HELSINKI, FINLAND – December 10, 2009 – Futuremark® Games Studio today announced a new community competition for Shattered Horizon™, their PC exclusive multiplayer first-person shooter. The contest starts Monday 14 December and with 16 different challenges over 4 weeks there are plenty of ways for players to win one of the many PC hardware prizes on offer from competition sponsors MSI, FSP Group, Enermax and Patriot Memory. http://www.shattered...

Dragged down by the recession and free games, the U.S. console video game industry saw its sales fall for the sixth consecutive month in August, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Sales were $908 million in August in the U.S., down 16 percent from $1.09 billion a year ago. Anita Frazier, an analyst for NPD, said the remaining four months of the year would have to be up 14 percent in aggregate for 2009 to be flat compared with 2008 sales.

With less than a month to go before Halo 3: ODST hits retailers, Microsoft is stepping up the marketing campaign for the Xbox 360-exclusive shooter with this live-action spot. Due September 22, Bungie's standalone prequel includes an all new campaign, every Halo 3 multiplayer map (plus three new ones) and beta access to Halo Reach.

On it's U.S. PlayStation Blog, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has confirmed that it is aware and is actively investigation isolated reports of PS3s behaving badly after the latest firmware, v3.0, has been installed. PS3 3.0 included a lot of aesthetic changes to the XMB as well as the addition of "What's New, Status Indicator, Friends List, PlayStation Store Shortcuts, Personalization and improved Trophies." However, since it was released, there has been numerous reports made on forums about the console acting badly after the latest firmware update has been installed.

No longer will the choice between Horde and Alliance be so daunting, as Blizzard today launched a service to let World of Warcraft players change their character's faction. "Each Faction Change costs $30.00 USD (not including applicable taxes)," the company explained in an FAQ.

With the fall lineup of games looming on the horizon, players might be wondering where they should buy the titles they're looking forward to. GameStop, it seems, is set up to make a killing thanks to a huge amount of exclusive in-game content.

Quick reminder - the Facebook Binder Art contest is live and will end next Wednesday, 9/9. Last week I dropped you a note about the contest and if you can let your audience know that there's only a week left, that'd be awesome.

Contest Info:
- Become a fan of the official Brutal Legend Facebook fan page – www.facebook.com/bru...
- Post your Brutal Legend fan art onto the official Brutal Legend Facebook wall with "Fan Art Contest" somewhere in the title
- 5 winners will each receive a limited edition Eddie Riggs statue