According to the Vancouver Sun Black Box Games co-founder Martin Sikes suddenly passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 39. After he left the University of British Columbia with a degree in electrical engineering, Sikes went to work for Radical Entertainment. In 1998, Sikes co-founded Black Box Games, which was acquired by EA Canada in 2002. He was a programmer on various titles in the Need for Speed franchise and co-founded United Front Games, although he had recently left the company.

During Bill Gates' final 2008 CES keynote speech, Microsoft unveiled several new entertainment services and partnerships that demonstrate how software is improving people’s ability to connect with their favorite content and communities through new and expanded forms of entertainment experiences.

At the 2008 CES Microsoft announced that Disney/ABC and MGM Studios will be offering U.S. Xbox Live members premium entertainment content (movies, old/new TV series) via the Marketplace Video Store.

After Microsoft showed off its holidays hard/software sales numbers, Sony put its cards on the table revealing that hardware retail sales across its three platforms reached more than 3.9 million units in North America from Nov. 23, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2007.

Revealed a few days ago, Sony officially announced that late January it will introduce Skype features to the new slim PSP through a firmware update, enabling users to freely communicate with other Skype users around the world over the Internet.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a violent and chaotic journey of two men — a flawed mercenary and a medicated psychopath — and their brutal attitude towards right and wrong. This demo features the Retomoto Tower mission, also playable in co-op.

Bully: Scholarship Edition tells the story of 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins as he experiences the highs and lows of adjusting to a new school. Bully is coming to the X360 and the Wii on March 4, and the first details about the promised new content have been revealed. Eight new missions, four new school classes (biology, music, math and geography), new unlockable items and clothing, new two-player offline minigames, new awards and Achievements.

L.A. Noire is an interactive detective story set in the 1947 classic noir period situated in an exact recreation of mid century Los Angeles. L.A. Noire draws players into an open-ended challenge to solve a series of gruesome murders, but also side missions based on real events from that period. Developer Team Bondi hired a costume designer to accurately portray the time period. While previously pegged as a PS3 exclusive, a job listing for a new Lead Animator reveals "the project" to be on PS3 and X360.

All your favorites from Rockstar Games are now on Steam! To celebrate, you'll save 10% (ends Jan. 11) on every title, from the complete Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne series to Manhunt, Midnight Club II, and more. The Rockstar Collection, which packs every Rockstar game for just $53.95 (regular price: $59.95).

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for:

• Stargate Worlds - TV Trailer
• Frontlines: Fuel of War [PS3/X360/PC] - EMP Trailer
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  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...