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.

What's the Fastest-Selling Next-Generation Console Game of 2006? What's the Fastest-Selling Exclusive Xbox Game of All Time? As of now, it's this game right here:

Gears of War... worldwide, more than 2 million copies have been sold - an amazing feat for a game that's only been in the market for about six weeks. So what's the best way to celebrate something this momentous? With a press release of course (what - you were expecting fireworks and free downloads?).

• "Gears of War clearly has won the battle for the title of the must-have game of the year," said Richard Teversham, Director of Platform and Marketing, Home and Entertainment Division EMEA.
• "We've always held high hopes for Gears of War, but we never expected such an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers all over the world," said Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. "Our fans can absolutely count on Epic to keep delivering new gameplay through Xbox Live."

The press release also said that Gears of War is quite big on Xbox Live too. There are more than 1 million unique gamers in about 10 million online gameplay sessions unlocking 7 million achievements. "Paid registrations per day have skyrocketed more than 50 percent since the game's launch," said the press release. Amazing.

Remember when we told you about how Microsoft wanted Gears of War to boost Xbox Live activity? Well, it's doing it. The press release said that "on top of being the No. 1 title on Xbox Live, Gears of War has driven new members to the network."

The smoke has cleared, the battle is over, and the crowds go wild in Geneva, Switzerland. It's been a month since the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC), and today, we're happy to announce that amid all the grueling matches and nail-biting moments of the competition, 128 finalists have now secured their place in the FIWC Grand Final for FIFA 07.

These finalists will be given an all-expense-paid trip to the Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam on December 9. Here, these 128 finalists will be facing off in the final matches to determine who becomes FIFA Interactive World Player 2006. The winner receives a cash prize of US$ 20,000, and will be invited to attend the FIFA World Payer Gala 2006 at the Opera House in Zurich on December 18, Monday.

Drawn in from a combination of 38 qualifying events, and Xbox Live eliminations from 25 different countries, these 128 competitors are chosen as the winners of their own local events, consisting of 68 off-line qualifiers, 44 Xbox Live qualifiers, and 16 previous FIWC finalists.

Richard Teversham, Head of Marketing, Xbox Europe:

We’re really excited to be part of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2006 - exclusively bringing next generation, high-definition football gaming action to players across the globe with FIFA 07. The gaming tournament on Xbox Live was a great success allowing our 4 million members worldwide the chance be part of this great competition and take on their friends. It will be great to see the finals played out on the screen in Amsterdam, just like being at a big match for real.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is now available in stores across the UK. As a special bait, er, treat the new add-on will come with an early-bird bundle. For a limited time only, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with Peter Jackson's "King Kong" (the film not the game) on HD DVD and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player offers up to six times higher resolution than DVD, and all Xbox 360 consoles have the ability to output native resolution 1080p games and movies. With the add-on, the Xbox 360 game console also doubles as a home theatre unit.

"The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is the best high-definition movie experience and value on the market," according to Richard Teversham, EMEA Director of Marketing and Platform, Xbox. "The reviews, the word of mouth and the consumer response have all been crystal clear - HD DVD is the format of choice. We're not forcing movie technology on game players but are instead letting them choose how to personalise their experiences. If they want HD DVD, there's no better value out there."

And by "no better value out there" he means about £129.99 (US$ 257.00).

Since time immemorial, battles have been waged between the forces of light and darkness. Such is the eternal struggle between good and evil, angels and demons, and cops and robbers.

Wait, cops and robbers?

Yes, cops and robbers. New advertising videos for Microsoft's Xbox 360 in Europe will feature a literal game of cops and robbers. The new ad has three robbers in ski masks trying to escape the cops with their hard-earned loot by performing all sorts of stunts as they scale buildings with some insane parkour skills (parkour: urban free running). Upon reaching their getaway car, the game becomes a chase, with the result leading up to a victory by the cops. The catch for the ads is that the entire chase is actually just a game of cops and robbers between friends. Right after the loss, they begin to set up another game.

According to Richard Teversham, EMEA Director of Marketing and Platform at Xbox, the ads are supposed to show how we feel when people have fun with their friends. "This campaign really brings out the sociability of Xbox 360," he says, "and taps into the playfulness that we all have in us."

Don't worry, non-European readers! We'll upload the ad onto the site when we find one. For now, stay tuned!

We earlier featured an article about the sweet nothings of MS' Richard Teversham for the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PS3. Well, he has more jib-jabs to say to the competition. According to this guy, Microsoft is prepping some harmless spoiler tactics in anticipation for its competitor's console launches.

When asked for specific plans and antics, he said, "I don't want to reveal any plans at the moment because we want to keep a number of surprises up our sleeve...We will ensure we are good value and we'll do that through having a variety of pricing on games, a variety of pricing on console offers." If you're thinking that one of those spoilers would be a price drop, well we're very sorry, but that's not gonna happen as Teversham himself ruled that possibility out too.

But it seems that the marketing manager's statements imply of a revamping of the current Xbox 360 bundles maybe by amping them with additional accessories or games. The HD-DVD drive add-on would definitely go ma-no a ma-no with the Blu-Ray equipped PS3, but until no official details are announced, all we could do is speculate. But certainly, the next-gen console wars may get dirty, and dirty is almost always interesting.

While the actual Next-gen Console War is yet to begin (the two remaining electronic gladiators aren't even in the ring yet), the console trash talking has been on-going for quite sometime now. And here is the latest from the MS corner. In an interview with MCV, Microsoft’s Richard Teversham dismissed the launch plans of rivals Sony and Nintendo casting  doubt on the MS competitors' ability to launch their consoles in Europe within the year.

Although he acknowledged Sony's loyal consumers, he said Sony was abusing its fan base by selling the PS3s at £425. “The question is: When are they going to drop the price? I think a lot of gamers out there are going to be saying ‘I’ll wait for the price to drop,’ or even better they’ll buy a 360,” he says.

Meanwhile he describes the Wii as "almost a GameCube with a DVD drive" and wonders if Nintendo will have enough quantity to satisfy the demand.

As for the Xbox 360, Teversham  promised a number of surprises and said they will continue to provide a variety of pricing on games and a variety of pricing on console offers. (But no price cut.) Zune, the iPod Killer, also got dragged into the scene. Teversham said the launch of the Zune will have a lot of noise around it and will be part of Microsoft's master plan to bring together communities on devices like Xbox, Zune and PC.

At this point we'd like to sit back and wait for the executive catfight to begin Round 173. We swear it's almost as good as Rumble Roses XX.