Activision Blizzard announced the appointment of Thibaud de Saint-Quentin as the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of European Publishing, where he will oversee the company's regional strategy and long-term growth initiatives.

Vision Engine developers Trinigy announced its Entertainment Stimulus Package (ESP) program which will be made available to qualifying professional game developers. Under the ESP program, promising developers will be given access to the latest Vision 7.5 engine for a period of 3 months instead of the usual 30 days, to help them build a prototype and secure a publishing deal.

Activision Blizzard's Dec. quarter beat expectations, and while it ran an operating loss of $148 million, its operating income was $644 million, the highest in the company's history, driven by World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty titles. During the investors conf. call, it was revealed that three new IPs would launch in 2009: Prototype, Singularity and an unannounced racer from Bizarre Creations. A new James Bond game is in the works but is getting delayed in order to not compete with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 later this year. in additional to Guitar Hero: Metallica, three more titles in the franchise are planned for 2009: a compilation, a new DS title and a cryptic "major restage." The StarCraft II beta and Wolfenstein are due this summer.

NecroVisioN is a first-person horror shooter, which sees players taking on the role of American soldier Simon Bukner, who must fight his way through the bleak trenches of World War One and into the very jaws of Hell.

Missing in E3 2008, Activision revealed earlier this week that it is once again an exhibitor at this year's weeklong gaming conference in Los Angeles. However, people looking forward to checking out StarCraft II or Diablo III will be disappointed as Blizzard confirmed it will not be attending the E3 2009, claiming, "our current focus is on the ongoing development of Diablo III, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft." Seems like BlizzCon is going to be the main event for all things Blizzard this year ....

Activision announced its plans for the New York Comic Con show on Feb. 6-8, 2009. where it will have Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Prototype and X-Men Origins: Wolverine on display, with both hands-on demos and producer-led demonstrations, special trailers featuring never before seen game footage, as well as panel presentations on all three titles, presided by the developers and writers.

NecroVisioN is a first-person horror shooter, which sees players taking on the role of American soldier Simon Bukner, who must fight his way through the bleak trenches of World War One and into the very jaws of Hell.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today released additional details about the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 Expo), including a preliminary list of exhibitors. Last year's absentees Activision and Atlus are back on the floor...

The existence of DJ Hero isn't exactly a big secret. It has already popped up a few times in the past few months, but a TV interview with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick on CNBC is the first confirmation from the publisher that it actually exists. Kotick was quoted as saying, "We have this product called DJ Hero coming out later this year, which is a turntable that you actually can play competitively and spin discs and mix songs." Rumor has it that the game will come with a turntable controller.

Flying Lab Software announced that it has formed a new division, Flying Lab Casual, which will focus on developing more casual gaming MMOs from the ground up. Its first venture, a family-friendly universe being built in partnership with Upper Deck, will be announced in the next couple of weeks.

YUKE’S Company of America launched Akinai Games, a new division that will focus on developing games for Nintendo’s WiiWare channel, Microsoft's Xbox Live, and Sony's PlayStation Network, while plans for PC and mobile device distribution are under consideration.

NecroVisioN is a first-person horror shooter, which sees players taking on the role of American soldier Simon Bukner, who must fight his way through the bleak trenches of World War One and into the very jaws of Hell.

505 Games announced that it is releasing icy survival horror Cryostasis, fast-paced monster FPS NecroVisioN and World War II strategy title Men of War under the 1C Company label on Feb. 20, 2009.

Whether this is intentional or not, or whether the dates are set or mere projections, Activision Europe has released its upcoming titles release list revealing that Guitar Hero Metallica is scheduled for May, confirming the previously revealed Guitar Hero: Modern Hits for NDS. Indiana Jones: Scepter of Kings seems to be the full title for a new Indie game on NDS, PSP, PS2 and Wii. Other titles listed are Prototype, Monsters vs. Aliens and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, all scheduled for Q2.

Activision is rocking the holiday season with a robust slate of games for the entire family, starting with music-based Guitar Hero World Tour, WWII shooter Call of Duty: World at War, intriguing Quantum of Solace, hilarious Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and super hero powered Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.

Last month THQ filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Central California against Activision, claiming the SCORE International Baja 1000 box cover was too similar to its own BAJA title released the month before, and now the two companies have settled the case out of court with Activision admitting something was afoot as it has changed the official retail box to something not so identical.

National Geographic announced the formation of National Geographic Games (NGG), a division that will publish and develop games across major gaming console, handheld, online and mobile platforms.

Activision has acquired Iowa based developer Budcat Creations. Known for its Wii and NDS games, Budcat has worked on titles such as GH III: Legends of Rock, GH: Aerosmith, GH: World Tour, and is currently working on a new Guitar Hero product.

NecroVisioN is a next-gen First Person Shooter that starts in the rage battlefields of World Word I and leads player to much darker and brutal underground world of vampires and demons.

Last week THQ filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Central California against Activision, claiming the upcoming SCORE International Baja 1000 box cover is too similar to its own BAJA title released last month. Both boxes show similar vehicles in almost identical positions, and although THQ contacted Activision to settle things out of court, they refused to make any changes, hence the lawsuit (thanks Patent Arcade).

IGA Worldwide announced a multi-year agreement with Activision to deliver dynamic in-game advertising into multiple video game titles on PS3, starting with integrated ads in Guitar Hero World Tour.

During Activision's Analyst Day conference CEO Mike Griffith confirmed what most of us already knew, while Treyarch is currently finishing up Call of Duty World at War, Infinity Ward is already developing the next installment in the Call of Duty series, which is expected next year. Griffith also revealed that Activision Blizzard plans to triple the amount of Guitar Hero retail titles and downloadable content by 2010, which was already hinted at with the FreeStyleGames acquisition last week. The music royalty debate got a little bit more interesting as Universal Music Group CEO Zach Horowitz stated that it has seen on average a 200-300% retail sales boost of material which is included in the Guitar Hero titles.

Relive the eighties with Intellivision Lives! Play more than 60 classic Intellivision games all in one package. In Destroy All Humans! you are Crypto, an alien warrior sent to Earth to clear the way for the Furon invasion force. Your mission is to infiltrate humanity, control them, harvest their brain stems, and ultimately destroy them. Both titles will be available through Xbox Live on Sept. 15th, 2008 for 1200 Microsoft Points.

Activision has acquired music-based games developer FreeStyleGames, currently developing localized downloadable content for the Guitar Hero franchise, as well as a yet to be announced new, intellectual property in the music genre.

Check out the following new screens & trailers from Activision's GC 2008 lineup:

• 'Call of Duty: World at War' (ALL) - 8 New Screens
• 'Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades' (NDS) - 5 New Screens
• 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' (ALL) - New Screens
• 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' (ALL) - Screens
• 'Pitfall: The Big Adventure' (Wii) - Screens
• 'Quantum of Solace' (ALL) - New Screens & Trailers
• 'Rapala Fishing Frenzy' (Wii/PS3/X360) - New Screens
• 'Shrek (TBA)' (ALL) - New Screens
• 'Spider-Man: Web of Shadows' (ALL) - 5 New Screens