John Davison

LEGO Universe has been eagerly anticipated by Lego and MMO fans alike for the past year, and Warner Bros. has announced today that the game will be available in stores on October 26. The company noted that super-eager fans would be able to play the game as soon as October 12 for a select group that it's calling "The Founders."

So how do you establish yourself as a founder? You have to go to an official LEGO store, the LEGO Online store, or LEGOland to get a copy. Simple, huh?

The Medal of Honor Public Beta kicks off on June 21, and you can sign up for service on the official site right here. But what if you just can't wait, and want to get in even earlier? Like, this week? Well, you're in luck. If you're a Battlefield Bad Company 2 VIP, and you've pre-ordered Medal of Honor, you'll be able to start playing (on all three systems; PC, PS3, and Xbox 360) this Thursday, June 17.

The Medal of Honor multiplayer beta features two modes set across two maps inspired by real world locations: Helmand Valley and Kabul City Ruins. In Team Assault mode, players must rely on their raw skill and map knowledge to stay alive in intense and close quarter combat. In Combat Mission, a tactical and team-based mode, gamers fight through a series of objectives revealed through an engaging narrative. Both modes pit two teams of 12 players (total 24 players) against one another with realistic destruction, tactical support actions, and a weapon customization system with modifications that generate hundreds of combinations.

We're less than a week away from the biggest event on the video game calendar. Rather than talk about individual games that we're all excited about, John Davison predicts the larger themes that will emerge from this year's show, and discovers what a natal-cleft is. (See also "Celebrity Watch List for E3.")

Since Red Dead Redemption came out a few weeks ago I've been stewing on a number of ideas for Friday editorials about it. In truth, I'm completely and utterly besotted with the game, and am just looking for excuses to talk about it at every available opportunity. Some would consider this boring. Like my wife, who has been doing a sterling job of feigning interest, but I'm starting to think that her patience is wearing thin. I know the game has one or two little flaws, but there's so much that it does right, I just don't want it to end. I was going to write something this week actually. My goal was to try and explore its modern day political commentary, or its subtle but wonderfully graceful way of introducing a form of elective narrative, or its elegant approach to role playing, but I want to absorb everything that it has to offer first. In truth, it's proving to be quite an impediment to my consumption of games in general. I have a whole pile of stuff that I want to try, most notably Alan Wake, but I'm loathe to start it up for fear of the two games clashing. Best I finish one before starting the other.
So, instead I want to tackle something more immediately pressing. The imminent spectacle of the biggest event on the video game calendar; E3.

In what is the Xbox division's biggest shake-up since original management team members including Ed Fries and Seamus Blackley left the company in 2004, Microsoft has today revealed that two individuals that many gamers are used to seeing reference to, Robbie Bach and J Allard, will be leaving the company this fall.

Bach, who served as the president of the Entertainment and Devices division, under which the Xbox 360, Windows Mobile, Zune, and other devices lived, will be retiring this fall. In a press release issued this morning, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated, "For the past 22 years, Robbie has personified creativity, innovation and drive. With this spirit, he has led a division passionately devoted to making Microsoft successful in interactive entertainment and mobility," Ballmer said. "Robbie's an amazing business person and close personal friend, which makes his departure a point of sadness for me. However, given the strong leadership team he has built, the business performance of E&D this year and the launches of Windows Phone 7 and 'Project Natal' this fall, we are set up well for success as we continue to drive our mobile and entertainment businesses forward."

The latest in Sony's series of Kevin Butler TV spots highlights the recently announced PlayStation Move, and pokes fun at the Wii's lack of 3D tracking, and the Natal's lack of buttons.

Sony is starting to really nurture the whole cult following that the character in its TV spots, Kevin Butler, is developing. You can even follow him on Twitter now.

After months of beta testing and plenty of speculation as to whether the OnLive service is really ready for primetime, the company announced the launch of its service today at GDC in San Francisco.

While we've been able to observe the Onlive gaming service in controlled environments, the true test of cloud gaming is when it's finally available to the public at large. The creators of Onlive will put their service to the test when it launches on the PC and Mac platforms on June 17. Onlive will cost $14.95 per month, though the company is promising cheaper multi-month bundles (to be announced at E3), as well as a major incentive for early adopters--the first 25,000 users to sign up for Onlive will get their first three months for free.

According to a report on Digitimes, Apple's hardware manufacturing partner Foxconn Electronics has confirmed that it is on schedule to ship 600,000 to 700,000 iPads in March, and a further 1 million iPads in April. This is contrary to claims made by Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek that "the upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple's newest device." Due to Foxconn's comments it is now thought it unlikely that Apple will delay the launch of the device.

Though no official release date has been set beyond "late March," it is expected that Apple will begin taking pre-orders in the next couple of weeks. Wall Street insiders are expecting strong sales for the iPad throughout 2010, with some analysts predicting more interest than that seen for the first generation iPhone. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky forecast first-year sales of 5 million units, while Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf is forecasting 4 million.

Lots of movement in the top grossing iPhone App space over this past week, in most part fueled by the substantial offers that big players like Electronic Arts and Gameloft were giving to stimulate sales of their older titles. That said though, the number one title for the week held onto its spot without budging on price at all.

For last week's top grossing iPhone games, check here.

In a statement from the Strong National Museum of Play, a representative stated that the Nintendo Game Boy was admitted to its "National Toy Hall of Fame" because of its role as a major industry innovator.

Photograph: Courtesy of Nintendo"Nintendo Game Boy transformed the electronic-games market by popularizing handheld gaming. No video-game platform did more to put gamers 'on the go' than this invention. And go they did, bringing their gaming experience to school, to summer camp, and to the back seat of the family automobile," the Toy Hall of Fame explained in a statement. "Over the past two decades, Game Boy has become synonymous with hand-held gaming fun. Its portability and efficient design, ability to allow simultaneous multiplayer gaming, and scores of intriguing games (like Tetris and Super Mario Land, featuring Nintendo's already-iconic character Mario) make it a true innovator."