Video Games

Casual gaming continues to be hot and getting hotter: Flying Lab software has launched a new casual division, called, unsurpringly, Flying Lab Casual. The company's stated ambition is to develop casual MMO gaming software "from the ground up." Looks like everyone seems to be getting on the MMO bandwagon – Electronic Arts, which has looked to revive its flagging fortunes in a variety of ways (including coming up with literary-based games like Dante's Inferno, is now reviving its Need for Speed franchise as a free MMO (Meanwhile, the troubled company may be cutting people from its Canada division) .   

Nintendo, despite its lowered earnings forcast, is thinking big when it comes to the DS, gunning for sales of 152 million across the U.S., Europe and Japan. They also say the Wii has room for expansion despite its already massive success, and they foresee it eclipsing the success of the Playstation 2. Needless to say, software for Nintendo-based devices is a very safe bet to develop, especially since third-party software for both Wii and DS is increasing in sales. 

Peter Brown, board chairman of the struggling Midway, has resigned, and CEO Matt Booty will fill his position. Meanwhile, Ensemble Studios, which suffered the fate Midway is trying to avoid when Microsoft closed it, may rise from the ashes after all: Cofounder Bruce Shelley has hinted that two new companies could be formed from the ruins of the old one.  

Rumor has it that a $19.99 "premium games" store is coming to iTunes. Don't hope to get your indie game on there, though – it will be restricted to games from major companies, like Sega and Electronic Arts. 

Technology

Yahoo may be turning its fortunes around, but they won't be entering the phone wars: Apparently, a Yahoophone was in development, but it got canned. Given that Yahoo has rebuilding work to do, and the cell phone market is a major battlefield right now (Apple appears to be holding off rival Palm for now with a multitouch phone patent, but experts say it may not stay exclusive for long) , it's probably better that they decided to focus elsewhere. (Interestingly, the canning seems to have come on the advice of the new CEO's college-age daughter). Meanwhile, Dell is entering the phone fray with prototypes of Windows and Adroid-based phones. 

Details are emerging about Google's proposed GDrive, an online storage solution that will allow users to access files anywhere from any Internet-enabled device, be it a desktop, laptop or phone – a boon for people who conduct business on the road and don't feel like dragging around portable hard drives. Meanwhile, Jonathon Rochelle, product manager of Google Docs, said the application will get more integrated and social-oreinted in the future. 

Is the real threat to Windows in the future not Linux, but the as-now-unknown Citrix Project? A look at something programmers may have to be familiar with in the future.  

Economics/Geekonomics

The U.S. economy contracted 3.8 percent in the final three months of the year, the biggest such shrinkage in 27 years. Furthermore, the gross domestic product was down 3.8% in the fourth quarter, and personal finance site Mint says its average user has cut expenses by $400 a month starting last summer.  Another big "we're not out of the woods yet, folks." 

Publishing

Let's get the bad news out of the way first: The Baltimore Examiner, a free paper, will close up shop in mid-February, with all 90 employees losing their jobs.Gannett's dividends may be history because of its recent losses and the Dallas Morning News and its sister papers are laying off 500 people.  

However, there are increasing signs that publishing has a future, and that future is in cyberspace. Unique visitors at newspaper sites were up more than 12 percent last year, and Web-only newsrooms will be competing for the Pulitzer for the first time. So there's still hope, as long as you know your HTML.

- Bonnie