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.

Activision Value has entered into a distribution agreement with Big Fish Games under which Activision will be the exclusive distributor of three titles for the PC.

Just when you thought you heard it all, a Canton, Ohio news outlet ran an article on a surprising trend of high pregnancies amongst teenage girls at a local high school, and partly put the blame on video games. "Whose fault is it that more than 13 percent of Timken’s girls are with child? Some would say fault-finding isn’t a fruitful exercise, but in this case, it’s critical. Suspects range from movies, TV and video games to lazy parents and lax discipline."

Vivendi Games' revenues of EUR 296 million were 24.4% higher than the prior year, primarily driven by the continued worldwide success of Blizzard's MMORPG World of Warcraft. Other solid performers in the first half of 2006 included the release of Ice Age 2, the game based on Fox movie, and continuing strong sales from backlist products including 50 Cent: Bulletproof and Crash Tag Team Racing.

THQ today announced the formation of its new California based development team, Incinerator Games, comprised of veterans of the Twisted Metal, NFL GameDay and MLB 2006: The Show projects from Sony's 989 studios, as well as the Midnight Club franchise from Rockstar.

The Interactive Software Federation of Europe held a panel discussion involving consumers, publishers and developers of video games throughout the European Union. Participants including parents’ representatives heard a panel of independent experts, including psychologists and media specialists, express their views about the impact of videogames on players, especially the younger ones.

Reuters reported that a federal judge has agreed to an appeal made by video game industry groups, thereby prohibiting Louisiana from implementing its new law, which prevents sales of violent games to children under the age of 18. The legislation, which fined violators up to $2,000 and/or one year in prison, was signed into law last week by Governor Kathleen Blanco.

Gen Con today announced that it will feature the ultimate in video game entertainment, Video Games Live, where fans experience an immersive concert featuring music from the biggest video games of all time performed by some of the nation’s most respected orchestras and choirs, in this case the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco has signed bill HB1381, drafted with help from anti-video game activist Jack Thompson, into law, prohibiting the sale or rental of games with violent content to minor by retailers. Not skipping a beat the ESA filed suit in the Federal District Court of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to overturn the state's new video game law.

Vivendi Games today announced its product lineup for E3 2006. Among the company's anticipated titles to be shown during E3 is Blizzard's MMORPG WoW: The Burning Crusade. Other featured titles include Scarface: The World is Yours, Eragon, F.E.A.R. 360, and more.

Democratic Texas senator Juan Hinojosa will propose a bill at a Senate Finance Committee meeting to impose a 5% tax on video games, according to The Brownsville Herald. The senator does not single out just violent video games, instead asking for it across the board to raise funds for education. "You have all these kids buying video games, and sometimes they are good, some are bad and that's not my call," Hinojosa is quoted as saying in the Herald article. "But I think that we can generate (money) to put toward the schools they go to."

Earlier today we attended Vivendi's pre-E3 event and one of the title on display was ... Saber Interactive's FPS TimeShift. Details about the sudden publisher change were not disclosed but it may very well have something to do with Atari's poor financial situation and the confirmation that closing studios and selling off assets were a possibility. Originally scheduled for release in May a VUGames representative did not want to speculate on its release date apart from "when we feel its ready." The Xbox edition was not mentioned at all so it may very well be cancelled.

Consumer Electronics Association is reporting that roughly one-third of adult gamers spend 10 hours or more per week playing console or PC games compared to just 11 percent of teens, according to results from its online study surveying adults, and teens between the ages of 12-14.

THQ today announced that it has acquired Austin, Texas based developer Vigil Games, which will be led by for former NCSoft project creator/director David Adams, and Marvel Comic's Uncanny X-Men artist Joe Madureira. Vigil is currently working on new content for next-gen scheduled for release in 2008.

According to CNET, Democrats Joseph Lieberman, Hillary Clinton, and Dick Durbin persuaded a Senate committee to approve a sweeping study of the "impact of electronic media use" to be organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. The bill, called CAMRA, would provide funding to investigate the cognitive, physical and socio-behavioral impact of electronic media on child and adolescent development.