Variety reports that G4TV owners NBC Universal are going to revamp the popular tech and geek culture channel to be more "GQ," catering to the "modern male." Details on the revamp, set to happen in early 2013, have not been revealed, and many in the gaming, geek and technology culture of the internet are concerned that NBCU will dump the decent programming G4TV offers such as extensive event coverage. G4TV has always had a strong presence at events like Comic-Con, E3, and GDC.

Is Gotham City Imposters going free-to-play? According to data on the Open Steamworks Content Description Record Database (by way of NeoGAF), signs point to "yes." The Open Steamworks Content Description Record Database is an unofficial record of games and their descriptions provided by Valve.

While THQ's layoffs announced this week pale in comparison to OnLive's last week or reductions in staff at PopCap and the outright closure of Studio Liverpool, a layoff is a layoff and it doesn't matter if you are one of one-hundred or one of ten affected.

According to this Develop report, EA has been quietly laying off employees at its PopCap studio in Seattle, Washington for the last several months. The information comes by way of VG247, citing an anonymous source close to the situation.

According to an article in the New York Post, Electronic Arts is exploring the possibility of a purchase with two private equity firms: KKR and Providence Equity Partners. The sources feeding the NYP this information claim that all parties involved are in the early discussion phase of the process.

"They’ve made it known they’d do a deal at $20 a share," one unnamed source familiar with the company told the New York Post.

Even though a story about a fresh security breach on PlayStation Network turned out to be a hoax, Sony decided to issue a short statement on the matter with C&VG.

VentureBeat is reporting that Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is moving forward with a plan to take the electronics retail store chain from being publicly traded to a privately held company. Talk of taking the company private was first floated back in June of this year, but this time the founder of the company is backing it up with offers to buy up stock at a premium for shareholders.

Bethesda has no comment on a rumor circulating this morning that it purchased the game rights to the popular action game series S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The rumor was started by Ukrainian blogger Sergey Galyonkin, who cited a "very reliable source" close to the situation. The reason that many media outlets have run with this particular rumor is because Galyonkin has proven to be a reliable source himself in the past when it comes to things GSC Gameworld-related. He predicted that trouble within the studio before it became public earlier in the year.

Last week it was reported that Square Enix had abandoned development on Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Final Fantasy fans put on sackcloth and ashes. Hands were wrung raw. Prayers were said. Incense were burned to dark gods and souls were offered up to creatures that slither in the underbelly of the universe. It is too bad that those reports weren't completely accurate.

According to a post on the Battle.net forums a user has uncovered an exploit that supposedly gives players using the Wizard class in Diablo III temporary invulnerability. Blizzard has not confirmed that this exploit is real, for the record.

Speaking to TorrentFreak, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom alleges that Vice President Joe Biden ordered the Megaupload shutdown at the behest of former Connecticut Senator (D) and current Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) President Chris Dodd. He claims that he has information from a "reliable source" that the Megaupload case and the subsequent takedown of the file storage site was a "gift to Hollywood."

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter expects that Microsoft’s next-generation "Xbox 720" console will be released in the Spring of 2014, adding that he expects the new console to function much like a set top box. Anyone that has followed Microsoft in the last ten years knows that the company has been working on a set top box strategy for a very long time - even before it considered making a video game console.

Pachter adds that he does not believe the speculation on a late 2013 release.

Citing an anonymous source close to the retailer, GameSpot Australia is reporting that all of Australia's GAME retail stores will be shut down by the end of next week. The anonymous source also asserts that the business is now "$120 million in debt."

According to a Bloomberg report, Vivendi SA plans to host a senior executive meeting later this month to discuss the possibility of unloading its 61 percent stake in Activision Blizzard. The report comes from several anonymous sources close to the situation, according to Bloomberg. The point of the meeting is to find ways to stop the stock from the continued state it has been in over the last year.

What started out as rumors on Twitter and in this Kotaku story has been confirmed: THQ has quietly shut down its San Diego studio and has let everyone that works there go today. Some have speculated that the company did this on the first day of E3 press conferences to avoid media scrutiny.

According to several published reports, Sony will bring backwards compatibility back to the PlayStation 3 via a new partnership with cloud-based game streaming company Gaikai. Using the company's game-streaming technology PlayStation 3 owners will be able to play first- and third-party classic PlayStation One and PlayStation 2 titles through the service. Sony is expected to make some sort of announcement related to cloud-based gaming next week during its E3 Expo press event in Los Angeles.

According to this MCV report Sony's upcoming announcement about a partnership with a cloud gaming firm may actually lead to an acquisition. Citing a source close to the situation, MCV reports that the deal is much more involved than anyone knows and that it is close to being finalized. While the report doesn't specifically name any particular companies the prevailing rumors is that one of the leaders in the space - Online or Gaikai are probably the most likely targets.

Hamburg, Germany-based publisher Dtp Entertainment AG has filed for bankruptcy according to GamesIndustry International. The news comes from GamesIndustry International's German sister site and its editor, Christoph Holowaty.

Today Vivendi strongly denied a report from Bloomberg on Wednesday that the company was considering a major reorganization of its various properties. Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the Paris-based conglomerate was discussing the possibility of splitting the company into two parts. One part would include its Universal Music Group and video game company Activision Blizzard. Bloomberg reported this based on sources "with knowledge of the matter."

A ridiculous rumor making the rounds today suggests that MMO company Nexon was in talks to buy Electronic Arts. The report, which began with a Korean newspaper report, caused EA's stock to go crazy during trading today, but anyone familiar with both companies knows that this story is rooted in fantasy. Nexon is best known for its various MMO games, but the most popular here in the United States is Maple Story. IGN has more on the stock rally here, as does Bloomberg.

A person who claims to be an employee of Heroes of Might & Magic VI developer Black Hole Entertainment, lets it all hang out online as he or she lets publisher Ubisoft have it over destroying the company. The poster, known only by the moniker "Derpson" details the rocky development cycle of Heroes VI, and explains why Black Hole Entertainment is no longer working with Ubisoft. Ubisoft owns the Might and Magic intellectual property including "Might & Magic" and "Heroes of Might & Magic."

How much are consumers willing to pay for Nintendo's latest console, the Wii U? According to one report, Nintendo thinks they will be more than happy to plunk down $300. According to Forget The Box, "sources closely involved" in manufacturing Nintendo products claim that it costs $180 to make the Wii U  and an additional $50 for the tablet controller. Because of that, the sources say, Nintendo will set the retail price of the Wii U at no less than $300.

Another, day another rumor about the next Xbox console from Microsoft - and this one is a whopper. According to a new rumor at VG247, the next Xbox console system will use "always on DRM" and its disc format will be Blu-Ray disc based. 

Troubled UK video game retailer GAME is troubled no more, according to this MCV report. According to MCV, GAME is set to exit administration thanks to some white knight action on the part of a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland. Citing sources "close to the negotiations," MCV contends that "a deal to save the retailer is incredibly close" to being finalized. If that happens, GAME could be out of administration as soon as March 30.

Here we go again. Another "reliable source" - this time with inside knowledge on Sony's next console, offers some rumors that should upset a majority of the gaming public.

Time is running out for UK retailer GAME if you believe this story from MCV, but several companies have quietly approached the troubled retailer about an acquisition according to another MCV report. One of those potential suitors is rumored to be Walmart, which has about 9,000 retail stores nationwide. Why a general goods retailer would want to buy a specialty retailer like games is beyond me.

Joystiq is reporting that Obsidian Entertainment has laid off a number of employees this week, though the exact number of affected employees was not clear as of this writing. The news comes from Obsidian's official forums and an unnamed tipster who sent them the following information:

Despite a YouTube video purporting to show that the Day One DLC for Mass Effect 3 was "already on the Disc," EA is pushing back hard on the story today, saying that the whole idea is preposterous because of how big the DLC is.

According to a report on MCV, UK video game retailer GAME is telling its employees to be prepared for the company to go into administration (bankruptcy). The company's senior staff was told at a meeting with CEO Ian Shepherd earlier in the week that the chain has approximately two weeks to improve its luck and get its affairs in order before administrators are called in. The company is still hoping for a buyout by GameStop or some other investor.

According to a report in the Independent, U.S.-based retailer GameStop has expressed interest in buying trouble UK retailer GAME's Iberian operation. The report makes no mention of GAME's UK operations, but points to its stores in Spain and Portugal. Both companies declined comment.