voncheesebiscuit writes "Sony Online Entertainment (developers of Everquest, EQ2, and Star Wars Galaxies) and Turbine Entertainment Software (developers of Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2) announced today an agreement whereby SOE will distribute the upcoming Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 expansion packs. Interesting news, what does this mean for future Turbine games and other MMP's as Sony increases its visibility in the space?"

Kotaku has yet more commentary on the gaming press, where Brian Crecente complains about the childish nature of gaming magazine coverage. This commentary is based on an IGDA commentary piece by Matthew Sakey about the sad state of adult-oriented gaming press. From the article: "What about the magazine did I like the least? Maybe it was the jet lag, but I answered truthfully: 'Sometimes I think your magazine acts too childish. I could do without the stuffed animals and Godzilla jokes and Nerf gun battle pictorials. I'd rather see more in-depth coverage of gaming trends and the ideas that games produce, and less obsession with technology. If we want games treated as a hobby that's as much for adults as children, then we should act more adult. Fun, but grown-up.' This answer pleased them not, and in retrospect it occurs to me that had I shown a bit more tact - for which I am admittedly not famous - I might have gotten the job."

_xeno_ writes "World of Warcraft has received many awards for being one of the best games released in 2004. Unfortunately, the game is still suffering from downtime. Over this weekend, twenty different servers went offline several times - enough for Penny Arcade to revoke their 2004 Game of the Year status from the game. As Tycho puts it, "...we loved the game and had faith that any hitches in the experience would be ground down before release. This has not been borne out."" Relatedly, Voodoo Extreme is reporting that the Korean release of World of Warcraft should be happening today.

acxr is wasted writes "Electronic Arts has dealt another blow to rival Sega by signing a 15-year agreement with ESPN, giving the publisher exclusive video game rights to ESPN branded material. EA has recently faced pressure from popular ESPN-branded Sega titles released at discount prices, prompting their recent deal with the NFL, and failed bid for the NBA."

quan74 writes "The folks at Valve have announced that "The official Counter-Strike Bot will be released for Counter-Strike: Source on Monday (January 17th)." This is great news for those of us that have been anxiously awaiting the feature." The new CS bots have been enhanced with some improved pathing, a better understanding of the foibles of grenades, and a more human-like attention system. Details on the bots available on the forums.

An anonymous reader writes "The site Cubehacker.com, a GC development page, is hosting a 60 day development competition. The goal of this competition is to boost interest in developing homebrew applications and games for this powerful little console."

glengineer writes "Gotta love edisoncarter for his cheesy, brute force, and effective hack of the PS2 controller to discover cheats for Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas. He used the parallel port of his PC connected to relays on the PS2 controller to step thru the combinations of button pushing needed to obtain cheats that were not released by Rockstar."

To finish up the season of "Best of the Year" pieces we have IGN's Best of 2004, where they take a look at the games across several different categories. At the same time Gamespot is offering a Most Anticipated of 2005 feature, games that their editorial staff are looking forward to for the coming year. From the article: "Though the release slate may lack some of the sizzling franchises that were refreshed just months ago, it's quite clear that there's no lack of promising or exciting games on the horizon."

A reader writes:"252 MIT students are spending the month of January writing Java programs to control virtual robots in a videogame environment called Robocraft. These virtual robots will battle each other for cash prizes in a tournament to see who can write the best Robocraft player. The competition is being sponsored by top tech companies including Bank of America, Electronic Arts, BBN, Schlumberger, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle. Only MIT students are eligible to compete, but anyone can read the specs, download the software, and program their own virtual robot using the Robocraft API."

Fabio writes "The mission of LLGP (Linux Live Game Project) is show to Wintendo users that also Linux can be used to game. And now a new version is out. Features: KDE 3.3 with Plastik theme and Nuvola icons, kernel 2.6.10, Nvidia drivers, TORCS, Wesnoth, SuperTux, TuxRacer and much more! It's based on Knoppix, but contains deep changes in the startup scripts. Now the hardware probing is completely based on hotplug and udev; kudzu was removed. Challenge your friends on LLGP, and convert them to Linux!"

Steve Rock writes "Many of us have heard about the various ways in which real life and massively-multiplayer role playing games intersect, which usually involves the exchange of in-game characters or items for real life money. Well apparently religion is spilling over into World of Warcraft." From the article: "We meet under the docks in Booty Bay for a bible study every Tuesday night."

Reuters is carrying the news that Electronic Arts is considering creating a television show based on 'The Sims'. The show would allow viewers to vote on what the avatars in the show would do. From the article: "One idea could be that you're controlling a family, telling them when to go to the kitchen and when to go to the bedroom, and with this mechanism you have gamers all over the world 'playing the show."

Rogerpq3 writes "Enemy Territory Fortress (ETF), a port of the Quake3 mod Q3F is now available for Enemy Territory players. ETF is based off the Team Fortress concept: 10 unique classes and a ton of very cool weapons along with some killer maps. The mod includes many game types like CTF, Reverse CTF, Single Flag, Capture & Hold, Assault, King of the Hill and Duel. To play the mod, all people need to do is download Enemy Territory and the latest patch which are both free. You can find a list of download mirrors for ETF here."

Details have emerged regarding several EA takeover related stories. The long running dispute with Digital Illusions may be coming to an end as EA has waived the requirement to own majority shares in the company. They still plan to purchase as many shares of the company as possible. Ubisoft announced that they have a defense planned against a hostile takeover bid from EA, should it arise. No mention of what this plan is, of course. In reaction to the recent press coverage of their move to purchase Ubi stock, EA has announced that their purchase was not hostile, and that they'd spoken often with Ubi representatives. From the article: "Florin reiterated that Electronic Arts was not asking for a seat on Ubisoft's board. 'We had the opportunity to buy a 20 percent stake in Ubisoft and we haven't asked for anything... That's not hostile. In our industry, one doesn't make hostile moves because our value lies with people,' he added."

SirBruce writes "Mmogchart.com has been updated, and Version 13.0 is now online. The charts now include more data for World of Warcraft and EverQuest II. Please keep in mind that this data is still very preliminary and could still change. It is widely believed that many other games have shown a decline in subscriptions as a result of the impact of WoW and EQII, but I have no quantifiable numbers yet for the current subscribers for games such as EverQuest I, Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot, and City of Heroes. The full effect of WoW and EQII is not yet visible and probably will not be until February or March."

Frictionless Insight is reporting that the International Game Developers Association is lowering their membership fees after a split with their former management organization. From the article: "Ordinary memberships now cost roughly half what they previously cost, and other memberships have been discounted somewhat. For example, a standard one-year membership has dropped from $100 to $48." This can only mean good things, as more beginnign developers become a part of the association.

Blue's News has details on changes to popular MMOG subscription plans. Star Wars Galaxies has been folded into the Sony Online Station pass, which now allows gamers to pay one fee for all of Sony's Online offerings (EQ, EQII, PS, SWG, and the Station Games). In related news, the folks behind Anarchy Online also announced today that they're extending their subscriptionless service plan out until early 2006. Good news for folks wanting to try some new games.

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that a ruling against the Japanese software giant has been handed down in the case of Immersion vs. Sony. Immersion sued the company over the force feedback effect experienced in the dual-shock controller, which it has a patent on. From the article: "Now a Californian district court has ordered Sony to pay a 1.37 per cent license fee based on sales of the PlayStation console and of the named videogames, to be paid quarterly effective from July 1st."

robotissues writes "Farklempt! is an online video game that challenges its players to manage their emotional-health through the skillful manipulation of feelings against other players trying to do the same. USA Today said: "You will not see another game like this one for many a day, we suspect, unless someone finds a way to squeeze a copy of The Sims until the pure essence comes out". Wired Online also covered the unveiling at Dorkbot NYC last week."

Gamespot is reporting that EA has pinned the launch date for the first Sims 2 expansion at March 1st, with the game being in stores on the 3rd. Gamespot also has an interview with the producer discussing new gameplay options, and the first official trailer. From the interview: "We expect the college experience for a single sim to last about double the length of the teen life span. But a single sim won't necessarily be able to experience all that college has to offer, so we anticipate that players will bring multiple sims to college and play them in very different ways."