Turbine has released the latest update to Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria. The expansion is now on Book 7: Leaves of Lorien, which adds new features and gameplay enhancements. Check out details and screenshots after the link.

Marvel's getting in on the MMO craze that's about to hit the consoles. Gazillion Entertainment has acquired the rights to create an MMO for the Marvel Universe for the PC and consoles (presumably both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3). Well they couldn't let DC one-up them now could they?

Details after the link.

Joining the ranks of big console MMO names like DC Universe Online, The Agency, and Final Fantasy XI, is an unexpected newcomer, Lego Universe. According to the Lego Group's Project Lead, console versions are planned, the only question is when.

Ensemble Studios officially closed its doors last week, and Gamasutra was there for a final tour. They also report on the never-to-be Halo MMO, which turns out was a very serious project for Microsoft. Serious enough to actually start building Ensemble a campus to support it.

Did you know that the EverQuest MMORPG for the PlayStation 2 is still running? Did you even know it existed? Anyway, that's besides the point. Those who missed out on the PS2 version might get a chance to experience it on this get. SOE has suggested the franchise might find its way to the PlayStation 3.

Now don't go thinking this is another one of those depressing economic news - it's not. It's just your average depressing video game convention news, like E3. A press release just went out announcing that this year's Leipzig Games Convention has been canceled, but they will be holding a new event in its place called Games Convention Online.

Although not officially confirmed yet, the grapevine has named the casualties of Electronic Arts' "cost-cutting measures." Studios that experienced significant layoffs are Mythic Entertainment, the guys behind Warhammer Online, and EA Tiburon, the studio responsible for Madden and other titles under the EA Sports banner.

So much for the fat, sweaty, basement-dweller fanboy stereotype we hear so much about. According to a new study, women make up 40% of the population of EverQuest II. The study says that women who reject traditional gender roles are likely to choose the game over others that are viewed as "masculine."

More details in the full article.

NCsoft is officially the latest company to bow out of the ranks of the Entertainment Software Association, once again putting the future of E3 into question. How many more publishers have to leave before you make E3 public again, ESA? What about the children? Won't anyone think of the children!

Cryptic Studios, the guys behind Champions Online and Star Trek Online, have confirmed that they are looking at developing games for the PlayStation 3. Hopefully they're also thinking of porting over some of their MMOs to the console.