I'm really tired right now, as an event scheduled far earlier than my usual sleep schedule accommodates forced me to eschew the comforts of my bed last night. This means that my already limited capacity for wit, charm and continence is pretty much stretched to its limit. And, ridiculous as it sounds, I think I somehow sprained my pinky whilst playing Rock Band 2. It's been a banner day all around.

But, if you want to make it in this business, you have to check your baggage at the door. Bloggin' ain't easy, you dig? So, I'm sucking it up for you charming bastards so you'll have something to mull over during the slow hours of the night.

Please enjoy these stories we didn't cover today. I'm going to go enjoy the sweet, death-like embrace of my subconscious.

• A former THQ veep has started the first venture capital firm solely dedicated to the games industry. Considering the state of the global economy (and the financial market in particular) at the moment, I hope he knows what he's doing. [Develop]
• The Pew Research Center (proud supporters of NPR, which you might not give a damn about but I happily donate to) has produced a study that suggests that 97% of American teens play videogames and three-fourths of gaming teens play games socially. [Associated Press]
• Sega Europe will be bringing an arcade shooter based on the three Rambo films to amusement centers by the end of the year. Composite bow not included. [InterGame]
• Activision CEO Robert Kotick believes his company has attained the level of clout to influence the direction of hardware development in future console generations. I wonder if he plans to get manufacturers to churn out multiple new console designs a year featuring minor deviations in capability. [Digital Spy]
• Backed by EA, three major contributors to the Metroid Prime series have left Retro Studios to form a new development house, Armature. They seem excited at the prospect of branching out to new platforms. [Gamasutra]