The Wall Street rumor mill has been 
alive with chatter for the past couple of weeks about whether video game king of the hill Activision-Blizzard should buy Take-Two Interactive Software.
It’s a merger that makes sense on some levels—but is absolutely baffling on others.
Not since Angry Birds first hit the App Store 
has a title so captivated the iAudience, and Tiny Wings deserves the praise. It’s a game whose success lies in its simplicity — the controls consist solely of touching the screen at the right time. That might sound a bit thin, but this is the type of game you’ll find yourself playing for long, long periods. It is, in many ways, Zen-like. Beyond the core gameplay, there’s an added bonus: the various islands you’ll explore change every day, giving the title an incredible amount of replayability, as you can’t simply learn a pattern and repeat it time and again. Tiny Wings is one of those rare games that makes you feel good as you play, letting you root for the chubbly little bird on screen and share his joy when he takes to the sky.
There’s really not much that doesn’t work — and work 
well — in Infinity Field. The game is a throwback to the glory days of arcade gaming, with the polish and beauty of today’s console generation. The gameplay is simple: enemies appear and you dispatch them as quickly as possible. Along the way, you might pick up an extra life or new way to shoot them down. The screen comes alive with color as the enemies — a collection of amorphous geometric shapes — explode in bursts when they’re shot, much like fireworks. The only potential downside is the frenetic pace of the game, which could be overwhelming for someone used to a slower style of play. If that’s not an issue for you, though, this is one of the most enjoyable arcade/action games around.
With its next generation portable system 
looming, Sony is giving the PSP one last moment in the spotlight. Effective this Sunday, the company will cut the retail price of its portable gaming system by $40, from $170 to $130.
The move not only lets Sony access a new audience with the PSP, it lets the company get out in front of the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, which will hit shelves on March 27.
The countdown is on for the next
installment in the “Call of Duty” franchise – and all signs are pointing to “Modern Warfare 3”.
Activision has sent out dog tags to select members of the press that include the message “end the war” and refer to athe website FindMakarov.com. That site (which is getting hammered right now) features a countdown clock that’s set to expire Wed. March 2 at 7am PST.
[UPDATED: Activision has issued a statement that the site has no ties to the “Call of Duty” franchise. The publisher has further clarified it had nothing to do with the dogtags sent to some media outlets, either.]
It’s not often that the Smurfs can
trigger an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.
Amid stories of parents being shocked to see their children inadvertently racking up huge bills while innocently playing apps like Smurfs’ Village (a Farmville-like game centering on the little blue folk), the FTC reportedly plans to review the marketing and delivery of apps that include in-app purchases.
GameSpy’s Sean Flinn tells Gamasutra editor-at-large 
Chris Morris about GameSpy Open Initiative, a new initiative that makes GameSpy’s online game tech available free of charge to small devs.
With its connected gaming technology already integrated into hit titles like Red Dead Redemption, Mario Kart Wii and Crysis, GameSpy is turning its sights to the independent game community.
The company has announced the GameSpy Open initiative, which will make its entire catalog of multiplatform online game technology available free of charge to small development studios. That will allow burgeoning game makers to offer services including cross-platform multiplayer, leaderboards, cloud data storage and community services (such as buddy lists and matchmaking).
September is shaping up to be a bullet-ridden
month for the video game industry — with three of the year’s most anticipated shooter games scheduled to land at retail.
Microsoft announced Wednesday that Gears of War 3 will release on Sept. 20. That’s just one week after id Software’s long-in-the-works shooter Rage is expected to hit the streets and a little over two weeks after Sony will release Resistance 3.
The Creator’s Project, a creative 
showcase initiative created by processor giant Intel and media company Vice (which is behind Vice Magazine and VBS.tv), is undergoing a dramatic expansion.
The initiative will today announce the launch of a multi-million dollar major studio that will produce multimedia works for leading and emerging talents from the art, film, design and music worlds.
In terms of big splashes, the Game Developer
Conference generally pales in comparison to E3. But even though it might lack a circus atmosphere and onslaught of new product announcements, that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of news.
This will be the 25th time industry developers and executives have gathered to network, seek inspiration and learn more about the industry of making games. Started in a developer’s living room in 1988 with roughly 25 people attending, this year’s show is expected to welcome more than 18,000 attendees to the Moscone Center in San Francisco when it kicks off on Feb. 28.
Here are a few of the topics you’re likely to see make the headlines:
Chris Morris: Journalist 