Conspiracy Entertainment, already making titles for GBA, NDS and NGC, announced today that it intends to develop games for Nintendo's Wii gaming platform.

Microsoft announced record revenue of $12.54 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, a 6% increase compared to last year, driven by Zune, X360 and its server applications. Despite increase in sales (from $1.69 billion to $2.96 billion) for the Entertainment and Devices Division, the Xbox has yet to make a profit as it currently has an operating loss of $289 million, slightly higher than last year ($286 million). With 10.4 million consoles sold Microsoft Games Division expects to turn a profit fiscal 2008 (second half of 2007).

Last year Take Two announced closure of its Vienna studio, responsible for creating titles such as Max Payne 1/2 for consoles, GTA 3, Vice city etc. Since then it has been real quiet but now a new studio has emerged from the ashes as Hannes Seifert, Niki Laber, and Jürgen Goeldner team up once again with Games That Matter. No current projects are revealed, except for "a visionary game production business model."

Zoo Tycoon developers Blue Fang Games announced that award winning game designer Steve Meretzky, known for creating The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is joining its team as Senior Designer.

Not sure why there was money spent on this as it seems quite obvious, but a Mayo Clinic study, the first to scientifically measure the energy spent playing video games, indicated that activity-oriented video games triples the energy expenditure compared to watching TV or playing traditional video games.

Los Angeles based independent game developer Riot Games, Inc. announced the completion of its first round of independent equity funding, totaling $1.5 million. Riot Games is comprised of former employees of EA, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Atari, Konami, Activision, Midway, and are working on a new action RPG/RTS hybrid title.

The World Series of Video Games announced it has signed deals with major broadcast, cable and satellite networks CBS, CSTV and VOOM HD Networks’ GAMEPLAY HD to air extensive coverage of its 2006 season, bringing professional video game competitions to major U.S. network television for the first time.

iBase Games closed its doors, and laid off all its game development workers (including Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe) while its parent company, iBase Entertainment seeks additional financing. As a result iBase Games' action comedy Sam Suede: Undercover Exposure, has been put on hold indefinitly. iBase Entertainment hopes to revive the project at a later time ...

Gamers can now download real video games for free and play them in a secure, online, multiplayer environment, and they can win cash while they’re doing it. An initiative of Groove Games, SkillGround is the world’s first platform where people of all skill levels can play real video games head-to-head for cash prizes or just for fun.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Namco Bandai President Takeo Takasu reveals that developing for the PS3 comes at a hefty price. In order to turn a profit, Takeo estimates a game needs to sell 500,000 copies worldwide, as graphics for the HD games cost about 1 billion yen ($8.6 million) to create, more than double that for Wii titles. Numbers that are quite staggering considering that Ridge Racer 7 and Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire each sold a mere 22,000 copies in Japan.

Mad Catz announced today that its Arcade GameStick for Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 and PC will ship to major US retailers for availability this holiday season. Through collaboration with Konami and PopCap Games, Mad Catz has introduced a joystick controller bundled with three full Xbox Live Arcade games: Frogger, Time Pilot and Astropop.

Vivendi Games' revenues were up 15% compared to last year, primarily driven by the continued success of World of Warcraft, and the solid launch revenues in North America from Scarface, based on the classic Universal Studios film. For the first 9 months of the year revenue was up 20%, partly by continuous strong sales of 50 Cent and Ice Age 2.

Buena Vista Games announced the formation of a new video game development studio. Based in Salt Lake City, Fall Line Studio’s focus is to develop games based on Disney’s characters, television shows and entertainment franchises as well as creating new intellectual property for the NDS and Wii.

The World Cyber Games 2006 Grand Final in Monza, Italy, kicks off in just six days. The WCG 2006 is planned to be the largest-scale event yet with 700 gamers from 70 countries participating, including six new countries such as Ireland and Saudi Arabia, which will send representatives to the WCG Grand Final for the first time.

Buena Vista Games announced an agreement to license Emergent's Gamebryo Element game engine and toolset for use in developing multiple, yet unannounced, next-generation BVG titles for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

A study, conducted in the UK by education innovator Futurelab, investigating how commercial computer games can be used in the classroom, came to the conclusion that commercial computer games have the potential to support learning in schools, without requiring teachers to be actual gamers.

Vivendi Games today announced that it has purchased two development studios, Secret Lair Studios, located in Issaquah, Wash., and, pending approval from the Chinese government, Studio Ch'in in Shanghai, China.

Buena Vista Games today announced the acquisition of the award-winning Climax Racing from Climax Group. The studio is of both strategic and geographic importance to BVG as it becomes the third internal studio, and the first in Europe, that BVG has added to its development capacity.

The World Series of Video Games presented by Intel announces today that the upcoming Major event on the World Series of Video Games circuit will be entitled the "UK Gaming Championship". The event will be held at the London Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus, October 6-8, 2006. Hours of operation are 10-10 Friday and Saturday, and 12-5 on Sunday.

Groove Games today announced Bedlam, a new flagship studio dedicated to the development of triple-A games based on original intellectual property. Bedlam's mission is to create innovative gameplay experiences born of exceptional design and realized by a world-class team in an unparalleled work environment.

The new Video Games Live concert features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers (Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa), electronic percussionists, and interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.

Deep Silver today announced that it will present its unparalleled lineup of games at Games Convention 2006. Deep Silver is showing the highly-anticipated ANNO 1701, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, Gothic 3, and other titles from the hottest genres from RPG to RTS.

Empire announced it will be scouting the Leipzig show for new talent, "This is a chance to take a key role in a vibrant and exciting developer/publisher, as we expand our internal development studio. We are looking for talented designers, programmers, artists and producers, at all levels. You will be a major influence in our new titles and will have an opportunity to work on a wide variety of games and platforms including X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC and Arcade Coin-ops."

United States District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly ruled yesterday that the state of Illinois must pay the video game industry $510,528.64 in attorney's fees for its unconstitutional effort to enact a law banning the sale of violent video games.

1C Company unveiled today the 7 titles to be shown at the Games Convention (GC) in August, 2006. The lineup spans multiple genres including a first-person shooter, real-time strategy, third-person stealth action and role-playing games.