We’ve grown again! b5media’s Video Games Channel has welcomed a new member into the family…we’re multiplying faster than jack rabbits over here.

With the popularity of the Nintendo DS and our increasingly mobile society, it was only a matter of time before we got our act together and launched Handheld Age under the mantra that “small games generate big news”.

Written by the wonderful and talented Nadia Oxford, you can expect the latest and greatest news pertaining to all your favourite handheld systems.

Please head over and give Nadia a very warm welcome!

You may have noticed that things have been a little erratic here at Play-Girlz with regards to posting frequency and some site downtime that may have made it difficult for you to access your favourite insights into the wacky world of gaming.

While Ingrid and I have soldiered on as best we could, a ravaging snowball of server issues has thundered down the b5media mountain of late and consistent problem-free access, both to the public and admin side of Play-Girlz has been a bit of a stinker.

Our star team of tech wizards however, have been working day and night, fed by a diet of (virtual) hearty home-cooked meals and a IV shunt of caffeine. They’re doing their very best to make sure that everything is smooth from here on out, and I just wanted to take a moment to apologize for any inconvenience the downtimes may have caused our readers, and to thank the intrepid tech crew at b5 for working their little geeky butts off.

Welcome to 2008 everybody, I trust you all had a raucous (and safe) good time last night ringing in the new year! Much like the gaming industry, 2007 has been a bit of a sporadic whirlwind of activity. I’m not entirely sure where the year went but I do know that it was full of adventure, insanity, and very little time to just stand still and take stock of the world around us.

With regards to our humble little blog, a massive thank you has to go out to you, the readers, for your continued support. Without you folks, I know I would just be some random person in a sea of persons mouthing off about games industry smackdowns. You all make this fun for Ingrid and I, and you all have made this a vibrant gaming community that is as inclusive and passionate as possible. We hope to keep you entertainment and semi-informed throughout this new year. As always, if there’s something you’d like to see, or see more of at Play-Girlz, let us know and we’ll try our best to bring it to you!

For the millions of you out there that are hooked on the omnipresent Blizzard MMORPG, World of Warcaft, b5media’s Video Games Channel has got just the fix for you.

Please join the Play Girlz in welcoming a new blog, WOW Obsessed, into the VGC fold. Editor Angelo Fernandex will see to it that you have plenty of fodder to feed your addiction, so go ahead, get involved, and show just how big of a WoW nerd you truly are.

Ever wished you could know more about gaming than strictly necessary? Interested in cross-platform, cross-media coverage jam-packed full of more functionality than a Swiss army knife? Then check out the recent addition to b5media’s Video Game Channel: Siliconera.

Written by a team of dedicated gamers, you’re sure to find something that satisfies on this ecclectic mix of information. Get the latest on games on any and all of the current platforms, as well as keeping in touch with your younger self in the Retro Revival section and exploring other media such as anime and film.

Like what you see? Be sure to head over to Siliconera’s MySpace, and join the growing group of friends and fans.

We had a little bit of a coding issue surrounding the poll feature when we switched templates here at Play-Girlz.com, but I’m happy to report that things are back to normal and you can once again have your opinion heard in the right hand menu column. Because of the troubles, which included first not having polls visible at all, and then being able to see results, but not click to vote, we’re going to keep extending the current question until the end of May. If you haven’t had the chance to weigh in yet, we encourage you to ponder the very serious and important question:

Who has the worst wardrobe in gaming?

Bill Gates is currently leading the pack, with Sheeva and Princess Peach nipping at his heels. Who gets your vote?

You may have been far too into your gaming news to notice, but Play-Girlz.com, along with all of its Video Games Channel compadres, have gotten a facelift from the b5media design team.
Simplified navigation, a streamlined aesthetic, and should all be positive by-products of the new look, but as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, etc. Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments, or email us.

We’re well aware that the new template seems to have eaten the monthly poll, but we’ve appealed to the higher powers to get this fixed up as soon as possible. Heaven knows what a tragedy it would be not to find out who has the worst wardrobe in gaming.

Allow me to interrupt your usual Play-Girlz stream of video gaming information to let you in on something equally worthwhile. Valentine’s Day meant a lot of red hearts. Foil hearts, plastic hearts, paper hearts…but what about the most important heart of all? Yours.

I don’t mean your emotional heart, the one you wear on your sleeve and that makes you cry watching baby animals on the nature show, I mean the beating mass of muscle in your chest. In all the hooplah of the romantic occasion, I bet all of you neglected to thank the powerhouse of your body that allowed you to do all of the activities (we don’t need to hear about them) that your figurative heart desired.

Feeling guilty? I have a way out! b5media has set up a donation drive with the American Heart Association to help battle heart disease and stroke. As gamers experienced in fragging dangerous and deadly on-screen opponents, why not lend a hand in the real world and rub out these real-life baddies? The goal is to raise $5000 for the remainder of the month of February, so let’s see if we can get there.

Donate today by clicking the post image, or following this link!

In our quest to become a permanent fixture of your cyber life, we now have a mailing list that delivers our blog posts straight to your inbox every day in one bite-sized chunk. You can subscribe by filling out the form in the sidebar.

Alas, it’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it and unfortunately that someone is me.  For the next week I’ll be down in sunny Califor-ni-a back in the glow of neon and strobe lights at E3.  I fully intend to post daily summaries of nifty things hear, but hope that you will not forever hate me if I miss a day due to gaming induced seizure, or arrest for having groped the non-existent booth babes.

To my fellow b5media Video Game Channel associates, I thumb my nose at you (only in jest) and will send you happy thoughts from amidst the action.  It will feel almost as if you are there.  No.  Really.  I promise.