Los Angeles - Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it plans to release a special edition of its Xbox 360 video game console in conjunction with the release of its "Halo 3" game in September.

New York - Microsoft announced that Toru Iwatani, the Namco game developer who originally created "Pac-Man," has designed the first new mazes for the game in 26 years, for a new version of the classic title for Xbox 360 called "Pac-Man Championship Edition." International teams competed in a Quiznos-sponsored tournament featuring the new game in New York last night, in advance of the game's availability for purchase and download from Xbox Live Arcade today.

Burbank, Calif. - Disney Interactive Studios announced on Thursday that it will release two games on the Xbox Live Arcade online game service for Xbox 360 in connection with the 25th anniversary of its classic film, "Tron." Developed by Backbone Charlottetown, "Tron" and "Discs of Tron" -- both classic arcade titles -- will be available in their original form and in enhanced versions on Xbox Live Arcade this summer.

San Francisco - Microsoft on Monday announced the launch of its Dream-Build-Play game development contest, which features a $10,000 grand prize and the opportunity for the winning title to be published on Xbox Live Arcade, the company's downloadable game service for Xbox 360. The contest is open to developers using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express game development platform. Winners will be announced in August at Microsoft Gamefest 2007 in Seattle.

San Francisco - Microsoft on Monday announced an increase in the official size limit for games on Xbox Live Arcade -- from 50MB to 150MB -- giving developers flexibility to make more complex titles available on the service that offers downloadable games for the Xbox 360 console. The company also announced plans to release a 512MB memory card for the Xbox 360, which will increase gamers' capacity to download Xbox Live Arcade games to the console. The $49 product will come pre-loaded with developer Bizarre Creations' "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved" Xbox Live Arcade title.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts on Friday provided details on the soundtrack for its upcoming racing game, "Burnout Dominator," which is set for release on March 6 for the PlayStation 2 and PSP. In addition to the world premiere of Avril Lavigne's new track "Girlfriend," the game will feature songs from 33 artists, including LCD Soundsystem, Filter, The Fratellis and The Sword. Separately, EA announced that it has partnered with Gaia Industries to develop a multiplayer version of its "Wing Commander" franchise for the Xbox Live Arcade. "Wing Commander Arena" will figure as the largest multiplayer title on Xbox Live Arcade when it is made available for download later this summer.

Los Angeles - Vivendi Games announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Chile-based Wanako Games, the largest game development studio in Latin America.

Seattle - Casual game developer and publisher PopCap Games said on Thursday that it has posted its "Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank" title for purchase and download on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service for the Xbox 360. The company said it added several multiplayer modes to the game exclusively for the Xbox 360 version.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts on Wednesday detailed plans for "Boom Boom Rocket," its first title for Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade digital game distribution service for the Xbox 360. Set to debut on Xbox Live Arcade in the spring of 2007, the rhythm action game was conceived by EA's Pogo.com casual games team and developed by Bizarre Creations.