“Halo: Reach” players are getting
some more maps.
The “Halo: Reach” Defiant Map Pack goes live today, with two new multiplayer maps, a firefight mission and new achievements letting players earn up to 150 Microsoft Points.
Read more (and learn how to win free codes) at Variety’s Technotainment blog
Controlling a video game with 
your mind might seem the stuff of science fiction, but then again, so did the idea of motion controls.
While still a ways from being a mainstream phenomenon, mind-controlled games are already on store shelves — and more are coming.
If Michael Bay’s interpretation of the 
Transformers (and the requisite gaming spin-offs that came with it) wasn’t quite your style, another option is on the way.
Hasbro has tapped UK developer Jagex to create a massively-multiplayer online game based on the 80s toy icon. It’s scheduled to be released in 2012.
Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris reports 
from this year’s South by Southwest, discovering a Richard Garriott-pitched Lord British social game and a host of other game-related aspects to the Texas media conference.
Music and film might be the dominant forms of entertainment on display at this year’s South by Southwest gathering, but gaming culture is definitely elbowing its way into the party.
Public game demos and several seminars examining the state of the industry have been on display at the Austin Convention Center since Friday – and some developers (including Richard Garriott) are even using the event to announce new titles.
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and the 
rest are getting their own online world.
Hasbro and Runescape developer Jagex have announced plans to create a massively multiplayer game based on the popular 80s toy line and cartoon series. Unlike recent single-player games published by Activision, though, this will have nothing to do with director Michael Bay’s 2007 cinematic reboot of the series.
Don Bluth will be the first to tell you 
he’s a filmmaker, not a game maker. But despite the fact that he has just two titles to his credit, the Hollywood veteran has still managed to make a lasting impression on the video game industry.
Dragon’s Lair, in some ways, was the front runner for the modern graphics era. While Dirk the Daring & Co. were hand-animated, the title let players and developers know that games could be just as eye-popping as works on the big screen.
The annual South by Southwest gathering 
has plenty of success stories to crow about, but getting a big break here is harder than ever these days.
The show, dubbed “geek spring break” by some, has grown beyond its music and film roots to become a gathering spot for venture capitalists and some of the biggest stars in the tech world. But as it has grown, it has become more difficult for startups to turn heads.
As Apple ramps up the hype machine on 
the iPad 2, app publishers are hoping to ride the coattails to higher sales.
Developers both small and large are slashing prices on popular apps in hopes of capturing the attentions of people who can no longer resist Apple’s tablet device. And Electronic Arts is leading the charge.
The video game industry got some 
long-awaited good news in February.
Software sales came in slightly better than analysts were expecting, while hardware sales shattered forecasts. For the month, game sales fell 5 percent versus a year ago, according to the NPD. (Analysts had expected a drop of between 6 and 10 percent.) Sales of gaming hardware were up a surprising 10 percent, though.
Gamers went on a buying spree in February, shocking 
analysts and rocketing the video games industry into positive sales territory for the first time in over two years.
Buoyed by an unexpected 10 percent jump in hardware sales and a 22 percent surge in peripherals (led by Microsoft’s record-setting Kinect), video game industry sales are now 4 percent above where they were a year ago year to date, according to the NPD Group.
Chris Morris: Journalist 