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Atlus giving away downloadable copies of strategy RPG when latest DS remake launches November 9.

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Seattle gaming-for-gamers expo reaches record numbers yet again; speculation about international Penny Arcade event surfaces.

As has been the case since its founding, the Penny Arcade Expo has posted larger attendance figures with each subsequent year. According to PC gaming site the Big Download, a record 67,600 people piledinto the Washington State Convention Center for PAX Prime, which ran September 3-5. That's a significant jump from the 60,750 people who showed for PAX 2009.

67,600 people packed into PAX 2010.

The renaming of the main event was due to the premiere of an East Coast-spinoff, PAX East, which itself drew nearly 53,000 attendees when it ran March 26-28. The event was such a hit that the organizers of both events, Reed Exhibitions, have signed a contract to hold PAX East at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center through 2013.

From its humble beginnings in 2004, when just 3,300 fans of the game-focused Web comic Penny Arcade turned up, PAX has turned into a major fixture of the yearly game-expo circuit. One reasonis that unlike other US gaming expos, such as the Game Developers Conference and the Electronic Entertainment Expo, it is open to the public. As a result, the size of the event is limited only bythe venue itself, with Penny Arcade business manager Robert Khoo telling the Big Download that this year's event was almost too large.

The pair of comic artists is also pondering a third expo, according to game-industry site Gamasutra. In a Q&A session on the final day of PAX 2010, Penny Arcade co-authors Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins reportedly hinted they and Reed Exhibitions were considering a third PAX. The locale would likely be an international city that has yet to be determined.

For a full rundown of this year's event, visit GameSpot's complete coverage of PAX 2010.

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Square Enix reveals new installment, characters for PSP fighting game spin-off as latest console RPG hits Xbox 360 in home country with "Ultimate Hits International" version.

Last year's Final Fantasy fighting game spin-off for the PSP is getting a rematch. According to an Andriasang translation of the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, a new Dissidia is planned for release next year.

Lightning will mix it up in the next Dissidia title.

Dubbed "Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy," the game will follow in its predecessor's mold of mixing characters from throughout the storied franchise's lengthy history. Already confirmed for the game are Final Fantasy XIII protagonist Lightning and Final Fantasy IV's lane-wielding dragoon Kain.

The original Dissidia featured more than 20 characters from the first dozen Final Fantasy games, all of whom were called into battle by warring gods. In addition to series protagonists, such as Squall, Cloud, and Tidus, the roster included more villainous entrants such as Sephiroth.

Lightning has one more stop before she can appear in the new Dissidia, as Square Enix updated its official Final Fantasy XIII site to note that the Xbox 360 edition of the game--previously released only in the West--will make its Japanese debut by year's end. The Ultimate Hits International edition of the game will come with an easy mode, a bonus Corridor of Memory booklet, and a novel chronicling the game's aftermath. It launches on Japanese Xbox 360s December 16 for ¥4,980 ($59).

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Microsoft apologizes to resident of 800-person town after his online handle was ruled in violation of online service's code of conduct.

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Publisher confirms that Keita Takahashi is no longer an employee a week after he described it as a "so-so company" in an interview.

The creator of Katamari Damacy is rolling on down the road, as Namco Bandai and designer Keita Takahashi have parted ways. The news was originally reportedby Play.tm and confirmed by the publisher for GameSpot. However, Namco Bandai gave no clarification on the circumstances of the parting or what implications it would have for the Katamari franchise or Takahashi's most recent project, Noby Noby Boy.

Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi is no longer with Namco Bandai.

The confirmation comes less than a week after the publication of a brief yet blunt interview with Takahashi on The Setup, a blog devoted to "nerdy interviews." In that interview, Takahashi said he makes games for "the so-so company Namco Bandai Games Inc." and admitted, "I am so inefficient I only made four games in 11 years."

Takahashi has a reputation for not mincing words in public. In the wake of the original Katamari Damacy, he questioned the need for games, saying, "Children would be better off playing outside." Two years later, he confessed to being sick of the Katamari series and said he wasn't having much fun in the game industry anymore.

"I think for anyone in the world, you start to get bored of whatever you do, if you do one thing for too long, and that's one ofthe main reasons," Takahashi explained at the time.

It's unclear what Takahashi plans to move onto next. While at Namco Bandai, he worked on Katamari Damacy, We Love Katamari, Noby Noby Boy for the PlayStation 3, and Noby Noby Boy for iPhone and iPod Touch.

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Reports out of Microsoft press conference reveal new mind-and-body game from Brain Age cocreator Dr. Ryuta Kawashima; Namco's pill-muncher also spotted on system.

In this morning's announcement of the 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle, Microsoft teased that it would be revealing new games for its motion-sensing system at next week's Tokyo Game Show.While it's unclear which new titles the company will reveal, some light was shed on the lineup in a Japanese press conference last night.

Dr. Ryuta Kawashima is crafting a brain training game for Kinect.

Gaming blog Andriasang was in attendance and reported that one of the titles will be a Kinect brain training title from Namco Bandai. Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, cocreator of the wildly successful DS Brain Age series, apparently served as an advisor on the game and his name will be featured in the title.

The title will reportedly feature a number of hybrid motion/puzzle-based minigames, including a soccer ball game in which players kick balls with the right answers to math questions. Another minigame will have players pop balloons bearing numbers in an ascending or descending order.

Also demonstrated at the event was Pac-Man's first presence on the Kinect system. As can be seen in the YouTube video below, the game will have players move both hands to control Pac-Man and the various bonus items he munches on. It was unclear from the blog whether or not the game would be part of the brain training title, and US Namco Bandai reps had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

Kinect goes on sale in Japan on November 20 and will cost ¥14,800 ($177) in a bundle with Kinect Adventures. Those two items will also be included in a ¥29,800 ($355) bundle with the matte-finish 4GB Xbox 360and a ¥39,800 ($475) bundle with the glossy 250GB Xbox 360. Both models come with built-in N wireless functionality.

[ Watch Video ]

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D3 mobilizing Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon; teaser site already up for new installment in xenophobic third-person action series.

It's been three years since the North American Xbox360 launch of Earth Defense Force 2017. Given the complete lack of news on the franchise since then, one could be excused for thinking the human resistance had fallen prey to the invading robo-insectoid armada that it featured. However, there's now reason for hope, as a placeholder site has surfaced for a new project in the franchise apparently titled Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon.

Earth Defense Force 2017 (pictured) was a phobia combo platter of insects, aliens, and robots.

The site contains no information on platforms or release window and no content of any kind beyond a logo for the game and an Entertainment Software Rating Board "Rating Pending" emblem. The site is registered to D3Publisher of America. A representative with the company confirmed the game's development, saying, "Regarding Earth Defense Force, the rumor is true about a new game¥ However, we are not revealing any additional information until our formal announcement in the near future."

The Earth Defense Force series began life as Chikyuu Boueigun, part of D3Publisher's Japanese line of Simple 2000 budget PlayStation 2 games. While Earth Defense Force 2017 was the first installment in the series to see release in North America, the previous installments had made their way to Europe under the Global Defence Force and Monster Attack names.

For more on the series, check out GameSpot's review of Earth Defense Force 2017.

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"Special edition" will offer high-storage console, camera-based motion-sensing system, and Kinect Adventures for $400; "new controller-free games" coming at next week's show.

In June, Microsoft officially redubbed its Project Natal motion-sensing system as Kinect and unveiled the new $300 250GB Xbox 360 slim. In July, the software giant announced a new $200 4GB variant of the thinner 360, which will also be available in a $300 bundle with Kinect and the minigame compilation Kinect Adventures.

River rafting is one of the activities in Kinect Adventures. And, no, this is not how one really rides a raft through rapids.

Today, Microsoft announced a new$400 bundle that will feature the 250GB Xbox 360, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures. Microsoft is billing the bundle as a "special edition" and, in true promotional form, says it will only be available "while supplies last."

Besides its 250GB hard drive, the top-end Xbox 360 slim comes with agloss (vs. matte) black finish and built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity. Its chassis has ample venting to cool its CPU and GPU, which are both made with a 45nm production process--meaning they will run cooler to begin with. As a result, the console requires a smaller fan for its cooling system,which Microsoft promises will be "whisper quiet."

As for Kinect Adventures, the minigames compilation will offer various activities, such as river rafting and the dodgeball game demonstrated at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It is one of around 15 launch games for the camera-based,controller-free motion-sensing system, and Microsoft promised even more new games would be unveiled at next week's Tokyo Game Show.

Kinect will launch in North America on November 4 for $150 a la carte and will go on sale in Europe on November 10 and Japan on November 20. Though someretailers are skeptical, some analysts are predicting the system will sell over 4 million units in the fourth quarter alone. The accessory is already stirring controversy, though, with its lack of support for languages and dialects other than North American English, UK English, Japanese, and Mexican Spanish at launch.

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The UK Publishers' trade body has rebranded as the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment, broadening its scope and taking aim at developers.

When video game tax breaks made it into the Labour government's final budget before being ousted in May's general election, it was UK development body Tiga that took most of the plaudits for working with all the main political parties to realise one of the industry's longest held ambitions. The corresponding body for publishers in the UK, ELSPA, had been on the periphery of the debate, focusing its efforts in 2009 on attempting to ensure PEGI triumphed over the BBFC for game ratings and pushing for clampdowns on piracy. Yesterday, ELSPA made a step toward broadening its remit and influence by renaming itself UKIE--the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment--and changing its constitution.

UKIE's new logo.

Calling itself "a new champion for the entire video games and interactive entertainment industry," UKIE isa marked departure from the organisation's previous incarnation, which was specifically aimed at representing the interests of mostly multinational publishing houses' UK arms. At the launch event, UKIE's chairman Andy Payne made it clear that the organisation's goal was to help the games industry become "the leading industry within the UK's creative sector." Talking to GameSpot about this expansion of ELSPA's remit to include developers on becoming UKIE, Payne said that "the lines between publishing and development and selling your games are more blurred than they've ever been." He said that ELSPA's board felt that simply representing publishers was "restrictive" and was damaging to the organisation's ability to achieve its goals.

Talking about how UKIE intended to achieve its revised aims, Payne said, "We will seek to inform and explain to all stakeholders, from policy makers, educators, media, and the general public the reasons why interactive entertainment is key to the future economic and social wellbeing of the UK." Payne also made it clear that engaging with the education sector was UKIE's main priority to ensure that UK developers had a talent pool to draw on by making sure that take-up of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects was increased. This goal would be achieved, he said, by making it clear from a very early age that game development required such skills and making sure that educators at all levels were aware of the positive societalimpact of games and the interactive entertainment industry.

UKIE's Director General Michael Rawlinson announcing the rebranding.

Payne made it clear that one of the benefits for gamers from the new organisation would be ensuring that they are not "ghettoised" and that the image of gamers as "weird, socially inept pizza-guzzling coke-drinking men and boys who are not interested in hygiene but in the content of their software" was challenged by a body with"the authority to speak for the industry."

Not everyone was so positive, however. Talking to GameSpot today, Tiga's CEO Richard Wilson expressed puzzlement at the move. "We clearly do represent the UK games industry, and we're going to carry on doing that," he said. "Tiga's been representingUK developers and outsourcers for 10 years. All those policies, which [UKIE] mentioned last night, Tiga has already been working on." While UKIE said that as well as recruiting developers it was looking to speak alongside Tiga "as equals," Wilson said "if they start trying to recruit developers, Ithink it¥ll be much harder for Tiga and UKIE to work together."

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Following Twitter leak, Sony confirms more downloadable content on the way for Naughty Dog's hit action-adventure game.

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Activision's rhythm games get samplers on Xbox Live, while Ubisoft deploys single-mission trial for strategy sim on 360, PS3.

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Nintendo Store Update: With price cuts looming, publisher's handheld picks up trio of additions; Fenimore Fillmore - The Westerner takes aim at WiiWare.

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Origin offering cash-flush gamers "Big O" high-end PC gaming rig, liquid-cooled Xbox 360 slim in a single system; entry model costs just $7,669.

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Middle East-focused gaming site reports confederation of Persian Gulf kingdoms has banned 2K's La Cosa Nostra sim.

It turns out Italian-American service organizations aren't the only ones who disapprove of Mafia II. According to MEGamers.com, which focuses on gaming in the Middle East, 2K Games' well-reviewed open-world mobster simulator has been banned in the United Arab Emirates.

Though the confederation of Persian Gulf kingdoms such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi didn't reportedly offer a reason for the ban, the game's depiction of violence, language, and nudity was likely a major factor. A character'sprolific consumption of alcohol, which is forbidden by the UAE's dominant religion of Islam, was also likely a factor. 2K reps had not responded to requests for confirmation on or the reasons for the reported ban as of press time.

The UAE won't let consumer have their say about Mafia II.

Mafia II's banning comes three weeks after UNICO National, the US's largest Italian-American heritage foundation, asked 2K parent company Take-Two Interactive to not release the game. The organization's president, Andre DiMino, accused Take-Two of "inappropriate and insulting perpetuation of the pervasive and denigrating stereotype of organized crime being the exclusive domain of Italians and Italian-Americans."

In a statement providedto GameSpot, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick rebuffed UNICO and DiMino's charges. He declared, "Mafia II tells a compelling story about organized crime in America - a subject that for decades has been featured in movies, television shows and novels."

Out on the PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox360, Mafia II follows would-be wise guy Vito, a first-generation Italian-American trying to escape a life of poverty during the 1940s and 1950s. Desperate to improve his station, Vito joins his friend Joe in la famiglia with the hopes of rising through the ranks and becoming a made man. Take-Two is touting the game's attention to period detail, going so far as to strike a deal with Playboy to include era-appropriate magazines in the game.

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Analysts disagree on depth of dip; Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects single-digit declines in US retail software sales as Pacific Crest's Evan Wilson projects 18% drop.

Given the industry's prolonged sales struggles this year, the question for analysts isn't, "Are you pessimistic?" It's, "Are you pessimistic enough?" Wedbush's Michael Pachter and Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson today released their August NPD Group sales expectations to investors, offering two divergent--but still dismal--outlooks on the game industry's performance for the month.

Madden reigned in August, but the NPD numbers could still be a cold shower for hopeful industry watchers.

When the industry-tracking NPD Group releases its August retail sales figures on Thursday, Pachter believes the firm will find software sales were down 6 percent year-over-year to $445 million, with hardware revenues slipping about 3 percent to roughly $289 million. On the other hand, Wilson expects software sales to be down a whopping 18 percent to $385 million.

One of the main reasons for the expected decline on both fronts was the stellar August 2009 debut of Batman: Arkham Asylum. While Electronic Arts already touted a 5 percent bump in sales for Madden NFL 11--likely August's biggest release--Pachter believes that August of 2009's one-two punch of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Wii Sports Resort will prove more than last month's debutsof Mafia II and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days can match. While Wilson also pointed to the month's release slate as a primary factor, he did say Mafia II should lead new release sales alongside Madden 11.

Other titles that Pachter singled out as notable performers for last month were Red DeadRedemption, NCAA Football 11, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Wii Fit Plus. While Nintendo's latest evergreen Wii titles continue contributing to the industry's haul, Pachter said the system's overall software sales were "driving most of the decline" for August, down 30 percent in total.

"While August will likely be another down month, we expect a meaningful rebound in September (due to the release of Halo Reach and the Move controller) and we expect to see evidence of a sustainable rebound in the following months, as the game lineup in October and November is very strong," Pachter said. "We expect modest sales gains in each month to help restore confidence in the sector."

Wilson was less rosy about September's prospects. He acknowledged that the combination of Halo Reach, the Move controller, and Nintendo's recent DS price cuts makes the month "the best opportunity for growthsince May," but also noted the industry faces a tough comparison versus September 2009. Halo: ODST sold very well last September, he noted, and the month saw multiple weeks' worth of sales for The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5. This year, there is no Rock Band release in September and GuitarHero: Warriors of Rock will launch at the very end of the month.

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Gearbox head Randy Pitchford says that a preview of the 2011 360, PS3, and PC shooter is "important," currently working on timing with publishers.

Duke Nukem Forever, a game long dismissedas vaporware, materialized in a big way at last week's Penny Arcade Expo. In a lavish surprise unveiling, Borderlands' Gearbox Software announced that it had taken over development of the game, which had been in development at the quasi-defunct studio 3D Realms since 1997. According to Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, Gearbox has also bought the Duke Nukem intellectual property outright and will develop all future installments in the franchise.

Gearbox is already laying demo plans for 2011's Duke Nukem Forever.

Not only was Duke Nukem Forever unveiled at PAX, but it was also playable in demo form on the show floor. And although the game won't be released until 2011 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, Pitchford told UK gaming site VG247 that he is already looking at ways to release a demo to the millions of gamers who weren't at the event.

"I think that is an important thing to do," he told the site. "Now that the cat's out of the bag we can actually make those plans. Now we can get with retailers and figure out the launch window, and figure out demo timing, and work with the first-parties on that. We weren't able to do that until this point."

As outlined in GameSpot's hands-on preview from PAX, the game will feature the crude humor and hectic action that are the franchise's hallmarks. For more on Duke Nukem Forever, watch GameSpot's interview with Gearbox's Pitchford below.

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APB administration firm confirms mystery buyer has picked up the rights to studio's social gaming and networking platform.

A number of developers have cut staff following the completion of their latest game this summer, but Realtime Worlds' headcount reductions were, unfortunately, different. Less than two months after shipping the tepidly received online shooter APB, the Crackdown developer announced that it had entered administration--a form of bankruptcy in Europe. Administration firm Begbies Traynor has since been attempting to find buyers for Realtime Worlds' assets.

Project MyWorld will continue to spin¥somewhere.

Today, it appears as if it has found some success with Project MyWorld. GameSpot has confirmed with Realtime Worlds' administration firm that an unnamed company has purchased the rights to the studio's online social-networking and gaming platform for an undisclosed sum.

Details on the acquisition remain a mystery. Responding to GameSpot's request for comment, a Begbies Traynor representative stated that the Project MyWorld buyer demanded complete confidentiality as terms of the acquisition.

"The buyer insisted on total confidentiality, no press release, no disclosure of price paid, or name of buyer," the rep said. "Administrators had to comply or risk being sued and could only say MyWorld had been sold."

Announced in late July, Project MyWorld has been described as a mix of social gaming, social networking, and traditional gaming. According to Project MyWorld's Web site, the platform "turns the real world into a fun 3D social gaming experience. Project: MyWorld is avirtual re-creation of the real world combined with 3D gaming and social media."

After enacting sweeping layoffs at the studio, Begbies Traynor rehired 23 members of the 60-person Project MyWorld team. "MyWorld is attracting considerable interest from potential buyers¥hence the fact we have been able to offer a limited number of those jobs back," the administration firm said at that time.

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PAX 2010: Public Knowledge's Michael Weinberg and Mehan Jayasuriya discuss why the game-playing crowd should be behind preserving the Internet status quo.

Who was there: Washington DC-based nonprofit advocacy group Public Knowledge staff attorney Michael Weinberg and director of outreach and new media Mehan Jayasuriya.

What they talked about: Legislation and public policy probably aren't what's on most gamers' minds at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, but that was just the topic during Public Knowledge's "primetime" 2010 Penny Arcade Expo. Specifically, Weinberg and Jayasuriya were on hand to discuss freedom of the Internet in a panel titled "Game Over: Why the Future of Gaming Depends on Net Neutrality."

Are we headed toward tiered Internet access?

Jayasuriya kicked off the panel by giving a broad overview of what, exactly, the phrase net neutrality refers to. Saying that late Alaskan former senator Ted Stevens wasn't too far off with his "series of tubes" analogy, Jayasuriya noted that the Internet was founded on the "end-to-end" principle. Under it, a consumer on one end of the "tube" is served information by a provider on the other end equally on a first-come, first-served basis.

Between the creators and consumers reside the telecommunications companies, such as Comcast, whose job it is as Internet Service Providers to move the content. Net neutrality, then, is the concept that the telecoms merely continue to maintain the status quo of simply passing information between the consumer and the provider and not slowing or filtering that information in a way it sees fit. According to Jayasuriya, net neutrality is basically saying "you can't block, degrade, or molest traffic."

So what happens without net neutrality? According to Weinberg, "we open up the possibility of looking at where traffic is coming from or where it's going and then altering it." The absence of net neutrality also opens up the possibility of having ISPs charging different amounts for the different sites that consumers want to go to, much like cable TV companies--many of whom are also ISPs--that charge for various channel packages.

He demonstrated this principle using a chart titled "Tiered Internet." For the low, low price of $29.99, consumers would have access to sites that passively deliver information, such as MSN or AOL. The second level, hypothetically priced at $39.99, would offer a wider range of sites that allow forgreater interactivity, such as Wikipedia or Google. The top tier, could cost $49.99 and open up ways to actually contribute to the Internet, through sites like YouTube.

Weinberg's hypothetical chart illustrated the concept of what ISPs are calling "managed services," which essentially introduce a fast lane and a slow lane for the Internet, he said. Distilling this principle down, Weinberg said that ISPs are currently advocating dividing up the Internet into prioritized and non-prioritized lanes, where consumers can pay for such so-called "far future" technology as telecommuting and online gaming.

According to Weinberg and Jayasuriya, ISPs are in a tight spot because when the Internet is operating by design, these companies' sole function is to carry content, a service that naturally becomes cheaper as technology improves. As such, these companies have an incentive to carve up the Internet so that they can create new revenue streams for themselves.

Framing the discussion in relation to gamers, the pair noted that the absence of net neutrality has two ways of biting gamers in the wallet. First, ISPs could offer gamers the "option" of a managed service targeting online play, for which they will have to pay extra.

On the flip side, ISPs can go to online providers, such as Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, and sell Microsoft or Sony on the idea that their content will be delivered faster if they subscribe to a managed service channel. In turn,the gaming companies could pass this increased cost of delivering content on to gamers.

According to Weinberg and Jayasuriya, ISP's notion that these managed services are necessary is fundamentally flawed because functionality like online gaming is already readily available. Further, these companies have been claiming it wouldn't be possible to deliver these so-called future technologies for years now, the pair claimed, saying that ISPs said innovations like voice over IP or online video would not work on the Internet as we know it, an assertion that has been proven false.

Weinberg and Jayasuriya went on to note that the absence of net neutrality would impact gamers in a variety of other ways, as well. Namely, it would further segment the online gaming crowd, as those who for whatever reason opt into the online gaming managed service would not want to play with those whodon't. As such, it would be just one more way in which the pool of people available to play with online would shrink.

Plus, it could have a detrimental effect on the indie and do-it-yourself community, as they will be at a disadvantage when it comes to providing innovative new products. Thisis because the managed services channels will likely be limited, so providing the fastest network will only be available to the large, established companies who can offer the highest bid to access these networks.

Innovation will be further frozen because the more interesting or different aproduct is, the more likely an ISP will insist on creating a managed service for it. As such, additional barriers to entry would be erected because in addition to having to pay an additional fee to try a new product, gamers would have to have the managed service line activated.

The conversation then turned to what Public Knowledge is doing to prevent the loss of net neutrality. "We believe the Internet has become too important at this point to trust these companies to not screw around with it," Weinberg said. As such, he and his organization have been heavily pushing their agenda withthe Federal Communications Commission, who is experiencing an "existential crisis" at the moment over whether it even has the right to oversee the Internet.

The duo ended its panel with a call to action of sorts, directing gamers interested in preserving net neutrality to Public Knowledge'sWeb site. They also urged gamers to sign up for the organization's mailing list if they want to receive updates on when Public Knowledge needs people to write to congress to remind them that the vast majority of the country supports netneutrality.

Quote: "Why wouldn't it work over the Internet we have now, even though everything else already works?"-- Michael Weinberg, on the so-called fallacy of managed services.

Takeaway: According to Weinberg and Jayasuriya, net neutrality is all about keeping things the way they are on the Internet, as far as the interaction among consumers, providers, and ISPs goes. Codifying this concept as law is important, they claim, because to not have net neutrality means that ISPs have the power to interfere with the flow of traffic in whatever way they see fit.

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Rumors that omnipresent online retailer may be expanding digital games initiative grow with addition of Xbox Live guru Andre Vrignaud.

In a March note to investors, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian mentioned "Our periodic checks of job postings uncovered a search by Amazonin the video game category to help implement a new digital distribution platform. ¥We expect Amazon to pursue new opportunities as an aggregator of online games, similar to Steam (PC), BigPoint (browser) and others. ¥ Overall, Amazon currently has roughly 1,250 open positions, with a concentration on software development with 511 open requisitions (41 percent of total)."

Amazon poached one of the founding fathers of Xbox Live.

Today, more evidence surfaced that Amazon is expanding its ambitions in online game distribution. On his personal blog (via Gamasutra), Microsoft director of game platform strategy Andre Vrignaud announced he has exited the Xbox 360 maker for a new position at Amazon.

"I make this announcement with mixed emotions as I'm excited about where Microsoft is going in the next few years as they look to reinvent digital entertainment¥but I'm also obviously very intrigued about what Amazon islooking to do," he said.

Vrignaud joined Microsoft eight years ago to head the Xbox Live team, which at that point he described as "maybe 30 people in a hallway." He helped shape Xbox Live into the 25-million-member service it now is, overcoming much skepticism along the way.

"I remember folks insisting that voice would never be desired from the console audience, or that this whole crazy digital content download Marketplace thing would never take off," reminisced Vrignaud. "And, of course, quite a few folks struggled to believe that Xbox Live would be a service that people would be willing to pay for."

What Vrignaud will be doing at Amazon is unclear. "Can't really talk about details at this point, but it'll become pretty evident soon enough¥and you all know where my passions lie," he teased. However, one clue might have come last month, when the omnipresent online retailer ceased selling Xbox Live Arcade game codes.

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Tennis series resurrected at 2K Czech after original studio's 2008 liquidation; due out next year on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii; Move, Kinect support hinted at.

When Take-Two shuttered PAM Development in 2008, the future of the French development house's Top Spin series was left in the balance. However, the franchise will live to serve another set; 2K Sports announced today that Top Spin 4 was in development at 2K Czech, the studio responsible for recent hit Mafia II.

Some haircuts never go outof style.

Top Spin 4 is being developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii and is due out sometime in 2011. The game will feature 25 playable real-life tennis professionals, including a number of the sport's "most iconic legends."

The only player confirmed so far is Andre Agassi, whose "well-manicured mullet" will serve as a preorder incentive for those looking to acquire the game on the PS3 or Xbox 360. In his late career, the now-retired Tennis star close-cropped his hair and now shaves his head.

"Dozens" of up-and-coming tennis stars will alsobe featured in the game, according to 2K. This roster is marginally larger than Top Spin 3, which featured 20 playable characters from the current ATP and WTA tours and several players from the past.

While 2K is trumpeting the game's "revamped pick-up-and-play controls," it has not confirmed any support for either Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing camera system or Sony's Move peripherals. When contacted by GameSpot, 2K Sports said "information about Move and Kinect will be announced at a later date." It is also not known at this stage if any players in Top Spin 4 will be platform exclusive--in Top Spin 3, current world number one player Raphael Nadal was only playable on the PlayStation 3.

The Top Spin series started out as a Microsoft-published Xbox exclusive in 2003, before the original title in theseries was ported to the PC and PS2 in 2004 and 2005. This was followed by Top Spin 2 in 2006--for Xbox 360, PC and portable platforms--and Top Spin 3 in 2008, which was released on the Xbox 360, PC, and Nintendo DS, as well as being the first outing for the series on the PS3.

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