A Tweet by Andrew Reiner of Game Informer follows up on the rumor revealed earlier about upcoming revelations for Fallout: New Vegas, Obsidian's upcoming Fallout RPG. He refutes the alleged source of the info, saying: "Fallout: New Vegas is NOT Game Informer's next cover." When asked his opinion on the accuracy of the rest of the rumor, he Tweets: "I have no idea, but seeing that they couldn't identify the magazine correctly, I'd say fake." Thanks VG247.

The HERO Games Website has news that the book for a tabletop pen-and-paper game based on Champions Online is no longer on their publishing schedule (thanks Big Download). The current plan sounds very similar to plans announced along with the game, which were as follows: "Cryptic Studios has licensed back to Hero Games the rights to produce Champions RPG books, and the sixth edition of the HERO System and Champions, set to release in 2009, will include rules on how to recreate Champions Online characters and scenarios." Word is:

According to our plans, the next book on the schedule was supposed to be The Champions Online Roleplaying Game. However, Atari, current owners of Cryptic, has changed the MMO’s marketing priorities and isn’t willing to provide us with the funding needed to do the book in the full-color fashion it requires. Since it’s not worth doing as a black-and-white book, we’re removing it from the schedule. Into its place we’re moving Champions Powers, the 6E version of the USPD. I’ll add to CP a section that would have gone into the CO RPG that provides pre-built versions of all of the CO powers, so gamers can easily re-create their online characters in the tabletop environment.

Analyst: 'Industry Sales Will Rebound In 2010,' Hardware Will Decline has word from Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter on the outlook of GameStop in 2010. He predicts the end of the 2009 slump no one predicted, saying game sales will rebound more than hardware sales, and that "GameStop is well-positioned to reap the rewards" of a gaming comeback.

An interview with Fallen Earth's Colin Dwan on Massively discusses how gold farming is dealt with in Fallen Earth, since FALLEN EARTH, LLC's eponymous MMORPG seems to have this situation under control. Colin discusses design decisions that discourage farming of chips (the game's equivalent of gold), how farmers are handled once identified, keeping the economy balanced, and real-money transactions.

• 2010 CES Celebrity Appearances.

• Arsenal of Democracy on Paradox Interactive Forums. Dev Diary #17.
• StarCraft II on Facebook. Mini update: One Image and one sentence. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.

Thanks Massively.

• Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer on Facebook. New concept art.
• Mafia II on GameSpot. Thanks VG247.
• Mass Effect 2 on The Official Website along with new wallpapers.
• The Secret World on Facebook. New concept art.

• MAG open beta goes live.
• MAG Beta Off To A Rocky Start.
• Microsoft Hints At Xbox Live Allowing Users To Pay In Dollars, Not Points.
• Amazon – FFXIII Collector’s Edition to cost €72.
• This week on Xbox LIVE Arcade: Matt Hazard Blood Bath & Beyond.
• Electronic Arts Reportedly Preparing NBA Jam Reboot.
• Matt Hazard Blood Bath out this week.
• Super Street Fighter Las Vegas Throw Down.
• DJ David Guetta confirms work on DJ Hero 2.
• Zelda fan movie shut down by Nintendo.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• WSJ: Apple tablet lands in March, 'costs $1,000'.
• A Savior in the Form of an Apple Tablet?
• Palm Pre and WebOS Get Native Gaming. Thanks Ant.
• MSI planning to a show dual-screen e-reader, 3D laptop at CES.
• Horizon's Hydrofill converts water to hydrogen, hydrogen into juice for your gadgets.
• Sony VAIO Z to offer ultra-fast "Quad SSD" in RAID 0 configuration, backlit keyboard?
• ZOMM uses Bluetooth to tether you to your phone, your phone to you.
• Logitech working on -ground-breaking- Android device according to job posting.
• Apple pulls iPhone app that upset Hollywood.
• Sharing 3G on the cheap with a mobile broadband router.
• Hardware details for Sprint-Skiff e-reader.
• Live Out Your Fighting Fantasy On iPhone.
• Ars live at Google Android press event tomorrow.

• Monty Wants To Save MySQL.
• Microsoft pushes Windows, Office upgrades with 50% discount.
• DVD sales tank in 2009 as Americans head to the cinema.
• Clash of the Drivers.
• USB 3.0: Your Questions Answered.
• LG OLED TV spotted in Korean store showing James Cameron's magnum opus.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Bono net policing idea draws fire.
• Facebook blocks 'Web 2.0 Suicide Machine'.
• How Non-Latin Domain Names Could Be Used to Steal Your Money.
• You Won't Recognize the Internet in 2020.
• Flixster Buys Movie Ratings Site Rotten Tomatoes.

• MW2 raises £250k for War Child…
• New Year Honours for game makers. Thanks Edge Online…
• Most-Requested 2009 Trade-In Games Topped By Left 4 Dead…
• George Costanza's Frogger Record Shattered…
• Leave 'Em In The Dust: CCP Asia On Chinese Collaboration…
• AbleGamers Awards Bioware's "Dragon Age: Origins" the 2009 Mainstream Accessible Game of the Year…

Link of the Day: The Darwin Awards 2009 Winners. Thanks loonyboi.

The BattleForge Website has word on plans to release the Lost Souls expansion for BattleForge on January 28, updating the free-to-play collectible card-style strategy game "with entirely new units, buildings and spells on the one hand and a couple of former enemies on the other hand." Details on the new units follow. Continue here to read the full story.

The Steam Users' Forums has a follow-up to the earlier report of problems activating Red Alert 3 on Steam due to a CD key issue. Word is simply: "This issue should now be resolved." True to that, the thread includes subsequent comments from users who are now able to play the game.

A new hotfix for Combat Mission: Shock Force Marines is now available to update the military combat expansion to version 1.21a. The new version includes "a slightly modified" version of the campaign Semper Fi, Syria!, addressing known problems with scoring in the scenario Afternoon Delight. This patch is for anyone who downloaded the version 1.21 patch from November prior to today. The download is available from Battlefront.com, and it is mirrored on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and WorthPlaying.

Users are still having problems activating Red Alert 3 on Steam thanks to a CD key issue as outlined in the Steam Users' Forums. A post on Joystiq points out this is still a problem several weeks after being first reported, and a post from today by Valve says they are working with EA and GameSpy to resolve this issue:

It appears that this issue is slightly different than the initial issue. When problems arise with systems that are not ours, it makes it very difficult for us to troubleshoot. Fortunately, we have found the root cause of the issue (thank you to everyone who PM'd me with the information requested in the sticky) and are working with EA and GameSpy to have it resolved as soon as possible.

GoldFire Studios announces open beta testing is underway for BC Wars, a browser-based MMORPG set in prehistoric times. Though we're not sure currency was a feature of economics in the caveman days, the game will feature an economy based on real money. Here are a few screenshots, and word is: "BC Wars allows users to build and design caves, battle ancient monsters and dinosaurs, battle other players in real time, join up with tribes and enter massive tribal wars, explore the ancient world, and any number of other exciting things."

The OXM Website has a few tidbits about the upcoming Medal of Honor game that brings the military shooter series into the present day. Issue #56 of the Official Xbox 360 Magazine is due on Thursday, but in the meantime they offer five details about the game, not all of which are new:

    • Tier 1 Ops soldiers brought in to help with authenticity - camo, military speak and so on.
    • Takes place in Afghanistan
    • You can shoot out lights and use night-vision
    • There will be multiple playable characters
    • Features sprinting and knife melee attack, similar to Call of Duty

Though development has not yet concluded for Alpha Protocol, a couple of references to a sequel for Obsidian's upcoming RPG are made in a recent 1UP Podcast. As noted by TheSixthAxis, Sega's Constantine "Constantin" Hantzopoulos at one point says: "I've got some folks playing [Alpha Protocol] right now internally, and, you know, basically coming up with some concepts for, eventually, AP2," also quoting the Sega Studio Director saying: "It’s the old slap on the head, looking back, and saying ‘What were we thinking?’ but sometimes you just go ‘We’ll shelve it for AP2.’"

Capcom Europe announces minimum system specifications for Dark Void, Airtight Games' upcoming action/shooter. Here goes:

OS
Windows Vista®/XP

Processor
Intel 2.4Ghz or AMD 2.0 GHz

Video card
GeForce 7900 or Radeon HD 3850 series DX 9 Games for Windows

Memory
1 GB RAM
10 GB free hard drive space

A playable demo is now available for Histwar: Les Grognards, offering the chance to sample this Napoleonic war game. There are no specifics about what the demo includes in exchange for 273 MB of your bandwidth and disk space. The download is available on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, and WorthPlaying. Update: AtomicGamer has pulled their copy of the demo, saying there is a problem that will be addressed with an updated demo.

Magitech Corporation now offers a new patch for Strength & Honour 2 to update the English retail edition of this empire building strategy game to version 1.08. There's also a previous version 1.07 patch that was not reported at the time (version 1.06 was skipped for some reason). The patches are available on this downloads page, where word is version 1.08 fixes a crash bug and text alignment in multiplayer mode. The version 1.08 patch is mirrored on AtomicGamer, Gamer's Hell, The Patches Scrolls, and WorthPlaying.

A post on No Mutants Allowed offers unconfirmed rumors said to be from an upcoming issue of Game Informer magazine about Fallout: New Vegas, the Fallout RPG in the works at Obsidian. They describe character creation based on background stories similar to Dragon Age, outlining the Chinese Agent and some of the perks associated with it, as well as a generic Lone Wanderer character. Tweaks to the SPECIAL system to make it harder to max out your character are described, as is the inclusion of gambling and vehicles. They warn "these are just rumours and might be entirely false." In fact they can't even claim their sources are real, calling them "unconfirmed sources," though it looks like the same info is posted on the GameSpot UK Forums with the source is described as "trusted," rather than "unconfirmed" in this case. Computer and Video Games reports getting a standard "no comment" in response to the rumors.

The Global Agenda Interview on Ten Ton Hammer talks with Todd Harris, executive producer on Global Agenda, focusing on PvP and mission types in Hi-Rez Studios' upcoming espionage-themed MMO shooter. They have a rundown of five mercenary mission types, explaining all maps are 10v10, but a maximum of four players can join a team so there's always the potential to be teamed with new players. Word is there will be no team deathmatch, but that players can play shoot-em-up in the training area and it will possibly come in a future update, and they also discuss plans to bring team-based gameplay in the near future as well. The article also gives some details on how matchmaking will work and discusses how class choice will influence combat.

Microsoft has filed a patent for game controllers based on Electromyography (EMG) technology that involves connecting EMG sensors to arm muscles and then detecting complicated hand gestures based on muscle movement without using cameras or power gloves. There's a video showing this off on the YouTube, and Engadget reports Microsoft is developing a wireless EMG sensor module that could be placed all over the body.

The Independent Games Festival announces the nominees for their 12th annual IGF awards, to be handed out on March 11, 2010 during the 2010 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco (thanks Zdim). They received a record 306 entries, and word is over 1500 judge comments will be passed along to the entrants as constructive, written feedback. Word is: "This year's finalists are led by multiple nominations for several notable games, including three nominations for innovative light-centric puzzle platformer Closure, and two nominations each -- including a Grand Prize nomination -- for Pocketwatch Games' stylish co-op heist game Monaco, Hello Games' polished stunt motorbike title Joe Danger, Ratloop Asia's cinematic avian action title Rocketbirds: Revolution!, Krystian Majewski's gestural photographic adventure game Trauma, and Team Meat's cartoon-gory 2D action title Super Meat Boy!." The full list follows. Continue here to read the full story.

The HMC Website offers a teaser trailer for a live-action Duke Nukem movie being created by some dedicated fans. The clip features a horror movie atmosphere, a schoolgirl outfit, and of course Duke, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Thanks Destructoid.

• WebMediaBrands Announced Acquisition of Social Gaming Summit, Virtual Goods Summit and iGames Summit.
• Last chance for GDC discount deal.

• Napoleon: Total War on Hooked Gamers.

• UK Charts: MW2 stays top.
• Darwinia+ XBLA cleared for release (finally).
• Sega done with mature Wii titles.
• Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week: A Kingdom for Keflings.
• Interview- Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten on GameInformer.com.
• Serial killers receive £5,000 Wiis.
• Awesome Xbox Live Indie Games Giveaway from Evolution Dreams Studio.
• Zac Efron's break-up threat over Xbox.

• Apple to unveil iTablet on Jan 26th?
• Fighting Fantasy: Warlock Of Firetop Mountain launched on iPhone.
• WSOP Hold'em Legends Game Released for iPhone.

• Top 5 Technology Panics of 2009.
• Some consumers think technology is lagging. Thanks Ant via Digg.
• Sony: 3D TV not until 2012.

• A decade's worth of IPv4 addresses.

• Nokia raises stakes in its Apple patent war.
• A look at Apple's love for DRM and consumer lock-ins.

• King Arthur - The Role-playing Wargame on Hooked Gamers.
• Trine on GamesLatest.

• AeroCool DCC-C900 CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers.org.
• ASRock H55M Pro Intel Clarkdale H55 Motherboard on OCWorkbench and TweakTown.
• ASUS K42F Notebook w/Intel Core i5 540M Arrandale CPU on Legit Reviews, PC Perspective, and The Tech Report.
• ASUS P7H55-M Pro Motherboard on OCWorkbench.
• ASUS P7H55D-M EVO Motherboard on Motherboards.org.
• booq Taipan Shadow XS Slim Laptop Messenger Bag on Test Freaks.
• ECS H55H-CM Intel H55 Motherboard on OCWorkbench.
• Gainward GeForce GT220 1024MB Graphics Card on MetkuMods.
• HIS Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 Graphics Card on Overclock3D.
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU on RBMODS.
• Intel Core i5 661 CPU on Bjorn3D.com, [H]ard-OCP, Hardware Canucks, HEXUS.net, Legit Reviews, Neoseeker, Overclockers Club, PC Perspective, techPowerUp, Technic3D (in German), TechSpot, and TweakTown.
• Intel Core i5 661 & Core i3 540 Dual Core CPUs on Legion Hardware, PC Games Hardware, and The Tech Report.
• Intel Core i5 650, 660, and 661 CPUs on Guru3D.
• Intel Core i5 CPU on Boot Daily, Hardcoreware.net, HotHardware, LostCircuits, and Techgage.
• Intel DH55TC Motherboard on Motherboards.org.
• IPEVO P2V USB Webcam on EverythingUSB.
• MSI Wind-Top AE2220 1080p All-In-One PC on Benchmark Reviews.
• QNAP TS-809 Pro Enclosure on Bjorn3D.com.
• Sapphire Radeon 5770 Vapor-X Graphics Card on PureOC.
• Silverstone Fortress 2 FT02 Tower Case on Proclockers.
• Topower Tiger 1200W PSU on Overclockers Online.

• Nine-Year-Old Stabbed To Death Over Video Game. Alleged perpetrator reportedly "mentally ill"…
• More Than Outsourcing: CCP Asia On Chinese Collaboration…
• Games industry salary survey returns…

Hope everybody had a pleasant holiday season and a happy new year. We had a fine old time this year, mostly laying low and keeping warm. We also still have a family get-together upcoming, so technically it's still the holidays around here... hmm, where's the eggnog?

Celebratory Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Gravit-Eye. Balantris.
Links:	My War Machine costume. Thanks Joker961 via Digg. Star Trek Waffles. The Dogs of War – a Tribute to The Military Working Dog. Thanks Neatorama.
Stories:	Burj Dubai, world's tallest tower, opens Monday. Secrets of the Economist's Trade- First, Purchase a Piggy Bank. Thanks Neatorama. B.C. family's dog saves boy from cougar attack. Thanks Acleacius.
Science:	10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist. Nanoparticles make biofuel production more efficient.
Images:	This iPod Touch Puts You In Sleep Mode. Thanks Digg. Commodore 64 unboxing. Billy Tries To Cleverly Deflect The Blame.
Media:	Modern Warfare 2 (MW2)- Ultimate Throwing Knife Montage. Apache Music Video. Wow! Thanks Unreality. Put Your Wings Up And Give Me All Your Money.
The Funnies:	xkcd.