GAME stores in Australia have entered voluntary administration, following the lead of GAME UK stores which did so earlier this year.

UPDATE:

14:13: The following has been posted by Blizzard on Battle.net:

 

Battlefield 3 developer DICE will announce a premium content service at this year’s E3, according to a source close to Battlefieldo.

The service, eerily similar to that of another blockbuster shooter whose name shall go unuttered, is said to land players – via content drops – a number of unique in-game items not available anywhere else.

These include a premium knife, black dog tags, and a set of soldier and weapon camouflage skins that will give players more personalisation options.

 

A stand-alone Hitman mini-game will be available to play on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 by those who pre-order Square Enix’s Hitman: Absolution from May 16.

A Windows PC version of the mini-game will be available through Steam from August 2.

Titled Hitman: Sniper Challenge, the game puts players in control of Agent 47 as he attempts to eliminate a high-value asset from a balcony overlooking a rooftop party. Despite sharing a protagonist, the game has no influence on the events in Hitman: Absolution beyond unlocking the Kazo TRG sniper rifle and some upgrades.

 

Microsoft is currently testing a Kinect-enhanced version of Internet Explorer 9, according to The Verge.

Internet Explorer for Xbox allegedly expands on the console's Bing voice search functionality, bringing a full browser to the Xbox.

Although the Kinect will not be mandatory for usage of the browser, Kinect gestures and voice control are supposedly heavily incorporated into the software, which would allow for faster searching compared with controller alphanumeric input via an on-screen keyboard.

 

Japanese game developers neglect multiplayer at their peril, says Epic Games director Cliff Bleszinski.

The Gears of War maestro was quick to point out that he was not saying that multiplayer versus modes should be tacked on to every game, but that Shadows of the Damned and Vanquish in particular could have hugely benefited from multiplayer components.

"That IP [Vanquish], was pretty good as far as being Western, but the gameplay was great, the vibe... and I've often said on record that if Gears is the kind of wild, wild west coal train chugging along, that Vanquish is the Japanese bullet train, with style and everything. And there is absolutely no reason I shouldn't have been zipping around, doing the mega slides, diving up in the air in an arena with other players."

 

Blizzard and Valve have announced a mutual agreement over the use of the Defence of the Ancients brand.

Valve will continue to use DOTA commercially for the upcoming DOTA 2, whereas Blizzard’s StarCraft 2 mod – formerly known as Blizzard DOTA – will instead be called Blizzard All-Stars.

In February, Blizzard challenged Valve’s right to use the title DOTA 2 via the US Patent and Trademark Office.

 

Double Fine has released the first episode in its web series which will document the creation of Double Fine Adventure from start to finish.

Titled “A Perfect Storm for Adventure”, the 23-minute episode takes a look at the beginnings of the game’s Kickstarter campaign.

Double Fine has also opened a PayPal account for further donations towards the project.