There's no denying that some of the most addictive games out there are MMOs. But if you find it frustrating that you can't have them on your beloved PS3 and Xbox 360, blame Sony and Microsoft. According to Star Trek Online captain Craig Zinkievich, the two publishers don't understand console MMOs, making it difficult to bring the games to their respective systems.

Always quick with a comment, Michael Pachter has weighed in on the rumor about Microsoft buying Electronic Arts. As far as the Wedbush Morgan analyst is concerned, the rumor doesn't make any sense at all.

MMO makers are in a bit of hot water right now. A bunch of them, including heavyweights Blizzard, Sony, and NCSoft, are currently being sued by a New York company for alleged patent infringement. While patent lawsuits have become an almost everyday thing, this one is noteworthy in its scope and that the complainant is PalTalk, who successfully forced Microsoft to settle a US$ 90 million lawsuit over the same patents earlier this year.

Electronic Arts and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will be hosting a panel entitled "Homophobia in Virtual Communities" to discuss methods on how to combat discrimination and hatred language in online gaming communities.

Microsoft Europe's David Gosen has questioned the gaming industry's seasonal approach to game releases in a recent interview with MCV. According to Gosen, the focus on Q4 and Christmas releases has put the sustainability of new IP into question, and that a second or third release window will be good news for the industry. Great news for my wallet as well, since I won't have to buy all the major releases I want in one big go. More after the jump.

It looks like Blizzard is stirring the pot again for some juicy developments behind the scenes. As some of us probably know, they're currently working on a couple games right now (StarCraft II, Diablo III, etc.). If these two new job postings are any indication though, they're now planning to jumpstart development on an entirely new - and unannounced! - game. With details scarce at the moment, it could be anything right now: a new IP, a new MMO, or maybe a console RTS?

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.

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.

Rumors have been floating around since 2006 that a Halo MMO was in development, although this has never been solidly confirmed by any studio. It's recently revealed that the MMO was indeed real.

Unfortunately, it was canceled.

Yeah, anticlimactic huh? Anyway, check out screenshots of the never-to-be Halo MMO after the link.

There's always to sides to a fence, so they say. And when it comes to game reviews, the usual side that we see are the journalists' - particularly highlighting the many issues they have to contend with, especially with PR people breathing down their necks to bag a good score for their product. Today, however, we are allowed a peek at the other side of the fence as one guy from the biz explains why devs push the journalists to give their games a good score - and why it is right for them to do it.