EGM is stirring it up again with a bunch of hot new rumors from Quartermann. Looks like we're in for a pretty sweet season: Quartermann's latest gossip includes word on a Halo spin-off coming late next year, a Grand Theft Auto MMO, and a whole lot more. Rumors galore in the full article!

In a rather shocking development, Ziff Davis Media appeared before the court  today and filed for bankruptcy due to overwhelming debt that could reach up to US$ 1 billion. The company is responsible for entities EGM and 1UP.com among others. Know the full details after the jump!

Aside from the rumored Animal Crossing Wii MMO, the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) hinted that there's a possibility Bungie Studios is working on a Halo MMO for the Xbox 360. According to the gaming magazine's Rumor Mill section:

Microsoft may start a war--word is they're making a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter for 360. Hmm, wonder what Bungie is up to?

While not explicitly stated, it's entirely possible that this rumored Bungie MMO is actually Peter Jackson's secret Halo project, the details of which - including genre -  have not yet been revealed. Also, it should be noted that Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said earlier this month that both Bungie and Microsoft are investing in a new "interactive" series set in Halo.

As always, this is just a rumor so don't get your hopes up too much. Do check this space often for more updates!

Now we've been skeptical as to whether LucasArts would actually allow a Knights of the Old Republic title to slip by and get shoved into an MMO. But as a recent report from Electronic Gaming Monthly pointed out, one of the mystery MMO titles suspiciously linked to the Star Wars franchise just might be the next installment to the KOTOR series, too.

 

The report stated, "BioWare has formed a new online team to create a Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic massively multiplayer online game." Okay, barring Star Wars: Galaxies 2 from coming to light, other rumors also persist that the recent DS development team formation was to bring the PC-only Dragon Age to the Nintendo DS handheld. That title isn't even in the final stages (or officially announced in the final stages) yet, and BioWare's working on bringing it over to the DS already?

Last but certainly not the least is also the peeping rumor that the PlayStation 3 could also have the opportunity to join the Dragon Age bandwagon. Yes, it's not a KOTOR claim or anything like before, but at least this one seems a little more fitting, if a rumor had was ever "fitting. "

But because BioWare isn't giving any new official word on EGM's reports, we have yet to confirm that these rumors are actually credible. We'll be keeping tabs on announcements.

 

This one very interesting article from the critics at Destructoid came out regarding that one particular APC advertisement on the latest issue of EGM, entitled "Introducing Gank-Proof power protection". They go on to poke at the company's attempt to pitch their power-saving products with cheap gamespeak.

Apparently enough though, we've read and re-read the advertising pitch that Destructoid has been pointing out. We see exactly where his idea might be stemming from, but for some of us, the context sort of spins different from our point of view. Check it out:

Whether you're gaming at home or on the road, the very last thing you need is an interruption. But all to often, bad power, or lack of power, comes between you and saving the world from destruction. If you're in an MMO the stakes are even higher - when you go down, it affects everybody. And if there's cash at stake, the losses go far and beyond just embarrassing yourself.

From this point, they think that the pitch is aimed at gold farmers - particularly those for World of Warcraft. It's credible, seeing as the context is about as clear as waste water from a chemical plant. But is it just us or something else: maybe APC is just pointing a PvP game riding on bets or a pay-per-play game where a slight disconnect spells "corpse loot" and "DC banter of doom". Isn't that what they mean by "gank-proof" after all?

Okay. Things don't seem to be looking particularly cheery in the land of video games right now, as fans of the hobby and industry now have another heavy-weight opposer. No, we're no longer talking about another member of the German Parliament who wants another video game ban, but someone who is no less than Pope Benedict XVI himself. Talk about a major bummer.

In his speech for the church's World Communications Day, the Pope has the following to say about video games:

Any trend to produce programs and products - including animated movies and video games - which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivilization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents

Sigh. It's Dungeons and Dragons all over again, we tell you. So what, if our level 28, Drow Elf, Chaotic Good, bard-sorcerer worships Olidamarra and makes occasional tributes to Lolth? And we own all editions of the Monster Manual? That doesn't make us bad people, does it?

To quote from an old EGM issue, "It's more than you can shake your +5 Mace of Disruption at."