Bruckheimer Inks Vid Game Deal With MTV

There was more to electronics show than TVs

(NEWSER) - This year's Consumer Electronics Show had the predictable high-tech TVs and other conventional items—but the 3,100 exhibitors also showed off some rather bizarre devices. A few highlights:

• Solowheel. An electric unicycle with no seat and footboards that allow riders to stand and lean in the direction they want to go. The 26-pound, $1,800 machine goes 10mph on its battery-powered motor, and has a 15- to 20-mile range.

When you're done, don't forget to tweet your score!

(NEWSER) - It’s such a drag when you have to press pause on your fun night out in order to go to the bathroom—but one London bar has solved that problem by installing the world’s first urine-controlled video games in its bathroom. Only male patrons can play so far, as the games are over the urinals in the Exhibit Bar. After you play, you can—of course!—tweet your score, the Telegraph notes. More»

Researchers unsure whether it's pre-existing or games change brains

(NEWSER) - This is your brain on videogames: The brains of hardcore gamers are wired differently than those who rarely play video games, according to a new study. Researchers who scanned the brains of more than 150 14-year-olds found that the brain's "reward hub"—which plays a role in addiction—was bigger in frequent gamers, as it is in gambling addicts, the Los Angeles Times reports. The researchers couldn't determine whether gaming changed the brain, or whether having a certain brain structure made people likelier to enjoy gaming. More»

Even so, you might appreciate the nostalgia: critics

(NEWSER) - Beavis and Butt-head are back—but two decades later, MTV’s pair of dimwits is no longer critiquing just music videos. They have now added reality shows, movies, and viral videos to their repertoire. But do we still need them?

• Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe : Back in the early 1990s, Beavis and Butt-head was perfect for the time. Kids were starting to become “media-savvy”—AKA, “growing cynical and ironic”—and the show “perfectly captured that punchy tone.” But nowadays, reality shows will be the first to mock their own ridiculousness, and most audience members are already laughing at them. “Plus, we still have South Park” for our necessary dose of snark. The new Beavis and Butt-head, therefore, “works just OK” and “isn’t as essential as it once was."

And 'Dark Knight' just might end up filming them, too

(NEWSER) - Participating in Occupy Wall Street might actually get you a job … on the Real World. The New York Observer points to a Craigslist ad that showed up Monday: “MTV's Real World is seeking cast members to tell their unique stories on our show,” it reads. “Are you a part of the OCCUPY WALL STREET movement?” If so, better get your bio and three recent pictures over to Bunim/Murray Productions lickety split! But if you "appear to be" over the age of 24, you need not apply... More»