Reggie and myself just got back a few hours ago from Microsoft’s Gamers Night, which is arguably the biggest gaming-related event ever held in Delhi, and I must say that we’re both poop-zhausted. Between trying to talk with companies, to actually squeezing some game time with big-boys like Mass Effect and Army of Two – having an open bar with infinite Coke refills is a caffeine blessing in disguise. But the sad truth, there’s not much to talk about. At least, not until this coming Monday, when the media embargo is lifted for all of Microsoft’s and EA’s juicy offerings. Until then, you’ll just have to keep pounding on the F5! In other news, I think I may have contracted some skin disease. These PR folks can be quite the wild bunch, you know! Certainly not as terribly inconvenient as getting an error message from Gears of Wa- OOPS, will you look at the time! I can’t ride that pumpkin back home!

Expect more news at the stroke of midnight on Sunday, count on it.

The episodic experiment began in mid-2006 with Half-Life 2: Episode One and SiN: Episodes - Emergence. Grand stories were told about how episodic gaming would mark a major shift in the way games are developed and delivered. All fine and dandy, but a year and a half since all the grand posing, where exactly do we stand?

WARNING (and Disclaimer): Personal opinions, long sentences and an abrupt ending to follow!

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When it comes to racing games, as far as the average Indian gamer is concerned, it’s Need For Speed that rules the roost. Even to the point of giving Counter Strike a run for it’s money, albeit in a different genre. Thanks to the numerous iterations that we have seen for this game, it has managed to get into a position where any racing game that would hit the market would have to be compared with Need For Speed.

Lately though, the situation has changed quite a lot. With the advent of other racing games like the superb Burnout series and the new contender, FlatOut, and I am only talking about the arcadish racing games here, EA had to do a serious re-think as to in which direction was the series heading. There was a flicker of hope in it’s outing as Need for Speed: Most Wanted but that gave way to a disappointing Carbon. So when we got to see the new, slick trailers for ProStreet, we were excited that maybe, just maybe EA is taking heed of what the fans have been clamoring for so long. When the demo finally showed up for Xbox 360, we eagerly downloaded it to check it for ourselves.

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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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EA will pay up to $620 million in cash to the stockholders of VG Holding Corp. and will issue up to an additional $155 million in equity to certain employees of VG Holding Corp., which will be subject to time-based or performance-based vesting criteria. EA will also assume outstanding VG Holding Corp. stock options. In addition, EA has agreed to lend VG Holding Corp. up to $35 million through the closing of the acquisition.

Duh-amn, that’s a lot of cold hard cash.

Pandemic certainly has their share of memorable titles; Dark Reign 2, Full Spectrum Warrior, Star Wars: Battlefront, and Destroy All Humans! were all worth my pimply investment. But BioWare has got be one of all-time favorite Western development houses, and knowing that’ll be taken under EA’s wing doesn’t leave me particularly jumping out of my socks in ecstasy (although I will admit the EA of today is far more favorable than the EA of yesteryear). As it is, EA has a pretty strong presence here in India - so this will only get more of BioWare’s work out in the open for those unfamiliar with their incredible lineage of role-playing games.

But don’t cry, children! At least now EA has a competent developer to handle the System Shock license.

(Source: GamesIndustry.biz)

UPDATE: Authenticity challenged! It seems the Halo DS game footage posted on Matt Casamassina’s blog shares a lot in common with another First-Person Shooter for the Nintendo DS, by none other than GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. And apparently, it sucked! Cripes, no wonder I’m so gullible.

So what now? Was Matt fibbing or did Electronic Arts approach Microsoft and Bungie for the idea of doing a Halo project? Or vice versa? Massive conspiracy-driven drama queens: the gauntlet has once again been laid down! And girl - you know someone’s gonna get cut.