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Vir2L, a Zenimax company and sister company to Bethesda Softworks, has placed two of its DS games in stores. Both AMF Bowling Pinbusters! and Ducati Moto are now in stores. The first is, obviously, a bowling game, while the second is a motorcycle racing game.

The site Games Abyss has posted an excellent review of Battlefield: Bad Company. The summation: "If all of Bad Company's single-player game were like the final mission, and if the multiplayer game included a conquest style of play, Bad Company would be amazing. As it is, it's merely good enough to tide you over until the multiplayer regains the legendary Conquest modes or the knife gets relegated to the kitchen again.

Gamecock Media Group has launched the first episode of Insecticide for the PC as a download.

2K Games, one of Take-Two Interactive's labels, has signed on Developer Digital Extremes to help develop the PlayStation 3 version of BioShock. The PlayStation 3 version of BioShock is scheduled to ship to stores in October.

SouthPeak Games has signed on to distribute Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger from Evolved Games for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Lighthouse Interactive named Hans Jose as the company's Director of Operations on July 1. Joes will be responsible for operations in the company's headquarters and managing marketing, sales and distribution of Lighthouse's games.

KD Lab is currently working on Perimeter 2: New Earth for the PC, a sequel to the real-time strategy game Perimeter. KD Lab hopes to release the game late this year, with players once again revisiting a world of territory control and units transformable through nanotechnology.

Rockstar Games, the premier label of Take-Two Interactive, has delayed the release of its racing game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Activision is busy gloating that since its game for the DS, Guitar Hero: On Tour, (that shipped last month), sold around 300,000 copies in its first seven days of availability.

Silverstar Holdings, parent of Empire Interactive, confirmed that the company expects to reduce the number of employees at Empire Interactive by around 30%. The company plans to accomplish this largely by attempting to sell its Razorworks development studio.

Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts plan to release to launch an online collectible card game set in the Star Wars universe later this summer.

While dispatching new screenshots for its game This is Vegas, Midway confirmed that the game has been postponed until 2009. When released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, This is Vegas will have players racing, gambling and managing casinos in an effort to return Vegas to its glory as an adult playground after seeing it transformed to a family friendly resort.

Earlier today, Sony launched its v2.40 update, adding trophies to PlayStation 3 games and providing improved access to the XMB (XrossMediaBar) even in games. Unfortunately, the current version of the update has been causing problems, so Sony has pulled the update until further notice so that the update can be fixed.

Majesco Entertainment plans to release Marker Man Adventures for the DS in time for this year's holiday season.

Retailer GameStop has entered into an agreement to purchase the New Zealand chain of retail stores called "The Gamesman." The purchase should close in mid-July and will add 38 stores to GameStop's total retail presence.

Square Enix plans to release a remastered version of Chrono Trigger for the DS in time for this year's holiday season.

In April, SCi Entertainment confirmed that Infogrames (parent of Atari) was potentially interested in acquiring SCi. Today, Infogrames confirmed that it does not currently plan to make an acquisition offer for SCi. This is largely due to SCi's recent efforts to raise additional capital.

This week, Microsoft has introduced Soulcalibur as a downloadable game for Xbox Live Arcade, as well as new, downloadable content for Wits & Wagers.

Atlus has shipped its game Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 for the DS to stores in North America.

Agetec plans to release DT Racing for the PlayStation 2 later this summer. The racing game will have role-playing game elements (such as racer development) and will encourage unsportsmanlike approaches to winning.

Funcom's massively multiplayer online game Anarchy Online has now been operating for seven years. Funcom points out that over that time, players have been online for around 200 million hours of play.

Mastiff's game Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure is now available for download for the PSP through the PlayStation Store.

Electronic Arts is determined that when it releases FIFA Soccer '09 late this year, it will differentiate the experience available on each platform.

The 11th Annual Independent Games Festival is now accepting submissions for the 2009 festival.

Some of the people behind the Neopets phenomenon have started a game studio called Meteor Games in West Hollywood, California.

Electronic Arts has released four mobile games through carriers in North America:

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz confirmed its financial results for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

Astraware has released a version of Digital Eel's Big Box of Blox for Symbian S60 smartphones. This falling-block matching game has tons of mysterious variants on conventional puzzle play along with a unique visual style and a great soundtrack.

Atlus has entered into an agreement with NIS America to publish three of NIS' upcoming games: Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, Disgaea DS and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

The Entertainment Software Association (an industry trade group that represents the interactive entertainment industry) was awarded $65,000 to cover its attorney fees and expenses in challenging an unconstitutional game law passed in Minnesota.