While it's fun watching "Clueless Gamer," Conan O’Brien's regular segment where he plays video games and makes witty comments for his show on TBS, apparently it can cost a developer or publisher a lot of money to get air time on the show. While not everyone pays to be on the show, about a quarter of the products featured on the segment have to pay some sort of fee. The show does not disclose this fact either.

Electronic Arts has signed a long-term agreement with Professional Game Match Officials Limited that will run until the 2018/19 season and see match officials sporting EA Sports-branded gear, according to an MCV report.

In the latest edition of Bonus Round, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that Sony and Microsoft will likely slash the price of their last generation consoles in February. Pachter went on to claim that publishers have threatened to stop supporting the last generation consoles if platform holders didn't start cutting the price of their systems.

According to sales numbers in a report from SuperData, Riots Games' popular MOBA game League of Legends generated $624 million in 2013, beating out such big brand name games as Dungeon Fighter Online, World of Tanks, Maplestory, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike Online and World of Warcraft - just to name a few.

Disney's game and toy tie-up Disney Infinity has managed to sell through three million "starter packs" according to the New York Times. The game launched in August of 2013 and managed to move three million units. Starter packs come with the game, an Infinity Base peripheral, three character figures, three Play Sets, one Disc and unique Web codes for online and mobile content. The Xbox 360 version of the starter pack starts at right around $80.

Rockstar Games said that those individuals who are using money cheats in Grand Theft Auto Online can expect a swift and unmerciful ban. In a new blog post the company said that those who have used exploits and cheats to secure mountains of illegally-gained funds better watch out. They called the large influx of cash from cheating "game-breaking" and "disruptive to the overall experience."

Ubisoft is the first major publisher to launch a major game via Steam's early access program. Is this the beginning of a trend where developers and publishers who make PC games take their games to Steam and let players play early alphas to shape the game before it officially launches? We're not sure but if it is, it looks like Ubisoft will be on the ground floor of the trend embraced by indies.

Recently the "Take This Project" was quietly relaunched as "Take This," along with a new website at www.takethis.org. Take This is a support group for gamers (though it doesn't specifically exclude those people who do not identify themselves as gamers), games journalists, game developers, and other industry professionals that suffer from depression, anxiety and other challenges associated with mental illness.

A brief report in the Canadian Press reveals that the Canadian military is keen to start using video games and video-game related simulations in the future to train its soldiers. In fact, officials say that games like Call of Duty will play an "increasing role in its training in the future."

Capcom has put the brakes on a Kickstarter crowd funding campaign for an unlicensed Ghost 'N Goblins game. Phantasm Studios' campaign is now the subject of an intellectual property dispute initiated by Capcom, and has been shutdown. The Kickstarter page for the campaign now features a DMCA notice from Capcom.

Koei Tecmo has introduced spending limits for micro-transactions in its games for those under the age of 20 in Japan. According to Silicon Era, the company will only allow $50 a month to be spent by someone under the age of 15, with the 16-19 year olds being limited to a maximum of $200 a month. No restrictions apply for players 20 years old or older.

Koei Tecmo plans to add these limits in its games in Japan before the year's end. No word on if this policy will be a global one or if it is just specific to Japan.

Valve's Steam digital distribution platform managed to hit a major milestone as its biggest sale of the year continued to play out over the weekend. On Sunday, over seven million users logged in to the service concurrently as they searched for deals in the company's annual Steam Autumn Sale.

Here's a success story to inspire anyone who wants to make the leap from hobbyist mod maker to full-fledged developer: it's possible if you put love into your creation and catch someone's attention. Alexander J. Velicky, the fellow who created the popular Falskaar mod for Elder Scrolls IC: Skyrim, is now working for a big studio - and it isn't Bethesda.

Posting on the official Skyrim forums to thank everyone, Velicky revealed that he has been hired by Bungie - apparently to help out on the company's upcoming next-gen game Destiny.

Recognizing that some Xbox One owners might be a tad bit upset that they can't play their shiny new console while Microsoft makes right on failing disc drives in some systems, the company announced that it would provide digital downloads of at least one launch title per customer so they have something to play while they wait for a replacement console.

The games offered as part of this include like Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome and Zoo Tycoon.

Minecraft for Mac and PC will soon have native support for Twitch live streaming, according to news coming out of Minecon 2013 this weekend. Speaking at Minecon 2013 over the weekend, Twitch Marketing Vice President Matthew DiPietro confirmed that this level of functionality would be introduced 'soon'.

"Minecraft has struck a very powerful chord with the Twitch community," DiPietro said.

While Red Bull is the number one brand on YouTube (mostly because it sponsors so many interesting sporting and gaming events worldwide), "PlayStation" is also pretty popular, according to data collected by Statista and Mashable.

If you laughed when Valve introduced its new Steam OS, Steam-based hardware and a controller along with it, then you'll understand why the company thinks it can take up space in gamers' living rooms alongside current and next generation consoles when you hear how many people in the world have Steam accounts. According to an announcement made today, Valve's digital distribution platform and soon-to-be living room entertainment destination has over 65 million registered user accounts worldwide.

While EA Sports has announced that it has broken its long-time relationship with golfing sensation Tiger Woods, it looks like Woods may already be talking to other game companies about putting his name and face on a whole new product. Tiger Woods' agent Mark Steinberg told ESPN that he is currently speaking with another unnamed video game company regarding video game rights.

Microsoft's Xbox One won't be the only next-generations system that will need to apply a launch-day patch before it can be used. Sony confirmed that the PlayStation 4 will need to have a firmware update applied before consumers can have access to some features.

After hitting a major milestone with Plants vs. Zombies 2 - 25 million downloads on iOS devices - PopCap Games' has decided that it is finally time to bring the free-to-play strategy game sequel to Android devices worldwide. The Android version of the game is available right now through Google Play and features full integration with Google Play's Game Services.

The Android version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 includes all the same features and functionality found in the iOS version, according to PopCap.

Microsoft Studios corporate vice-president Phil Spencer says that "it makes a lot of sense" that a symbiotic ecosystem exist between Xbox One and the Windows-based PCs. In an interview with AusGamer, Spencer was asked if Windows 8 and Xbox One could host cross-platform play between their respective platforms.

"I'm not allowed to leak things," Spencer replied, "but I think what you're talking about makes a lot of sense."

New research from Michigan State University examined advergames and found that they have a tendency to promote foods that are unhealthy - full of fat, sugar, and sodium. Researchers concluded that these games meant to promote products and brands often promote unhealthy lifestyle choices for children too.

Speaking to VG247, DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson admitted that the company made a mistake with how it structured the unlocks in Battlefield 3, going so far as to say that he should probably be "slapped for it."

"We shipped Battlefield 3, which we should be slapped for, with probably the worst set-ups ever," he said.

EA's Mythic Games announced via the game's official site that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will be shutting down on December 18. The MMO launched by Mythic and Electronic Arts in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand on September 18, 2008. While it had a rough launch, the game managed to interest a small and faithful following over the last five years.

Jinni has inked a multi-year agreement with Microsoft to enhance entertainment discovery on Xbox video game and entertainment systems including the Xbox 360 and the upcoming Xbox One releasing in late November. Jinni is described by its creators as a "taste-and-mood based engine" that enables entertainment discovery using "content genetics" and an understanding of user preference analytics.

Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment is warning users that any offers to get in on an early beta of the game are not real and will likely lead to some sort of scam that could compromise personal info, privacy, or computer security.

The studio took to its official Twitter feed to advise fans not to provide any personal details to sites pretending to offer testing opportunities for the upcoming Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows shooter.

Microsoft has renamed the "Xbox Live Marketplace" on Xbox.com to the "Xbox Games Store," putting the name in line with other marketplaces the company runs - like "Windows Phone Store." The Xbox Games Store is still located at marketplace.xbox.com (at least for now), and now groups titles by platform, with sections for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Mobile and Web games.

Microsoft will officially close its Xbox.com PC Marketplace on August 22, 2013. According to this FAQ on Xbox.com, those who have purchased Games for Windows Live titles and DLC will still be able to play them through the service's client, but won't have access to any kind of marketplace to purchase additional content. Some are concerned that Games for Windows Live titles will be inadvertently pulled from other services such as Steam, but that is really up to the publishers, according to Microsoft.

During a special reveal of multiplayer modes in Call of Duty Ghost at an LA event today, Infinity Ward revealed that it has added female models into the game. In addition to having the ability to play as a female soldier, the multiplayer offers dynamic events that affect gameplay and new moves such as knee slides, mantling, and contextual leaning. The game also adds 30 new weapons (including a new Marksman Rifle weapon class), 20 new killstreaks, 14 maps at launch, seven new multiplayer modes, and a new Squads mode that supports up to six players on a team.

Several major fighting game tournament organizers have decided to standardize rules about player collusion. According to a Shoryuken report, any form of collusion between competitors is now considered cheating and tournament directors who catch any competitor "intentionally underperforming" will disqualify them "immediately."