I wanted to let you know we'll soon be looking for beta testers to help us develop a unique new way to play Civilization. Ever since we finished Civilization Revolution last year, I've been looking at ways of expanding the Civ gameplay experience to include solo, competitive and cooperative play to take advantage of the uniqueness of social networks. We're calling this project Civilization Network and the full game will be available next year on Facebook. Civilization Network will allow you to join together with your friends to create the world's most powerful, richest, smartest, or just plain coolest civilization. You can coordinate your strategy to win great battles, share your technology to jump ahead of your rivals, lobby your family and friends to form your own government and win vital elections, manage and grow your cities to maximize production and happiness, spy on your enemies, and work with your friends to create the great Wonders of the World. The game will offer everything you enjoy in Civ in a fully persistent environment - you can play as much as you like, whenever you like, and it'll be free to play.

We'll offer a closed beta of the game soon, so stay tuned for details on how you can sign-up to participate. The full game will launch in 2010. For more information about Civilization Network, including development updates and behind-the-scenes posts from me and the Firaxis team, join our Facebook fanpage here.

Though it was promoted here, there and everywhere, a video game featuring the music and the likenesses of the Beatles posted only moderate sales in its first month of release. The Beatles: Rock Band, which was released by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, sold about 595,000 copies, according to a report from NPD Group, a market research company.

The objective of the SurfaceScapes project is to create a proof-of-concept for playing tabletop role-playing games on the Microsoft Surface Table. We will be using Dungeons and Dragons as a basis for our prototype, with the option for future expansion to other role-playing games. SurfaceScapes will provide Game Masters and players with a set of features to enhance the combat and role-playing aspects of tabletop games. This will include the ability to interact with the digital environment using real objects such as miniatures and provide automated calculations and visual and audio feedback for actions performed by the player and non-player characters. We are taking traditional tabletop role-playing games to the next level, adding a new layer of immersive and intuitive gaming to the Microsoft Surface Table and assisting both GMs and players in enjoying exciting and engaging adventures.

Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, who penned Disney's upcoming "The Princess and the Frog" and Ben Stiller pic "The Return of King Doug" at Paramount, will write the script for the "Spore" movie. It will be produced as a CG-animated toon by EA and Blue Sky Studios, which is behind the studio's "Ice Age" pics, "Robots" and its next effort, "Rio."

In the game, which was released in September 2008, players create their own creatures and the worlds they live in and share them with other gamers to create an overall universe.

"I'm always looking for unique worlds to go to in animation," Wedge said. "From every perspective -- visually, thematically and comedically -- the world of 'Spore' provides the potential to put something truly original on the screen."

Up to four competitors can play on two virtual courses using a real putter and real balls--you can explore the casino-themed Las Vegas course or the tiki torch-themed Paradise Island course on the large, high-definition 32" LCD. Just like real courses, you can shoot your ball through obstacles, such as a secret door at the base of an Egyptian pyramid for a one-way route directly to the hole... if you can time it correctly before it closes. Shot controls allow you to adjust your view left or right, providing overhead or ball view to plan the optimal path to the hole. The putting green allows left- and right-handers to play easily. Simply putt your ball at the base of the video screen; when the ball is detected by the game's computer, the virtual world takes over, calculating both the direction and speed of the ball, "shooting" it toward the hole; balls return automatically.

However, a lot has been going on behind the scenes, particularly in getting developers to build games that can take advantage of the technology, which lets a player control a game with their body as opposed to a joystick. In an announcement at the Tokyo Game Show on Thursday, Microsoft noted that nearly all of the big names in video games are working on Natal titles.

Microsoft's list includes Activision, Capcom, Disney, EA, Konami, MTV, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ, and Ubisoft. Game makers have had development kits in their hands since June, Microsoft said.

Set against the backdrop of autumn colors, the new map will be infantry-focused and set in a village with dozens of intersecting canals. Intense battles will play out on the bridges and crossings, while sneaky players can use the alleyways and channels to move unnoticed for sudden flanking maneuvers and rear-guard actions.

Starting today, EA is accepting proposed names for the new map at http://www.battlefieldheroes.com. Players can submit a proposed name for the soon-to-be released map, and that name may be selected by the Battlefield Heroes development team.

"Along with this new map, 'Heroes of the Fall' includes a slew of changes including upgrades of the Gunner class and improvements to the friends system," said Ben Cousins, General Manager, Battlefield Heroes team. "We've also added a brand new ranking system for the game - players can earn cool new titles for their heroes as they play - showing everyone on the battlefield how dedicated they are."