When I started writing for QJ I never thought I'd be writing so many depressing news related to the economy, but here we are. News has come in that Electronic Arts' restructuring plans have hit their Black Box studio, with 200 of their 350+ staff laid off.

More after the link.

Here's a small tinge of hope for those who wanted a better Need For Speed title instead of no new NFS game at all: Black Box is not totally shutting down. Also, Criterion is being rumored to be helping with the next NFS title. More after the jump.

Say what?! Gaming is just "one notch up from porn"? Not literally, but seriously, the British parliament pays little attention to the gaming industry, treating it like some cultural minority. As a result, gaming in the UK has gotten so bad that developers from other countries are buying British companies out. More in the full article.

North America won't be the only one who'll enjoy Microsoft's storage solution for Core and Arcade owners to accommodate the New Xbox Experience. Over 20 other countries will get the cheap hard drive / free mem card, including the UK, Australia, and Japan. Full list after the link.

Yeah, it's a bummer that North America had to get its taste of the Ninja Gaiden 2 demo later than the rest of the world. Thankfully, it's finally here so that everyone can sample it if they haven't bought the full game already. Details in the full article up next.

Gamers in North America finally have a reason to celebrate as Firaxis and 2K Games recently announced the official release date of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (Xbox 360, PS3, and DS) in the region. Following the June 6 release in Europe, gamers in the States will now be able to enjoy the same turn based strategy addiction Civilization Revolution has to offer as it's all cleared for launch this June 8. More details about this in our full article after the jump.

Major Nelson revealed that the Xbox 360 demo for Kung Fu Panda is now available for download on the Xbox 360 in certain regions. Don't fret though because he did mention that the demo will eventually be available in all the regions where this movie will be coming out. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

It looks like Lara finally has a daddy to come home to. Warner Bros Home Entertainment recently subscribed up to £15 million (US$ 30 million) new shares in the company and announced a new strategic partnership with the house behind the Tomb Raider series. For more details regarding this, read our full article after the jump.

You can probably imagine that World War II was hellish, now imagine it with undead and werewolves and it becomes even more hellish. That's the scenario that Atlus and Success' upcoming video game for the Xbox 360, Operation Darkness explores. Want to know more? Click on the link below for more info.

If you want to know all about the top game development studios in the industry today, you can read all about them in the recently published Develop 100 by Sheridan and amBX. The book takes a look at the top 100 gaming studios as well as additional information on their respective revenues throughout the year. For more information regarding this, you can read our full article after the jump.