Reports in the media suggested that the search engine giant Google is interested in acquiring video game maker Valve Software.

This sounds very illogical though experts believe that Google might be interested in gaining their Steam technology.

Company sources have denied any talks going on between them.

Valve is most popularly known for their games such as its Half Life series. Their Steam technology is very popular and is used for selling and distributing games, updating patches, enabling multiplayer online chat, and using digital rights management to control the usage of games by users.

Checkout: Valve

Market sources are reporting that Activision would be launching their gaming title Guitar Hero: Metallica early next year.

Activision has already announced another similar gaming title named Guitar Hero: Aerosmith which they said was the first of the many series based entirely on a band.

Activision is said to have mentioned in a recent SEC filing:

“In fiscal 2009, we plan to publish Guitar Hero: On Tour for the NDS; Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and Guitar Hero IV across multiple platforms.”

The report also said that the company is working on a new James Bond game to be named Quantum of Solace.

Chinese language Economic Daily News had recently reported that Pegatron has won an order from Microsoft to manufacture a variant of Xbox 360 with Blu-ray Disc ROM drive.

The report further claimed that the software giant is going to launch this version before the end of the year.

The latest reports however contradicts that. A Microsoft official has stated what they have been saying since sometime now: “As we have stated, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360. Games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”

Can Microsoft stay away from a possible Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360 gaming console? Only time will tell.

It has been rumored since a long that Sony has been considering launching mobile phone devices with Playstation like gaming capabilities.

Sony Computer Entertainment co-chief operating officer Jim Ryan has now been quoted as saying in the media: “The PlayStation is a proven success and so is Sony Ericsson. Convergence with the two arms working together is definitely plausible.”

He added: “What has been done is finding a match between a camera and a mobile phone, and that has been done wherein the mobile phone features are not reasonably inhibited and the camera is also a reasonably competitive product. It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console-oriented phone.”

Diptarup Chakraborti, principal analyst at research firm Gartner had this to say on the possibility of a Playstation branded mobile phone: “Sony Ericsson has succeeded in selling music phones and camera phones that capitalize on its well-known Walkman music player brand and its Cyber-Shot digital camera brand. While the Cybershot and Walkman are better selling brands from the Sony fold, PlayStation almost enjoys cult status and two strong brands, SE and PS would make a strong success story for Sony.”

Market analyst Evan Wilson is claiming that the Japanese videogame console maker Nintendo is working on a third variant of third DS handheld gaming machine.

Nintendo already has two versions of DS in the market. This new model is unlikely to be released in the near future however.

Wilson said in his report: “Our contacts indicate that a refreshed DS is complete. It is thinner, has on-board storage, and larger screens. However, we do not expect a revamped Wii or DS until sales begin to tail off in all three major geographies.”

Nintendo DS is a worldwide hit and has already sold more than 55 million units.

A local newspaper has reported that the Singapore authorities has now removed his recently announced ban on the Mass Effect game on the Xbox 360 gaming console.

The game was earlier banned in the country as it had a sexually oriented scene between a human woman and an alien woman.

The Strait Times reported in a news article that the game would now be sold with a M18 label. This rating means that the game would only be sold to people over the age of 18 in this country.

This is apparently the first instance of a game being given such a rating in this country.

Market sources are claiming that Sony is working on a new variant of their older generation Playstation 2 gaming console which would feature an internal power supply.

This version could be priced as little as USD 99 as the company would be able to cut costs by integrating the power converter inside the device itself.

Sony is currently offering the PS2 console for USD 129 in the US market.

Market analysts are also suggesting that the company could drop the price of the current PS2 to USD 99 for the upcoming holiday season.

They are failing to sell enough units of their latest Playstation 3 console and are facing huge losses. Microsoft and Nintendo are dominating the US market with sales of Xbox 360 and Wii gaming consoles.

Reports in the media suggest that Microsoft’s upcoming Halo 3 gaming title for the Xbox 360 console is already available online on Warez networks.

Halo 3 for Microsoft Xbox 360 is due for a launch early next week and it is one of the most awaited games of the year.

Online reports are claiming that the game is available as a download from torrent networks. It works on modded Xbox 360 systems which are capable of playing pirated copies of the console games.

The game has already incidentally sold more than 1 million copies. This is a record for pre-sales of a videogame title.

Microsoft has already spent millions on promoting this game and they are going to launch it in mega style in big media events scheduled in New York City, Seattle, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Wedbush Morgan Securities’ Michael Pachter and Edward Woo have predicted that Sony is likely to drop the price of their Playstation 3 gaming console once more in the near future.

The company had a not so impressive E3 Media & Business Summit. They announced at the event their decision to reduce the price of the 60GB Playstation 3 to USD 499.

Sony also launched a new variant of the console with a 80GB hard disk which costs USD 599.

However, the event turned into a PR nightmare when the company admitted that they are stopping the production of the 60GB model so it was basically a move to clear their stock.

Analysts are predicting that the company is unlikely to continue with the $599 PS3. They expect Sony to announce yet another price drop on this console before the start of the holiday season this year.

The announcement can coincide with the upcoming launch of two massively anticipated games for the PS3 platform: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Nintendo Wii has become the fastest selling gaming console of all times. It is still hard to find a unit in the stores in the US market even several months after launch.

It is competing with Xbox 360 from Microsoft and Playstation 3 from Sony.

The latest statistics from VG Chartz reveals that Wii sales have now passed up lifetime Xbox 360 sales in less than a year.

The site claims that the figures are based on sample data from retailers all over the world. The report claims that Wii sold 10.57 million consoles as of August 23 compared to 10.51 million units for Microsoft Xbox 360.

The difference between the two figure is even more impressive considering the Wii console was launched one year later than the Xbox 360.

If this is indeed true, Nintendo repeated history by becoming the company which is the leader in the home console and handheld markets (Wii and DS). Their Super NES and Gameboy were the market leaders way back in 1994.