SEPT. 9, 2008 • Age of Empires creator Ensemble Studios will be shuttered after completing Halo Wars. The studio was acquired by Microsoft Game Studios in 2001. Microsoft said the decision was a fiscally-based to drive profits, with no bearing on the quality of Ensemble’s work. Ensemble principals were said to be moving on to create a new studio, and had agreed to provide ongoing support for Halo Wars. Last year, Microsoft shut down FASA, and supported a split with Bungie Studios......

SEPT. 3, 2008 • PSP owners in Japan will get new connectivity enhancements this fall. According to SCE, the PSP will be able to access the PlayStation Store without having to be connected to a PS3. Users will still have to connect to the home console, however, if they want to take advantage of a new free service permitting them to play PSP titles against other players online. One of the first games to support the new service is Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. On Oct. 16, the n.....

SEPT. 2, 2008 • ScreenLife, developer of the Scene It movie game, is acquired by Paramount Digital Entertainment. Scene It is a trivia game where players identify film clips, and has sold more than 15 million units worldwide. Impact: In the late 1990s, DFC Intelligence predicted the emergence of a major new type of video game genre we called the “post modern parlor game.”  We thought quiz shows and the ability to interact with trivia and.....

SEPT. 2, 2008 • A Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMO is under development by Multiverse. Players will have the choice of entering a fully interactive 3D Buffy world, or playing Flash-based 2D games available via a web browser. The developer already has another TV series MMO project connected with th.....

SEPT. 1, 2008 • At over $7 billion in annual revenue, Japan is the second largest market for video games after the U.S. However, Western companies often ignore trends in Japan. Primarily, this is because titles from non-Japanese publishers have historically not sold well in Japan. Nevertheless, DFC Intelligence has always thought it is extremely important to watch trends in the Japanese market and how they might eventually impact North America and Europe. Much has .....

AUG. 29, 2008 • SCEE chief David Reeves told trade publication MCV that the upcoming 160GB PlayStation 3 was a “limited edition” model to test demand for a more expensive package. Reeves also said there would be no other changes to PS3 hardware ahead of the holiday period. .....