of the Euro (1 Euro is now worth nearly $1.50). Usage restrictions will be identical to those found in the US, and video rentals will expire within 24 hours of first usage or 14 days after download.

We're not sure if it's a testament to Nintendo's popularity or yet another sign of voter apathy, but a Harris/Decima survey found that more Canadians can identify a photo of flagship character Mario than they could current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose held that post since January of 2006. (To be fair, that's less time than the Wii has been available in the territory.)

Of course, this Nintendo-commissioned survey just happens to coincide with the release of Mario Galaxy. We don't think the game company's Canadian branch will be receiving a Christmas card from Harper this year. Then again, if Canadian politicians are looking to cater to the much-coveted gamer demographic, perhaps they should lobby to undo this last-minute Rock Band delay.

[Thanks, Ninja-bot]

Yesterday, we reported a rumor concerning Rock Band's release in Canada. Turns out it was true, with MTV Games confirming (via Shack News) that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game has been delayed in the country until December 17, alongside the original PS2 release date.

Electronic Arts has previously noted it was only producing a handful of copies for the holiday season, leading conspiracy theorists to surmise supplies are being redirected to the U.S. Whatever the reason, Canadian gamers will not be playing the game next week like they thought they would as recently as two days ago. Rock Band is still expected to arrive in the U.S. November 20, just in time for the pre-holiday shopping madness known as Black Friday.

We know what you're thinking, because we're thinking the same thing. There's a Miss Video Game competition? How did such a thing fly under our collective radar? The event, part of the larger 2007 Arcadia Festival in Montreal, aims to find and award one female as this year's most accomplished gamer without a Y chromosome, and who better suited for this task than our neighbors to the north?

After the first day of events, the pack is currently led by EB Games assistant manager Lauren Berggren, aka L337Lauren, as she bested the other girls in both Mario Kart 64 and a series of 1-on-1 matches in CounterStrike. Now she and four others move on to fight for the crown while rocking out to Guitar Hero and testing their noodles in Brain Age 2.

Impressive, sure, but like female-only gaming clans, this sort of thing strikes us as odd, especially since video games, unlike sporting events or beauty pageants, don't favor skills unique to either sex. Still, playing games is seen by some as a bit of a boy's club, and something like this could possibly help break down a few stereotypes, which is a positive, though being the lecherous types we are we can't help but hope for a swimsuit or evening gown competition to follow.

Harmonix and Electronic Arts' love child Rock Band is supposed to launch its North American tour in a little over a week, but Canada might not be seeing this game until just before Christmas. Canadian retailer Future Shop (owned by Best Buy) has updated its listing for the game with a new release date: December 19 for Xbox 360 and the day after for PlayStation 3. (Curiously, a version of Rock Band without instruments is also listed for those dates.)

A number of readers have also reported that their local Canadian EB Games are corroborating the four-week delay. There's no official word from EA or Harmonix yet. Online retailers are prone to error, and with just a week before the game is slated for release, we hope that's all it is. Otherwise, given such short notice and such a noticeable delay, local EA offices might have a mosh pit of angry Hockey fanatics to contend with.

Update: bits bytes pixels and sprites has an interview with Harmonix where it is noted that packaging regulations (i.e. Canadian boxes must have English and French text) might cause a short delay -- though we hardly doubt that would justify four weeks of absence. It should also be noted that the PS2 version of the game is due out December 17 which, if the delay is indeed an error, would explain the origins of the miscommunicated release date.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]