Google has announced that at the end of this year it is to cease running its Second Life copy – Lively. Lively, a virtual world with user-generated avatars and content, rather cleverly allowed you to import content from other Google applications – pictures from Picasa, video etc. But that hasn’t stopped it from the chop because Google wants to “prioritize resources and focus more on core search, ads and apps business.” And that got us thinking – about how much I hate most user-generated content in gaming. Here’s five reasons why you shouldn’t make content for their games:

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Sick of getting hand cramp trying to send text messages to your PlayStation Network buddies? Don’t worry, salvation for your twisted sinews is now in sight; Sony has revealed the launch details of its new PlayStation 3 Wireless Keypad accessory. The Chatpad clone will be available from 28^th November - just in time for Resistance 2 - and will cost £24.99.

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Mondays are never easy, but we’ve rounded up all the tech news you’ve missed so far this morning to help you through it. Put down that spreadsheet, and feast your eyes on the lunchtime lowdown!

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Times may be tough but there’s a silver lining to the recession: if fewer people spend, then companies start slashing prices to get rid of all the products they’ve foolishly stockpiled. The result: ultra cheap consoles!

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Users who have put hours and days of work into creating LittleBigPlanet levels have reacted with fury to their “moderation” (read: deletion) by server administrators. Sony/ Media Molecule are apparently deleting user-created levels for their game not just on the basis of rude pictures or sticking a willy on their main character, but also for copyright infringement.

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UPDATE: The MGS4 demo is now available in Europe, as well as the US and Japan Stores.

Over in Japan, PS3 owners who didn’t get drawn in by the hype surrounding the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots now have the chance to get a taster of Hideo Kojima’s Magnum Opus. Despite frequent assertions that there would be no demo, it is now being reported that an MGS4 demo has duly arrived on the Japanese PlayStation Store.

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Sony and Media Molecule are planning to take LittleBigPlanet’s user-created content to a higher level of customisation by Xmas. Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans has revealed that a patch will soon allow you to upload images from your PS3 hard drive and use them when designing and building your own levels and items. Those errant Qur’an references might soon be the least of LBP’s worries…

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We feel a bit sorry for Bethesda, the company behind the new Fallout 3 game. It just can’t seem to put a foot right. First it was the game’s two-headed cows that upset India, then it was the lack of infanticide that upset our own Simon Munk (we’re kidding!); now miserable commuters have caused a series of high profile adverts to be pulled.

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