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

Civilization Facebook beta for June (eurogamer) - The Facebook version of Sid Meier's Civlization will not begin beta testing until June.

Meier and gang will start canvassing for testers soon, according to Variety.

Announced in October, Civilization Network will use Facebook to get friends working together or competing with each other as they attempt to build the best settlement around. It's ambitious and has ludicrously-lucrative potential should the photo-swappers bite.

The aim, at least until the game builds momentum, is to be free-to-play.

Keep an eye on the Civilization Network Facebook page to stand a chance at becoming one of those beta testers.

Well-known EA IP going social in 2010 (eurogamer) - Playfish has announced plans to turn a well-known EA brand into a social gaming experience this year.

We don't know what or when, but Playfish did tell the Wall Street Journal that iPhone and Facebook are two key platforms for the genre, which places them as likely targets.

"Social gaming as an industry has grown pretty quickly, but it also means it has to grow up pretty quickly. I think we're going to see it rapid maturing over the next 12 to 24 months," said Playfish boss Kristian Segerstrale.

The London-based developer was bought by EA last year for $300m.

The signs of a blossoming market are there. FarmVille, Facebook's most popular game, attracts over 70 million users each month, while Mafia Wars hasaround 26 million active players.

Rival videogame publisher 2K is busy making Civilization Network for the Facebook platform, which hopes to spread the well-loved series to millions of households worldwide.

Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch and more importantly the App Store have also transformed the social gaming space. When unveiling the iPad recently, Apple boss Steve Jobs announced that there are over 140,000 Apps available today and around three billion have been downloaded so far.

Between the App Store and iTunes there are over 125 million credit-card backed accounts ready and waiting to snap up the latest digital content.

[Command and Conquer? – GP]

Hardcore focus pays off for Visceral (gamesindustry.biz) - A focus on an increasingly niche hardcore audience is paying off for EA's Visceral Studio, as the company prepares to release latest title Dante's Inferno, backed by a multi-million dollar marketing push.

With Super Bowl ads supporting what studio boss Nick Earl describes as "the best run project I've ever seen," the team believes Dante's Inferno will be a big seller for Electronic Arts, with pre-orders already "off the charts".

"This is us saying that this is an established category and our opportunity to step into the ring and take out the incumbent," said Earl speaking in an exclusive interview published today.

"It looks like the retail channel is very receptive, the pre-sales have been phenomenally good and then we're going to have a big punch with a Super Bowl ad, which is going to be EA's first-ever Super Bowl ad," detailed Earl. "As someone who makes games it's very exciting and a real pleasure to see the marketing side of the organisation step up and put so much emphasis into launching this product so we can get it out to a new audience."

As it continues to work on the hardcore games machines – a sequel to hit Dead Space is currently under way – Earl confirmed that Visceral is also looking at creating new digital titles for Sony's PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live.

Nintendo's Iwata dismisses Wii HD (eurogamer) - Satoru Iwata has denied ever talking about a Wii HD, and told investors that any new console from Nintendo would need significantly more than high definition graphics to gain his seal of approval.

"If asked if making the Wii compatible with high definition - just making it compatible with high resolution - will get players throughout the world to buy it, I would of course say, 'Do you think it would sell with just that? It needs something new,'" said Iwata, according to Andriasang.

He added: "If there were no rival makers in the world, I could give examples of the things that we are considering. However, for competitive reasons, I cannot give specifics today on the what or when of the things we're considering."

Iwata's comments echo Reggie Fils-Aime's statement from November that if HD were to be introduced to Wii then it would be as part of a broader revamp, the fruits of which we won't see until "far into the future".

Iwata also touched on the subject of a new DS, saying that high resolution graphics and a motion sensor are "naturally considered requirements". "However, do you believe it will sell with just this?" he asked, mysteriously.

Namco Bandai to cut 10% of workforce (gamesindustry.biz) - Namco Bandai Games is to decrease its workforce by 10 per cent - a move that will equate to job losses of around 630 staff - as part of a Restart Plan detailed by the company today.

Following the start of a three-year business plan begun in April 2009, the company said that it had re-examined the challenges it faced in achieving future growth in a "prolonged and severe business climate."

the Restart Plan - to be launched in April 2010 - will integrate the Group's Games Contents SBU (strategic business unit) with its Visual and Music Content unit, to form a new Content SBU.

Two virtual organisations - the Production Group and Publisher Function - will work to deliver content for platforms in "a speedy fashion", said the company, completing a structure that will allow for enhanced creative functions and increased flexibility.

Specifically, the Publisher Function will enable fast and flexible sales and marketing for content outlets in Japan and overseas, for game software, arcade game machines, mobile contents, video and music software packages and on-demand distribution.

The Namco Bandai Games' Group personnel restructuring plans will take place between now and the third quarter of fiscal 2011, with around 10 per cent of its 7000 staff expected to go. The move will be managed primarily through voluntary retirement, said the company, and is expected to reduce consolidated personnel expenditure in the next fiscal year by approximately ¥3.5bn ($38.6m / £24.2m).

Additional Group-wide cost reductions amounting to ¥8bn ($88.2m / £55.3m) are also expected, through streamlining initiatives and reviews of indirect operations.

Ahead of the Restart Plan, the company also said it planned a review of the structure of its directors to clarify the responsibility of the management.

The move comes as Namco today posted losses of ¥11.7bn (£81.3m / $129.5m) for the nine month period ending December 31.