Portent of doom for E3? Activision - the studio behind gigantic game franchises like Guitar Hero and Call of Duty - has announced that it won't be attending this year's E3 event. Ouch. More details after the "read more" link below.

We got an update on the upcoming Nordic Game Conference which is set to happen in a few weeks in Sweden. Things are definitely shaping up as the top names from the industry gather for the multidisciplinary Game Creation Sessions. Find out who they are in the full article.

Okay, so you've got your agenda finalized. What's the next thing to do? Why, it's to announce the All-Star Speakers, of course.

Evergreen Events, the organizer of the 2008 ION Game Conference, has done precisely that. It's mentioned four important names to take note of. Find out who these four people are after the jump.

If you enjoyed the last Nordic Game conference and are looking forward to this year's event, we've got some news for you. Quite a number of big name speakers will be sharing their thoughts at the Business and Production part of the program. To find out who will at the event, head on over to the full article.

Things are definitely taking shape with the upcoming Nordic Game conference 2008 which is set to happen in two months time in Malmö, Sweden. It's been revealed that producers of Lego Star Wars and Rock Band will be the Keynote speakers in this event. Find out the details after the jump!

Ever since the Online Game Development Conference (OGDC) started, more than a few big names have graced the event. However, it won't be known as the OGDC for much longer. Evergreen Events has announced that it will now be known as the ION Game Conference.

Want to  know more about this change? Head on over to the full article by clicking on our "read more" link below for more information.

Some gamers may find in-game advertisements to be nothing more than shameless plugs, while others still believe it's necessary.

In the Independent Game Conference in Austin, Gordon Bellamy goes into the subject a bit more and discusses how advertising could benefit not only the company who does the advertising, but also the game itself. He also explains why Doritos can't go multiplatform. Find out why in the full article.

Independent works will always have a hard time finding its niche in an already established market, and video games are no exception. Usually the bottomline in creating a game is creativity versus profitability.

Steve Escalante, Business Development VP of the Gamecock Media Group, talked about this subject during the Texas' Independent Game Conference. Read more in the full article.

Video game developer Tsutomu Kouno revealed during the Nordic Game Conference that Loco Roco will indeed have a sequel and that it will feature new gameplay based on physical calculation and crowd AI, not to mention a few surprises. Ironically, now he's saying that the PlayStation Portable (PSP) platform needs more titles other than sequels.

"We need to make more new games for PSP, not just sequels. We have to increase the number of casual games, games that Loco Roco players will want to play. There are too many sequels for PSP, only sequels, so I want to make a new game for PSP," Kouno told online gaming site Games Industry.

The developer wouldn't reveal though anything about this new title. But he did mention that he actually has around six new ideas and that he is still considering whether to make them for the handheld or PlayStation 3 (PS3). Whatever happens, fans can be assured that these games will be exclusive to Sony's gaming systems. He added,

I have many ideas, but I can't make them all because I am only one person. I have five or six new game ideas either for PSP or PS3, but I actually want to make them for PSP - for the people who bought Loco Roco, or bought a PSP because of LocoRoco, and like casual games.

When asked whether Loco Roco will be appearing on the PS3 in the future, Tsutomu Kouno answered, "I can't really say anything official right now, but... As you'd expect."

Electronic Arts and Black Box showed off Need for Speed: Carbon at the Leipzig Games Convention. We figure there are two ways to approach this news.

Reaction #1: What's the Big Deal?
They showed a trailer showing a bunch of cars. For those of you who don't like cars, then whatever was on the trailer is "the same old stuff" you saw in the videos we posted last month or in the coverage of rumors, screenshots, and game features for the incarnations of the driving game: the one for the Xbox 360, for the Wii, for the DS, for the PSP, and for the PS3.

Reaction #2: It Is a Big Deal

Advanced car physics. Hyper-realistic graphics. It's going to be a stunning, immersive experience. And if a lot of this is "old news" for those of you who've been watching out for this game, now you've got confirmation of a few details:

• over 50 completely customizable cars
• customize even the small, fine details like number of spokes)
• morphable parts: you pull, twist, or stretch some pieces to customize your machine
• 900+ decals, and 90,000+ paint combinations
• the races happen in a city split into subzones
• subzones have street, drift, and canyon duel races (and canyon drift mode)
  
• the number of races depend on importance of area (boss challenges can have 5 or 6 races)
• about drift races:
• highly accurate gameplay (based on studying drift events)
  
• points for speed and for how far the rear of the car swings out when going around corners
• bonuses for linking drifts together (e.g., sliding from one to the next)
• each type of car has its parts that are available only for that type
• each type of car has its own car physics
• cars come in three categories in a curve progression
• you'll start in different areas of the map: it depends if you have a muscle car, a tuner, or an exotic
• rivalry between crews means you have to build up your team
• tracks vary: you need to pick the car and crew wisely
• PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will have multiplayer modes

We sincerely hope that you agree with Reaction #2. Because if you're the type who hates driving games, well, you'll find it hard to get away from this game: EA is confident enough about this franchise to release it in PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, GBA, DS, GameCube, Wii, PC, and mobile versions.