The wheelings and dealings of the video game world keep spinning with EA acquiring Pandemic and Bioware from the VG Holding company. This gives the gaming juggernaut dibs on all of their creative properties. This could mean some high quality RPG’s coming up in the not so distant future. Here is the official press release we just received from EA.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced an agreement with Elevation Partners to acquire VG Holding Corp. — the owner of both BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios. This acquisition gives EA a strong competitive position in key genres in interactive entertainment: action, adventure and role-playing games. The two studios have been recognized for creating some of the highest-quality games in the industry.

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Activision sent over a press release letting us know that Spider-Man 3 for the PSP is now available.

In Spider-Man 3 for the PSP system, players must draw upon Spider-Man’s unique combat and powerful, upgradeable moves to protect the citizens of Manhattan by defeating arch-rivals from the blockbuster film as well as classic Marvel villains during missions and epic boss battles. In the PSP system exclusive Conquest Mode, missions must be completed by dawn, and if successful, players will be rewarded generously with Hero Points, which allow them to upgrade and customize their Spider-Man skills.

I was disappointed with Spider-Man 3 on the PS3, after really loving the first two movie-based games. Hopefully the camera has been re-worked for the PSP, which was the biggest issue with the console title.

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Microsoft sent out a press release saying that Games for Windows LIVE will be getting an update to v1.2 sometime in November.

The Games for Windows – LIVE v1.2 update will continue to add numerous end-user benefits to the service, such as support for offline Achievements, so gamers can continue to rack up Gamerscore when not connected to the internet, the ability to see whether your friends are “joinable” in games, along with additional UI features.

Microsoft is pushing out updates on a good schedule here. I think the problem still is that only gamers with both an Xbox 360 and PC are going to pay for LIVE. Strict PC gamers aren’t going to start dropping $50 a year for something they can do for free anyway.

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Microsoft sent out a press release today to let us know that new Xbox 360 bundles are coming for the Holiday season. Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance will be packed in with all Pro and Elite consoles. Sorry Core buyers, no love for you. And no love for the Halo 3 Special Edition either.

This is a pretty good bundle for those looking to pick up a 360 (or replace a broken one).

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Microsoft issued a press release this morning to let us know that Bungie will “embark on a path to become an independent company“.

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft^® platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios; and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”

Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie, as the continue to develop games in the Halo franchise to be published by Microsoft Game Studios.

So what does this all really mean? We’re not exactly sure. It does mean Bungie now has the opportunity to make multi-platform games, but not Halo. When and how they choose to reveal these projects is still up in the air.

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Activision sent over a press release to let us know of 17 new tracks in Guitar Hero III. It looks more and more like that leaked set list is real. Here’s the new tracks:

• Same Old Song and Dance (by Aerosmith)
• Helicopter (by Bloc Party)
• Stricken (by Disturbed)
• Monsters (by Matchbook Romance)
• Before I Forget (by Slipknot)
• Kool Thing (by Sonic Youth)
• When You Were Young (by The Killers)
• Devil Went Down to Georgia (as made famous by Charlie Daniels Band)
• Sunshine of Your Love (as made famous by Cream)
• Holiday in Cambodia (as made famous by Dead Kennedys)
• Cliffs of Dover (as made famous by Eric Johnson)
• Hit Me with Your Best Shot (as made famous by Pat Benetar)
• Black Magic Woman (as made famous by Santana)
• Story of My Life (as made famous by Social Distortion)
• Pride and Joy (as made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughn)
• The Seeker (as made famous by The Who)
• Black Sunshine (as made famous by White Zombie)

Not having the master track for Devil Went Down to Georgia is a disappointment. How can anyone but Charlie Daniels rock that song properly?

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Well, it’s not A-List for movies, but it’s certainly A-List in the video game world. Actors are lining up to lend their voices to Turok. Here’s a sampling of what you can expect in the game:

The realism of Turok and his team’s terrifying circumstance is conveyed through the distinguished voice talent. Gregory Norman Cruz provides the voice of Joseph Turok and the other members of Whiskey Company are: Timothy Olyphant (as Cowboy), Ron Perlman (Slade), Donnie Wahlberg (Shepard), William Fichtner (Logan), Mark Rolston (Cole), Chris Judge (Jericho), Lombardo Boyar (Gonzales), Gideon Emery (Reese), Josh Gomez (Parker), Jon Curry (Foster), Jason Harris (Carter) and Steve Van Wormer (Henderson).

This seems to be a continuing trend in the industry, and I can only hope it continues and grows. The more epic and film-like games are made, the more immersive the experience.

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Nintendo announced that a new color scheme is available for the Nintendo DS in the United States: Crimson and Onyx. This color combination was previously only available in a Brain Age 2 bundle. Here’s what Nintendo thinks:

Playing the new two-tone Crimson/Onyx Nintendo DS™ is sure to get you noticed. Just like the hottest new cell phones and MP3 players, it combines incredible functionality with a sweet look: bright red coupled with smooth black.

I’m not sure it’s going to get you noticed as much as an iPhone, but the bold color scheme might turn the heads of some gamers.

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Everyone’s favorite Liger worshiping nerd is getting his own game on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

Step into the moon boots of Napoleon Dynamite and relive some flippin sweet movie moments like dancing to Z-Kwon, throwing the pigskin a quarter mile with Uncle Rico, smashing piñatas with Pedro and many more! Napoleon Dynamite brings 20 mini games for the DS and 30 for the PSP that really need you to use all your good skills to pass…even your bow-hunting skills for when you’re hunting Wolverines with your uncle in Alaska! So hurry up and play already and all your wildest dreams will come true. Gosh!

The game looks to provide a good deal of humor with it’s in depth gameplay. I’m just happy there’s a portion of the game where you have to feed Tina the Llama.

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As the Xbox 360 and PS3 begin to distance themselves from the Wii, Nintendo has tried to make their system as marketable as possible as they continue to add more and more games to their virtual console list. They have just added NEOGEO games; the same system that none of us could afford. Here is the official press release:

The retro hits just keep coming with Wii’s Virtual Console with over 140 titles currently available to download. Soon Wii owners will be able to re-experience the greatest arcade games of the 90s with a selection of releases from the NEOGEO. These will join classic games from Nintendo, SEGA and Turbografx already available on Wii Virtual Console. Hit the jump for more…