You can count the number of times I write a gaming article based solely on press releases and website research on one hand for any give year. I promise you that.

But if I'm going to do it, it might as well be for a good cause. At MTVNews.com today I have a piece up about how the PS3 will be integrated into Stanford University's Folding@Home project. The aim is to harness computer processing power for research that may enable breakthroughs in the fight against cancer, Parkinson's and other diseases. It's a worthy endeavor everyone should look into and every PS3 owner should consider participating in.

That said, I had to add some sort of context in the piece, and I thought I'd offer this.

Console launches sometimes inspire wild stories that attest to the power of the machine a company is promoting: Although it was never proven, a half-decade ago rumors circulated that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling PS2s in an effort to use the parts to launch missiles. This time, however, there is scientific proof that the PS3's Cell processors run on some special juice.

Hit the links above to see why, this time, the processor hype matters.