Microsoft Cattle-Brands Gamerscore Cheaters

According to self-dubbed "Xbox community punching bag" Major Nelson, 360 gamers caught tampering with their save game files in order to artificially earn gamerscore points will have their point totals reset to zero, and their profiles will be branded as cheaters. They will be able to earn points for other games -- provided they earn them legitimately -- but they will never again be able to earn points with the games they were caught cheating in.

OUR TAKE: Harsh but appropriate justice. Will the guilty parties have animated dunce caps drawn onto their heads anytime they use their Xbox Live Vision cameras too?

200 Endings for Fallout 3?

On episode 107 of our own weekly audio podcast, Bethesda development boss, Fallout 3 producer, and all-around nice guy Todd Howard reveals that their upcoming post-nuclear role-playing sequel will have upwards of 200 endings. He also reassures us that the game is very much on track for a fall 2008 release, despite Bethesda's history of long development cycles for their gigantic, open-world RPGs.

OUR TAKE: Is more better? When it comes to Fallout, yes, yes indeed it is.

Gibson Goes After Guitar Hero and Rock Band

Guitar manufacturer Gibson is suing both the Rock Band and Guitar Hero camps, alleging that the custom controller peripherals for each infringe upon a Gibson-owned patent filed in 1999. Seeking damages and legal expenses, they contest that both games' controllers violate their patent for a "system and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience."

OUR TAKE: Looks like someone sees all the money flowing into the pockets of Activision/RedOctane and MTV/EA/Harmonix and wants a bigger slice of the pie. Good luck winning this one, Gibson. You'll need it.

Tom Clancy MMO Game Likely

In a conference call following the announcement of Ubisoft's complete and total acquisition of the Tom Clancy brand name, company president Yves Guillemot revealed that the publisher will likely begin development on a Tom Clancy-branded massively multiplayer online game. He wouldn't comment on which universe (Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six) the game might be set in -- nor did he mention any sort of release date -- but its existence seems all but inevitable.

OUR TAKE: We'd be willing to bet our last dollar that Ubisoft Montreal leads the development on the project, though it's likely that it will end up being a collaborative effort between multiple Ubisoft studios worldwide.

"Smallville" Starlet to Play Chun-Li in New Street Fighter Film

In a press release from Capcom sent to OXM headquarters, the publisher announced that Kristin "Lana Lang" Kreuk will star as Chun-Li in the upcoming Street Fighter film that will center around everyone's favorite thunder-thighed heroine. The "Smallville" star will appear alongside Michael Clarke Duncan, who will play Balrog, and Chris Klein, who will suit up as Charlie Nash.

OUR TAKE: Have you seen the 18th-century witch-themed episodes of "Smallville," where Kreuk is asked to play something beyond a cute teenage girl (in other words, herself)? It's not pretty. Optimism for a good Street Fighter film fading...fading...

Analyst Recommends Take-Two Accept EA Buyout Offer

Go-to videogame industry analyst Michael Pachter has called the Take-Two board of directors' rejection of EA's latest offer to buy the company (for $26 per share of stock) a "mistake," and dubbed the board's strategy "ill-advised." The targeted publisher is now looking to strengthen its anti-EA defenses by investigating the possibility of merging with another third-party games publisher.

OUR TAKE: Take-Two is sounding an awful lot like a whiny kid who doesn't want to play with the neighbor kid (EA). Regardless, we predict EA will eventually secure their prize.