the scoop

the scoop

women vie for award

It’s a choice among Shawn Johnson, Candace Parker, Danica Patrick (above), Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. A Teen Choice Award, that is.

The five are nominated for the Female Athlete award at Teen Choice 2008, which celebrate the hottest icons for teenagers in television, music, movies, comedy, fashion and sports. The awards, which are selected by the teen-voting public, will be announced Aug. 4. Instead of statuettes, winners received surfboards.

Johnson, the first gymnast nominated for a Teen Choice Award, is the reigning world champion and a favorite to win the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Parker, the first pick in the WNBA draft, is starring for the Los Angeles Sparks after leading Tennessee to its second national title. Patrick won her first Indy Car race earlier this season, and Williams and Sharapova are Grand Slam winners.

David Beckham, Eli Manning, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Tiger Woods are the nominees for the Male Athlete.

a pic on pong

Hollywood still hasn’t figured out the formula for turning popular video games into decent movies. But maybe they’ve just been taking the wrong approach. Instead of greenlighting another movie based on a video game, how about a movie about video games?

The gaming world certainly has no shortage of colorful characters (see last year’s “The King of Kong”), and none is more colorful than Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures is planning a biopic of Pong’s creator, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star.

gamers seeing red?

Anyone who plays online shooters is always looking for an edge. Next time, try this: Dress your avatar in red.

In an analysis of 1,347 matchups between elite teams playing “Unreal Tournament 2004,” researchers at the University of Denmark in Copenhagen found that the red team won 55 percent of the time.

In the journal Cyberpsychology & Behavior, neuroscientist Mihai Moldovan theorized that the color red may distract men, possibly because men turn red when they’re angry.

“While this is really an interesting analysis, the notion of red team versus blue team has been ingrained in the ‘Unreal Tournament’ series for years,” Mark Rein, vice president of “Unreal” developer Epic Games, told The Associated Press. “We don’t anticipate any immediate changes to team colors.”

new video games

In stores this week:

The lovable robot from the “Ratchet Clank” series goes solo in “Secret Agent Clank” (Sony, for the PlayStation Portable). ...

Square Enix upgrades two arcade classics with “Arkanoid DS” (for the Nintendo DS) and “Space Invaders Extreme” (DS, PSP). ..

“Imagine Rock Star” (DS) is Ubisoft’s latest offering for teenage girls.

freezing hot weekend

Attack submarine USS Requin returns to “active duty” to welcome the summer at Carnegie Science Center’s Freezing Hot Summer Kickoff this weekend in Pittsburgh.

The Cold War-era submarine, moored on the Ohio River at the Science Center, will fire the final salvo against the vestiges of winter today, launching a barrage of visitor-provided snowballs into the river with giant slingshots. In January, visitors were encouraged to preserve a snowball in their freezer and bring it to the Science Center on the Summer Solstice — today — to receive a free general admission to the Science Center. The three-day Freezing Hot Summer Kickoff will feature stunning solar observing, special “freezing” demonstrations, liquid nitrogen root beer, and other special presentations.