Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Selling over 1 million copies, Atari's 2009 Ghostbusters video game was something of a hit. And when a game's a hit, a sequel's just a
matter of time.

It turns out that time is spring 2011, which is when Atari plans on releasing the just-announced sequel, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, reports USA Today.

But don't warm up your proton packs just yet, because while
it's a sequel in name, it's not exactly a sequel in game, too.

The new title is being built by relative unknown developer
Wanako Studios, whose biggest prior game is probably Assault Heroes 2. Not
exactly a household name. It also won't come on disc, instead being released as
a PC, Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade

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Oooh, shiny! So addictive it should come with a surgeon-general's warning,
the legendary Bejeweled franchise is pretty much as big as puzzle gaming gets. Since 2000, it's appeared on nearly every platform in existence -- and it's about to get bigger. The anticipated Bejewled 3 arrives on December 7th, packing new
features, new modes, and most likely the same old result: outrageous sales to millions of obsessive jewel junkies.

But how much do you really know about the match-3 kingpin
itself? Swap some gems for facts with these Bejeweled tidbits:

-- It debuted as a Flash game called Diamond Mine, but was
eventually re-named Bejeweled to avoid confusion with a competing game called
Diamond Mines.

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Tiger Woods - Getty Images (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc has no immediate plans to drop Tiger Woods as the
pitchman for its golf video games, but the world's former top golfer needs to get some wins under his belt, the video game publisher's top executive said on Monday.

About a year ago, Woods was
involved in an early morning auto accident that led to revelations about
marital infidelities, the loss of up to $35 million in annual sponsorship revenue and divorce from his wife.

Since then, Woods has not won a tournament and has lost his ranking as the
world's No. 1 pro golfer, but EA has declined to abandon him. It even
has plans to introduce a 2012 version of its Tiger Woods console video
game next year, but EA

Monopoly: the movie

By now, moviegoers are used to seeing successful novels -- The Da Vinci
Code and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo spring to mind -- receive big-screen adaptations. Video games like Doom and Resident Evil have made the jump, too, with a variety of outcomes (ranging from terrible to
quite bad, as a rule), but big movie studios are starting to look a little further afield for their inspirations.

And their next wellspring is one of the oldest known forms of entertainment: board games.

Yes, really. Spurred by a six-year agreement between movie studio Universal
and toy giant Hasbro, you can expect to see a rash of board
game-licensed movies hitting theaters. Here's a few of the most
promising --

Epic Mickey

Platforms: Wii

Epic Mickey

Choosing a video game to unveil its reimagined version of classic figurehead
Mickey Mouse, Disney's in the spotlight this week. Though the 3D platform adventure Epic Mickey looks pretty traditional, it's actually dark, daring, and devoid of amusing
cartoon sidekicks -- the boldest reinvention of Mickey Mouse so far --
but is it truly epic?

Not particularly, according to its critics. Disney's game, which casts
players as a morally ambiguous, paintbrush-wielding Mickey let loose in a
land of forgotten Disney characters, is turning in an average score of
78% on review aggregation site Metacritic. While not exactly an encouraging performance for what was expected to

Onlive's MicroConsole

Streaming
"cloud gaming" service Onlive offers consumers a way to play the latest
games, but it's always been hamstrung by its high price. Purchasing
games on the digital service can cost as much as buying regular versions
in stores.

But that's all set to change, the company revealed today, with a new
Netflix-style subscription plan dubbed "PlayPack" that'll allow Onlive
users to play a wide range of games for a single $9.99 monthly fee.

Currently, 11 games are confirmed as supported, including Prince of Persia, Tomb
Raider: Underworld, and Warner's LEGO Batman. Onlive expects to expand
that selection to about 40 by the time the new service officially
launches on January 15, the company

From CNBC.com

After a year of disappointing sales figures and investor malaise, the video game industry is feeling some seasonal cheer.

The kick off to the holidays has been a boom time for game makers this year - with stellar sales for both hardware and software.

Black Ops: bright spot The question for investors, though, is whether this seasonal bump is the start of a turnaround for gaming companies - or just a short-term surge that will fade away by the end of December.

The numbers, if nothing else, are cause for cheer.

Nintendo reports it sold 1.5 million Wii and DS units over the Black Friday weekend - matching its holiday 2009 pace, which set sales records for the company.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has sold 2.5 million