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Looks like the recent wave of Xbox Live bans -- in which as many as one million users were cut off from the service -- is ready to evolve into a into a full on legal showdown. A Texas-based law firm by the name of AbingtonIP is reportedly organizing a class-action suit claiming Microsoft timed the bans to extract the maximum amount of money out of customers.

According to AbingtonIP, this "convenient" timing may have resulted in more Xbox Live subscription revenues for Microsoft than it would have if the console bans had taken place at some point before the release of Halo 3: ODST and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The company is also said to have earned plenty of game sales revenue from these two titles before dropping the axe on infringing users.

Microsoft for its part says the bans were made to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay, though the law firm contends that it also locked out users who had modified their Xboxes for reasons other than piracy -- which they admit is "arguably" against the terms of service.

AbingtonIP is recruiting plaintiffs through its website and looking for people who have had their Xbox banned from Xbox Live without a refund for their remaining subscription. What's your take on the issue, do they make a convincing case, or is this just a shady attempt to profit at Microsoft's expense?

If you're among the few people who were disappointed by Modern Warfare 2, you may be interested in another, lesser-known first-person shooter that just released a demo. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a tactical military simulator which debuted on October 6 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The title is a sequel to 2001's Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, and the expansion pack Operation Flashpoint: Resistance.


The game is set on a Chinese occupied fictional island in the East China Sea called Skira, where you play as a part of the US Marine Corps tasked with retaking the island. The game embraces an open-world sandbox design, and allows you to explore a 130 square mile island, which contains over 50 drivable vehicles (include land, sea, and air), and more than 70 weapons.

The demo allows you to play through the first mission from the full game, and includes both single-player and co-operative multiplayer modes. You can download the demo now via FileShack (1.39GB).

In an effort to boost the numbers of Gold subscribers on Xbox Live and to celebrate a host of new features being added to the service, Microsoft is giving all Xbox 360 owners the chance to get mangled online by complete strangers for free. From the 20th of November until the 23rd, Silver members in the United States will be able to try out all the services available on Xbox Live Gold and see if they're worth the yearly fee.

With the addition of Facebook, Twittter, and Last.fm compatibility, as well as the recent launches of Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Borderlands, there's no better time to show off what Xbox Live has to offer. European gamers will get the same treatment the following weekend, from the 25th until the 30th of November.

Keep in mind that not all features are available in all regions. Sky Player, for example, is available to European users whereas Netflix only applies to customers in the U.S.

Despite a bit of controversy in Russia, Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 has taken the video game world by storm, and now it is breaking sales records across the entire entertainment industry. The title reportedly generated $550 million in sales during the first five days available, beating all other video game launches and raking in more cash than any movie in the same timeframe.

By comparison, the current worldwide box-office record-holder is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which earned $394 million in its first five days. The Dark Knight holds the US box-office record with $203.8 million. The title has even successfully trounced Grand Theft Auto IV, which pulled in $500 million over the first five days of sales.


If the scale of Modern Warfare 2's launch has yet to set in, here are a few more numbers. According to Activision Blizzard (MW2's publisher), the game logged more than 5.2 million multiplayer hours via Xbox Live on the first day alone. In fact, on November 10, 2.2 million unique gamers played on Xbox Live, setting a new one-day record for the platform -- and 995,462 of those people were playing MW2.

Almost precisely one year to the day after Ubisoft announced a sequel to Assassin's Creed, their promised launch date has been shattered by rebellious retailers. Reports have come in about independent stores selling Assassin's Creed 2 as well as copies of Left 4 Dead 2, hours ahead of the sanctioned release time (tomorrow). This has supposedly caused a reaction from bigger chains like GameStop, who responded by releasing the games early as well -- just as they did with Modern Warfare 2 in some regions.


Regardless of this, Ubisoft will likely have cause to celebrate as Assassin's Creed 2 is being released to high expectations, with early predictions of high volume sales. As a side note, those initial sales will be sourced exclusively from Xbox 360 and PS3 releases of the game, as the PC version isn't due for release until next year.

The same scenario surrounded the original game, with consoles getting a release several months before the PC. Eventually Ubisoft made it up to PC gamers by giving them PC exclusive content. That may not happen this time around, but PC gamers can always hope.

The upcoming cloud-base game-streaming service OnLive just got a little bit cooler. According to the company CEO Steve Perlman, OnLive is capable of running on mobile devices, such as Apple's iPhone. Perlman demonstrated the service simultaneously on two iPhones, a TV and a computer during the recent Wedbush financial conference in New York.

Through a mobile phone, users will have access to their OnLive friends and other community-oriented functionality, like the ability to spectate live gameplay. Unfortunately, the mobile features will not launch alongside the full service -- nor is there an estimated time of arrival -- and it is only being considered a tech demo.


Perlman noted, it's "important to understand that a cell phone is a very different beast than a TV, PC or Mac." He elaborated by saying that while the company is thrilled about eventually bringing many new games to cell phone platforms, titles on OnLive are currently only tuned for TVs and computers.

OnLive entered a closed beta-testing phase in early September, followed by a public beta later in the month, and the company has yet to announce an exact release date or price.

If you are one of the many people who have pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 or plan on buying it before the day is through, you're probably curious as to when exactly the game will be unlocked. Valve has announced that for those who have preloaded the L4D2 files, the game goes live sometime today. Since Valve's servers will unlock it at all at once, the exact time will vary based on your time zone.

For users in Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern time, the game goes live at 9PM, 10PM, 11PM and 12AM. It's nice that Valve is able to unlock it at the exact same moment for everyone around the world, but that also means somebody, somewhere is going to get shafted -- at least temporarily.


Hopefully, Valve's decision to make preloading available a week in advance will ensure that surging demand for the game doesn't ruin it for everyone.

Activision is celebrating many successes with Modern Warfare 2 in general. The game opened up to amazing sales and helped contribute to a record-breaking number of Xbox Live connections. It's not gravy worldwide, however, following some recent trouble the game is dealing with in Russia. Despite an initial passing grade, MW2 is now facing an outright ban in Russia due to controversial content.

In particular the scene in which a player is put into an airport in Moscow has caused an upset, though for what specific reasons hasn't been clarified yet. Neither Activision nor the Russian government has released an official statement on what the situation is, but for now the game has been pulled from shelves in Russian stores. There's also rumors (though nothing official yet) that the game may face an outright ban.


According to some sources, a version of the game stripped of the Moscow encounter is going to be made available, replacing the already deployed Xbox 360 and PS3 copies of the game. For the PC version, whether bought from a store or through Steam, will be patched – stripping the content out without having to replace the game altogether.

Though the latter portion may not make players happy, it apparently is sating the Russian government for now, as sales of the PC version are continuing unhindered. Much of this is based on speculation, of course, until Activision pushes out a press release.

As usual, Valve is offering a fantastic weekend sale through its digital distribution service, Steam. The company has substantially reduced the price of Crysis and Crysis Warhead. Both titles typically run $30 but are now available at half off for $15 each. The Crysis Maximum Edition pack that bundles the titles together is also discounted, with a total price of $30.


Originally released in late 2007, Crysis is still one of the most graphically demanding, and impressive first person shooters on the market. Recommended system requirements include a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ processor, 2GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS or similar graphics, 12GB of HDD space, and Windows XP, Vista or 7. To get a better idea on how your hardware might stack up, see our detailed performance analysis of Crysis and Crysis Warhead.

It's also worth noting that Overlord is currently marked down to $1.50, and the Overlord Complete Pack is $8.75, which includes Overlord, Overlord: Raising Hell, and Overlord II.

Sony's introduction of the $300 PlayStation 3 Slim landed it a top spot in September's console sales, ousting the Wii. Things have turned around for Nintendo, though, as the Wii reclaimed the number one sales position last month, according to research conducted by NPD.

During October, the Nintendo moved 506,900 Wii consoles (up from 462,800 in September), and 457,600 DS handhelds (down from 524,000). Sony trailed, shipping 320,600 PlayStation 3 units (down from 491,800), and Microsoft sold some 249,700 Xbox 360s (down from 352,600). Sony also managed to sell 174,600 PlayStation Portables (down from 190,400), and 117,800 PlayStation 2s (down from 146,000).

In all, year-to-date sales for January through October are down 10% over the same period in 2008, with only the Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS seeing an increase. NPD notes that falling hardware sales accounts for a bulk of the game industry's 19% revenue decline from October 2008. Hardware-related revenue for the year is at $380.74 million, down 23% from $496.96 million last year.

Despite banning about a million Xbox 360 owners from Live, Microsoft's online gaming service isn't lacking subscribers, not by far. Following the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the number of simultaneous players connected to the Xbox Live service set a new record, reaching an impressive two million active users.

A significant portion of that number are new owners of Modern Warfare 2, which has racked up 5 million copies across North America and the UK in its first 24 hours. While it's yet unclear how many of those copies belong to the Xbox 360, Microsoft has disclosed the number of people who were playing MW2 -- 995,462 -- representing almost half of the record-setting two million players.

Taking a small jab at Microsoft, one must wonder how much higher that record could have been if they hadn't just blocked a million consoles from the service, or perhaps it was an anticipated move given the expected blockbuster launch -- either way, it's an impressive figure.

Microsoft has reportedly unleashed a second wave of bans, bringing the total count of banned Xbox 360s to around 1 million -- about five percent of some 20 million Live-connected consoles. There is also some uncertainty now as to whether or not the bans are permanent. It is safe to assume that they are, as Microsoft specifically targeted consoles as opposed to Gamertags. However, there is no guarantee Microsoft won't go even further and nail Gamertags associated with those banned consoles as well.

With one million 360s now unfit for online play, the former owners are now in a hurry to offload them. Banned consoles have already turned up for sale on sites like eBay and Craigslist, often bundled with a plethora of pirated games. The last part is quite interesting, as many people selling the banned units are being honest about the nature of the sale.

Microsoft isn't blind to this, and a company representative made a public statement reminding people that once a console is banned, it's banned no matter who owns it -- and the warranty doesn't transfer from owner to owner either. So, if you gamble on a used console, you're responsible for its condition.

This entire affair can be likened to Punkbuster using unique hardware identifiers to ban cheaters from multiple games or servers. What's your take? Although clearing game servers of cheaters and hackers seems like a very good thing, punishing people for modding consoles (whether or not they pirated a game) seems rather harsh.

With game development budgets in the tens of millions, and a relatively short shelf life on many modern games, it's no wonder that developers and publishers are always looking to curb piracy. Every year, new methods are developed to prevent games from being duplicated or outright stolen via download.

Approaches vary from on-media mechanisms (SafeDisc), to data encryption (Steam). While many feel that developers go too far in their efforts to stop piracy, there is no clear-cut answer as to whether developers feel piracy actually hurts their bottom line.

The Independent Games Developers Association recently conducted a survey to answer some of those questions. TIGA asked developers how they felt their business was affected by piracy, and what sort of steps they take to prevent it. They were also asked more hard-hitting questions, for example if they feel governments should take action against pirates. While short on information, the article brought out some very interesting notes.

Only 10 percent of those surveyed said piracy was a "significant" threat, which we can interpret to be hurting their cash flow. However, the overwhelming majority -- 90 percent -- indicated that piracy is increasing and becoming more of problem. Only about half felt it was up to the government to crack down on pirates, though the words "slowing broadband" brings into question exactly what methods were discussed.

One thing is clear, however. Most game developers are uninterested in allowing existing infrastructure, such as legal systems, deal with the issue, and are more intent on finding their own solution to piracy.

Razer has introduced a new, minimalistic gaming mouse, dubbed the Abyssus. The Abyssus' feature-set is in stark contrast with the company's recently released 17-button MMO-oriented Naga mouse. Razer's latest rodent focuses on simplicity with its ambidextrous design and three-button configuration, and beefs up features behind the curtain.


Specifications include a 1ms response time, hardware switches for dpi and polling rate that support on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments (450, 1800 or 3500dpi and 125Hz or 1000Hz polling), no drift control, always-on mode, 16-bit data path, 60 to 120 inches per second and 15g of acceleration, scroll wheel with 24 click positions, zero-acoustic Teflon feet, and a seven-foot tangle-free cord with a USB connector. Dimensions in millimeters are 115(L) x 63(W) x 40(H), and I haven't spotted its weight.

You can pre-order the Abyssus on Razer's website for $50, and it should begin shipping tomorrow.

Details of Project Natal's launch have leaked, and anonymous sources have told MCV that the highly anticipated motion-control device will launch next November on 14 games, at a very reasonable price. The sources said that Microsoft plans to ship 5 million Natal units at launch, in both stand-alone packages as well as coupled with Xbox 360 consoles and other accessories. Redmond is reportedly aiming the hardware at impulse buyers, with the hardware to cost between $50 and $80 -- a steal compared to the pricing of other Xbox 360 accessories.


No information was given about the 14 games that will supposedly be ready for Natal's launch -- though, Microsoft announced in September that it had support from 12 major publishers, including Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Konami, MTV Games, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ, and Ubisoft. In addition, game designer Peter Molyneux confirmed previously that Fable 3 would feature support for Natal, and with a "late 2010" release date, it may be among the 14 titles.

While all of this seems plausible, none of it is set in stone, so take it with a grain of salt -- or two.

If you had some shred of hope that the StarCraft II beta would arrive this year after being delayed from this summer -- it's not happening. During a presentation at Russian games expo IgroMir, StarCraft II producer Chris Sigaty made it known that the game's multiplayer beta has been pushed back to 2010.

The first chapter (Wings of Liberty) of StarCraft II is now slated for release in the second quarter of next year -- between April and June, in other words. If that holds true, I suspect that the beta will arrive at some point in the first quarter, maybe even as early as January, though nothing is set in stone.


Blizzard first announced that StarCraft II would launch in the fall of this year, and beta sign-ups opened in May, but the company delayed the official release to polish the game as well as Battle.net, which is receiving a major overhaul.

People in the console modding community are well aware that in general, console manufacturers look down upon them. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have all stated numerous times they do not endorse modding, and with the advent of online play becoming so important, keeping the playing field equal for everybody is an important concern. Instead of "Punkbuster for the console," the typical approach is to ban people from service. As of this week, Microsoft has done just that on a mass scale, banning over 600,000 Xbox Live accounts in the U.S. and Canada.

The bans won't stop there, either. Rumors indicate Microsoft is aiming to shut off upward of 1 million consoles before the end of the year -- it seems likely that the company may target Europe or another large region next. This hasn't made things easy on Microsoft's call center, which is getting inundated with calls from angry customers. Microsoft's goal is to get all modded consoles off their network to cut down on piracy.

Not all hope is lost for the shunned, though. It seems that Redmond has gone after the console itself, and only prevented it from connecting to Xbox Live. The consoles still function, and the accounts in general appear to be still active, so if you are desperate for online play and don't want to fight Microsoft on it, you can always buy another 360. That's certainly not what many people want to hear, particularly those who view console modding as a right.

This mass banning will undoubtedly renew debates about whether or not hardware modifications should be permitted. Of course, since Xbox Live is an extended service, Microsoft certainly does reserve the right to kick people off -- and this is an example of them demonstrating they are willing to let people go.

Anyone who has pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 through Steam can now start the pre-loading process. Weighing in at a little over 6GB in size, it's a good idea to start your download early so you can be sure to have it ready when it's unlocked on November 17th. Steam won't prompt you to start the process, so right click the title in your client and under "View pre-load info" you can start it manually.


While Valve hasn't revealed just how many people have snapped up Left 4 Dead 2, you can expect there will be a substantial load on the game and download servers at launch. There is also an unclear status on how the game will fare worldwide, especially in regions like Australia where it's still technically banned (though the censored version will apparently make it in).

EA is no stranger to the realm of online gaming, serving as a developer or publisher to some of the biggest online franchises around. They want to extend their influence in online gaming, focusing more on the "social" aspect, getting involved more in the development side and less on the publishing side of the growing portfolio that make up "social" games. To that end, they have acquired Playfish, a company that specializes in the development of many social games.

For $300 million in total assets, EA is taking charge of Playfish's entire library, which is already well-connected with social networking platforms like Facebook, MySpace and the iPhone. As such, all of Playfish's software is based around those sites. With a claimed userbase exceeding 60 million people, EA believes it can use Playfish's existing infrastructure to expand the world of social gaming in general.

There's certainly room for improvement and growth in the social gaming world. It's not something that interferes with the realm of traditional console or PC gaming, and is currently composed of dozens of different developers, many of them independent. Hopefully EA's acquisition won't discourage those developers from continuing to push forward.

Nintendo has unveiled a new model of its DSi handheld console, which will appear as the "DSi LL" in Japan, or "DSi XL" in Europe. As you've probably already guessed, the DSi XL brings larger 4.2" dual screens. That is about an inch more than the current DSi's 3.25" displays or the DS Lite's 3" screens.

The DSi XL will be packaged with a regular stylus, in addition to a longer, thicker pen-like stylus. It is reported that battery life will be about four to five hours on maximum brightness and 13 to 17 hours on minimum, which is on par with the DS Lite. Charge time is around 3 hours when fully depleted.


The latest DSi will measure 161mm wide x 91.4mm long x 21.2mm thick, and the new stylus will measure 129.3mm long. It will feature an SD memory card slot, a stereo headphone/microphone connected terminal, and will be available in red, brown, and white.

The DSi LL will hit Japanese store shelves on November 21 for 20,000 yen (around $220), and the DSi XL will arrive in Europe sometime in the first quarter of 2010. No details have been provided for a North American launch.

Update: Kotaku is reporting an early first-quarter debut for North America as well.

Nintendo posted a major 52% slip in fiscal first-half (April-September) profit today, amid a slowing demand for its Wii video game console. Profit for that period totaled $69.49 billion yen (about $772 million), which is down from 144.83 billion yen in the year prior and less than Nintendo's forecasted $100 billion yen ($1.1 billion). Fiscal first-half sales plummeted 34.5% to 548.01 billion yen ($6.1 billion).

The company expects earnings to remain grim, lowering its sales forecast for the fiscal year through March 2010 to 1.5 trillion yen ($16.7 billion) from 1.8 trillion yen ($20 billion). Nintendo blames its weak outlook on the recent Wii price cut, a lack of blockbuster games, as well as a strong yen, which hurts Japanese exporters by reducing their overseas earnings.

Nintendo has faced some stiff competition lately, with Sony and Microsoft both lowering prices on their consoles. The PlayStation 3 topped September sales charts after Sony introduced the $300 120GB Slim model, and the 120GB Xbox 360 Elite was cut to $300 as well. Microsoft also has a $200 Xbox 360 Arcade unit, which is about the same cost of Nintendo's Wii.

Microsoft has quietly released a new system update for its Xbox 360 console today. While it won't include any of the new social features that the company has been touting for months, this update will finally allow the current Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter (and presumably the upcoming 802.11n version) to support the WPA2 wireless security protocol -- a long overdue addition that many have been clamoring for.

Users should be receiving the update sometime this morning when they sign into Xbox Live. Microsoft's Larry 'Major Nelson' Hyrb emphasized that the update does not include the upcoming Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm integration nor it brings the Zune Marketplace 1080p "instant-on" streaming video functionality. That system update should go live next month.

Valve has failed in appealing the Australian Classification Board's ban of the uncensored version of Left 4 Dead 2. The group refused to grant the sequel with an MA15+ rating -- Australia's highest -- after determining that the title had "high impact violence" against "living humans infected with a rabies-like virus," and "graphic depictions of blood and gore."


All is not lost for aspiring zombie hunters in the land down under, though; Valve submitted and obtained MA15+ classification for an edited version of Left 4 Dead 2. While the censored game will be quite watered down, with no depictions of decapitations, dismemberment, wound detail, or piles of bodies lying about the environment, I assume it's better than not launching at all.

Left 4 Dead 2 is slated for a November 17 release on PC and Xbox 360, and a demo will arrive on November 3 (those who pre-ordered have access to the demo from October 27).

Update: Despite Steve Ballmer explicitly saying "you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories," in reply to a question about supporting the technology in Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft has issued a new statement confirming once again that there are no plans for a Blu-ray add-on.

Original story: Ever since HD DVD lost the high-definition format war in early 2008, rumors have kept popping about the possibility of Blu-ray support on the Xbox 360 console, only to be rebuffed every time by Microsoft in favor of digital distribution. The latest comes from Redmond boss Steve Ballmer himself, however, who in a recent interview with Gizmodo hinted that a Blu-ray drive could finally join the 360's assemblage of accessories.

Apparently Ballmer spoke with certitude when he mentioned the add-on, but not surprisingly Microsoft's PR guys later added: "Our immediate solution for Blu-ray-quality video on an Xbox 360 is coming this fall with Zune Video and 1080p instant-on HD streaming. As far as our future plans are concerned, we're not ready to comment." That certainly doesn't rule out Blu-ray on the Xbox 360, but we should note that this is not the first time the outspoken CEO "confirms" support and gets the company in rumor control mode.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens. In any case, if last month's console hardware sales numbers are of any indication, Microsoft better step up their game to remain competitive against a renewed PlayStation 3 console that scores over them with built-in Blu-ray, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support for just $300.

Steam is running another mid-week madness sale today which effectively marks Ubisoft's stealth-action game Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut down to the bargain price of $5. The offer will run until Thursday morning and includes all four extra mission types exclusive to the PC version: archer assassination, rooftop race challenge, merchant stand destruction challenge and escort challenge.


That's a 75% price reduction. If you skipped the original game or are simply looking to warm up ahead of its much-anticipated sequel, now is your chance to buy in. The console versions of Assassin's Creed II will arrive in mid-November but the PC edition isn't due until next year. For more information on the deal, including system requirements, visit the Assassin’s Creed: Director’s Cut page on Steam.

Benefiting from a significant price drop last month and a hardware redesign, Sony's PlayStation 3 took the top spot in the U.S. gaming console sales rankings for the first time since it was launched in November 2006. According to the latest figures from NPD, the Blu-ray equipped device sold 491,800 units in September, compared with 462,800 for the Nintendo Wii and 352,600 for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

No one managed to topple the Nintendo DS, however, which boasts an impressive 524,000 units sold for the month. The entire industry as a whole enjoyed a 1 percent year-on-year growth to $1.28 billion, breaking six months of straight decline. Of that amount, software was up 5 percent to $649.32 million, while hardware was down 6 percent to $472.28 million and accessory sales were up 2 percent to $157.33 million.

Despite being relegated to third place in hardware sales, the Xbox 360 actually accounted for around 32 percent of the September revenues when combined with software and accessory sales. Its exclusive Halo 3: ODST title no doubt contributed to this by selling over 1.52 million copies between its release on the 22nd and the end of September -- more than three times its closest rival in little over a week.

Overall, it was a big month for console gaming. Microsoft also recently lowered the price of its 120GB Xbox 360 Elite model to $300, and Nintendo followed a month later with a $50 drop to $200, so it'll be interesting to see how they stack up against each other this coming holiday season. Feel free to speculate in the comments.

Following the successful launch of a slimmer PlayStation 3 model back in September, Sony has announced a beefier 250GB variant of the console is due to hit U.S. stores next month priced at $350. Besides upping storage capacity, the new system will be otherwise identical to the existing 120GB version which sells for $50 less.


The move comes as expected after leaks suggesting a larger-capacity PS3 would arrive sometime in October. Contrary to some rumors, however, for now the 250GB console has not been announced as part of any bundle like we've seen elsewhere -- Japan will be getting a Final Fantasy XIII bundle in December, for example, while customers in Europe can now get the new 250GB model packed alongside Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2. Hopefully Sony will announce a similar deal for U.S. customers in time for the holiday season.

Those who recently bought the 120GB version, and PS3 owners in general, might be interested to know that you can also swap out the 2.5-inch SATA drive yourself without voiding the warranty on your PlayStation 3. A quick search online shows that a 320GB hard disk drive can be had for around $56 and a 400GB model for $70, so you'll have to pay a little a premium assuming you even need more storage capacity.

Bright Side of News is reporting that Nvidia has landed a contract with Nintendo to power the company's next-generation DS handheld console. If true, it certainly adds substance to a bold claim made over the summer by Nvidia's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, when he declared that Tegra would account for as much as 50% of Nvidia's revenue in the next few years.

All of this is unofficial, but based on the timing BSN speculates that Nintendo would make use of Nvidia's next-gen Tegra chips, which are expected to debut in February 2010. The site reports that the newest DS model is slated for a late 2010 launch, and notes that it may appear at next year's Tokyo Game Show.

In somewhat related news, AMD has reportedly bagged a deal with Microsoft to power its next-generation Xbox console, according to Fudzilla. It is also said that both Microsoft and Sony are planning to keep the current console generation alive until 2012.

Among the few decent games released this year was Wolfenstein -- a sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Co-developed by Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios and Endrant Studios, most review sites scored the title with about 8 out of 10 marks -- a decent reception. If you're not completely sold on the title, you can take it for a test drive by downloading the demo here.


Feel free to burn a little time while waiting for the 685MB file by checking out our in-depth performance analysis of Wolfenstein. If you happen to enjoy the demo and want to play the game in its entirety, we have a 50%-off promotion running in our deals section that knocks the price down to $24.90 (the special ends in about 35 hours). Should you prefer Valve's digital distribution service, Wolfenstein also just landed on Steam's virtual shelves for $49.99.

In an attempt to strengthen its grip on virtual reality, China is prohibiting foreigners from investing in the country's online video game industry.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the National Copyright Administration pushed out a directive on Saturday that disallow foreign bodies from investing in China's online game market through joint ventures, wholly owned enterprises, and cooperatives. China hopes the move will prevent foreign firms from indirectly influencing Chinese gaming bodies through agreements or tech support.

"The new rule is a good beginning in approving the online games in accordance with laws and will be conducive to the regulation of online gaming businesses," said Kou Xiaowei of GAPP. The latest policy follows China's recent broader campaign to shutdown unapproved titles with "unhealthy" content operating in the country. That effort has already halted some 45 online games, and the list will continue to grow.