Even 
before the first Skylanders game hit shelves in 2011, the team at Activision was bracing for competition.
The concept — marry action figures with video games — was largely untested, and while the company bean counters were cautiously optimistic about the prospects for such a hybrid, there were no guarantees. But the developers had already started a countdown.
You 
might – might – actually be able to play Grand Theft Auto Online this weekend. And if you’re really lucky, you might even be able to do so right now.
Rockstar Games has issued an update for GTA V on the PlayStation 3 and says the update will be coming to the Xbox 360 “as soon as possible” today. If all goes according to plan, the fix should clear up a lot of the server issues that have been plaguing players since the online mode’s launch three days ago.
While 
you typically play a hero in military shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, some of your actions aren’t exactly heroic. You’ve likely partaken in more than a few actions that international law would frown upon, to put it mildly.
If so, the Red Cross wants a fitting in-game punishment for your crimes.
Tom 
Clancy had one of the most valuable names in gaming.
It was so valuable, in fact, that Ubisoft bought it from the prolific author in 2008 for an undisclosed substantial sum. And while Clancy’s writing legacy is at an end with his untimely passing, his name will continue to be a part of video game culture.
Since 
the launch of Grand Theft Auto V, fans have been eagerly waiting to start exploring the game’s new multiplayer mode. Early Tuesday morning, that mode launched — but most players are still waiting to play it.
As seems to happen with so many major online game launches, Rockstar and Take Two were unprepared for the massive influx of players, causing the game’s servers to be overwhelmed and preventing most players from being able to log in and explore the compelling new mode.
Grand 
Theft Auto V has just about everything. You can build a crime empire. You can go skydiving. You can play a round of golf, search for hidden treasure, partake in a triathlon, or just drive around like a maniac.
There’s one thing missing, though: an instruction manual.
Timothy 
Leary’s pop-culture status was pretty well cemented via his fervent arguments for the use of psychedelic drugs.
But it turns out the leading cheerleader of LSD had a side gig: Game developer.
The 
ending to Game of the Year contender The Last of Us is one of the most thought-provoking and controversial of the past several years. But it could have been different — a lot different.
Developer Naughty Dog has released motion-captured footage for an alternate ending to the game that, well, certainly would have surprised players.
On 
Monday, video game powerhouse Valve Software introduced an operating system based on its Steam digital distribution service. Then on Wednesday, it announced hardware that would run that OS in the living room. So it wasn’t a big surprise when the company’s third mystery unveiling this week was a controller for that system.
Until we saw the thing.
A 
Wisconsin teen who failed to listen to his parents is probably wishing he had today after a judge banned him from playing video games.
17-year-old Jeffery A. Ehlers of Mount Pleasant got a bit too excited when he was playing a game on his PlayStation 3, allegedly using obscenities when he lost. His mom didn’t care for that much, and told him to stop or she would unplug his console.
Chris Morris: Journalist 