The Boy Scouts of America has revealed that it will start awarding belt loops and pins to Cub Scouts for video game media literacy. ABC News reports that the awards won’t be given out for actual game skill, but rather for showing that the child can be responsible about his gaming habits. The belt loop is given for learning the ESRB ratings, playing a parent- or teacher-approved game, and making a schedule that fits game time around chores and homework. The pin is awarded for installing a game console and comparison shopping, among other unspecified educational tasks.

The Boy Scouts already give pins and loops for activities like science, photography, and sports, so this is a natural way to reward kids for being more informed about activities they already enjoy. “Let’s be serious, most households have video games in them, and if they don’t have them in their households, they’re in libraries,” said public relations manager Renee Fairrer. “They’re a part of our lives.”

But while organizations like Common Sense Media and The American Academy of Pediatrics are praising the idea for making kids more conscious of their media choices, it’s also seeing its share of criticism for encouraging kids to stay indoors. “Being a Boy Scout is about getting outdoors, it’s about being in the woods with your friends and building campfires,” said Christian Marino, a former Eagle Scout. “It’s not about sitting at home playing video games.”

Activision’s new publishing deal with Bungie has helped to divert attention from the debacle with Infinity-Ward and Respawn Entertainment. Bungie managed to land themselves what sounds like a fine deal, as they’ll continue to be independent and will be afforded control over the IP they’re developing and at least some say in the pricing of their games. According to an LA Times story (via VG247), this deal is actually quite similar to what Respawn founders and former Infinity-Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were seeking from Activision before being fired last month.

Citing “people familiar with the situation,” the LA Times story says, “…the publicly launched terms of the Bungie deal are similar to the one that former Infinity-Ward heads Jason West and Vincent Zampella were seeking before talks broke down and they were fired for alleged breach of contract in attempting to form their own company.”

West and Zampella’s attorney, Bobby Schwartz, was quoted as saying, “It’s astonishing how much money Activision had to pay to cover up its horns and pitchforks with a halo.”

Break your Xbox 360 for warrenty in six easy steps

Name: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Release date: March 2, 2010 Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Publisher(s): Electronic Arts Developer(s): DICE

Today’s announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops wasn’t particularly surprising, since we know the franchise is being annualized by Activision. But now we have more reason to believe that early rumors about its setting were true as well. CVG reports that the U.K. retailer GAME has posted a description of Black Ops, which makes new claims about included locales.

The description mentions Cuba, the Arctic, and “the jungles of Vietnam” as locations in the upcoming game. This is all from a retailer, of course, but it fits with prior rumors about this game being set in multiple locations during the Vietnam war. This also sheds some light on why Activision chose this specific day to make the announcement. Today marks the 35-year anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, which effectively ended U.S. military action in Vietnam.

Rumors have circulated about a sequel to inFamous for some time now. The first game was quite well received, and following its release last May we heard about a possible inFamous film and actor David Sullivan tweeted about auditioning for the role of main character Cole who was, according to Sullivan, being re-cast for the sequel. And earlier this year, PlayStation: The Official Magazine reported that Sony was rumored to be revealing inFamous 2 at E3 this year alongside Killzone 3 and Resistance 3. A more recent issue also suggested that inFamous 2 would make it out this year, though they also said the same of Bcash machinean: Arkham Asylum 2, something that a U.K. retailer doesn’t believe is the case.

Regardless, the mounting evidence and seemingly obvious choice to develop a sequel should make it no surprise to hear that Sony has registered a web domain (via VG247, PlayStation Lifestyle) for inFamous 2: infamous2thegame.com. A WHOIS search reveals Sony Computer Entertainment America as the registrant and points to SCEA’s DNS servers, so it’s unlikely this is simply a fan who registered the domain.

Whether or not this domain is legitimate, keep your eyes peeled during E3 in June for the first official word on inFamous 2.

Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, creators of Penny Arcade, have made the Time 100 at an impressive number 15 spot. The list is an annual poll conducted by Time to name the most influential people in the world. Holkins and Krahulik were nominated and held steady at number 13 during most of the voting process, but the final tally put them two spots down. This places them under Robert Pattinson and Conan O’Brien, but above plenty of other names, including Olympian Apolo Ohno, President Barack Obama, and filmmaker James Cameron.

The accompanying article cites the duo’s wildly popular web comic, Child’s Play charity and the Penny Arcade Expo. The list is essentially an online popularity contest, and a geek icon or two usually makes the cut — Shigeru Miyamoto was on it in both 2008 and 2009. Still, it puts our culture on par with famous filmmakers, politicians, and authors, so if nothing else Time is helping to make gaming more visible to the public.

The Secret of Monkey Island:SE powered by InstantAction

That’s not a video you see embedded above; that’s a playable version of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, playable for free for up to 20 minutes, courtesy of InstantAction. The online distribution service, which allows for full games to be played right in your browser on their website, Facebook, or any other website, officially launched today with the release of Monkey Island.

“It was only a matter of time before the Internet disrupted the extremely limited distribution channels available to game creators, enabling direct-to-consumer access and more control over sales performance and profits,” said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan S. Wilson in a press release. “The InstantAction platform virtually obliterates the obstacles to game distribution by making it possible for anyone to embed any video game anywhere on the web, just like embedding a video. For game creators, this opens up distribution channels that haven’t previously been an option ? especially for console-quality games. For consumers, it creates endless possibilities for game discovery, risk-free trial, and faster down-loads.”

Realtime Worlds — the developer behind the original Crackdown — has revealed that their upcoming action MMO APB will be launched on June 29 in North America (July 2 in Europe), and they’ve also revealed the pricing model their game will use.

As explained on the updated ABP FAQ (that title is really kind of awkward when placed directly next to another acronym, isn’t it?), the game will cost a standard £49.99 when it’s launched, and that’ll include 50 free hours of “action game play” and unlimited time in the game’s social districts for “customizing, socializing and trading in the marketplace.” Once those 50 hours are over, there are two payment options: £6.99 for another 20 hours, or £9.99 for an unlimited 30-day pass. Realtime Worlds also promises discounts if players opt for 90 or 180 days, but specific prices for those packages weren’t revealed.

Interestingly, there is one other way to get more gameplay time in APB: by earning it in the game itself. The press release states that APB “provides avenues for accomplished gamers or creators to earn rewards for their creativity and subsidize their ongoing costs with their in-game efforts,” although it remains vague about how these merit-based game-time rewards are specifically earned.

How long do you think the 360 has left on the market before Microsoft brings out the 720 or whatever the next Xbox is going to be?