Ever so slowly, the two gigantic balls of clay meld into one. Soon, will anyone be able to tell where one ends and the next begins? If you’re the type to freak out and cite 1984 when just about anything in business happens, it’s probably time to get out your tin foil hat. Microsoft and Electronic Arts are in business together.

Microsoft owned subsidiary Massive Inc. and Electronic Arts have inked a deal for in-game advertising in EA games until through 2010. Massive Inc. is an advertising company specializing in placing ads within online games. Basically, the type of ads you see randomly changing in games from time to time. The deal is an extension of a current deal, but it will greatly expand the number of titles EA places Massive’s ads in. (more…)

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There are plenty of bad stories about video games. Those stories fill news sites daily. However, here’s an actually positive and warm-feeling inducing story about video games. A couple met through Xbox Live and has now had their first baby.

The couple met while playing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Lockdown. According to the woman, they actually hated each other at first, but soon grew to love one another. They finally decided to meet and it was an instant love connection. Then, on September 24 of last year, the couple had their first child. (more…)

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If you haven’t picked up Call of Duty 4 yet, then it may actually be in your best interest to continue waiting. Word is that Activision will release a Game of the Year edition sometime in April. The special edition will feature new packaging as well as the ability to download the new map pack for free.

So far the special edition of the game has only been confirmed for the Xbox 360, though it would seem likely a PS3 version would be released, too. The whole idea of special editions of console games seemed entirely foreign just a few years ago. That all has changed as more games get the special edition treatment such as Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry 3. (more…)

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Bionic Commando is shaping up to be a very impressive remake. Now, finally, Capcom is starting to drop some details on it. The verdict? This is no quick cash grab of a remake.

First off, Bionic Commando will be priced at $10 across the PSN, Xbox Live and PC. Not a bad price at all for a completely rebuilt game. Consider that much lesser ports and casual titles have sold for $10 on Xbox Live Arcade. Capcom credits the fans for picking this price point, though one can imagine most fans suggested $5 or free. (more…)

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This isn’t so much shocking news, except for how long it has taken. With the HD-DVD format now dead and Xbox Live Arcade taking off, Microsoft needed a way for gamers to download more high definition movies and arcade games. That way may be arriving soon in the form of a new 60GB hard drive for their standard Xbox 360 model.

Of course, this news comes on the heels of Sony’s confirmation that Microsoft is interested in a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360. The same site that confirmed the new 60GB system also speculates that a Blu-ray integrated system is indeed on the way. It appears Microsoft’s little white box is growing up. (more…)

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Game trailers are neither usually good nor scary. The trailer for Condemned 2: Bloodshot manages to beat both those trends. Is it as scary as say the often unfairly overlooked Wes Craven’s New Nightmare? Not quite, but if it were a new movie it’d do great business opening weekend with the high school crowd. The original Condemned was a pleasant surprise early in the Xbox 360’s life. Here’s hoping the sequel lives up to the original and gets the recognition it deserves.

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Almost immediately after the death of the HD-DVD format, rumors began to swirl that Microsoft would introduce a Blu-ray add-on drive for the Xbox 360. Microsoft itself had even hinted they might do as much if HD-DVD were ever to fail. Now, it seems something is actually coming of all those rumors. Microsoft and Sony are in talks to develop such a drive.

The confirmation comes from Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president. Yes, this is the equivalent of cats and dogs lying together. The two bitter rivals are playing nice for a bit as they both hope to gain something. Sony sells more Blu-ray drives and Microsoft hopefully avoids the cries of “obsolete” by Sony’s marketing team. They end up helping one another out because they both need one another. (more…)

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Sports games love their complicated controls. Sure, everyone loves to have a little more control for a little more realism, but at some point this has got to stop. MLB 2K8 is the latest game to take a simple idea (button timed pitching) and turn it into something perhaps overly complicated. The above video attempts to explain the new control scheme, and it doesn’t seem too daunting. Still, does every game need to require a tutorial video for every feature? Wasn’t the success of the Wii supposed to end this?

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Everyone loves LEGOs, and with the swell of LEGO based games in the past few years, and the upcoming Batman and Indiana Jones titles, it seems a ripe time to take advantage of everyone’s favorite colored blocks.

In Electronic Gaming Monthly’s April edition they showed an exclusive first look at an upcoming Halo LEGO game featuring Master Chief blasting at Elite’s as he runs down a very familiar looking corridor. With the success of the recent LEGO Star Wars games it would make sense for them to take advantage of the success of both franchises. However, there is some speculation that this is all just an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke by the staff at EGM.

Sadly, it seems that it is actually a clever prank thought up by Michael Donahoe over at EGM. But for every bit of fiction there is a smidgeon of truth and perhaps Microsoft will run with this unique idea and cash in on the success of this expanding franchise.

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Four million teachers from around the world have called for retailers to boycott selling the new game Bully: Scholarship Edition. Actually, Bully isn’t a new game but a sort-of director’s cut of the original PS2 title. Regardless, teacher unions from around the world worry about the implications of a title they feel glorifies the act of bullying.

Eight teachers’ unions in Canada, the United States, Britain, South Korea, Australia and the Caribbean have banded together in order to request the boycott of retailers. “We’re asking retailers to be responsible,” Emily Noble, president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, said yesterday. “Yes, they can sell it and make a buck out of this, but is this the kind of marketing that they want to be [doing], selling games that glorify violence?” (more…)

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