Tonight's episode of the comedy crime drama, "The Mysteries of Laura," will feature a plotline about a killer inside a massively multiplayer online game.

According to a teaser for the show, "This smoking hot gamer geek is good enough to dominate a game, but is she good enough to catch a killer?"

Cloud-based gaming service OnLive and TP Vision have announced a new strategic partnership that will bring the OnLive Game Service on new models of Philips TVs powered by Android that will be released in Europe during 2014 and beyond.

Almost 50 percent of all households in the United States have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a video game system, Blu-ray Disc player, smart TV set, and/or stand-alone device such as Roku, Apple TV, or Google Chromecast. This number is up from up from 38 percent of U.S. households in 2012 and 24 percent in 2010, according to new data released by research firm Leichtman Research Group. The data is based on a survey of 1,200 U.S. households conducted this year.

Microsoft has revealed a line-up of new and original shows that will debut on Xbox Live for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. According to this Bloomberg report, the original programming includes a comedy sketch show with comedian Sarah Silverman, another with actor Michael Cera's JASH comedy group, and a stop-motion show with comedian and actor Seth Green's Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. Microsoft also plans a live broadcast of the Bonnaroo music festival in July.

Last night's episode of The Simpsons featured a Minecraft inspired intro. The show opened with a trademark couch gag, complete with a blocky environment, The Simpsons appearing as Minecraft-style characters, and Moe the bartender popping up as a Creeper.

You can check out a video of the intro to your left. Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson tweeted the following last night:

The Simpsons did a Minecraft couch gag. I'm not sure how I feel about it," Persson wrote on Twitter.

On the latest episode of Street Fighter Red Tape from The Pete Holmes Show, Ken Masters tries to explain how he's different from titular Street Fighter lead Ryu. As Pete points out, he and Ryu are EXACTLY the same and there is no room for so many tiger uppercuts and great hair.

"But, when I kick someone, it will look red," Ken says during his interview.

You can check out the latest video to your left. To check out all the video from The Pete Holmes Show on TBS, visit the show's YouTube page.

This morning the WWE Network launched, letting customers on Roku devices, tablet devices (Android, iOS), Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4 watch "thousands of hours" of classic WWE, WCW, and ECW content, rebroadcast of its network shows, all pay-per-views live and archived, and new original programming.

Around 40 percent of consumers will watch video on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones by 2018, according to a new report from research firm ABI Research. This the firm says, is in spite of strong efforts to bring online video to new devices such as Google’s Chromecast and new video game consoles from Microsoft and Sony.

According to information from both iLounge and 9to5Mac, Apple will turn its Apple TV device into a gaming console of sorts later this year.

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.

The great debate about the fate of the former NSA contractor who leaked documents detailing the agency's spying programs on the Internet, mobile phones and even in video games rages on. Some believe that Edward Snowden is a patriot and a whistleblower who deserves a full presidential pardon, while others believe that he should be get the maximum penalty under the law for treason and espionage.

The final episode in the Black Friday/Game of Thrones/Xbox One v. PS4 South Park storyline aired last night on Comedy Central and it was as wild, funny, and gruesome as anyone could imagine. There's not a lot we can say about the episode here that won't spoil it for viewers, but we can say that the episode mixes some crazy anime, some outlandish Game of Thrones jokes, and a couple of executive cameos to make for a highly amusing episode.

We'll leave you with this quote from the episode:

"I just want us to play Call of Duty on the right machine."

Part two of South Park's "A Song of Ass and Fire" aired last night, continuing the storyline about Black Friday and Xbox One v. PS4 fanboy wars. Cartman's Xbox One crew goes head-to-head with Kenny's small group of PS4 fanboys in an epic Black Friday battle at the South Park Mall. All of the boys in this week's episode are dressed as they will be in Obsidian Entertainment's RPG, South Park: The Stick of Truth - due out in March 2014.

This week's episode of South Park pokes a lot of fun at Black Friday holiday sales, Game of Thrones, the frenzied behavior of deal-seeking mobs, and the foolishness of console wars. In the episode Cartman, Stan, and the gang set out to create a plan to get the Xbox One on Black Friday for cheap, but in the midst of preparing for the battle at the South Park Mall, a contingent of the kids balk at getting an Xbox One, instead opting to split off and fight against Cartman's faction because they think PS4 is better.

Sony will be bringing its next-generation console system, the PlayStation 4 to late night television this week. According to a schedule for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (on NBC week nights at 12:35 EST), a "game demo" of the PS4 will be shown off during the Wednesday night (Nov. 13) show. Specific details like who from Sony will be on the show or what games will be shown off were not revealed.

Mojang co-founder and Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson stopped by CBS's Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to talk about the cattty nature of the industry at times, Minecraft, his favorite games (Grand Theft Auto and Mario Kart, apparently) and a whole lot more.

It looks like the fellow behind the stories for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 and 2 has had his latest television project greenlit by CBS. NCIS: LA creator Shane Brennan has teamed with video game writer Jesse Stern for a show called Insecurity. The duo previously worked together on the mothership NCIS series.

G4 Network is dead. There's no denying that fact. Turn on the network and all you see is Cops and Cheaters re-runs, American Ninja Warrior, and Campus P.D. these days. The shows that made the network great have been canceled and the people who made those shows are working somewhere else now. I say all these horrible things because today's news about the network not being rebranded as The Esquire Network is no reason to have any hope that it will somehow be returned to its former glory.

During a press conference this morning in Japan, Sony announced a new micro-console called the PlayStation Vita TV. The 6.5cm by 10.5cm micro-console utilizes the PS Vita chipset and its system software, and supports the Dualshock  3 controller. The device allows 1,300 PS Vita, PSP, and classic PlayStation One games to be played on a television screen. The PS Vita TV will also support movies services, eBooks, and the PlayStation Plus service. Some PS4 games will be playable via Remote Play as well.

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.

Game of Thrones is a show on HBO.  It's kind of a big deal.  I don't watch TV but even I've heard of it.

The show is so popular, in fact, that it's apparently one of the most pirated shows on TV.  Let's take this straight to the top.  HBO is owned by Time Warner.  What do you think CEO Jeff Bewkes has to say about people watching without an HBO subscription?

"That's better than an Emmy."

Say what?

This fall Fox will air a new show produced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane called "Dads." If you haven't seen the barrage of commercials airing on Fox about the show, it's about two game developers played by Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi who have to deal with their fathers moving in with them. But critics who have seen an early screening of the upcoming show are saying it employs casual sexism and racism to tell much of its ill-received humor.

NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will host its fourth annual video game week June 17 -21 (12:35am ET on NBC). The weeklong event will likely feature a lot of the games being shown at E3 this week, along with Fallon's signature comedy sketches and special music guests and performances.

Musical guests to appear during the week also have ties to the video gaming world: on Monday Anamanaguchi will be taking the stage for their first live in-studio performance on American TV. The band is well-known for being at the forefront of the chiptune scene.

Deadline is reporting that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer - with entertainment studios president Nancy Tellem in tow - is taking meetings with big Hollywood studios and television companies to drum up support for Xbox One as an entertainment hub for the living room.

During today's big reveal of the Xbox One Microsoft showed off how seamlessly television works on the system. Our initial concern was "how do consumers get TV onto the Xbox" if Microsoft doesn't have some sort of agreement with them to allow it. Anyone who has a cable operator that doesn't support HBO GO on various platforms will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Microsoft announced that it plans to sell its ITPV business called Mediaroom to Ericsson. Microsoft said that the divesture of this company will put "100 percent of the company's focus on its TV consumer strategy for Xbox. The sale is still subject to regulatory approval, but it is likely to be finalized during the second half of 2013.

A few days ago, we reported that NBC Universal would be re-launching the G4 Network as the Esquire Network and that it would focus on men's culture.  New content will include cooking competition Knife Fight, American Ninja Warrior, Parks and Recreation, Party Down, and travel show The Getaway.

So, my question to you, dear GamePolitics readers: are you going to watch it when it launches on April 22?

Well eventually it had to happen, and today G4 Network's fate was finally revealed. The network that used to be dedicated to geek culture and video games will now be focused on men's culture. The network owned by NBC Universal will be re-branded and relaunched as the Esquire Network on April 22nd. While the announcement promises that the network will expand on the technology, geek culture, and gaming content that G4 was known for, it's hard to imagine that happening with the end of such popular shows as X-Play and Attack of the Show being cancelled.

The director of such films as The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile has been forced to rename his new television show to Lost Angels. Screenwriter and director Frank Darabont had originally named the show L.A. Noir, but Rockstar Games sent him a letter warning him that they would sue him if he used the name. While the show may have some minor similarities to Rockstar Games' film noir style video game, it is actually based on writer John Buntin's 2009 nonfiction title of the same name.

In a recent interview Darabont explained the name change:

On CNN's State of the Union with host Candy Crowley, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TENN.) sat in on a panel discussion about gun control and the likelihood of legislation being passed by the current Congress. But instead of discussing gun control, Blackburn decided to take a few shots at Activision's Call of Duty series. Blackburn said that in preparation to appear on the show she watched some video of the game and was shocked at the violence she saw... she also called the game "Call to Duty."