In June, Yahoo's 'lifestyle' site Shine hosted a Sony Online Entertainment survey into the gaming habits of US families.

As well as the heart-warming finding that 87% of parents regularly play videogames with their children, the survey also looked at how parents perceived their child's development being affected by gaming.

Perhaps surprisingly, the survey conducted by a major games console manufacturer found that many parents noticed improvements in their kids that they attributed directly to gaming!

75% of surveyed parents think that their children's hand/eye coordination has been improved by gaming, while 84% say that PC gaming has boosted their kid's typing skills.

Parents See Benefit of Children Playing Video Games [GameSpy]

For Metal Solid 4, Sony has system seller expectations! Many current PS3 owners are already planning on purchasing MGS4, but Sony is also hoping that the PS3 exclusive will move consoles. No doubt it will, but how many? Obviously, we won't know that until the post-launch retail data comes rolling in, but this Yahoo! Games Metal Gear Solid 4 poll sheds light onto at least how a sample of 625 Japanese gamers feel about the title. This cannot be taken as a blanket barometer for the entire country, but rather, simply results for those who were polled. The above info reads:

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Sure, it had a rocky start to life, but Valve's Steam platform is probably the best thing PC gaming has going for it right now, and has given the company far more clout in the industry than it could muster from its games alone. But how different could things have been if Valve had looked to somebody else to build the system? Somebody like...Microsoft? Or maybe even Yahoo? Valve's Doug Lombardi tells GamesIndustry:

You know, we went around to Yahoo, Microsoft...and anybody who seemed like a likely candidate to build something like Steam.

We basically had our feature list that we wanted. We wanted auto-updating, we wanted better anti-piracy, better anti-cheat, and selling the games over the wire was something we came up with later.

We went around to everybody and asked 'Are you guys doing anything like this?' And everyone was like 'That's a million miles in the future...We can't help you.

While the Japanese government has been cracking down more and more on child pornography, Unicef feels the government's efforts have come up a little short. What's more, the organisation has been campaigning the government to ban child porn imagery in manga, anime and games. (Note that Microsoft and Yahoo totally support Uniceft's campaign.) According to Unicef's definition, imagery like sailor uniforms should not be permitted in adult scenes. Meaning? That Unicef is saying that even adult videos that feature over 18 actresses should not be allowed to use underage imagery like school girl outfits and whatnot. Though, people who look under 18 would not be prohibited from doing what they do. Whatever that is.
Campaign to Make Virtual Child Porn [IT Media via Canned Dogs]

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Could Cammie Dunaway, the marketing maven who just jumped ship from Yahoo, be looking to land somewhere with game? That's what several tipsters tell us. Specifically that Yahoo's soon to be chief marketeer may be on her way to Nintendo of America, where a trio of vacancies are looking to be filled thanks to the recent departures of George Harrison, Perrin Kaplan and Beth Llewelyn.

In her internal goodbye note Dunaway says:

"While I can't share the specifics until mid next week, suffice it to say that it is a natural fit for someone who loves driving profitable revenue for big, well loved consumer brands and can't pass up the opportunity to be the coolest Mom in the universe."

Of course all of that could mean Disney. Heck it could be anywhere from McDonald's to the NSA depending on what type of kid you have. Even if it is in gaming, there's always the possibility that she could land at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, where David Karraker's shoes have yet to be filled.

What say NOA and SCEA? Absolutely nothing, dressed up to be a big fat no comment. We could wait until next week to find out, but it would be oh so much more fun if someone just shot us a tip now and cut the suspense.

The Cammie Dunaway Files [Valleywag]