Seattle - RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) announced on Thursday that it will spin off its casual games business, and distribute shares in the newly created company to its shareholders.

Foxboro, Mass. - Play Hard Sports, a developer and publisher of casual online sports games, on Wednesday announced its launch and a $5 million first round of financing, led by New Enterprise Associates.

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ (NASD: THQI) announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Elephant Entertainment, a developer of casual and online games.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Mytopia, an online social gaming community, on Monday announced a public beta launch of its service, which allows users to play casual online games with one another through their social network accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and other sites. The service is also available through Mytopia's site and via widget directories including Apple Dashboard Widgets, iGoogle Gadgets, Microsoft Vista Toolbar Widgets and Yahoo Widgets.

The following post was submitted to DMW by Keenan Reilly, a 23-year old game developer at Electronic Arts.

As a 23-year-old video game developer at EA, I often find myself taking technology for granted. I’m like a parent watching a child grow. It is at such a constant rate of change that it isn’t really noticeable from day to day. If I’m the parent, then the consumer is comparable to a distant relative who only sees the child during the holidays, which creates an inevitable shock factor when finally seeing the child after some time. With Apple opening up the iPhone to third party game developers, the public is now getting a glimpse at what I have been observing for quite some time; mobile phones are the future of gaming.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Gamook, a developer of casual online games, has raised $1.5 million in its first round of funding from U.S. Venture Partners, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

San Francisco - Mochi Media, the provider of an in-game ad network for casual, Flash-based games, has raised $4 million in its first round of funding, led by Accel Partners, VentureWire reported.

San Francisco - Casual games developer Three Rings has raised $3.5 million in new funding, led by True Ventures, VentureBeat reported.

Los Angeles - Television production company Endemol USA ("Deal or No Deal," "1 vs. 100") announced that it has formed a casual games division, which will first create Web games for its slate of TV gameshows. The company named Eric LaVanchy, who previously served as VP of creative development at advergaming firm Bottle Rocket, to head the new games unit.

Seattle - RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) announced on Friday that it has acquired Trymedia Systems, a provider of digital distribution services for casual games, from Macrovision (NASD: MVSN) for $4 million.

San Francisco - Zynga Game Network, a publisher of casual games on social media sites like Facebook, Bebo and Friendster, announced on Thursday that it has opened its network to third-party game publishers and developers. Publishers including Sierra Online, Bigpoint and Come2Play have signed on with the company to deliver their titles on social networks via Zynga, which claims 1.3 million daily active users and 20 million registered users.

Amsterdam - Nearly 90% of respondents in a recent survey of casual gamers on RealNetworks' (NASD: RNWK) RealGames service said they will watch in-game streaming video ads in return for free game play.

Seattle - FlowPlay, the developer of a casual game-focused virtual world targeted at teenagers, has raised $3.7 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Intel Capital and Ambient Sound Investments.

New York - Rebel Monkey, a developer and publisher of casual and community online games, said on Monday that it has raised $1 million in a first round of financing from Redpoint Ventures.

Simi Valley, Calif. - C3L3B ("Celeb") Digital, a developer of Web 2.0 and casual multiplayer online games, has raised $3 million of an expected $4 million round of venture capital, from BlueRun Ventures, PEHub.com reported.

San Francisco - Zynga, a developer of online casual games designed for play on social networking sites, has raised $10 million in its first round of funding, led by Union Square Ventures, The New York Times reported.

To wrap up the 2007 Year in Games, and forecast trends for 2008, we sat down with one of the industry’s biggest authorities, Joseph Olin, President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. He’s been with the AIAS since 2004, and worked with video games and consumer products for 25 years. We asked him about the biggest developments in gaming this year, and some of the things we’ll see in the next 12 months. Here are Five Questions with Joseph Olin:

It’s that time of year when you begin considering what you’d like to improve in 2008, creating your annual “New Year’s Resolutions List.” If you’re like many people, envisioning a year in which you join the volunteer circuit, helping to solve the world’s hunger and poverty issues, there’s at least one easy way to get a head start, and it costs you little time, and no money. It’s also entertaining, always a beneficial feature of any activity.

San Francisco - PlayFirst, a publisher of casual video games, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $16.5 million in its third round of financing, led by DCM.

Los Angeles - FXLabs Studios, an India-based video game developer, has announced plans to acquire Interactive Media Technology, operator of the casual games portal Knibble.com, GameDaily reports.