Forget fretting about microtransactions in video games for a moment and take a look at how, tongue-in-corporate-cheek, Electronic Arts added microtransactions to a charity game of real golf, last week in Las Vegas. Read more...

Here's a quick walk down the red carpet of last week's 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, shot with a handheld flipcam by me. How many important game developers can you spot? (I'm sure I missed some -- many familiar faces whose names I don't know.

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

During a talk about his studio's critical hit "LittleBigPlanet," Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans described an earlier version of the game that had "physical tools" - 1) A shotgun that blew holes in things, 2) A hairdryer that melted stuff, and 3) A gun that sprayed foam.

Problem: "It was great fun but all you could do was create melting piles of s--t." So they dropped the tools, built the content editors and focused the gameplay on pushing, pulling and jumping.

"Resident Evil 5" producer Jun Takeuchi had a quick and certain answer for me today when I asked him if undead Capcom franchises "Resident Evil" and "Dead Rising" will ever cross over: "No!"

Why can't these zombies mix? "We can't have a 'Resident Evil' character running around in just pants." (Which, you know, is what goes on in "Dead Rising.")

More from my interview with Takeuchi next week. Sorry for the bad news about the crossover, folks!

"If installed base mattered, we'd all make board games, because there's a lot of tables out there."

See below for more Todd Howard ("Fallout 3" pearls of wisdom): Read more...

How do you warm up a crowd full of game developers and publishers at a video game awards show? Make fun of some star developers. For example, say you're comedian Jay Mohr on Thursday night and you have Cliff Bleszinski in your sights... Read more...

"LittleBigPlanet" wins big: The 12th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, were held on Thursday night near Las Vegas. Voted on by about 300 members of the gaming industry by secret ballot, here are your winners: Read more...

I thought John Riccitiello was done talking and making a bit of news during his DICE speech. But then he said this, acknowledging that he was the only gaming executive who would say something quite like it: Read more...

In one of the shortest speeches I've seen delivered at a major gaming event, EA CEO John Riccitiello just delivered a brisk under-15-minute presentation that points to sequels being EA's focus of 2009. Read more...

EA CEO John Riccitiello is speaking at DICE today and is talking about how good sequels can be. More on that later, but something new he just mentioned: American McGee's "Alice" series will have a new installment from EA this year. He said more details are forthcoming later today. Update: Riccitiello added that the game will be on PC and consoles.