Leipzig's over and the Tokyo Game Show won't be till October. But that doesn't mean there won't be any other conferences around to satisfy ever-curious gamers' appetites. And this time, we won't even have to fly overseas. The Austin Game Developers Conferences is coming up next, and they've added in a nice touch to this year's event.

Another day, another lawsuit: this time, Konami sues Harmonix and Viacom for reportedly encroaching on their patents with Harmonix' hit music and rhythm game franchise, Rock Band (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii). Does this have to do with the fact that Konami is currently developing Rock Revolution? More details in the full article.

This month saw the exodus of three companies from the ranks of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Following the trend started by Activision, Vivendi, and LucasArts, id Software of Doom and Quake fame recently confirmed that it will also be taking its leave from the video gaming group. More details on this on our full article after the jump.

When you've got a business going, it's a wise idea to keep track of your cashflow. THQ has been doing precisely that. In fact, the company has recently reported the fourth quarter results of the fiscal year, which ended last March 31, 2008. More financial statistics in the full article after the jump.

With all the flak that video games have gotten from politicians, we're tempted to think that two will probably never mix.

The latest one involves U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama and his comment about video games. You can read an excerpt of his statement n the full article after the jump.

Were you one of the many Xbox Live subscribers irked with the problematic connections that gave you "server errors" during the holidays? Were you satisfied with Microsoft's efforts to make amends by giving away free downloads? If not, you're not alone. Three Texas residents filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft for what they call a breach of the subscription contract. Get the details down when you read the full article.

Independent works will always have a hard time finding its niche in an already established market, and video games are no exception. Usually the bottomline in creating a game is creativity versus profitability.

Steve Escalante, Business Development VP of the Gamecock Media Group, talked about this subject during the Texas' Independent Game Conference. Read more in the full article.

It's official: Blacksite: Area 51 (Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC) creative director Harvey Smith, one of the developers behind Deus Ex, and parent company Midway Austin have parted ways after Smith's "public resignation". This ends the partnership that the two began in 2004 after Smith bolted his old team by dishing out strong words in a recent interview.

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.

High-flying University of Texas star forward Kevin Durant may be headed to the NBA and all, but before he goes pro, he's leaving a little something to secure his place in the NCAA memoirs. He's gracing the cover of NCAA March Madness 08 and he talks about it in this video:

March Madness is EA Sports' flagship college basketball game which allows players to dress up in the jerseys of their favorite college squads and take on the top ball clubs to see who will take the national title. If you're wondering why names of players have so far not been displayed in the series, it's because the act is against league policies. The only clue you'll get on the identities of ballers are the numbers on their uniforms. It shouldn't be too hard for league fans who've been following the series closely.

By the way, Durant spent only one year in the NCAA when he joined the University of Texas which earned him the reputation of being the most exciting college player in America and the honor of Big 12 Player of the Year award in 2006. He has mow opted for a spot in the NBA Draft and is currently working out with the Seattle Supersonics. Let's see if we see him on the same team in NBA Live 08.