In more bad news for Microsoft employees (and the industry in general), the majority of the 1400 layoffs the company announced yesterday will hit its Entertainment & Devices division. This means that the branch responsible for the company’s gaming efforts – including Xbox 360 and PC games – and the Zune (its iPod competitor) has been hit the most.

The layoffs have also hit Microsoft’s Gamerscore blog, which shut down earlier this week. Former writers Chris Paladino and Nelson Rodriguez used their respective Twitter accounts to reveal the news.

Microsoft has also laid off roughly 30% of its game testers and may restructure the management of its gaming division next week.

Following word of layoffs at Black Box, Gamasutra reports that over 200 people have been affected by the massive job cuts at the Skate series developer.

The site points out that the studio’s 350-strong workforce has essentially been halved by the move. It was previously reported that EA would close the studio and move its staff to nearby office to work on associated franchises.

Meanwhile, in more bad news, The Orlando Sentinel reports that Madden developer EA Tiburon recently laid off an undisclosed number of employees.

EA has been implementing its cost-cutting strategy as of late, noting that it will reduce its workforce by 10%.

Rockstar has officially confirmed that the first Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content pack for GTA 4 will cost 1600 Microsoft points ($20) when it hits Xbox Live Marketplace.

The price point was previously rumored by way of GameStop, who is selling pre-orders for DLC voucher codes.

The DLC will see the addition of around 10 hours of biker-themed gameplay, letting players take control of a new character. It is due out on February 17.

With a little more than a month left, Guerilla Games’ highly anticipated first-person shooter Killzone 2 has gone gold, meaning that the game’s code is complete and that it has been sent off to manufacturing.

Killzone 2 is due out in North America on February 27. Word of a playable demo was released a couple weeks ago, though it will require you to pre-order the game if you want to get a sample of it before the game’s release. The demo will be publicly released the day before the game hits.

“I couldn’t be more ecstatic with what the fine folks at Guerrilla have accomplished and we cannot wait to get this thing into your hands,” wrote associate producer Mike Graham on the PlayStation blog.

In more Ubisoft news, the company’s CEO Yves Guillemot has said that the company expects the next generation of consoles to start shipping by 2012.

“We have now enough to help us to grow the company for not only next year, but to get ready for the coming of the next generation consoles that are probably going to happen 2011, 2012,” said Guillemot.

It can be noted that Ubisoft has already begun readying itself for new, more powerful hardware by increasing its workforce to meet the demands of new technology.

“We have to be ready for [next-generation consoles]. We are already hiring people and buying some technology and looking at some brands as well,” he added.

Not able to surprise anyone anymore, Ubisoft has revealed that Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and a new Ghost Recon game, among others, will be released across its next fiscal year, which starts April 1, 2009 and ends March 31, 2010.

The company also delayed the first-person survival game I Am Alive, noting that it “will require further development time and will now bolster the line-up for 2009-10.” It was originally scheduled for release this March.

Ubisoft pointed out that the upcoming time period will see the company deliver seven titles in existing franchises, launch 3 new brands, release four license-based tie-ins and provide additional entries in its line of casual titles.

Publisher Namco Bandai has announced that Noby Noby Boy, the downloadable PS3 game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, will be released worldwide on February 19. The company also revealed that the game will be sold for only $4.99.

Noby Noby Boy is another quirky, oddball title from Takahashi, setting players in a rather interesting world with yet another interesting premise. Here’s how gamers worldwide will collaborate to unlock new stages:

As players stretch BOY in their individual play sessions, the lengths to which they grow are uploaded to a persistent character known as GIRL, who grows at the same rate as the combined length of all the players in the world. GIRL starts at Earth and expands through the solar system as more games are played and BOYs from all players continue to grow. When GIRL reaches a new milestone in the solar system, these areas are unlocked as playable stages in the game for everyone around the world.

For those of you who still play Final Fantasy 11 and are considering exploiting any of the in-game mechanics: beware!

Square Enix has recently released a statement that they have given over 500 players the axe. The exploit in question was one that allowed players to duplicate treasures and rewards found in certain areas of the game.

So there you have it, if you cheat Square Enix will find you!

Read (Kotaku)

If you’re thinking of putting down bets on this year’s upcoming Super Bowl you might want to ponder taking EA’s recent prediction into consideration.

EA updated both the Steeler’s and Cardinal’s stats to the most rated listings, and then ran a game. The outcome was 28-24 with the Steelers on top.

To give you a little background on EA’s customary simulation; they have been running it since 2004 using the latest version of Madden NFL and, to date, they have correctly predicted the winner of 4 out of 5 times.

In fact, the only error they had was of last year’s Giant’s victory which was a major upset to just about everyone.

Read (Kotaku)

One of the initial appeals of the Wii was the idea of getting exercise along with your gaming. Unfortunately things didn’t work out that way and studies showed a very limited calorie burning effect for swinging your wiimote. Unfortunately if you try and make it more active, the most exercise you’re likely to get is carrying your television down to the corner for the garbage pickup.

A new wiimote accessory has been created that will allow gamers to get something of a workout when they play their Wii title of choice. It’s called the Riiflex, and it’s available in two versions, a two pound weight and a five pound weight. No pricing has been confirmed yet, but you can put in $5 to preorder one on the official website.