Would you like to win a cool US$ 5,000 for yourself and/or your band? Take-Two Interactive is giving you the opportunity to take all that cash home, and more, with their newly-announce3d Beaterator Band Challenge.

Online is important. That's the point Take-Two CEO Ben Feder hammered home during the company's Q3 2009 investors call. While he believes that the retail channel is still a long way from being toppled by digital releases, Feder emphasized that their games also need to be supported online. How? With DLC of course.

Here's another lawsuit to help fill your weekly quota of legal drama. This one was filed by the Entertainment Software Association against the Chicago Transit Authority for its 2009 ordinance that prohibits M and AO-rated video game ads from all its vehicles and facilities, citing that the ordinance is a clear violation of the entertainment software community's constitutional rights.

With this week's big guns coming as digital downloads, the games that will actually be on shelves this week won't be beckoning for your cash too hard. This week's MVP goes to NCAA Football 10, which has received some good reviews despite EA's lackluster performance in the last few years. You may not be personally interested in the rest of the list, but someone you know might love to get one as a gift. Who knows?

Seems like I wasn't the only one of the opinion that E3 made a splashy comeback with this year's event. Industry bigwigs also expressed their satisfaction with how it averted near-disaster, and giving a great show despite the pull-out of some companies, as well as the threat of the A-H1N1 virus. Check out what some of the industry personalities had to say about E3 2009 after the jump.

Love him or hate him, it can't be denied that Kobe Bryant is one of the best players ever to pick up a basketball. As KB24 eyes his fourth championship ring and taking Game 1 of this year's Finals with a convincing 40-point performance and a game-high 8 assists, the superstar will be on the cover of 2K Sports' NBA 2K10.

When contractual obligations are not carried out according to stipulations agreed to by both parties, you can expect an ugly lawsuit to come next. What more if the agreement is not carried out at all? 3D Realms is about to find out the answer to that scenario as Take-Two Interactive files suit against what's left of the developer company for failing to deliver Duke Nukem Forever, via its parent company, Apogee.

E3 is back and bigger than ever! ... is what I want to say. But you get the next best thing. E3 is back and it's bigger than last year! Restrictions on attendance will be lessened this year, and Activision Blizzard, the company that started the studio exodus from the ESA, is back.

More details after the link.

Effective immediately, Take-Two COO Gary Dale is now "former COO" of the company. It was only six months ago that he assumed the position, and now he's cleared his desk and left.

Rockstar Games, the studio behind the Grand Theft Auto series, have signed in a new long-term contract with publisher Take-Two Interactive. Guess studios like Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard lost their chance to nab the Houser brothers.