So much for a holiday 
surprise from Nintendo.
The company today announced launch details for the 3DS, its upcoming handheld gaming platform that lets users play games in stereoscopic 3D without the need for special glasses. Japanese consumers will be the first to get their hands on the system – starting Feb. 26. U.S. and European gamers will have their chance in March.
Hulu seems to be making noises that 
it could be nearing the end of its beta period on its Hulu Plus service. The company has announced another pair of set-top boxes that will begin carrying the service soon.
Tivo has signed on with the company to bring Hulu Plus to its Premiere DVRs in the coming months, and all Roku streaming media players will begin carrying it this fall.
[In this Gamasutra editorial, editor-at-large and veteran game journalist Chris Morris looks at the escalating war of words between Electronic Arts and Activision – and the detrimental effects the dustup can have on the video game industry.]
There’s a reason politicians are so despised in this country. One party spends so much time squabbling over disagreements with the other party that everyone’s focus on their main job – ensuring the smooth running of the country – falls by the wayside.
It’s only fitting, then, that as the midterm elections near, the two biggest parties in the video game industry have decided to express their mutual loathing towards each other.
“Medal of Honor,” the revival of one of Electronic 
Arts biggest franchises, has been taking a lot of fire lately. But now the publisher is ready to go on the offensive.
For the past month, several parties have targeted the title after it was disclosed that gamers could play as the Taliban in the game’s multiplayer mode.
Research in Motion, the company behind the Blackberry
, is still fighting Apple tooth and nail in the smartphone market – and it’s not planning to cede the tablet space to the company, either.
The company today unveiled its Playbook tablet, a 7-inch 9.7mm-thick device that’s due early next year in the U.S., with plans for an international roll-out in the second quarter of 2011.
Christopher Nolan might have 
the Midas touch when it comes to making movies, but he hasn’t had a lot of luck in the videogame arena. But that’s not dissuading the writer / director / producer, who plans to bring his hit film “Inception” to a console near you.
“We are looking at developing a videogame based on the world of the film, which has all kinds of ideas that you can’t fit into a feature film,” Nolan told reporters at a press conference in Rome, according to a report in Variety. “That’s something we’ve been talking about and are looking at doing long term, in a couple of years.”
While Nintendo kicked off the motion control revolution 
four years ago and quickly dominated the field, Microsoft and Sony are betting there’s a lot of life — and money — left in the category.
Last Sunday, Sony’s new PlayStation Move controller went on sale and in November Microsoft will launch Kinect, it’s motion-tracking camera that essentially transforms players’ bodies into the controller. Both products are gambles — and, to some degree, risks — for the companies, who are hoping to keep the current generation of video game systems relevant for several years.
[What’s the right balance between quality and release spacing for theHalo franchise, pre- and post-Bungie? Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris 
examines how other franchises have been affected by more regular iteration.]
Within four days of its release, fans spend the equivalent of over 2,300 man-years playing Halo: Reach. While Bungie’s sendoff to its most famous franchise is certainly a resounding success, though, the long-term fate of Halo is starting to become more questionable.
On Wednesday, Microsoft corporate VP Phil Spencer told IGN that the company is looking to increase the frequency of Halo releases.
Steve Wadsworth, president of Disney’s 
Interactive Media Group – the division overseeing video games, online virtual worlds and the company’s mobile efforts – has resigned after an 11-year tenure with the company.
The departure leaves a vacuum at one of the company’s most important – but often troubled – divisions.
The growing threat of Web video distribution 
is one the cable industry needs to pay closer attention to, according to the CEO of Verizon. Ivan Seidenberg, at a Goldman media conference in NY, told attendees he doesn’t expect future generations of customers to have any interest in buying cable bundles.
“Young people are pretty smart. They’re not going to pay for something they don’t need to,” he said. “Over the top is going to be a pretty big issue for cable.”
Chris Morris: Journalist 