23 year old games design (or games art, it’s a bit unclear) student Bob Averrill surely doesn’t believe in organized religion, even going so far as to write a blog named Portland Athiest to let people know about his beliefs, or lack thereof. So it goes without saying that a discussion of religion taking place at his school (The Art Institute of Portland) would interest Averrill. That it did. During a classroom discussion between other students, Averrill joined in, mainly with another student about her particular religious beliefs in energy layers and astral beings, where it was also discovered she believes in leprechauns (this *is* Portland, Oregon we’re talking about here). Averrill attempted to convince her to stop stating that her beliefs were in fact scientifically proven (it appears she believed leprechauns were floating astral beings on various energy levels). Needless to say, the discussion became a bit more heated and Averrill found himself called before the dean, where he was informed that religious discussions weren’t allowed, before promptly finding himself suspended after a judicial hearing due to violation of the student conduct policy.

Read more: Games design student suspended after disputing existence of leprechauns

There’s currently a firestorm brewing in Germany (and Austria) in regards to the recent school shooting involving a disgruntled student who recently shot up his school, injuring several classmates before killing himself. School tragedies like this are always an unfortunate incident and seem to always be followed by sensationalist reactions from press and politicians alike. Currently, the German and Austrian press are going all out, placing much of the blame on video games and the internet. You see, the shooter was a huge fan of Counter-Strike and also posted videos and his suicide note on the internet. Thus, the media have a perfect pair of scapegoats for which to cover up most adult’s inability to relate to their kids in any way shape or form.

Read more: German teen shoots classmates, kills self

DING DING DING. In what will probably be their most expensive marketing campaign ever, Nintendo has stated that they will spend more than $200 million USD in order to market the Wii console. With Nintendo’s success with the DS handheld and their profit on every piece of hardware sold, Nintendo has built a nice little war chest in order to compete against the new PS3 from Sony and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. 80% of the marketing spend will go towards adult markets, also marking a shift in strategy for Nintendo, which is trying to broaden it’s appeal among adults as the gaming market ages and younger consumer tastes continue their shift towards the mature market. Nintendo is projected to shift over 1.2 million units of the Wii this holiday season, with projections of only around 500,000 units for Sony, thanks partially to the manufacturing difficulties of Blu-Ray components. It’s also not helping Sony that their new console is over priced and their image among many gamers is severely damaged after months of public relations mis-steps.

Read more: Nintendo to spend $200 million