While the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii still have 
several years in front of them, the chatter has finally begun about the next generation of consoles.
Front and center in that conversation is Epic Games, whose Unreal Engine 3 has been a big part of the current crop of games, powering all of the “Gears of War” titles as well as “BioShock,” the “Mass Effect ” games and “DC Universe Online”.
Netflix and Hulu have some new 
competition: Facebook.
Warner Bros. has announced a new program that will let users of the popular social networking stream the studio’s films online. Initially, only “The Dark Knight” will be available, but Warner says it plans to quickly ramp up the program in the coming months.
Alex Carloss, who up until last week was
head of digital distribution at Paramount, has made the jump to Google.
Carloss will work on the content acquisition team for the company’s YouTube arm, joining Robert Kyncl, who left Netflix for the company last year.
Nintendo’s global president Satoru Iwata is not 
happy with the app revolution – and it’s not just because of the competition it’s giving his company.
In his GDC keynote address discussing the state of the video game industry, Iwata was particular outspoken on his fear that the explosion in cheap and free apps has devalued game development and could eventually put the industry at risk.
Hollywood is coming to 
Nintendo.
The game giant announced Wednesday that U.S. owners of its upcoming 3DS console will be able to stream movies to the device via Netflix starting this summer. And users will also be able to watch 3D trailers for upcoming Hollywood features.
Panasonic is headed back 
to the city.
The consumer electronics giant has stopped development on its handheld gaming system that was code-named Jungle “due to changes in the market and in [the company’s] strategic direction”.
Sony has some mounting problems
in Europe.
Customs officials have been ordered to seize shipments of all PlayStation 3 shipments from the manufacturer and hold them in storage for at least 10 days. The orders come as LG has won a preliminary injunction against Sony in an ongoing patent dispute between the companies.
The Oscars are getting high-tech
– and going multi-screen.
As Hollywood gears up for its biggest night, the countdown clock is ticking on the official app of the Academy Awards – Oscar Backstage Pass. Build in collaboration with ABC, the ambitious project (which works with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad) hopes to serve as a second screen for viewers, giving them access to live camera feeds before, during and after the event.
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.]
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.
Chris Morris: Journalist 