Zenimax Media, the parent company of 
Bethesda Softworks, continues to expand its talent pool. Shinji Mikami, creator of the “Resident Evil” franchise, has joined the publisher as part of Zenimax’s acquisition of his Tango Gameworks development house.
It’s the latest in a series of big moves for the company, which in the last year has acquired Arkane Studios and id Software and picked up $150 million in venture capital investments.
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
The book world has 
ISBN numbers to help it track how products are doing. But in the film and television worlds, things haven’t been quite so organized.
A group of studios, cable and technology companies are looking to change that, today announcing the launch of the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) to help track movies, TV shows and other assets. Among the names behind the movement are Disney, Comcast, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and the MPAA.
Add PBS to the networks streaming 
content directly to the iPad.
The public network launched a free app yesterday allowing users to full-length versions of some of its most popular programs, including “Nova,” “Antiques Roadshow” and “Austin City Limits”. The app also gives a one hour preview for the networ’s upcoming multi-part series “Circus”.
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
Critics might have sniped at Sony for not
releasing Move sales figures in conjunction with last week’s NPD data, but the company is fighting back.
John Koller, head of marketing for Sony’s PlayStation division, says the company shipped 1 million Move units to North American retailers in the peripheral’s the first 30 days. And while the company isn’t releasing hard sales numbers, Koller says it’s quite happy with the reception.
Critics have been lukewarm over
“Medal of Honor” and Electronic Arts is still taking heat for the early (and since-reversed) decision to make the Taliban playable in the multiplayer mode, but the game is still selling strong.
EA has announced the game sold 1.5 million units in its first five days on store shelves. CEO John Riccitiello added in an interview on Fox Business that the game has already surpassed $100 million at retail.
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
Hollywood’s locked in an ongoing battle with 
online piracy – and that’s one that’s not likely to end soon. But if you’re curious about what films are the most pirated these days, TorrentFreak has the answer.
The site, which monitors and compiles the most popular Bit Torrent downloads has put together a list of the biggest cinematic downloads this week. And the most popular with pirates was only the second most popular with theatergoers – while last week’s number one film – “Jackass: 3D” – is nowhere to be found. (Whether that’s due to the film’s choice to show in 3D or some other factor is a matter ofdebate.)
Add THQ to the publishers 
expanding their operations into Canada. The company behind WWE games and last year’s “Avatar” has announced plans to open a development studio in Montreal – and has grabbed one of the country’s top developers in the process.
Patrice Désilets, formerly creative director on the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise at Ubisosft, will join the company next summer. (He’s currently riding out a non-compete from Ubisoft.)
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
Retail video game sales might be 
floundering in 2009, but Steam, the largest digital distributor of PC games, is have a banner year.
Valve Software, maker of the “Half-Life” franchise and the owner of Steam, say active accounts at the service have topped 30 million – with new growth of 178 percent in the past 12 months. At its peak, the number of simultaneous players has reached 3 million.
September’s retail sales numbers for the video 
game industry might have stunk up the joint something terrible, but there’s one bright spot to be found.
The NPD Group, for the first time, has released a new spending report that incorporates not only retail sales, but used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile game apps.
The consensus among 
analysts and industry observers was that strong sales of “Halo: Reach” would be enough to bring video game sales into positive territory in September.
The consensus was wrong. Very, very wrong.
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
Chris Morris: Journalist 