Industry and multi-console news:

• THQ has announced both the acquistion of developer Mass Media, as well as a new Red Faction title.
• EA will be publishing Mercenaries 2.
• Gamasutra asks people in the games industry what the most important multiplayer games of all time are. Most are pretty obvious, though Contra is notably absent. Maybe they thought Ikari Warriors covered that area.
• EA has confirmed that The Lord of the Rings: The White Council is "on hold", but wouldn't say that the game is cancelled. They did note that the game won't be released in the next fiscal year, which ends March 2008.
• GameTrailers presents a video countdown of the 10 most anticipated games of 2007.

PC news:

• Blizzard is now offering The Burning Crusade as a direct online upgrade, meaning you don't have to leave your poopsock to go to the store and buy a copy.
• Voodoo Extreme names the top 20 games of the XP generation.
• There's a trailer and new dev diary for the Pirates of the Caribbean MMO on Game Trailers.

Nintendo news:

• EA has confirmed Spore and The Sims coming to the DS. The latter will be a port of the more cartoony Wii version.
• Making clear these games are part of a larger plan for global domination, EA also says they are setting a goal of being the number one third party for the Wii and DS.
• Japan will be getting Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings on April 26.
• The Elebits team is working on a new Wii title called Dewy's Adventure. IGN has an interview and screenshots.
• THQ has announced they'll be bringing WWE games to the Wii and DS sometime in the next fiscal year (between April 2007 and March 2008).
• The Australian ratings board website has revealed that Sonic Spinball and Alex Kidd are being prepared for the Virtual Console. The only question is when.
• The creator of Flashback is working on a new Wii game.
• Konami has announced Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party for the Wii.
• Nintendo of Japan president Satoru Iwata is being remarkable conservative about the Wii's success so far. "Any system will sell well following launch, but there will definitely come a time where it will stop selling. Even the DS hit a rough spell after selling 1.5 million units a month after launch. The flame was really lit a year after launch, after Nintendogs and Brain Age became big hits. With the Wii, we have to make good software just as we did with the DS."
• Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 is a new guitar playing game for the DS.. kind of. "With 16 chords to use at any time from a library of 120, users may strum out a song relatively easily if you're familiar with basic guitar playing."
• Nearly a year after the DS Lite's release, people in Japan are still having a great deal of trouble getting hold of one.
• Video: Conan O'Brien vs. Serena Williams in a game of Wii Sports tennis.

Sony news:

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas debuted at number one in the Japanese sales charts this week. What the hell is going on over there?
• In a new twist on the old bundling scenario, UK retailer HMV is not yet offering PS3 pre-orders. However, the first 5000 people to buy a 4 GB PSP pack from HMV's online store will be put on a PS3 priority list. That still doesn't mean you're guaranteed a system at launch, just that you'll be ahead of people not on the list.
• Konami has fully revealed Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, coming to the PSP. It's a remake of Rondo of Blood in 3D graphics but with 2D gameplay. If that freaks you out, it will also come with the original version of the game and Symphony of the Night thrown in for the hell of it. Now with video.
• A new Wipeout has been confirmed for the PS3.
• The PS3 firmware has been upgraded to 1.51, fixing a Blu-ray pausing bug introduced in 1.50.
• Amazon has Disgaea 2 knocked down ten bucks to $39.99.

Microsoft news:

• Microsoft has implemented new policies regarding Achievements. All disc-based games must have 1000 possible Gamerscore points in the base game, and they can add another 250 via downloadable content. Arcade games will have 200 in the base game and up to another 50 in the downloadables. Oddly enough, I thought these were the rules already.
• The release date for Mass Effect may have accidentally been leaked on Xbox.com. The game's profile page said May 18, but there's no confirmation yet.
• Japan is getting even more screwed on microtransactions than we are: downloadable content for Aquazone in Japan includes 18 new fish, which add up to $62 all together. That's more than the game itself cost.
• Bryan Lee, the corporate vice president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, has left the company. Most recently, he was the head of the Zune unit. Michael Stipe J. Allard will now take over his position.
• Onechanbara VorteX is coming to the US. For the five of you who know what that is, surely this news pleases you. For the rest of you, four words: Bikini cowgirl fights zombies.