Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has just launched a new website catered to parents looking for tips and tutorials on safe gaming for younger players. PS-PlaySafeOnline.com includes explanations of the PS3's parental control settings function, security features for registered PSN Online IDs, and advice on what to do when faced with online jerks.

The entire site is wrapped around a strange (and way too cheery) Egg-man character, who seems to waver been non-threatening and subversively creepy. Our only real gripe? There is no glossary term for PlayStation Home's "Quincying" phenomenon. Everyone must be warned.

Rock Band DLC is taking some time off for the holidays, with no tracks scheduled for release until December 29 on Xbox 360 and Wii, and January 7 on PS3. Take the time to reflect on the tracks you do have, and appreciate time spent with them this holiday season.

When Rock Band DLC does return, it''ll bring a seven-pack of songs from the Rock Band: Country disc, followed by a three-pack of live Paul McCartney songs from his performance at New York's Citi Field. Check the list after the break, and then you can forget about all that other garbage you've downloaded!

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Are you shocked? Probably not, considering we all knew Final Fantasy XIII would make a killing during the initial week of its release. However, the magnitude of the game's success was still a little alarming. Within its first day on the market, it broke one million units, becoming the best-selling PS3 game in Japan. According to Media Create, the game had reached 1,501,964 units by the end of the week, which more than doubled the life-to-date totals of the platform's previous bestseller, Metal Gear Solid 4. It did so in just four days. Great googly moogly!

As you also might have expected, these unprecedented sales also boosted PS3 sales in the region for the week. The platform's sales leaped, much like a gazelle would leap, from 75,086 units sold to 237,086 units (an increase of 215.75 percent). That's an impressive upshot -- but we're not sure it deserves any gibberish exclamations.

Our biggest problem when not playing LocoRoco is that we wished we were playing it. Sometimes, you're stuck in a situation where you just can't game, but that doesn't mean you can't have those cute and cuddly little blobs a mere glance away. That's where the PlayStation Blog comes in, as it's just posted some festive LocoRoco wallpapers for all to enjoy, which differ somewhat from those posted by the American site yesterday.

Feel free to slap 'em on your computer or on your PSP. And if anyone catches you staring and asks why you're crying, ignore them because that just means they don't get it at all.

Toys R Us will feature a "buy one, get one half off" game sale on all console and some Nintendo DS software starting the day after Christmas (that's December 26) through January 2, 2010. The sale covers all Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, and PS2 titles, along with Nintendo DS games that are $20 or less.

Remember that TRU now accepts game trade-ins, although dealing with the customer service desk the day after Christmas will likely be a nightmare -- just imagine all those parents trying to return the white Zhu Zhu Pet because their kids wanted the brown one. Stores open at 8:00AM on December 26 for those who want first dibs on the discounted games.

Here, on the eve of the eve of Video Game Gift Giving and Receiving Day (known in some cultures as "Christmas" or "Festivus") comes a heartfelt plea by the fine men and women of the Christian Civic League of Maine, who join us under a common banner of misusing semicolons to bring us this message; "All decent people should denounce the video game 'Modern Warfare 2;' and join in opposing the sale and use of such games."

Yes, Modern Warfare 2's controversial "No Russian" mission -- erroneously titled the "Massacre Level" here -- has once again brought the full weight of the nation's outrage (represented here by the Christian Civic League of Maine). The group reminds us of the "well-established cause and effect relationship between video games and school shootings" and cautions that "the ready availability of drugs, violent video games, and outrageous rock music is a witch's brew which will eventually lead to tragedy here in Maine." Speaking of witches, GamePolitics points out that the group has outed the owner of a local book store as a witch (and a Democrat!) and claims she "cast a spell" on the Administrator of the League.

Merry Christmas!

[Via GamePolitics]

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