Big news coming in for Europe, as we announce that preparations are underway for this year's London Games Festival. Wondering exactly when 2008's celebrations begin? Visit the full article for the rest of the details!

Ready for another puzzle solving adventure with the Professor and Luke? Well, Level 5 has just released the official site for the newest installment in the series, Professor Layton and the Final Time-Travel. Also included are some character art and screenshots. Check out the full article for details.

A new music game for the Nintendo Wii and DS from Disney Interactive Studios will be arriving on the 2008 holidays, and you Rock Band (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) and Guitar Hero fans might want to take a look at this promising title. Disney's Fall Line Studio, in collaboration with Radial Music from London, will be releasing Ultimate Band to make your rock star dreams come true. Check out the details in the full article.

What enters your mind when you hear the word "gamer"? Chances are you're a gamer yourself, so your answer's pretty different compared to a non-gamer's. According to Dawn Paine, Nintendo UK Head of Marketing, a non-gamer's definition of a "typical" gamer is a "long haired nerd, screaming as he gripped a control pad."

To address this, Paine aims to bring in a new type of gamer, one that would stand for "self development, health, beauty and fitness" with their Touch! Generation software. More in the full article.

Here's a treat for gamers in the UK. Rumor has it that Eidos Interactive just got the rights to the BBC's highly popular EastEnders soap opera. Speculation goes that Eidos is planning to release the game as a casual title for either the DS or mobiles.

First, a game based on the BBC's Little Britan TV sketches, and now this. Visit the Full Article for the rest of the details for this particular rumor.

Despite an 18% loss in revenue last quarter as compared to last year's, Electronic Arts is confident the launch of a number of holiday titles and an upcoming restructuring would put them back in the game. The changes will focus on efficiency and cost-cutting. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter remains positive about the future of the studio, saying: "They appear to have costs under control and revenue growth is solid."

With the trend of games being released under the Touch Generation label and the vast popularity of Dr. Kawashima's disembodied head, Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton still reassured hardcore gamers that they are not being ignored - whether you're talking about titles on the Wii or DS.

At a press conference in London, a couple of Nintendo fans who grew up on the classic first-party titles on the NES and SNES (oh, you can throw your own example here: Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, etc.) expressed their concern about the recent and upcoming releases that Nintendo has in its games library. A couple of games that were pointed out were Brain Training and Wii Fit.

Yarnton replied with a number of games to prove that they are indeed not ignoring the hardcore gamer. Said Yarnton, they (Nintendo) are still very much in touch with their roots:

It's important to know that we're not ignoring the hardcore gamer. They're still very important to us. // And Christmas alone we have already catered on the Wii with Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy, and on DS with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

We all have different definitions of "hardcore" gaming. And true enough (some of you might even agree), Metroid Prime delivers in the hardcore department (Ridley battle FTW!). Galaxy does go back to the Mario 64 roots with a lot more to offer. And Phantom Hourglass, despite having a new kind of control scheme, still takes us back to the days of classic top-down dungeon crawlers like A Link to the Past.

But what about other games to follow Super Mario Galaxy? Let's hope Nintendo starts making announcements soon. We can't wait for a Star Fox on the Wii.

The amount of accolades for the entire Nintendo team just keep pouring in. Aside from Reggie Fils-Aime winning the Grand Marketer of the Year award, Shigeru Miyamoto received his own award in a ceremony held at the Science Museum in London.

The game designer was honored with The Economist's Innovation Award for Consumer Goods for his contribution to the video gaming industry in general. There is no doubt that Nintendo has redefined the way video games are seen and played with its current generation of console and handheld platforms.

The Economist Business Editor Tom Standage praised Miyamoto for "his pioneering vision and creativity truly created a new category of entertainment". In a recent article published here at QJ.NET, Ad Age described the Wii marketing phenomenon and how it is currently dominating the video game market with its unique take on handling the ongoing console wars.

Only time will tell if this success will continue as the year draws to a close and a new fiscal year enters for all the gaming companies entered in the marketing race.

The father of all things Simlish will now be "up there" among the likes of Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, and Charlie Chaplin. The Sims creator Will Wright is to be inducted into the BAFTA Fellowship - it's an award given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to certain icons in the industry for their creative work.

What's more is that Mr. Wright is the first ever in the video games industry to be given this accolade. With games likeSpore (which is going multiplatform, BTW) in his developer's resumé, we're not surprised. Will Wright getting the Fellowship establishes the fact that BAFTA now recognizes video games as a substantial part of popular culture.

And who begs to disagree? We're sure most of you believe that videos games really do have a lot of impact and contribute a lot to the greater concept of art and moving pictures. Academy Chariman Hilary Bevan Jones states:

Will's immense, creative body of work and his continued contribution to the industry make him a most worthy recipient of the Fellowship and being such a pioneer, we are thrilled that he will be the first person to receive this honour.

The awards ceremonies are to take place in London on the 23rd of October.

If you've ever been told off by your teacher for bringing your handheld gaming device to school, then you probably should try studying in the UK. RedHalo is a new company which offers a "free, ultra-secure, Personal Learning Space" that they can use for schoolwork on handhelds and home games consoles.

The new service was discussed during the recent Handheld Learning Conference in London. It basically allows access from any gaming devices capable of connecting to the 'Net such as Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP, or even smartphones, iPhones, PDAs, and UMPCs.

However, it isn't all fun and games. Neil Critchell, Technical Director for RedHalo, explains that this is an experimental type of learning through a controlled environment, monitored by teachers. Since just about every kid owns a handheld or a mobile device of some sort, accessibility won't be much of a problem when learning through this service.

The free, basic package included in the RedHalo Platform edition offers up to 1GB of Personal Learning Space and can be upgraded to 5GB on the Pro Edition for a small annual fee. It also provides additional security features and bundled software for either Windows Mobile, XP, or Vista-based devices.

Tim Chaney, former boss of Virgin Interactive and Director at RedHalo Ltd., had this to about the new project:

We are pleased to be at the leading edge of the learning while mobile movement and establish a standard that will help learners and educators, as well as publishers and developers who will build upon our platform. Our mission is to make learning personal and universally accessible; this announcement takes us a step closer.