This Boxing Day will mark the five-year anniversary of the Asian tsunami. Resulting in the deaths of nearly 230,000 people and affecting the lives of millions, the 2004 tsunami is one of the most destructive natural disasters the modern world has faced.

In an innovative move to promote awareness, the British Red Cross has launched an interactive challenge called Decisions for Recovery. Placing you in the role of a disaster recovery manager, the interactive flash game asks you to coordinate the tsunami recovery response, rebuilding lives by answering a series of tough questions. Based on the actual events and dilemmas faced by Red Cross staff during the crisis, Decisions for Recovery uses role-playing game elements to engage players in the wide range of problems faced by real-life recovery workers.

“We were faced with the most difficult decisions of our lives, decisions that affected hundreds of thousands of people whose lives were destroyed by the tsunami," said Alistair Burnett, disaster recovery manager for the British Red Cross.

“The support we received from the public was phenomenal and enabled us to mount our largest recovery effort since the Second World War. Now we want to tell the story of how the money people gave was spent and the difference it has made to people’s lives.”

To support the continuing Red Cross recovery effort, visit recoveringafuture.org.uk/challenge and take the Decisions for Recovery challenge.

In a world where not even our virtual booty is safe, Jagex, who claims to be the UK's largest independent games developer and publisher, is using the law to fight back against fraudsters. RuneScape, the company's hugely popular free-to-play massively multiplayer online game, has been a persistent target for criminals looking to turn cybercrime into hard currency. However, as the first part of what is said to be an ongoing campaign against this brand of theft, Jagex's cooperation with police appears to have yielded results, and an arrest has been made in the Avon and Somerset region.

Several RuneScape account holders were tricked into releasing their details by way of a targeted phishing scam. Mark Gerhard, chief executive of Jagex, stated that the affected numbered a "few thousand" and that the resulting arrest had been the end product of a long-term investigation.

"Account theft and the use of phishing websites is a problem facing the entire online games industry and Jagex maintains a specialist team to combat any law breaking within our games" said Gerhard. "Players invest years of time and effort into developing their RuneScape character, so the theft of a RuneScape account shouldn’t be treated differently to the theft of any other valuable possessions such as a games console, television or car."

Gold farming, the process of building unreasonable wealth by endlessly repeating profitable activities within the game, was recently addressed by Jagex via changes to RuneScape's underlying code. Gerhard believes that because they eliminated this unfair method of gold acquisition, criminals were forced to find an alternative way to aquire loot.

"Once you close one vulnerability you move the attack surface to another part," said Gerhard. "They were going directly after the user credentials and trying to get at the wealth that way."

Jagex continues to cooperate with the PCeU and stresses a "zero tolerance" approach toward anyone who tries to introduce criminality into the RuneScape community. A spokesperson for the PCeU said, "People who seek to destroy others' online gaming experience could be committing criminal offences, leaving themselves liable to prosecution. The PCeU will continue to work with the industry and investigate these allegations where appropriate."

In a revelation distinctly lacking in both shock and awe, Activision continues to dominate this week’s chart with the distilled anarchy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. According to Reuters the franchise as a whole is reported to have hit the $3 billion mark this week. It seems that a gamer's thirst for bullet-time door breaches and gravity-defying skidoo jumps should never be underestimated.

Apart from F1 2009 managing to squeeze its way past Lego Batman and into the 10 spot, the situation at the top is more of a reshuffle than a new pack: Assassin’s Creed 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Wii Fit Plus remain static, while FIFA 10 creeps up two places to number 4. Dragon Age continues on its downward slide, dropping 3 places to 20, while SingStar: Take That fails to shine, suffering a 13-place plummet to number 32.

On the flipside, pre-Christmas goodwill seems to be helping Activision’s latest musical underachiever, with DJ Hero now hovering on the edge of the top 20 after last week’s residency at 35. Along with a climb from Brain Training, it’s a safe bet that stockings will be stuffed with plastic and oddly shaped peripherals in the coming weeks.

In a bid for transparency (and general friendliness), I take this opportunity to present myself before the GameSpot faithful. I shall be floating around the periphery of the site for the next few weeks, having gained a work placement after stumbling in from the street and claiming to know what I’m talking about. Though, in all honesty, I think it was the kiss-and-tell story on a certain L. Croft that got me the gig. Turns out it really is all about who you know. I look forward to sharing my ill-informed ramblings with you all over the coming days and will endeavour to keep my digital indiscretions to a minimum. Thanks for having me and bring the noise.

European publisher Rising Star Games has today revealed its lineup for the first few months of 2010. Leading the way is Opus’ Half-Minute Hero on the PSP, and the firm's first outing on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in the form of Acquire’s Way of the Samurai 3. Both titles will be available from February and mark the start of a busy period for the firm, which is a subsidiary of Japanese development house Marvellous Entertainment.

The seven new titles hitting European store shelves in the first three months of 2010 represent double Rising Star’s first quarter schedule for 2009. Last year, we saw Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, Populous and psychedelic space shooter XG Blast land on the DS; this trend of role-playing games and puzzlers is going to continue well into 2010.

Alongside Half-Minute Hero and Way of the Samurai 3, the DS gets three new releases in RPGs Avalon Code and My World My Way, while cutesy puzzler Animal Kororo is on the slate and targeted at younger gamers. Avalon Code and My World My Way both hit shops stateside in Q1 of last year, to mixed reviews. The Wii also gets in on the party with tri-Crescendo’s much-anticipated action RPG Fragile Dreams--just known as Fragile for its 2008 Japanese debut--arriving in Europe in March. To round off a hectic start to the year, Rune Factory Frontier will also make its way to the Wii by the time April rolls round, from developers Neverland.

No mention was made of plans to publish No More Heroes: Paradise, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 port of the critically acclaimed Rising Star published 2008 Wii action RPG. The game is due out in Japan early next year and does not currently have a confirmed publisher outside of its home country. While Rising Star did not confirm plans to publish the title in Europe, when contacted by GameSpot, the firm did indicate an announcement on the title’s European fate should be expected some time early in 2010.

Check back shortly for our verdict on the remaining five Rising Star titles that are available soon.

I'm Guy Cocker, and I'm an editor at GameSpot UK. This month, I've been growing a moustache to support the Prostate Cancer Charity, as part of an event known as "Movember."

I've never actually grown a moustache before, so this endeavour has certainly been a learning experience. I have discovered not only what I have always suspected--that my body is completely incapable of growing facial hair--but also that my friends and colleagues never tire of mocking me for it.

Me, on the London Eye, getting a moustache trim. As you do.

As part of the festivities, I was invited by the guys at Movember to receive a barber's trim on the London Eye. While the trip was incredibly surreal, I did learn a lot of new things about male grooming, including the existence of moustache wax, which helped my 'tache become just a tiny bit more noticeable.

Tom Jubert, writer for the Penumbra series, rocking the handlebar.

Now I'm inviting GameSpot users to help out this great charity by donating to my 'mo page. You'll be supporting a very noble cause, as well as the efforts of video game scriptwriter Tom Jubert, today's podcast guest, whose handlebar moustache is much more impressive than my effort.

And don't forget, if you're growing a mo yourself, post a link to your Movember page below, especially if you've entered Rockstar's Movember competition.

It has been nearly a week since the release of Modern Warfare 2, and the first official UK sales figures have just been released. Unsurprisingly, the numbers are very impressive, with sales high enough to not only top the all-formats chart, but also put Modern Warfare 2 up there as one of the most successful entertainment launches ever to hit the British Isles.

According to figures released by ELSPA/GfK-ChartTrack, an estimated 1.23 million units were shifted on the first day of sale, grossing around £48 million. The game has since gone on to sell a total of 1.78 million copies in the six days since release, resulting in a gross of £67.4 million in the British Isles. These figures eclipse the launch of last year’s Grand Theft Auto IV, which made a record £39 million in its first week on sale in April/May 2008.

According to ChartTrack, Modern Warfare 2’s sales record easily surpasses other high-profile UK entertainment launches. Mamma Mia holds the record for the top grossing DVD release for taking £25.8 million in its first week. The video game’s launch also destroyed the highest grossing opening week in the music industry, making the £9.5 million made from Oasis’ album Be Here Now look measly in comparison.

Michael Rawlinson, director general at ELSPA, commented, “These figures tell a clear story. The video games industry is now an established part of the mainstream entertainment mix. Whilst the launch of Modern Warfare 2 has indeed been extraordinary, it is indicative of the growing popularity of video games. One in three people in the UK now play video games regularly.”

This sales success means that Modern Warfare 2 now sits at the top of UK all-formats charts, knocking Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus from the top spot. VG247, meanwhile, reports that the game has been removed from sale in the Russian market following controversy surrounding one of the game’s single-player levels.

Good news, music fans! The GameSpot UK podcast will be receiving its first-ever musical guests soon, in the form of Pint Shot Riot on December 3. The band's track "Not Thinking Straight" appears in FIFA 10, and to celebrate, they've offered GameSpot UK users a free download of the track.

If you've been playing the game since launch like me, you'll instantly recognise the song in question. To own it in MP3 form, simply head over to the special site to download. And in the meantime, we'd love to hear your questions for the band when they come in. If you want to know how they ended up contributing music to one of the biggest games of the year, tune in to the podcast on December 3!

After a lot of work and even more traveling, I find myself sitting in the GameSpot UK offices. While experiencing life in London for the first time, I receive an invite from Guy, Alex, and the rest of the crew. And it's not something I could refuse…especially when my first job is to bring you some brand new gameplay movies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

So what am I going to be doing here? I'm happy to announce that I'm the latest intern on the editorial team and couldn't be more overjoyed at the opportunity. I'll be here for three weeks and will hopefully show the guys that I can cut it at the top level. Already, I'm learning new things and adapting to the intricacies of a workplace that any writer would strive to achieve.

Hailing from Kent, it's quite a commitment taking three weeks out here. Already, the opportunity has begun to pay off. I've spent the day capturing footage from the much-anticipated Modern Warfare 2--a game that, if you hadn't heard already, officially graces store shelves today. The process of capturing footage and getting it ready for the Web site has already implanted itself into the depths of my brain; a good start to what will be an interesting 15 days. The first of my Modern Warfare 2 footage is below:

Fancy some more? Here's a look at the first level and an assault in Brazil. Plenty more will follow shortly.

There's a lot for me to learn here, and I couldn't be more excited to have the chance to show off not only my writing skills, but also all of the other skills required for making it in this business. It's been a busy two months for me, and finally my writing is getting noticed. Moving into GameSpot UK Towers for three weeks is a natural progression that will only add fuel to a fire that is already burning so brightly for success.

If you've ever come across the online video series Zero Punctuation, you'll know that Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw doesn't refrain from speaking his mind. Every week, Croshaw reviews video games using a combination of crudely animated visuals and expletive-laden commentary. It's rude and often fanboy-baiting stuff, but above all, it's uproariously funny.

GameSpot UK's sister site CNET UK has secured an interview with the British-born, Australian-based journalist, and he goes into the production of each episode, the possibility of iPhone game reviews, and what he believes is the worst game ever made.

Check out the interview and let us know what you think in the comments.