A class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco wants to take iPhone game developer Storm8 to task for what it calls "malicious software code." The suit accuses Storm8 of exploiting a backdoor method to retrieve users' phone numbers without their permission in games such as "iMobsters" and "Vampires Live." We reached out to Apple for a comment, and though the representative we spoke wasn't familiar with the case, he did articulate Apple's position on the practice Storm8 has been accused of.

"There is no violating privacy," Apple's VP of iPod and iPhone product marketing Greg Joswiak told MTV News. "That's one of the things we look for, so if that did happen I'm either unaware or unfamiliar."

The lawsuit, which can be read in full over on Boing Boing, does not point any fingers at Apple. It even corroborate's Apple's policy. "Apple does not provide to sellers the personal information of iPhone or iPod Touch users to App Store developers, such as Storm8," the suit reads.

Joswiak explained that any developers found engaging in such practices could face having their apps pulled from the App Store.

"That's one of the things that we're always looking for," Joswiak said. "That's part of the beauty of the way we have the App Store set up, because if you find something like that out we can deal with it. A) We can pull it down. B) We know who the developer is. Remember there's nothing anonymous."

Storm8 currently has dozens of apps downloadable through the App Store, which have not been taken down, and contends that number farming was a "bug" in their games' software. The lawsuit contends that coding capable of pulling numbers would have to be too complex to be an accident. Bug or not, if any of games are found doing such things again, there could have more than consumers to worry about, since Joswiak explicitly called such information farming without consent "verboten."

Have you downloaded or used any Storm8 games from the App Store? Do you think the number pulling could have been caused by a bug? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

You won't need to level up and hunt down a mount to get an animal companion in Blizzard Entertainment's latest in-game business venture. The newly opened "World of Warcraft" Pet Store accepts real money for critters and even includes a charitable angle tied to its $10 price tags.

"Today we’re pleased to introduce the Pet Store for 'World of Warcraft,' a new way for players to obtain in-game pets to join them on their adventures in Azeroth," Blizzard announced this week. "Two brand-new companions are now available for purchase exclusively at the Pet Store in the online Blizzard Store: Lil’ K.T. and the Pandaren Monk."

Each pet currently runs $10, and the Pandaren Monk comes with an extra holiday marketing pitch, thanks to its ties to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

"For every Pandaren Monk that finds its way to a player's side between now and the end of the year (December 31, 2009 at 11:59 PDT), we'll donate 50 percent of the $10 purchasing price to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in an effort to brew up a little hope, strength, and joy in a child's life," Blizzard stated.

The pets are listed in the Blizzard Store under the "Collectibles" tab and will each be available exclusively there, not through other questing or adventuring means. They do not, however, appear to have any in-battle use, so don't buy one expecting it to unleash Panda kung-fu action on your rival guilds.

What kind of pet do you want to see offered through the "World of Warcraft" Pet Store? Do think your "WoW" character could use an animal companion? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

If you're hoping for a website that'll share all your "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" glories, akin to Bungie's "Halo" stat-tracking site, Bungie.net, you're fresh out of luck for launch. We spoke to Infinity Ward about the potential for a similar, community-based site for "Modern Warfare 2," which they didn't quite rule out, but admitted that it's not something that'll be built into the launch. Check out the video interview with Robert Bowling up top.

Nintendo's Wii has followed different rules than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 since it launched, focusing early on on interface and family-friendly titles rather than graphics and expanded hardware capabilities. That hasn't kept speculators from predicting a hi-def upgrade, however. One analyst in particular, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities, believes that a Wii HD may be coming as early as next year. Nintendo says no.

"Michael continues to be the only one who believes that this is gonna happen," Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Amie told Gametrailers TV. "I don't know how forcefully we can say there is no Wii HD."

If that wasn't enough to kill hopes, Fils-Amie further added an emphatic "No" when asked directly if there would be a Wii HD in 2010.

Whether those denials will have more longevity than Nintendo's similar DS Lite denial prior to that system's launch in 2006 remains to be seen. But for now, their stance appears to be completely opposed to HD-ifying the Wii anytime soon.

The DS, which will go through its third evolutionary transition in 2010 with the release of the DSi XL, seems to be Nintendo's research and development focus for now, but seeing so many generations emerge from one handheld device does raise the question of what the company's console teams have been doing next door in recent years.

Are you surprised to here Nintendo deny plans for a Wii HD? Do you think the console needs HD graphics? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The Japanese went even crazier for "Bubble Bobble" than America's arcade masses (there's been a version of it for nearly every platform on the little island!), and Japanese indie title "Green Island" takes one aspect of that classic and applies it in some unusual ways.

Essentially, "Green Island" capitalizes on the ability of bubbles ("Bobble"-type bubbles, that is, not real bubbles, which are very unsatisfying to jump on) to reshape the playing field. It's a puzzle-platformer where you can fire off bubbles to create your own platforms in order to progress through the levels. With each stage, complications get added: block switches, fans, direction-changers, bubble poppers, and more.

"Green Island" has some problems, particularly in its slippery physics. And while the levels introduce you to new elements very smoothly, there's some things you'll just have to figure out if you can't read Japanese. But the combination of puzzle structure and platform freedom is endlessly interesting, and the goofy 8-bit design makes the whole experience feel like a nostalgia trip for a game you never played, and the 80-point price tag makes it irresistible.

How do you turn a deeply flawed man into a religious figure? Simple: make a sequel. That's what 2K Games did with the protagonist of the critically acclaimed "BioShock" for the upcoming sequel, "BioShock 2." The follow up to one of the best games of 2007 takes place ten years after the original game, where the inhabitants of Rapture are left with a very deep impression of the original's main character, Jack Ryan; so much so that some of the inhabitants of Rapture have placed him on a pedestal usually reserved for holy figures. At a recent demo, "BioShock 2"'s creative director, Jordan Thomas, had this to say when asked about Jack’s role in the upcoming game:

"He's mentioned. His story, for the purposes of 'BioShock 2,' is over, in terms of his world driving narrative. That said, the things that he did are being fiercely debated by the splicers, because we wanted to support any of the choices the player could have made in the first game. It’s become kind of a religious question; what he did at the end of "BioShock 1."

So, aside from the amusing thought of a bunch of splicers sitting around a table debating religion, it seems that 2K Marin has solved the problem tying up any loose ends that may have been left from the first game by keeping everything pretty vague, since the first game, much like the second, was so heavily influenced by player choice. However, the fact that Jack could be considered a "religious" figure may draw some comparisons to another FPS leading man, Dr. Gordon Freeman, and the scenario that was created between "Half-Life" and "Half-Life 2."

It's clear that both of these men weren't "gods" by any means, but its always interesting to see them from the point of view of the people they so-heavily influenced. Does that mean we're gonna see Jack's wrench as a unifying symbol?

The above launch trailer for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" features scenes from the length and breadth of the single-player campaign. If that sorta thing bothers you, I'd strongly recommend waiting until next Tuesday. If you just can't contain yourself, though, live it up!

REO Speedwagon tracks have already found their way to "Rock Band." Unlike Van Halen, Metallica or The Beatles, however, who have all chosen music-based released to make their headlining video game debuts, REO has selected the lesser trod genre of "hidden object adventure" games to come to PC's and Macs. "Find Your Own Way Home," named for the track and title of the band's 2007 studio album, promises 10 hours of gameplay and all-new recordings of REO songs from publisher Merscom and production studio Curious Sense.

"'Find Your Own Way' Home is our first product in this category, so it was important that we were aligned with great partners," Curious Sense CEO Adam Blumenthal said in a press release. "In Merscom we have a partner with a tremendous track record of one success after another."

In the game, which will be available via download, Ruby, a reporter an entertainment news program, covers REO's new CD launch party, only to discover that frontman Kevin Cronin is missing. The point of the game is then to find him be hunting down clues through 80 levels.

According to the release, Curious Sense is going to be churning out similar games for other bands in the near future.

Are you an REO Speedwagon fan? What do you think of their newly announced game? Are there any bands out there you think should get their own adventure game? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The above shot was taken by a user in the Major League Gaming forums nicknamed, predictably, Tom Morello. I'm hoping that that's not his real name, as the NDA he most likely signed would prohibit the screen capture of gameplay from what appears to be "Halo: Reach," but his risk is our gain, as he managed to cap off a few shots on his cell phone of some of the weapons that'll be featured in the game:

If these are fake, they're extremely well done. Everything looks very much like an upgraded "Halo," though "Reach" taking place in the past doesn't make much sense, given what appears to be an upgraded version of the needler. What are your thoughts? Look legit?

GameStop and Best Buy customers reserving "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" will get a little something extra come November 19th. EA has confirmed that a North American multiplayer beta test will be open to pre-ordering PS3 owners though the retailers' online and brick-and-mortar locations.

"With 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2' we're looking to raise the bar across all aspects of our multiplayer experience, setting a new standard for online play," senior producer on the game Patrick Bach said, according to Kotaku. "From the graphics to the vehicles, weapons and destruction, we are delivering the best online multiplayer game next year, and we want gamers to experience it themselves by playing the beta and demo."

The game's official website has a few more details, revealing that a PC open beta will be available in December. Those betas will lead up a worldwide "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" demo release for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 early in 2010. Right now, Europe and Asia seem to be shut out of the beta testing entirely, but the blog post states that more international beta key partners may be announced as soon as next week. The full game is scheduled for release in North American on March 2.

Are you going to try to get in on the PS3 or PC beta tests for "Bad Company 2"? What kinds of expectations do you have for the game? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.