Yes, it's confirmed. Battlefield 3 is indeed coming. Thanks to Electronic Arts COO John Pleasants, we finally have official word that the next iteration in the successful Battlefield franchise will indeed be happening.

The Swine Flu (now officially known as the H1N1 virus) is proving to cause a huge damper on the upcoming E3 festivities. With just literally a couple of weeks before the curtains rise to start what could be the biggest games show of the year, we have attendees going over the list and checking it twice, for fear of the said virus. Capcom Japan would be one such attendee.

Reports have come in that the PC version of Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (the Xbox 360 version is still in the works) has dethroned Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) from the sales list in both Germany and Sweden. However, both games were not able to stand up to the might of Wii Play in Spain. Care to find out more? Check out the full article.

We got an update on the upcoming Nordic Game Conference which is set to happen in a few weeks in Sweden. Things are definitely shaping up as the top names from the industry gather for the multidisciplinary Game Creation Sessions. Find out who they are in the full article.

One topic that this year's Nordic Game conference aims to discuss is regarding game development. To this end, Nordic's organizers have unveiled their initial line-up of professional programmers who will be giving talks at the event grounds. Details are available in the full article.

Things are definitely taking shape with the upcoming Nordic Game conference 2008 which is set to happen in two months time in Malmö, Sweden. It's been revealed that producers of Lego Star Wars and Rock Band will be the Keynote speakers in this event. Find out the details after the jump!

Capcom has officially confirmed that Bionic Commando is being readied for a return. Sweden-based studio GRIN is currently developing a next generation version of the classic platformer for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Games for Windows platforms.

Former Faith No More lead singer Mike Patton, who also did the voice work for the Darkness in The Darkness (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), will be voicing protagonist Nathan Spencer. The story takes place three years after Spencer is falsely imprisoned by his superiors. Spencer is reactivated after a large terrorist force attacks and occupies Ascension City.

Spencer will be able to the game's swing mechanic to navigate the ruins of Ascension City. Multiple routes are accessible by using swinging, rappelling, climbing and wall-walking techniques. Spencer will also be able to use his bionic arm to pummel his enemies or grab objects such as boulders and cars and throw them for long-distance attacks.

You can learn more about GRIN and Capcom's next-gen Bionic Commando by visiting its official website, accessible via the Read link below. Capcom has yet to announce a release date for this title, so keep checking back here for more updates.

The nationalistic fervor burns even hotter in EA Sports' FIFA 08 as the developers of one of the world's best-selling sports game franchises announce a collection of 50 songs from artists around the world.

Every national team represented in FIFA 08 has a corresponding song and band from their own country that ups the passion as you take on the world's elite teams in the planet's most popular ballgame.

Included in the mix are artists such as The Hoosiers (UK), Babamars (France), Bodyrox (UK), Junkie XL (Holland), and Santogold (USA), Simian Mobile Disco (UK), CSS (Brazil), Datarock (Norway), Dover (Spain), Ivy Queen (Puerto Rico), Junkie XL (Holland), Maximo Park (UK), Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexico), Peter Bjorn And John (Sweden), Planet Funk (Italy), Superbus (France), The Cat Empire (Australia), and Wir Sind Helden (Germany). Many more are in store to be discovered when the game hits.

"We’ve been working for nearly a year to deliver what we believe is the ultimate FIFA 08 soundtrack," comments Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music at EA. "These are the most songs ever in a FIFA edition representing the most countries in the history of the videogame."

EA Sports' FIFA football franchise is the longest-running football simulation to date and has sold millions of copies around the world with iterations dating back to almost two decades. FIFA 08 will be released on the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PC, Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable.

Buy: [FIFA 08 (Wii)]

Buy: [FIFA 08 (PS3)]

Buy: [FIFA 08 (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [FIFA 08 (PC)]
Buy: [FIFA 08 (PSP)]
Buy: [FIFA 08 (DS)]

What are they playing over at Sweden? Aren't you curious? This bit of info just might save your life one day, y'know. The region's data trade firm, Dataspelsbranschen (now try saying that as fast as you can, ten times consecutively), has just released the top sales charts of video games for Sweden.

The Multiplatform chart is dominated by the MMORPG mogul that is The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade from Blizzard. This is followed by Pokémon Diamond on the Nintendo DS. MotorStorm and R:FoM have also landed a place in the multiplatform chart, and unsurprisingly, both titles get bragging rights in the PS3 chart.

The 360 chart has Guitar Hero II fronting the musical act - and smack dab in the middle is Gears of War on fifth place. The Wii has Leon Kennedy and Ashley Graham running up to first place with Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, while Twilight Princess is galloping up to the Top 2 spot.

On the handheld side, the DS chart has both Pokemon (Diamond and Pearl) titles on top, while the PSP chart has Pro Evolution Soccer 6 kicking into the goal - Konami's sports title is enjoying the kingly spot on top.

 Multiformat

1. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
2. Pokémon Diamond (DS)
3. World of Warcraft (PC)
4. Counter-Strike 1: Anthology (PC)
5. Guitar Hero 2 Rock the 80´s (PS2)
6. The Sims 2 H&M Fashion (PC)
7. Pokémon Pearl (DS)
8. Motorstorm (PS3)
9. Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
10. Singstar 90's (PS2)

Check out the Full Article link below for each individual chart per platform!

These days, GameStop has a lot of reasons to celebrate. It's working on an industry that's growing every day, it's posting some serious numbers financially, and has recently opened its 1,000th store outside of the US.

The Texas-based game and console retailer has opened new stores recently in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Norway to hit the thousand-store milestone. Prior to that, the company has already branched out to Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, Guam, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

GameStop points to the booming hardware sales led by Kyoto-based Nintendo with its DS handheld and Wii console. Microsoft and Sony are also pitching in with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, respectively.

Total sales posted by the retailer last year amounted to US$ 5.32 billion and is expected to grow even more this year as hot demand continues for pole platforms. The first quarter of fiscal 2007 saw GameStop with its best quarterly performance ever with US$ 24.7 million in profits while gross sales were at an all-time high of US$ 1.279 billion.