No fatalities in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe? Not so, says Mortal Kombat series co-creator Ed Boon. The game will include fatalities, but they will be strictly adhering to a T rating. More details in the full article.

A recent report is hinting that Microsoft wants some of the industry's best people to work on its Gears of War sequel. One of their prime catches is among the cream of the crop in the gaming scene's free agent list. Find out who this former EA Chicago boss is when you read the full article.

In a recent interview with GameTap, Peter Moore stated his intentions to take Electronic Arts from an "American" brand to a global one. Although EA continues to be popular within the US and without, Moore feels that it doesn't "feel local" to the European and Asian market.

Moore, President of EA, also mentioned last week how EA Sports is looking at cricket as a sport, perhaps as a hint of more things to come to make the brand more global, or depending on your point of view, local to your country. As Moore explains:

I talked a lot [...] about cricket, tennis, mixed martial arts, open-wheel racing [...] all of which can make a difference in the way people perceive us. [...] We don't have that depth and penetration into the psyche of the European sports consumer. We need to change that, and we need to change that quickly.

The goal is to let consumers outside of the US to relate more to the games they play and not just feel like a "brand that has been exported." (Well, when in Rome, people say poh-tah-toh. Or is it the other way around?) At any rate, EA's recent acquisition of Bioware and Pandemic Studios should help broaden their horizons.

Check out the Read link for the full interview.

Behold the new voice of Tomb Raider: Minnie Driver! The new "ReVisioned" series based on Tomb Raider's Lara Croft was launched by GameTap Retrospective in honor of the 10th anniversary of the release of the first game.  For more Lara Croft fun, the 10th Anniversary celebration will also release the Tomb Raider: Anniversary game on the PS2, Xbox 360 and the PlayStation Portable.

Seems like this delectable diva has been busy in the animation industry recently.  She also stars in the new Simpsons movie.  Probably the most spectacular demonstration of her voice was when she played Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera, an even bigger diva than she is in real life.  She has experience in voicing an animated character from before: she played Brooke Shields in South Park and Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke so our favorite heroine will be safe in her hands (and microphone.)

"ReVisioned" will premier on July 10 on GameTap.com.  A new episode will appear every week through August 23.  And hey, it's free!

Episodic PC game Sam & Max is being rumored to make an Xbox 360 appearance. It began when a listing for a 360 Systems Programmer appeared on Telltale Games' official site the other day.

A couple of the position's specific responsibilities include migrating core components of a PC game engine to the Xbox 360 as well as modifying and supporting existing art and production paths to accommodate Xbox 360 production. Telltale added that the applicant should also possess a love for adventure games.

Online site Gamespot tried contacting Telltale and was able to speak with one representative. No magic beans were spilled, but the employee admitted that they're continually evaluating new platforms:

We do not have any official Xbox project announcements to share right now. We're huge supporters of digitally distributing episodic content, and this has been working very well for our current Sam & Max series on the PC. For a potential Sam & Max Xbox project, we'd certainly look closely at a downloadable digital solution like the Live Arcade.

We just reported the other day that the fourth episode of the game was just released over at GameTap.

Give a little, take a little. We've already seen what the brighter side of gaming has to offer, with groups like ScrewAttack and Penny Arcade taking up the challenge of giving back to the community with their recently concluded PS3 auction, the proceedings of which went to the Child's Play program.  And this time, we're looking at gaming charity on a larger scale, as GameTap, Pledgeplay and Buy.com announce their Thanks4Giving program to kick the holidays off on the right track.

Started this November 21 and ending December 24, the program is hosted at the pledgeplay.com web site, and anybody who's interested in helping out can just drop over to make a minimum $20 donation. Donors will receive four free weeks of GamTap's entertainment network services, with $50 to $100 donations receiving either a free video game or accessory over at Buy.com - you get to choose.

Charities that visiting gamers can offer donations to include the CaringBridge and HopeLab charity groups, and three children's hospitals: Children’s Healthcare, Atlanta; Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego; Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle. "This joint endeavor is so unique and meaningful that it has garnered the support of such worthy philanthropic organizations," said Neel Grover, President and CEO of Buy.com.

For the other gamers out there tired of all the bad rap we've been getting as some sort of social anomaly (You hear that, Mr. O'Reilly? We DO care!) or just think it's about time we give back to the community, pass the message, and make this season as happy for others as it's been for you.

With sports being a major category of video gaming, it makes sense that ESPN would one day want to get in on the action of covering it. In partnership with the Ziff Davis Game Group and GameTap, the sports news network launched the ESPN Video Games Channel as a section of their sports news site. Obviously, being a sports network, the ESPN Video Games Channel is dedicated mainly to covering the latest news and features in the world of virtual sports.
One of the main features of the site is a weekly video podcast that will be made available through ESPN.com's PodCenter. But what video game site could all itself a video game site without offering tons of game-related content, including game previews, demos and strategy guides, and interviews and special features on upcoming sports game titles.

One new feature that's due to come is the GameTap Video Game Vault, which will become a repository for information and features about some of the most hallowed and respected sports game titles from the past platforms of video gaming history. Okay, call it the Smithsonian for sports-themed video games - that's the idea!