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What do you get when you mix Venice, a dangerous necromancer, and a protagonist who can go to the realm of death? The answer is Venetica, a game that’s been out in Europe for a while and will soon be brought over to North America… …

Just in time for a little Christmas carnage, EA will be pushing out the Vietnam DLC pack to its latest Battlefield game in the third week of December for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3… …

Hold on to your limited edition, holiday-themed farming hats! Zynga has just released a Japanese version of its insanely popular FarmVille browser-based sim game on Japan’s largest social networking site, Mixi… …

Above: Treyarch community manager Josh Olin explains how player feedback makes its way into the next game update for Call of Duty: Black Ops

Ever wonder where patches come from? Treyarch community manager Josh Olin has recently explained how feedback, reports, and complaints from players make it into the next game update for Call of Duty: Black Ops. According to Olin, it takes about a “full month” to complete an update cycle. However, since Treyarch is often working on multiple game updates, you often see updates appear in less than a month.

You can read Olin’s detailed description of the patching process inside… …

Apparently someone declared world peace, because the Sacramento chapter of Veterans for Peace protested a fake war – a Call of Duty: Black Ops event – at a public library last Saturday… …

PETA has just released Super Tofu Boy, a free Flash game that’s meant to deter meat-loving gamers from feasting on flesh. The vegan friendly satire on Team Meat’s Super Meat Boy finds the main character dumped by Bandage Girl in favor of Tofu Boy.

As a healthy alternative with the “best buns in town,” Tofu Boy is described by PETA as a sexual dynamo. “He’s packed with essential vitamins… and has the kind of stamina that fatty blobs of beef have only heard about in fairy tales,” reads part of the character description on the game’s official site… …

As hinted at earlier this year, a videogame based on this summer’s brain-frying blockbuster Inception is definitely in development, director Christopher Nolan has confirmed.

Nolan, who is currently hard at work on the final film in his Batman trilogy, told Entertainment Weekly, “I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place. At the moment, the only direction we’re channeling that is by developing a videogame set in the world.”

He stayed silent when asked for further details, only offering that a team of collaborators was hard at work on the title and it was “a longer-term proposition,” whatever that might mean.

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Publisher’s CEO likens theoretical purchase to catching a falling knife, says it would look like EA was “doubling down on yesterday.”

When Viacom announced plans to sell off Dance Central developer Harmonix earlier this month, speculation rose about possible purchasers. One oft-suggested suitor was Electronic Arts, distributor of Harmonix’s Rock Band games through its EA Partners program.

Yesterday, all Harmonix’s problems seemed so far away’

EA CEO John Riccitiello put an end to that particular piece of speculation this week in an interview with Bloomberg. The executive told the news service his company was moving in a different strategic direction for a number of reasons, one of them being the way investors would perceive such an investment in the flagging rhythm genre.

“We’re still out of favor,” Riccitiello said. “Moves that look like I’m doubling down on yesterday would make it harder still to convince investors that tomorrow is the Promised Land.”

After peaking at $1.66 billion in US retail sales over 2008, rhythm game sales deteriorated to $876 million in 2009. This year is shaping up even worse for the genre, totaling just $158 million over through September.

EA’s most recent acquisitions have been in upwardly trending areas, as the company purchased social game developer Playfish just over a year ago, and iOS publisher Chillingo last month. As for Harmonix, Riccitiello suggested that someone would take a chance on picking up the studio.

“I’m sure some smart investor will buy the business feeling that they can catch a falling knife,” Riccitiello said, “but more people have been cut trying to catch falling knives than have benefitted from getting the timing exactly right.”

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A sequel to delightful iOS hit Game Dev Story is on its way, developer Kairosoft has announced, but you might have to wait a while.

Speaking in an interview with Touch Arcade, a spokesperson for the Japanese studio said, “We will be developing a sequel, but we are not planning on releasing it soon.”

Going on past form, you’d best not hold your breath. The original PC version of Game Dev Story took 14 years to localise for Western audiences.

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Collector’s edition of Square Enix sci-fi sequel includes art book, DVD for extra $10; retailers offering preorder add-on packs with new mission and weapons, in-game currency.

Get the full article at GameSpot