[Speight] who voiced Gears of War's "Cole Train", recently made an appearance at the TriForce panel at Wizard World to shoot the breeze about the company's line of GoW-related replicas. When asked about the sequel's release date, the TriForce crew remained tight lipped, though Rasta suggested asking him again on November 16.

Sounds specific enough to me. The tip came in via David Hinkle of DS and Wii Fanboy. They're pursuing. We will too as soon as more is known.

Rumor: Voice of 'Cole Train' suggests November 16 release for Gears of War 2 [Joystiq]

I've had a pet project I've been working on for years, three of them if my memory is right. It started as a simple idea: You can judge a lot from a person's desk. I bet you could judge just as much from their home entertainment system. So I decided it would be fun to try and track down some pictures from the work desks and home gaming set-ups of the people who work in and cover the video game industry. Simple right? Not so much.

Turns out that many of the people are either too busy or too private to want to participate in such a project. To make matters worse, there's always fear that something sitting on someone's desk, that ends up in a photo, could actually be news worthy. Like a secret project or the next big thing. But I didn't give up and about once a year I'd harass a bunch of game developers for photos. Finally, this year, the harassment paid off.

What started as a trickle of photos turned quickly into the collection of galleries you'll find on the jump: More than 40 different photo galleries from 17 studios, seven publications, two industry movers and shakers and a couple of fun surprises.

You'll get to see the desk of such greats as Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux and Tetsuya Mizuguchi along with plenty of others. Remember you can comment both on the next page and on each individual photo if you click on them.

If I find there is interest, I will try to periodically update this gallery of galleries with more developers, journalists and industry movers and shakers. Have fun.

DEVELOPERS
2K Games

ASTRO Gaming

Buzz Monkey Software

Capcom

Eat, Sleep, Play

Electronic Arts

Firaxis Games

Flying Lab Software

Gearbox Software

Harmonix Music

Incognito Entertainment

Insomniac Games

Kojima Productions

Lionhead Studios

NanaOn-Sha

Naughty Dog

NCSoft

NetDevil

Neversoft Entertainment

Ninja Theory

Pandemic Studios

Petroglyph Games

THQ

Q Entertainment

JOURNALISTS

Blue's News

BoingBoing

EGM

The Escapist

GameLife

Joystiq

Kotaku

MTV

Slashdot Games

VE3D

VH1

INDUSTRY FOLK

MISCELLANIES
I AM 8-BIT

Penny Arcade

Whorecraft

Video Games Live

Scott Jon Siegel here, from your pals over at Joystiq. Thought I'd contribute to the ol' nostalgia game. I am most definitely not above public humiliation for the sake of gamer pride: http://flickr.com/photos/testiclesgo/211938002/

To quote myself: "I had one of my parents take this after I beat Super Metroid for the first time (with 93% completion! I thought I was so awesome). I'm probably ten years old in this polaroid. Remember when strategy guides were cool?"

- Anyway, someone should create a Flickr group for these pics, or at least a new tag. As of right now, this photo is the only image on flickr tagged "nerdin it up." Think about that.

Thanks, SJ! And yes, that photo is probably the most archetypical portrayal of "nerd" I have ever seen.

We should probably start thinking about compiling these into a book of retrospectives about being raised by consoles and computers. Taking ideas for the title as of now. Empty NES Syndrome springs instantly to mind. Eliza Gauger

SJ, full size version [Flickr]

One of the readers of Joystiq, a delightfully obsessive-compulsive type, was thoughtful enough to put together a more or less exact simulacrum of the Wii's Mii Generator and let Joystiq host it. As you can see, it works rather well, and much like the real thing: see my incredibly accurate homunculus, above, which accurately captures my buck teeth, my hydrocephalus and exactly why I got my nickname 'Stubby Flo' in a saw mill accident when I was ten. If I only I could give my Mii bigger tits, the illusion would be complete. Give it a try for yourself. Florian Eckhardt

Mii Generator [Joystiq]

As part of the agreement AOL gets both GameDaily and Biz.GameDaily. This is the second major game site purchased by AOL. Last year the company bought up Weblogs Inc, which includes gameblog Joystiq.

GameDaily will become the flagship of the AOL Games network, which will still feature stories from their current writers and properties. The AOL Video Games editorial team will be combined with the GameDaily editorial staff to create content for GameDaily.

"Video game sites have become a valuable resource for advertisers wishing to reach the young male audience, and GameDaily is a brand that resonates with these highly sought after consumers," said Ralph Rivera, Vice President and General Manager, AOL Games. "We look forward to continuing to serve this audience, maximizing GameDaily content with AOL's community features, and further expanding the AOL Games community."

It looks like AOL is building up to become a powerhouse in the industry. Brian Crecente

AOL Acquires GameDaily From Gigex [Biz.GameDaily]

Murdoch-owned broadcasting giant Sky has revealed details of a monumental move into PC gaming by openly looking for a new 'head of PC gaming'.

The media behemoth is currently advertising for a candidate who will be charged with the task of managing the firm's forthcoming 'broadband games destination', and is also looking for a marketing manager to join whoever spearheads the new operation.

The pundits think he's got his sights on AOL, which owns game blog Joystiq. This is believed to be part of his plan into ease into the broadband and game space. And make a truck load of cash in the process. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Games Blog]

Kotaku comenter and Coolest Game Room entrant Robert Summa at AOL Joystiq points to British fashion label Joystick Junkies' search for the perfect models to represent the brand. According to the label's site:

We're not just going for model looks though, we've been looking for true gaming passion as well ...

The tests included a photo shoot and a round of games "they hadn't tried before". These titles included Halo 2, Gauntlet and Streetfighter II. That right there is true gaming passion. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Joystiq]

AOL Joystiq points to a PC World article lists the "25 Worst Products of All Time." Coming in 22nd is Apple's Pippin console, complete with boomerang controller. Here's what PC World had to say:

Apple had an Internet-capable game console that connected to your TV. But it ran on a weak PowerPC processor and came with a puny 14.4-kbps modem, so it was stupendously slow offline and online. Then, too, it was based on the Mac OS, so almost no games were available for it. And it cost nearly $600—nearly twice as much as other, far more powerful game consoles.

Hmm... And all this time we've been looking for the next Dreamcast, when we should've been looking for the next Pippin. But, you ask, what came in at number one in PC Worlds "25 Worst Products of All Time"? Why Joystiq's parent company, AOL.

Ouch. Brian Ashcraft

Complete List [PC World] via [AOL Joystiq]

Kotaku reader Keith sends word that in their latest questionnaire, this one about Metroid Prime Hunters, Nintendo asks readers which sites they read. Included on the list was Kotaku, along with cross-town rival Joystiq and the perpetually loved Penny Arcade, to name a few.