Doom 4 announced!
www.joystiq.com/2008/05/07/doom-4-announced-id-software-hiring/
Id Software announced Doom 4. Also, they’re hiring, in case you have a knack for designing better in-game flashlights.

BioShock movie in development, Gore Verbinski directing
www.joystiq.com/2008/05/08/bioshock-movie-in-development-gore-verbinski-directing/
Universal has signed a deal to turn Bioshock into a movie. Director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) will head the project and Aviator writer John Logan may write the screenplay.

Blizzard attempt to kill WoW bot bad news for copyright law
arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080507-blizzard-attempt-to-kill-wow-bot-bad-news-for-copyright-law.html
Blizzard is fighting against a company that sells a bot program for use with World of Warcraft, but is doing so in a novel, and scary way: using your RAM to play games is copyright infringement, until Blizzard tells you it isn’t.

Microsoft has “no plans” for Xbox 360 Blu-ray Drive
www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=182288
As we have stated, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360,” said a Microsoft official in an email to GamePro on Monday. “Games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”

May 5, 1992: ‘Wolfenstein 3-D’ Shoots the FPS Into Stardom
www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/05/dayintech_0505
Today in 1992, Id Software releases Wolfenstein 3-D, and it launches a huge computer-game category. Wolfenstein 3-D may not have been the very first “first-person shooter,” as the genre came to be known, but it was by far the most successful

The Wii Pole Dancing Game is Really Coming
gizmodo.com/387152/the-wii-pole-dancing-game-is-really-coming
At first we thought this Wii Pole Dancing game was a joke—how could something so sexy come to such a “family-friendly” and casual console like the Wii? Turns out it’s not a joke.

Top 10 most anticipated PS3 games of 2008 still to come
www.destructoid.com/top-10-most-anticipated-ps3-games-of-2008-84941.phtml
Yes, we’re already in May, but two Destructoid editors have just now compiled a list of the top ten PS3 games coming out in 2008 that they’re excited the most about.

GTAIV issues on PS3 ‘fixed’, Rockstar offers apology to all
www.strategyinformer.com/news/996/gtaiv-issues-on-ps3-fixed-rockstar-offers-apology-to-all-affected
The recent patch released for PS3 has ‘fixed’ the stutter and lock-up issues, it was linked with the GameSpy servers and the immense load they experienced. “Rockstar apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.” GTAIV should be back in the good graces of the Sony masses once more, hopefully.

Spore, Mass Effect PC to Require Periodic Online Validation
www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52547
After the first activation, SecuROM requires that [Mass Effect PC] re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez’d and gets banned),” said French in a post on the BioWare forums.

BioWare Backs Down From Draconian Mass Effect Authentication
kotaku.com/5008452/bioware-backs-down-from-draconian-mass-effect-authentication
“When Mass Effect comes to the computer it will not use SecuROM…. The developer said the decision came after listening “very closely” to its fans and that the new system will also allow gamers to play the game without the DVD in the drive.”

Zedd’s Stories we didn’t cover

kotaku.com/388741/rumor-microsoft-may-debut-new-xbox-360-motion-controller-next-week

Rumor: Microsoft May Debut New Xbox 360 Motion Controller Next Week

Rumors about Microsoft entering the waggle market with a specialized, Wii Remote concept swiping controller have been popping up for the better part of a year. Talk of a partnership with Gyration, speculation that Bungie had quashed a proposal for a motion controller tied to Halo 3 and murmurs that Rare was now tasked with leading the waggle wand brigade have been bubbling up frequently. Microsoft and Gyration have both denied or brushed off the rumors, but we’ve just heard it pop up again.

www.joystiq.com/2008/05/08/rumor-realtime-worlds-hopes-apb-becomes-gta-online/

Rumor: Realtime Worlds hopes APB becomes GTA Online

As far as rumors go, this one isn’t much of a surprise. A mysterious masked man told Eurogamer that developer Realtime Worlds recently bought the distribution rights to its forthcoming MMO All Points Bulletin (APB to you kids) with one specific goal in mind: “so that it could try and sell it to Rockstar as GTA Online.”

www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10389&Itemid=2

Gran Turismo Races Past 50 Million Sales

Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that worldwide shipments of its Gran Turismo racing franchise have exceeded 50 million units.

www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=138270

Activision: Guitar Hero 4 this “holiday”

Activision bigwig Mike Griffith has said the next instalment in the Guitar Hero series will be out this “holiday”, or Christmas as we quaintly like to call it.

www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/page2.html#685315

Wrath of the liche king!

Blizzard has revealed some new details of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Along with the new information they’ve posted some brand new fly-over footage of the new areas and a few other interesting details. What we know you can expect from Lich King so far:

A new icey zone called the Borean Tundra, populated by many new beasts, including a race of Walrus people NPCs
Large dungeons called Zul’Drak, Dragonblight
New zones called the Grizzly Hills, the Howling Fjord
A lush, jungle area called the Sholazar Basin that looks to be a miner’s dream
VEHICLE COMBAT!!!!
The Death Knight will have the ability to raise the recently fallen from either side of a fight as Ghouls, which will then fight for you
Death Knights will have a new Disease ability
We’ll upload the videos and link to them in this post as soon as humanly possible. Stay frosty.

www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52603

Next Call of Duty Due This Year on PC, Consoles; Takes Place in ‘New Military Theater’

The next entry in the Activision-owned wartime shooting franchise Call of Duty will take place in a “new military theater,” according to Activision Publishing CEO and president Mike Griffith.

www.pspfanboy.com/2008/05/08/skype-headset-finally-available-for-real/

Skype headset finally available (for real!)

We’re glad that SCEA finally confirmed the availability of Skype-compatible PSP headsets at retailers today. When we first discovered the peripheral, it was supposed to release last month for $20. Well, looks like things have changed. The peripheral is now available at a MSRP of $30 at your favorite retailer. We checked amazon.com, buy.com, and GameStop — and it appears that buy.com is still your best bet.

www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/best-year-ever-activision-rocks-with-nearly-3-billion-in-sales-in-fiscal-08/?biz=1

Best Year Ever: Activision Rocks with Nearly $3 Billion in Sales in Fiscal ‘08

Activision today reported record revenues for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, marking an incredible 16 years of consecutive growth. Net revenues for the full year soared from $1.51 billion last year to $2.90 billion, while net income exploded, growing from $85.8 million to $344.9 million. Sales in Q4 totaled $602.5 million, nearly doubling last year’s Q4 ($312.5 million). Fourth quarter profit also was way up, climbing from a net loss of $14.4 million to net income of $44.2 million.

www.gametap.com/articles/gamefeatures/mortal_kombats_creator_talks-05072008

Mortal Kombat’s Creator Talks

When we first heard about Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, after we got over the WTF? factor, we asked “what about fatalities??” We couldn’t imagine DC would let, say, Noob Saibot rip out Batman’s spine, but we also couldn’t imagine an MK game without fatalities. Turns out, the game will have something in the middle.

Here’s what the game’s creator, Ed Boon, said about it:

We did acknowledge that we won’t be able to do the same kinds of outrageous moves, like tearing someone’s head off and the spine being attached to it. But there are a lot of assumptions that there will be no blood in the game, that there are no fatalities in the game. It’s an assumption that, because the DC characters will be in there, those features will have to be dropped. My response is that, no, we’re modifying fatalities. But I have every intention to keep finishers. You know, to let gamers do a really cool secret button combination and follow with a really outrageous finishing move to end the match. The names of these moves, and the level of violence we use, are to be determined. But it’s certainly not a feature we plan on eliminating from the series.

au.ps3.ign.com/articles/872/872391p1.html

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Announced

Pandemic has announced The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, a title envisioned as similar to their Star Wars: Battlefront games, but set in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

The game will allow you to play out any of the battles from the Lord of the Rings series. The scope is epic, as you might expect, with up to 150 characters on-screen at any time, as many as eight players online, with four players co-op through the main campaign, either online or via four-player split-screen. And with two distinct campaigns to play through, including an original take on what would happen if Sauron regained control of the One Ring, Pandemic promises plenty of scenarios to wage battle through.

I put on my robes and wizard hat!