King, 
the company behind the mobile smash Candy Crush Saga, isn’t content with owning your free time. Now it wants a part of your everyday vocabulary, too.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has approved the company’s application to trademark the word “candy” across a variety of platforms, ranging from computer games to cassette tapes to shower caps.
Stung 
by a rough holiday season and consumer apathy towards its latest console, Nintendo has slashed its financial forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2014 and cut its Wii U sales estimate by over two-thirds.
Nintendo said early Friday that it no longer expects to earn 55 billion yen this quarter. Instead, the company says, it will lose 25 billion yen. To put that into context, it’s a shift from a $527 million gain to a $240 million loss. Ouch.
The 
Xbox One might have won December, but the PS4 is winning the war.
According to brick and mortar retail tracker The NPD Group, both of Microsoft’s consoles outperformed Sony’s in the final month of 2013 in the U.S. Microsoft sold 908,000 Xbox Ones and 643,000 Xbox 360s in December, surpassing the totals for both the PS4 and PS3, though Sony did not provide specific numbers.
Apple 
and Google have both pulled a controversial plastic surgery ‘game’ aimed at children from their app stores after a hailstorm of criticism.
Plastic Surgery for Barbie (on iOS) and Plastic Surgery (on Android) were both removed from the storefronts this week. The games encouraged children to perform plastic surgery on an overweight girl the games described as “ugly.”
The 
gaming world thought it had said R.I.P. to R.B.I. Baseball in 1995, but the long-dormant sports franchise is coming off of the bench.
Major League Baseball has revealed plans to bring back the series that debuted on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. In a succinct announcement, MLB Advanced Media said it would be bringing R.B.I. to “current- and next-generation consoles and smartphones and tablets.” The league didn’t offer any additional details.
Usually 
when the film and video game worlds collide, it’s a messy affair. The latest run-in, though, is just plain weird.
Activision has unveiled Onslaught, the first downloadable expansion pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts. And in a twist straight out of a B-movie script, the game’s special guest star is none other than Michael Myers, the unstoppable serial killer from the ‘Halloween’ horror movies.
Nearly 
a year after a disastrous launch plagued with server woes and bitter player complaints, the troubled SimCity is finally getting an offline mode.
EA announced the change Monday, saying developer Maxis is “in the late stages” of developing the mode. The company did not give an estimate of when offline play would be available, saying it plans extensive testing before doing so.
Nintendo 
doesn’t have a lot to say about the Wii U these days, but the 3DS? It’s happy to talk about that, and for good reason.
Life-to-date sales of the 3DS and 2DS have topped 11.5 million in the U.S., the company announced Friday.
The 
gaming world stepped out of the shadows of CES this year. Fascinating new gaming tech stood shoulder to shoulder with big screen TVs, smartphones and tablets at the massive electronics show, offering a glimpse at how we might be playing in the months and years to come. While not all of these devices and services will earn a spot in our gaming set-up, they all offer an intriguing vision. Here are eight worth watching.
The 
Xbox One may have gotten out to a strong sales start, but there have been a few bumps along the way — especially with the system’s social features.
Many of those problems could be going away in the near future, though, as Microsoft has announced it’s working on a significant update for its next-generation system, intended to address user criticisms.
Chris Morris: Journalist 