New York - Microsoft's (NASD: MSFT) Massive Inc. in-game advertising unit on Wednesday announced a multi-year deal to serve ads within 18 of Activision Blizzard's (NASD: ATVI) titles, as well as on the company's various websites and Battle.net online game service. The deal includes the territories of the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea and Australia. Massive also said it partnered with Integri to manage Web-based ads for Activision Blizzard, whose titles include "Guitar Hero" and "World of Warcraft."

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Seoul, South Korea - Video game publisher Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Korean PC game developer J2MSoft for an undisclosed sum.

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London - Orbis, a provider of interactive gaming and betting technologies, announced that it has acquired U.K.-based online games developer Electracade for $3.8 million in cash.

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Tokyo - Nintendo plans to release an e-book title for the Nintendo DS that will let gamers read classic books on the portable devices, Electricpig reports. Currently slated for release only in Europe, "100 Classic Book Collection" includes titles from Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. The company will also be offering additional downloadable titles on the DS Lite via its Wi-Fi capability.

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Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) said on Tuesday that its Xbox 360 console outsold rival Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 by 3-to-1 over the "Black Friday" weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday.

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San Mateo, Calif. - Mobile games publisher Glu Mobile said on Tuesday that it will cut an unspecified number of jobs, in a move to trim its annual operating expenses by $13 million.

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Shanghai - Chinese online games purveyor Shanda Interactive Entertainment said that its Shanda Games unit has made investments in two online gaming community operators, Shanghai Wei Lai and Shanghai Cai Qu.

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San Francisco - Double Fusion, a provider of in-game advertising services, said on Monday that it has signed new deals to serve in-game ads for PlayStation 3 titles published by THQ, Sega, Eidos and Midway Games.

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Los Angeles - Video game publisher Acclaim has released a public beta of its free, music-based online game, "Rockfree," which aims to compete with more elaborate, costlier titles like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." The browser-based game, set to officially launch in the first quarter of 2009, features licensed tracks from Warner Music, Sony, EMI and WaveGroup.

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New York - Sumner Redstone, whose National Amusements holding company controls Viacom (NYSE: VIA), CBS, Paramount Pictures and other media assets, is expected to announce on Monday that he will sell its 87% majority stake in Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) to investor Mark Thomas, The Wall Street Journal reported. National Amusements will receive just $100,000 in cash for the struggling game publisher, while Thomas will also assume $70 million in secured and unsecured debt.

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Burbank, Calif. - Disney Interactive Studios (NYSE: DIS) on Tuesday announced the release of "Ultimate Band" for the Nintendo Wii and DS. Developed by Utah-based Fall Line Studio, the game features tracks including "Fell In Love With a Girl," "Whip It" and "My Generation." Ultimate Band also lets players lay down their own tracks; the DS version features a "built-in recording studio," according to Disney.

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Santa Clara, Calif. - PlaySpan, a provider of digital micropayment services for online games and social media applications, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $16.8 million in its second round of funding.

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New York - Microsoft's (NASD: MSFT) Massive Inc. in-game advertising business announced on Monday a multi-year deal to provide in-game ads for game publisher THQ (NASD: THQI). The deal includes a number of upcoming titles on the PC and Xbox 360, including "Saints Row 2."

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Los Angeles - Video game publisher NCsoft will shut down the servers on its "Tabula Rasa" massively multiplayer online game in February, because "the game never achieved the player population we had hoped for," according to a note on its website. The game was developed by veteran designer Richard Garriott ("Ultima"). The company said it will make the game free to play in its last weeks, starting on Jan. 10.

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Los Angeles - The U.S. Army plans to invest $50 million in video game development across a five-year span beginning in 2010, GamesIndustry.biz reported, citing an article on Stripes.com.

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Carlsbad, Calif. - NTN Buzztime, a provider of interactive TV trivia games in bars and restaurants, announced on Friday that Michael Fleming has resigned as the company's interim CEO, chairman and board director. The company named recent board addition Jeff Berg as its new chairman, and said its board has created a search committee to evaluate qualified candidates for the role of permanent CEO.

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Chicago - Video game publisher Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) said on Friday that last week it received notice from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that its shares are in danger of being delisted from the exchange, for failing to maintain a minimum average closing price of $1 for 30 consecutive days.

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Irvine, Calif. - Activision's (NASD: ATVI) Blizzard Entertainment studio said on Thursday that the second expansion to its massively popular "World of Warcraft" online multiplayer game, "Wrath of the Lich King," has sold 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale -- making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. The previous record of nearly 2.4 million copies was set last year by the game's previous expansion, "The Burning Crusade."

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Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) said on Thursday that composer Winifred Phillips will score the theme music for its newest Sims title, "SimAnimals." Phillips has won four Game Audio Network Guild Awards, and most recently was nominated for a Hollywood Music Award for her work on "Speed Racer: The Videogame."

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