Here's a roundup of today's news found elsewhere on the internet:

Steam has 70 per cent of PC pie (eurogamer) - Brad Wardell, boss of Stardock and digital distribution platform Impulse, reckons Valve's Steam is miles ahead of any competition in the PC gaming download market.

"Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 per cent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 per cent and all others combined at 20 per cent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," wrote Wardell in a company report this week (spotted by Gamasutra).

Class action planned for Xbox bans (gamesindustry.biz) - Law firm AbingtonIP is encouraging users who have had their Xbox 360s banned from Xbox Live to contact them in anticipation of a class lawsuit.

As discovered by website IncGamers the firm, which specialises in consumer class actions, has set up a form on its website for anyone who was banned from Xbox Live for owning a modified console. The recent actions by Microsoft to remove such users is rumoured to have affected up to 1 million people.

"Although modification of Xbox consoles is arguably against the terms of use for Xbox/Xbox Live, Microsoft 'conveniently' timed the Xbox console ban to coincide with the release of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game and less than two months after the release of the very popular Halo 3: ODST game," reads the text of the AbingtonIP website.

Dark Void film optioned by Brad Pitt (gamesindustry.biz) - Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment, together with the Indian-owned Reliance BIG Entertainment, have acquired the film right to Capcom title Dark Void.

The film adaptation is already being touted as a possible starring vehicle for Pitt himself, although no time frame for the production has been made public.

The game is due to be released on January 22 in Europe (January 19 in North America) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The title is being developed by Airtight Games, staffed by several former members of FASA Studio who worked on original Xbox title Crimson Skies.

The game's premise features a similar aesthetic to Rocketeer, with a jetpack-equipped pilot crash-landing in the Bermuda Triangle and subsequently teleported to a parallel universe where he battles an alien race known as the Watchers with the aid of scientist Nikola Tesla.

PS2 officially hits Brazil (gamesindustry.biz) - Brazil, an emerging market for the videogames industry, has finally seen the official launch of Sony's PlayStation 2 in the country.

However, with a price point of BRL 799 (USD 462) it's not clear quite how much impact the console will be able to have on a market that's considered to have a high threat from piracy.

It's expected that games will cost BRL 119 (USD 69) for new releases and BRL 99 (USD 57) for catalogue titles, with 14 games available at launch - including Gran Turismo 4 and God of War II.

"Brazil is home to a large community of gaming enthusiasts, making the country an ideal opportunity for SCEA to introduce the PlayStation experience to a new legion of fans," read a company statement.

Banned PSN player takes aim at Microsoft, Nintendo (gamespot) - In September, a federal judge dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit brought against Sony by a disgruntled gamer who had been banned from the PlayStation Network [for “multiple, repeated, intentional violations" of the user agreement]. Undeterred, that gamer appealed the decision last month, and this week filed a new suit against Microsoft and Nintendo; this one bypassing the Bill of Rights and instead citing the Declaration of Independence.

"In federal terms, the plaintiff who relies heavily on video games for happiness, would like the federal court to decide if Nintendo is interfering with certain player's pursuit of happiness, which is stated in the United States Declaration of Independence."

The gamer is asking for $75,000 from Microsoft due to "the stress put on the plaintiff having to find a way to acquire a new Xbox 360 system and the sadness he will have in the meantime of finding one he can afford." As for Nintendo, the plaintiff wants $5,000 for interfering with his pursuit of happiness and an injunction preventing Nintendo from blocking access to the Homebrew Channel or the program he used to unlock Mario Kart Wii characters.