It should be remembered that Hasbro and EA have entered into a deal last year that will allow the two to share IPs and transform them into toys and video game titles.

After months of guessing, the two companies have finally announced their first few projects. To know the complete details, click the "read more" link below to proceed to the full article.

Yesterday, we had a chat with Admiral Tolwyn about the sighting of a certain Wing Commander Arena over at ESRB's database. We weren't able to find any related material and so we decided to put it in the Rumor basket. Electronic Arts confirmed today that the listing is in fact correct and the game is headed to the Xbox Live Arcade.

According to EA, this version of the game will feature the classic franchise to an arcade-style experience. Regarding the "Arena" part, the company added that 16 players can complete online at once for Frag count, high score, and dueling stats. EA Vice President Chip Lange commented,

We're really excited to deliver unparalleled multi-player arcade action. The design for Wing Commander Arena will appeal to both long-time fans of the franchise and immediately engage anyone who wants the melee style action of an arcade shooter.

The game will also be sporting four styles of gameplay (single player, multi-team, multiplayer free, and multi-player duel). A total of eight maps (team maps, free for all maps, dueling maps) will be included as well. Players will be using customized ships armed with fire torpedoes and gravity bombs.

Expect to hear more about the details and the release date of Wing Commander Arena soon.

Electronic Arts has taken to digital distribution like no other, and EA remains committed to it (even though EA's methods proved controversial).

This is amply demonstrated by releasing the Bizarre Creations-devved Boom Boom Rocket onto Xbox Live Arcade, its first title there. As EA's Chip Lange said to Gamasutra, the company just loves the idea of arcade:

We're excited about the market potential that Arcade brings. It's a fun new category for us to publish games on. Electronic Arts publishes games on every meaningful interactive platform on the planet that makes financial sense. You've seen our recent releases - we've even been putting some games out on the iPod lately.

Probably for the same reason they see a lot of promise in the PlayStation Network - not to mention the PlayStation Store. "We think with all of these different platforms, it's the content providers that ultimately are responsible for bringing the features to life, and that's where I think EA really gets in and shines." No original titles yet for the PS Store.

And the Wii doesn't get left out of the discussion, either: "EA brings to the table a huge line-up of classic retro games... now we're just evaluating the business opportunity" on putting the classics on Virtual Console.

Digital distribution: the new final frontier, especially when it comes to the economics of the gaming industry. Some of us observed last year that EA dropped the ball on the wrong foot while getting up on the wrong side of the bed of nails... but it's 2007, and the new year comes with new year resolutions. Anyway, let's see how EA markets Boom Boom on Arcade... many hope that it isn't on installment (or it might set a grim precedent).

A new week, a new set of weird things to talk about. We should really consider having a "Headdesk of the Week" segment just for those rather frustrating bits of news. Obviously, this isn't happy news, and since it's about Electronic Arts, you can be sure aliens are listening into the collective groan of every single gamer on earth right about now.

During Major Nelson's usual podcast, Chip Lange, Vice President of Online Commerce at EA, defended their company's current stance on microtransactions. In this case, EA was offering people the option of just paying to unlock something than go through needless tedium of trying to get it through long hours of play. He also stated that only 20% of people actually went through the trouble of doing that.

On a more incendiary point, the podcast also talked about something we've discussed previously: charging for cheats. Lange's argument was essentially along the lines of websites getting the cheats, posting it, and then getting revenue through advertising. "There are places where cheat codes are free but those are on websites and those websites are making money by selling advertising," goes his argument. EA's stance, therefore, is that Xbox's Marketplace is just a new way for people to get the stuff they want from the game.

Here's the thing: how is it a new way for people to get the stuff they want if there are no other options for them to get said stuff? One way is by going through the tedium of unlocking the content, and another is by inputting an existing cheat code for it. Of this, IGN cites the perfect example: The Xbox version of The Godfather has cheats, and these were taken out for the 360 version.

During the podcast, Lange assured people that they weren't short-changing gamers, though he anticipates the company will be staying the course and continuing the microtransaction idea. "As the gaming industry becomes more online centric," he says, "that's going to provide a whole lot more choice to the consumer base provided that the basic package continues to be robust and rewarding." Do gamers have to remind him that the choice should not be between "Pay" and "Suffer"?