As rumors would have it, Electronic Arts has shut down the Brisbane, Australia office of Pandemic Studios. Says a "reliable source", the shut down was more of a "find a new publisher" thing, rather than a "sorry, we'll have to kill you off" scenario.

Rockstar Games has announced via press wire that a "massive downloadable upgrade and content pack" are incoming for Midnight Club: Los Angeles (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360).

How massive? Find out after the jump.

Things are looking up for Eidos, which had a very tough year. The owner of the Tomb Raider franchise is being courted by several big names, including the titan studio Square Enix, who's looking to expand with more titles that appeal to Western tastes.

Well if Lara doesn't appeal to Western tastes I don't know what does.

Big things up for Square Enix! They've just set up shop in LA, and in an interview, SE US president John Yamamoto has confided their plans: the LA studio is going digital. He also revealed the general direction the corporation is going - global markets and what not. But in what could be called as one of the boldest statements ever made in the industry, he's already declaring the exclusivity war officially over. Like whoa.

With the state of the economy as it is, people keep throwing the question, is the games industry recession proof? Well not entirely, not according to some analysts at least, who believe that certain game titles will have disappointing sales.

A US-based Square Enix Studio is to be erected in El Segundo, Los Angeles. Naturally, they're going to need to staff it and Xbox and Wii dev teams are at the top their list. (After product managers, of course. You really need those guys too.)

EA Games put into effect a cost reduction plan which includes a reduction of its work force of about 6 percent, which is approximately 600 employees. The reason behind the cut: growing losses and weakening retail. Hard to believe? Read more on full article.

Video games used as a medium to debut an all-new car? Sure, why not?! Nissan and Electronic Arts have revealed via press release that gamers get first dibs to test drive (virtually, of course) the all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z Coupe in the upcoming Need for Speed: Undercover title. Sweet! Now all I need are some models to go with that car and I'm set for life...

Looks like the problems that plagued Fable II's Limited Collector's Edition didn't stop it from becoming a best seller. The game debuted on top spot in the UK, with Far Cry II having to settle for second best. UK gamers doesn't seem to like survival-horror though - Dead Space only debuted at 6th place.

What are the top games in the UK? Check them out after the link.

E3 is officially on for next year.

Good news is, the event has been expanded. The bad news is that it's still closed to the public. Meaning the invite list is still a restricted number, but at least it's expanded.

Yay?