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The industry consortium known as the PC Gaming Alliance has unveiled details of its 2009 Horizons Report, offering an update on the worldwide state of PC gaming.

Among the key findings is word that "PC gaming software revenue" continues to grow, with the worldwide market pulling in some $13.1 billion during 2009. The previous year, 2008, saw revenue of "about $11 billion" while 2007 bought in $10.7 billion.

Most of that growth can be attributed to the growing popularity of digital distribution and paid downloads, as boxed retail games saw another downturn and accounted for "less than 20% of total revenue [in 2009]." According to surveys by research group DFC Intelligence, over 70% of PC gamers in North America and Europe indicate that they bought a full game online and over 50% have bought a virtual item.

However, it wasn't all good news. While the overall market grew,...

The star of classic films such as Silver Bullet, Lucas, and The Lost Boys, as well as Digital Pictures' Double Switch for the PC, Sega CD, and Saturn, actor Corey Haim died today at the age of 38.

Perhaps best known along with frequent co-star Corey Feldman as one of the two Coreys, Corey Haim's career started off in a promising fashion in the early 80's, cast alongside big-name Hollywood talent including Charlie Sheen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sally Field, and Winona Ryder. His performances in movies like Murphy's Romance, Firstborn, and Lucas earned him recognition in the industry, which lead to a starring role in Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys, one of the most enjoyable vampire movies of all time.

In the early 90's his career took a turn for the worse, with Haim appearing mainly in direct-to-video movies. It w...

Video game art folks will be taking over San Francisco's Hotel Des Arts, on Thursday, packing the five-floor boutique hotel with art from Dante's Inferno and inspired by other video games.

The second-story lobby of the hotel will be filled with last year's Into the Pixel exhibits, while the walls of the fourth floor of the hotel will be decorated with the original oil paintings used to depict the level design for Electronic Arts' Dante's Inferno. The remaining floors will feature art from GIANT ROBOT, START SOMA, GALLERY 1988, PROJECT ONE, SUPER 7, 3 FISH STUDIOS, SANFRANPSYCHO, NEMOMATIC and LTL PRINTS.

While the show doesn't kick of until Thursday, with a special open house that runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., we were able to grab some snaps of the paintings being unloaded and set up at the hotel, because we happen to be staying here.

Here's just a taste.

Source: Kotaku: top | Published: 10 Mar 2010, 10:00 am

A Riverdale man died early this morning after being subdued by police during a traffic stop, authorities said.

Jaesun Ingles, 31, of the 14300 block of South Normal Avenue, was pronounced dead at MetroSouth Hospital in Blue Island at 12:31 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

He died after having trouble breathing while being restrained by officers, Midlothian police said in a news release.

Authorities said Ingles was on parole for two Ohio convictions, being supervised by Illinois corrections officials.

Midlothian police stopped a car driven by Ingles about 11 p.m. Tuesday in the 14600 block of Pulaski Road in Midlothian for several traffic violations, police said in the release. An officer  smelled marijuana and found a small am...

A man given probation just two days ago for criminal damage to property died Tuesday night after plunging into the Chicago River while being chased by police for tagging a building.

Jason Kitchekeg, 26, of Mokena was one of three men being chased by officers for spray-painting a building on Ashland Avenue, police said.

Cops caught two of the men, but Kitchekeg jumped into the river near the 2800 block of South Ashland, officials said.

Aided by a helicopter, the police Marine Unit and Fire Department personnel worked for about 30 minutes to rescue the man after he was spotted at about 6:45 p.m. in the river near Bubbly Creek.

Firefighters pulled Kitchekeg from the water and he was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m., according...

Civilization games teach us to respect culture and science, to honor learning and the sharpness of swords. But roads? This series would make you think that progress equals covering one's kingdom with ugly tangles of roads. Civ V changes that.

During a theater demonstration here in San Francisco of this fall's Civilization V that I witnessed yesterday (and chronicled in depth), I asked where the roads were.

I was being shown a civilization that was advanced enough to amass armies to attack other great civilizations. Yet all I saw was a single, nicely-paved road. It looked nice, but it didn't look like Civ.

It turns out, one of the developers of the game, told me, that the game's creators are re-thinking how roads are implemented and displayed in these games. The idea the creators at Civ studio Firax...

Avalanche Studios has revealed a new way to "rocket launcher jump" that gets Just Cause 2 players just as high as their Quake counterparts but with the added bonus of raining destruction upon hapless enemies and letting Rico sail away unscathed.

Just Cause 2 is due to arrive for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 23. A demo is out now on all three platforms, offering 35 square miles of the full game's 200.

[video]17539[/video] Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska  -- Rookie musher Pat Moon of Chicago was injured when he crashed his sled into a tree Tuesday while competing in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Belgian musher Sam Deltour found Moon unconscious on the trail, attended to him and then checked on the 33-year-old man's team, according to Iditarod spokesman Chas St. George. Deltour said Moon soon regained consciousness. He was flown to Providence Hospital in Anchorage, where he received a checkup.

The race spokesman said Moon's 15 dogs were not hurt but he has been scratched from the race.

Moon had decided to take on the more than 1,150 miles of frozen trails even though he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma last year. He underwent chemotherapy in the summer.

-- Associated Press, Tribune staff report

Source: Chicago Breaking News | Published: 10 Mar 2010, 9:30 am