It seems that I may have a reason to bust out my credit card to on the App Store for a game other than Metal Gear Solid Touch.

It was recently announced that Oregon Trail has officially hit the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch users everywhere. Priced at just $5.99 the game will give players the opportunity to follow a group of pioneers as they trek across the Oregon Trail.

Yes, disentary, buffalo, and dying trail mates are all included just like the original.

Read (The Portable Gamer)

It seems that Activision CFO Thomas Tippl has said that forthcoming FPS Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is currently slated for a 2009 holiday season launch.

Tippl had this to say at a recent company meeting:

“Last year we had probably beaten most expert expectations by growing the Call of Duty franchise over the tremendous success that was the first iteration of Modern Warfare. For 2009, Modern Warfare is coming back, we expect it will be the most anticipated game of the year. Perhaps the number one game of the year despite the fact that it’s only going to launch in the holiday season…There is no doubt in my mind that it will again raise the bar for the shooter genre. The game is looking incredible and Infinity Ward, the studio that is developing it, is just doing an unbelievable job.”

So there you have it, Infinity Ward’s highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has officially been announced to be launching this holiday season. Sign me up!

Read (Examiner)

If you’ve been dying to get your iPhone (or iPod touch) lovin’ paws on Solid Snake’s App Store debut, you’re in luck.

Konami recently announced that Metal Gear Solid Touch will be hitting the App Store for both the iPhone and iPod touch on March 19th for $10.

Not a bad price point for such a seemingly robust game.

Read (Kotaku)

AMD’s graphics division, ATI, has announced that they’ve shipped their 50 millionth Wii GPU, codenamed “Hollywood”. It thereby becomes ATI’s most successful console GPU. ATI’s Rick Bergman said of the milestone:

“We’re proud to provide the ATI ‘Hollywood’ chip as the cool and quiet graphics engine that factors so prominently in the overall enjoyment for Wii owners. AMD counts Nintendo as a valued customer and we continue to work together to make console entertainment a growing phenomenon worldwide.”

ATI previously supplied Nintendo with GPUs for the GameCube, and are currently supplying Microsoft with GPUs for the Xbox 360.

Due to the depreciation of the British Pound, Nintendo will be raising the price of the Wii in the region. A company spokesman said;

“Due to the severe and continuing depreciation of the pound, we are, unfortunately, having to raise our trade price to UK retailers of Wii hardware. The price that they then offer to consumers is, of course, up to the retailers.”

The Wii currently retails at 180 GBP in the UK, a price point which will likely increase to 200 GBP. The Pound has lost around 20% of its value in 2008 alone.

The huge success of Grand Theft Auto 4 means that some of the creative folks behind the scenes are now getting a bonus from parent company Take Two.

Take Two has revealed that over 2.8 million shares will be given to top Rockstar management, which includes Rockstar co-founders Sam and Dan Houser and GTA4 producer Leslie Benzies, the total value of the stocks is $18 million.

The Rockstar team reached a deal last year that gave them stock based profit sharing, while they would remain at Rockstar until 2013.

Nintendo has announced that the DS has sold 100 million units. The DS has seen three different versions so far, the original DS, which was in production from 2004-2006, the DS Lite, which was introduced in 2006 and is still in production (although not for long), and the new DSi, which will be available in North America and Europe on April 3.

Nintendo also revealed that 83 games had surpassed the 1 million sold mark, and seven titles have sold more than 10 million copies. Nintendo later revealed the names of the seven titles: Nintendogs, New Super Mario Bros. Brain Age, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, Mario Kart DS, Brain Age 2, and Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Warner Bros. sent out word that a downloadable “Toy Soldiers” multiplayer map pack for F.E.A.R. 2 will be released next month.

Offering a different perspective, the pack will let players battle within a pinball machine, hospital lab and a sandbox filled with toys. All of the maps feature large objects to make the players feel relatively small.

While platforms and price details were not given, it can be inferred that it will make its way to PS3 and Xbox 360. The full game is also available on PC.

Having made the awesomeness that is Pure, Black Rock Studio is back at it again, announcing Split/Second, an explosion-filled city racer for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Due out next year, the game drops players in a “hyper-competitive reality show” where you trigger explosions to run your competitors off-road and create new routes.

"Action racing has captured the imagination of video game fans worldwide and we’re going to redefine that experience with Split/Second," promised director Nick Baynes.

With the release of the game due on March 24, EA Phenomic has launched an open beta of BattleForge, its unique trading card strategy game, on the game’s website.

The beta allows anyone with an Internet connection to sample the title’s full collection of cards and maps. Those who participate in the beta will receive a bonus upgraded Firedancer unit when the game launches.

BattleForge mixes RTS with the social and community aspects of an MMO. It offers online multiplayer and cooperative play for up to 12 players and will also sport single-player scenarios. There will also be guild support and an auction hall, among other things.