The merger of Activision and Vivendi left the fate of a lot of games up in the air. But the future of one franchise is secure. F.E.A.R., Monolith’s scary shooter, has been acquired by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. So we can look forward to more F.E.A.R. games in the future, starting with Project Origin. The game has been officially renamed F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and will be released February 10, 2009.

Call in the medics for the Navy SEALs. The SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation beta is receiving some ongoing patchwork to correct issues discovered during the testing. Although, these problems may cause distress to those playing, thankfully these beta tests help to find and fix problems before it is released to the public at large. Patch and server updates are expected to continue throughout the week.

Those of you who are looking forward to heading back to Chernobyl are going to have to wait a little longer. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky has been pushed back to September 15th. The game is an open-ended shooter that takes place in Chernobyl after a second nuclear reactor meltdown. Publisher Deep Silver blames the delay on “a problem in manufacturing.” A digital release of the game was also planned, but a new date has not yet been set.

Speaking of delays. Velvet Assassin has been pushed back. Gamecock’s upcoming game about real-life MI6 agent Violette Szabo puts players deep behind enemy lines in World War II. Velvet Assassin will now be released in early 2009.

The Max Payne movie could lead the way for another videogame tough guy. Scott Faye, producer of the Max Payne movie, is now working with 3D Realms on a Duke Nukem movie. Faye said he’s working on a story for the film and shopping it around Hollywood. You have to wonder what’s going to be out first: Duke Nukem the movie, or Duke Nukem Forever, the long, long, long awaited sequel to Duke Nukem 3D. Well, we won’t have to wait so long for Max Payne, it hits theatres October 17th.

The plot of Disturbia is a little too familiar for some. Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks, and Paramount Pictures are being sued over the movie Disturbia starring Shia LeBeouf. The estate that owns the rights to the story It Had To Be Murder by Cornell Woolrich has filed the suit. In 1954, the great Alfred Hitchcock turned the story into Rear Window, starring Jimmy Stewart. The movie tells the story of a wheelchair-bound reporter who spies on his neighbours and becomes convinced that one of them is a murderer. Sound familiar? We’ll have to see what a judge thinks.

The Day The Earth Stood Still will be bigger than life. The upcoming remake starring Keanu Reeves will open simultaneously in Imax theatres on December 12th. Like the 1951 original, the film involves the arrival of an alien and his robot counterpart. I can’t wait for this one.

If you’re a fan of The Dark Knight, and I know you are, you’ve probably heard the rumours. Johnny Depp as The Riddler? Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin? Sounds intriguing. Well, those rumours have surfaced again, and this time they’re being spread by Michael Caine. Yes, Alfred Pennyworth himself, in the guise of Caine, says that he talked to a Warner Bros. studio executive about it, who brought up the villains and actors. Everything is still very unconfirmed and very unofficial, but if you can’t trust Batman’s butler, who can you trust? And more superhero movie rumours. There’s a rumour that Hancock himself, Will Smith, has been offered the title role in the Captain America movie. Could be a very interesting crop of superhero movies.

It seems like someone is trying to kill Kenny, or at least silence him and his friends. Apparently, the Russian prosecutor’s office considers South Park extremist content that is offensive and could even incite violence and extremist activities. As a result, a warning has been issued to the network that airs the show in Russia. A second warning will revoke the station’s licence. I wonder what the kids would have to say about this?

While we’re on the topic of strife, Harry Potter author JK Rowling has won her claim of copyright infringement. A Manhattan district court has delivered in favour of Rowling over an unauthorized A To Z Harry Potter Lexicon by a fan. RDR Books has been told to halt the publication of the lexicon. In other Harry Potter news. The delay of the videogame based on The Half-Blood Prince will drastically reduce the publisher’s projected revenue for the fiscal year ending in March of next year, by as much as 120 million dollars.

D3 Publisher Of America will be providing more games to download through the PlayStation Network. The publisher has announced that most of its catalogue of PSP games will be available for download on the PlayStation Network. That includes Puzzle Quest, Dead Head Fred, and the Ben 10 games. This is very cool. The games will go on sale later this month.

Speaking of the digital download era. HMV predicts that soon music will only account for only a quarter of their sales, while videogames will continue to grow. Games such as GTA4 and Mario Kart have helped propel videogame sales in recent months and HMV expects they will outsell music in the next 12 to 18 months. Very interesting.

Everyone’s a critic. A fan assaulted Noel Gallagher at an Oasis concert on Sunday in Toronto when he climbed up on stage and gave the guitarist a shove into a monitor. Gallagher suffered a fractured rib, but in a strange twist of fate, the band returned and finished the set after security yanked the assailant offstage. Police later charged the man with assault.

Here’s a story for the two Zune owners out there. As of next week you’ll be able to download music and buy songs off the Zune\\\'s built-in FM radio. On September 16th, Microsoft is adding a new feature called \\\"Buy from FM.\\\" The service lets customers buy songs they hear on FM radio stations using the FM tuner and wireless capabilities. Welcome to the new millennium Microsoft.

And for all you iPod fans out there, like us, it’s time to rejoice. Apple has announced a brand new iPod Nano along with an upgraded iPod Touch that Steve Jobs calls, “the funnest iPod we’ve ever created.” The Touch is smaller, sleeker, and, Jobs says, is the “best portable device for games.” I can’t wait.

Today could very well be the last day of your life. The Hadron Collider is set to fire today. The massive particle accelerator is designed to replicate the conditions present at the birth of the universe. If all goes according to plan, it will produce the elusive Higgs boson, or as it is more commonly known, the God Particle, the only remaining elementary particle to be observed by science. Of course, some are concerned that success could mean the creation of a black hole, and thus the destruction of the Earth. I guess if we’re here tomorrow we’ll know the results.