Microsoft is packing some "fantastic surprises" heading into E3. That's according to  David Gosen, European VP of strategic marketing for interactive entertainment at Microsoft EMEA who also commented that the Xbox 360's battle with the PlayStation 3 is "far from over." He says Microsoft has the advantage in numbers, and what it will unveil in the weeks to come will change the industry's status quo. Details in the full article.

Microsoft is sending word that they have appointed David Gosen as the new VP for Europe's Strategic Marketing division. Gosen's also expected to help handle the region's Xbox Live service, which speaks plenty for his past experience as a CEO for a mobile games company. Details on this news are in the full article.

Disney and Capybara's Critter Crunch was awarded the Best Game Award at the Independent Game Festival (IGF) which was held as part of the 2008 Game Developers Expo. If you haven't heard of this game, you might want to head on over to the full article for more information.

Waiting for more updates on Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles for the Nintendo DS? Well, we've got even more news for you.

The storyline, a few screenshots, and the game's release date and expected price have finally been revealed. Want to find out more? Check out the full article.

In an interview, Xbox UK Regional Vice President Chris Lewis talked about the Microsoft Xbox 360 being the number one console today, and the great lineup of games going for the 360 this holiday season. With 13.4 million units sold and the highest games attach rate at 6.3 games per console, Lewis believes you can't go wrong with the value-for-money video game platform by Microsoft.

More details at the full article!

So you wish you can just play all day and make a living out of playing puzzle games? With RealNetwork's Diamond Detective, you actually can. RealNetwork's new mobile phone game allows players to solve puzzles in order to search for some stolen gems. But that's not the best part: Diamond Detective features an online diamond hunt, where winners can get their hands on real diamond gems. Read on to find out exactly how!

Video game publisher Ubisoft has announced that its Microsoft Xbox 360 exclusive title Naruto: Rise of a Ninja has been released and will ship in European stores this week. The fighting game-adventure hybrid is based on the popular Japanese manga and anime series and has been given a PEGI rating of 12+.

Read more in the full article.

Ubisoft officially announced the successor to the original FarCry on PC, Far Cry 2, just a little earlier today after a surprising appearance of the game's teaser web site was whispered in the PC gaming community's hot topics of the day. Earlier at the E3 Media & Business Summit, leakage of various assets from Ubisoft Montreal clued Far Cry 2 into the studio's projects, which probably spun the Far Cry 2 rumor mill faster among avid PC gamers.

John Parkes, EMEA marketing director of Ubisoft, reciprocated the fanbase's excitement, stating, "Far Cry marked the beginning of a new era for shooters. An era of gorgeous graphics and of advanced artificial intelligence. We are confident that Far Cry 2 will have the same impact again on the FPS genre landscape."

To be developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the publisher's largest development studio and responsible for Assassin's Creed (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), Far Cry 2 is being hailed as another highly anticipated game on the PC platform. But other than a tentative Spring 2008 release date, any other details on the game was scarce.

According to moderator kimi_ of the Ubisoft forums, questions not already covered by the announcement cannot be answered at present. Word has spread quickly, however, that the game may take place in Africa when images of what appears to be a baobab tree, sparse, dry grass, and a searing sunset lead speculators to believe that the new story may not take place in tropical Madagascar - the island the predecessor's story was set in.

And while Electronic Arts has Crytek under its protective wing, the question of whether Ubisoft will use the original CryEngine - technology that the publisher may continue using after Crytek sold all rights to Far Cry - or license the use of CryEngine 2 has yet to be addressed. But if an early tech demo of the game is any indication, it appears Ubisoft already has an answer to that. More on Far Cry 2 as we get them.

The good guys over at Microsoft just updated the backward compatibility list of Xbox games that players can run on their Xbox 360 consoles. If we are not mistaken, this new list brings the full library of backward games to around 300. However, some of the new titles are only available for some regions while some will not come with Live access.

Anyway, a little reminder to you guys especially for those who are still new to this, the original Xbox games will look better on your 360 units running in 720p and 1080i with anti-aliasing. Regarding Xbox Live, take note that cross-platform play is possible between Xbox 360 and the original Xbox.

We know you are all excited to know the new games that have been made compatible with the 360. So we'll stop talking now and give you the list:

• America's Army
• Auto Modellista
• Bass Pro Shops Trophy Hunter 2007
• Blinx 2
• Bloodrayne 2
• Burnout New
• Crash Bandicoot 4
• Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex (Updated)
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
• Drive to Survive
• Drive to Survive (EM)

More titles after the jump!

According to an industry analysis report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the video game industry will continue to be considered as an above-average growth segment of the global entertainment industries. Additionally, they have claimed that this year's investments made by the game industry is "set to exceed" the current spending for the music industry.

 
The global spending has jumped 14.3% to US$ 31.6 billion back in 2006, and PwC expects that the amount should climb another 18.5% to US$ 37.5 billion in 2007. The report also projects that the game industry will officially overtake the music industry by 2008 in the US, as data from key growth factors in the industry have been gaining performance this year.

Such factors include that of online and wireless games, next generation consoles and the advent of in-game advertising. Although much of the analysis took the US into question, PwC cut back on US-only expectations and spread its views over the global scape.

Click on Full Article to learn more of the gaming industry's performance as a whole and the best performing region for 2007.