After 
flinging ticked off toucans at egg-stealing pigs for the past three years, the developers at Rovio are ready to spread their wings and fly away from the nest.
The creator of the massively successful Angry Birds franchise has a new game on the way, with nary a bird in sight.
Four 
months of 2012 are over. And not one of them has held good news for video game publishers.
Total video game sales came to $630.4 million in April, down 32 percent from $930.9 million a year ago. Video game software sales were especially lousy, down an astonishing 42 percent, coming in at just $292 million. Hardware sales were down 32 percent, according to The NPD Group, which tracks the numbers. The numbers are significantly worse than analysts were expecting, more than double the 19 percent drop Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter had warned of.
Sony’s 
troubles aren’t getting any better.
The electronics giant reported a record loss for the 2011 fiscal year of $5.7 billion. More than half of that loss — $3.2 billion — came in the four quarter.
Twenty 
years after revolutionizing gaming, the iconic Wolfenstein 3D is back. And it won’t cost you a dime to enjoy it.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first first-person shooter, id Software and its parent company Bethesda Softworks have released a free-to-play web version of the game that runs right out of your web browser. For folks who prefer their gaming on the go, the developer will also offer Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum free to iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners for a limited time.
The Force 
is, well, a little tepid with Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Electronic Arts’ much ballyhooed massively-multiplayer game set in George Lucas’s celebrated universe is bleeding customers, losing some 400,000 in the fourth quarter — a number much worse than anyone was expecting.
After 
a week of speculation, Microsoft has formally announced plans to offer a subscription-based Xbox 360/Kinect bundle requiring a two-year paid commitment.
Customers will pay $99 for a 4 GB Xbox 360 and Kinect up front, then will pay $15 per month for the next two years. They’ll enjoy an Xbox Live Gold subscription during that time period, but no additional functionality in the service.
While 
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 won’t hit store shelves for more than six months, it’s already setting records.
Amazon reports the game, which was just announced this week, is on track to become the most pre-ordered game in its history, outpacing Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops and…um, well, a bunch of other Call of Duty games.
The 
price of the Xbox might be about to come way, way down. But you’ll end up paying more for it.
Confused? You’re not alone.
Could 
the Master Chief have an impact on the next Commander in Chief?
Political activists fear it’s possible.
Plenty 
of celebrities have lent their name or talents to video games, but few seem as odd a fit as Oprah Winfrey.
Nevertheless, the talk show queen and media maven has teamed with Jane McGonigal, the leader in the ‘gamification’ movement, to create Oprah’s Thank You Game, a Facebook game that lets players, well, thank people.
Really.
Chris Morris: Journalist 