Kids club opens a gaming center - National effort aims to use Xbox to keep children off streets

A local Boys & Girls Club has a new strategy to get kids off the streets after school, and it's one that rarely fails to attract children: video games.

"It's another way to engage them," said Andrew Jones, branch director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities' East Side branch on Ames Avenue in St. Paul.

BK thinks inside the Xbox

Burgers and video games have proven a savory combo for Miami-based Burger King and its hungry Value Meal patrons.

Since the fast-food chain launched a limited-edition collection of three Xbox games in November -- Pocketbike Racer, Big Bumpin', Sneak King -- sales of BK Value Meals have spiked to bring home meaty profits during the company's second quarter.

The world's second-largest burger chain said Tuesday its fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 41 percent to $38 million. Company officials cited consistently strong Value Meal sales and the video-game giveaway program for the positive report.

XBox 360 comes into its own

It's looking grim.

You almost had a Sony PlayStation 3. The guy on the phone said they had two but it was first come, first serve. You broke an impressive roster of traffic laws to get to the store in time, and for naught. So you tried for a Nintendo Wii. You failed. You would like one of the season's hot consoles but you have a life. You don't have ages to devote to this. Yet, man, your PS1 mocks.

You're due for an upgrade.

Fear not! There is hope!

See those white and lemon boxes piling up in big-box electronics stores all around town?