If you thought Bob of Tekken 6 would be the only rotund fighter to grace this current era of fighters, don't look now because he may have a potential rival with Rufus from Capcom's Street Fighter 4 (PC, Xbox 360, and PS3). Along with El Fuerte and Seth, these three were the highlighted characters of this week's issue of Famitsu, featuring the upcoming sequel to the highly celebrated Street Fighter series. You can check out the details that were discussed in the full article.

Word is out that CBS corporation has entered a deal which will allow it to acquire CNET Networks, Inc. If this pushes through, CBS will become one of the major players among the internet companies in the United States. Care to know more? Head on over to the full article.

2008 is a new year for all - even in the games industry. It seems Midway also joined in the New Year's corporate shakeups of other gaming corporate notables, including Activision Blizzard, all which began flowing in since last November. Long time serving Chairman of the Board, Kenneth D. Cron, finally stepped down from his seat at Midway and was immediately replaced by vice chair Shari Redstone. More at the full story.

Tomorrow may be a big moment on the history of gaming as broadcast giant CBS formally becomes the first network of its class to show a video game tournament as a regular sporting event like other athletic spectacles such as the Masters and March Madness.

"There are an enormous amount of people of all ages who play video games these days, so we’re going to try to see if video games’ popularity can translate into a viable television audience," says CBS Sports Vice-President Rob Correa as he explores the possibility of people looking at this moment as a poignant event after a decade or so.

The tournament concerned is the World Series of Video Games which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Edited footage from the event will show highlights of face-offs between players in games such as Fight Night Round 3, Guitar Hero and other non-violent titles. First-person shootouts in Halo and Quake will sadly not make it on air because of the nature of the content.

The idea of the tournament and the coverage by CBS is pegged on the South Korean model which has an entire nation embracing gaming and making it a part of pop culture. A full-time coverage in the manner that ESPN covers sports isn't possible for video games just yet but for now, this is the biggest step game broadcasting can take in the US.

The CBS coverage is also a pilot test of sorts on how game programming in cable TV initiated by G4 and Gameplay HD can work in a bigger scale. The response of viewers will determine future plans on the coverage of electronic gaming as a sport on the network.

This week it's another new stretch for the World Series of Video Games tour, as the WSVG 2007 hits Dallas, Texas for another round up for Counter-Strike, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero II, Call of Duty 2, Gears of War, Quake 4 and Fight Night Round 3 competitive players.

Prizes totalling up to US$ 90,000 will be given away at the event, starting July 5, Thursday up to July 8, Sunday. The highlight of Dallas is the inclusion of Xbox 360 titles Gears of War from Epic Games and Guitar Hero II from Red Octane, so the event might be worth checking out for the Xbox 360 gamer.

And if you can shrug off the US$ 10 admission fee, you might want to pick up a few tips from James ‘2GD’ Harding on dominating with your trusty Quake 4 railgun. Listen carefully, and see tips being put to practice on the grand arena floors.

Cheer for your select team or players and get your face plastered all over CBS Sports news, while demoing some of the industry's latest games and winning some free swag. But first things first: you'd have to figure out how to get to the Gaylord Texan Resort on time.

Sierra Entertainment's Empire Earth III is all set to go to Hollywood. The multi-million selling RTS title for the PC will be featured on "NUMB3RS", CBS' hit TV series.

Reportedly, certain custom created gameplay scenes from Empire Earth III have been licensed by Sierra and Mad Doc Software to be used in the "NUMB3RS" episode. These scenes will play an integral part in the episode's story elements. If you want to catch these gameplay scenes, then make sure to catch the "NUMB3RS" episode on CBS to air on Friday, April 27 at 10:00 P.M. EST.

To catch the game, you'll have to wait until fall of this year for it, though.

Google is apparently looking to move its advertising business into the realm of video games. CNN Money reports that Google Inc. is in talks to acquire Adscape Media Inc, a closely held San Francisco firm who has developed technology that allows for the placement of ads over the Web in video games.

The Wall Street Journal cites several people familiar with the mater and reports that Google is negotiating to buy Adscape and that a deal could be reached as early as next week. For now, here's what a Google spokesperson said:

We are always considering new ways to extend Google's advertising program to benefit our users, advertisers and publishers. In-game advertising offers one such possible extension among many others.

Some members of the industry note that Google is eying Adscape because of its AdverPlay technology which enables "two-way communication between in-game ads and the outside world."

Terms being discussed are still not known. However, there was a similar deal sometime ago that we can look at to get an idea of how things will shape up. Last year, Microsoft acquired Massive Inc, a company known for the delivery of in-game ads, for almost US$ 200 million.

It is also reported that Google is discussing a possible agreement with CBS Corp that would include brokering TV and radio advertisements.

Google has declined to comment on any talks.

Showtime is expanding their horizons with this recent move. The CBS Corporation owned cable channel is going to work with game publisher Broadband Libraries LLC to form "On Broadband". What is it? Think of GameTap and you'll probably have an idea what On Broadband would be about.

Anyhow, the company will be offering a private label game service for cable TV companies and DSL broadband providers come  the second quarter of this year. They will be offering a collection of games that can be downloaded or played online, some will be free and some will be available for purchase.

A subscription option will also be available. Aside from that, game-related content such as reviews and cheats and tricks will also be offered. In parting, Peter Von Schlossberg of Broadband Libraries has this to say:

Cable operators have tried to populate their home pages with any sort of entertainment they can...We believe (the service) should be in their name and be delivered to them and passed along to consumers as they like.

Well, there's the Super Bowl for football fans, the NBA All-Star Weekend for basketball junkies, and the World Series for baseball fanatics. These are major television events, getting airtime, oodles of advertisements, and raking in network ratings. Now here's something for gamers. CBS aired Video Game Super Stars, presented by Intel, featuring five of the best pro gamers around.

The special focuses on the likes of Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel (a.k.a. "the Michael Jordan of gaming"), Rafik "LoSt-CaUzE" Bryant, David "Moto" Geffon who defied his family and denounced the profession of law to be a pro gamer, the minister's daughter Shannon "Mary Jane" Ridge, and Matt "Ballistics" Powers who is a seasoned Sergeant at maximum security prison.

You can watch the World Series of Video Games Finals, also presented by Intel  on College Sports Television starting January 21.

Whoooo are you? Whooo Whooo, Whooo Whooo? Yeah-huh, CSI-fanatic PC gamers all over the world can now rejoice and lets out whoops of "Woohoo!" as Ubisoft and CBS have just announced that CSI: Hard Evidence is currently under development for the PC.

Telltale Games (same guys responsible for Sam & Max and Bone: Out From Boneville) is in charge of developing CSI: Hard Evidence, which will be based on the characters and storylines from the original hit CSI television series. As the game's publisher, Ubisoft has been enjoying the success that the CSI video game franchise has been reaping since the first CSI title was released in March 2003.

Now you'll get to continue living out those forensic fantasies of yours as you join Gil Grissom, Catherine Willows and the rest of the CSI Las Vegas gang to help solve crimes using realistic techniques and lab equipment. Oh, and what's more is that Hard Evidence will have an all-new garage lab for analyzing ginormous pieces of evidence such as cars and boats, with lab mini-games, and with more areas to explore.

The CSI video game franchise, published by Ubisoft has sold approximately 2.4 million units worldwide since the first CSI title was relased and we can only expect these sales figures to go up even more when CSI: Hard Evidence is released Spring next year.