Following the 2007 merger between Activision and Blizzard, the old Vivendi headquarters at 6060 Center Drive became redundant, closed as a cost-cutting measure to help streamline the massive new company. And it has remain a closed lot, until now.

Activision Blizzard has now granted a sublease with a company called Kiewit Pacific to occupy the space through February 2011. What does Kiewit Pacific do? Why, they are a design and development company of sorts, only instead of games, they design roads. Awarded part of a $950 million government contract, the company will use Vivendi's old digs while they work on the planned expansion of the 405 (San Diego Freeway) between the Santa Monica and Ventura freeways, an expansion that will have quite an impact on the commutes of local developers.

The Los Angeles Business Journal writes that the deal reflects a boom in government contracting and the state of the video game industry. I think it's just interesting that the space that once held Vivendi is being used in a project that will have such great impact on the area's development community.

Capcom is hosting an official Resident Evil 5 Blood Drive on March 13th, the day the game launches in North America and Europe. Folks who stop by and give some of their life-juice to the American Red Cross will be able to get their hands on posters, pins, and bumper stickers, as well as a chance to win copies of the game and limited edition Red Xbox 360 Resident Evil 5 bundles. Capcom will have kiosks set up with the game running, for those of you too woozy to make it to the store afterwards.

Besides, even if you don't win a prize, giving blood is an excellent way to give back to society while scoring Nutter Butters and orange Hi-C.

The Resident Evil 5 Blood Drive is taking place at the World of Wonder Gallery on March 13th, from 11am to 5pm. Hit up the link to RSVP, and try to reserve an appointment for when your blood is at its tastiest.

Give Resident Evil 5 A Shot - Win a Red Xbox Bundle [Capcom Unity]

The two day long festival will feature a wide variety of famed video game movie director Uwe Boll's greatest hits, culminating in the world premier of Boll's Far Cry movie, with a pre-showing Q&A session with the man himself. Not only will you get to see his video game fare in the form of In the Name of the King and Alone in the Dark, you'll also get a look at his revenge pictures Seed and Heart of America. As if this wasn't enough motivation, the Downtown Independent will also be premiering Uwe Boll's Tunnel Rats on Friday - soon to be a majorly bad video game!

Hit the link for the full details. We'd attend ourselves, but we have about 20,000 other things we have to get done on our Things to Do list before we hit "Attend Uwe Boll Film Festival".

Uwe Boll Film Festival [Downtown Independent - Thanks John]

"We started the in-house development team a couple of months ago and we're starting with downloadable content because the team is still small," explained the studio's US president John Yamamoto. "All formats – Xbox Live, WiiWare, PlayStation Network – are all viable formats for us"

The LA studio will also be investigating middleware solutions, after successfully using the Unreal Engine 3 for The Last Remnant. "I want to [...] evaluate lots of middleware," said Yamamoto, "because western middleware is much more advanced compared to Japanese middleware. So we will study and feed back information to Square Enix in Japan."

Square Enix LA studio to focus on digital titles [GamesIndustry.biz]

If you're in the Southern California area (Santa Monica, specifically), you might want to cruise on over to the pier this weekend for some Microsoft and Viva Pi ata sponsored fun.

Gamerscore Blog has the details on the fun marketing you and your kids can expect:

• Play Viva Pi ata on Xbox 360 gameplay stations
• Come face to hoof with a 35' tall Horstachio Pi ata
• Celebrity guest in attendance to teach children the Viva Pi ata dance!
• Viva Pi ata animated TV series viewing area
• Kids get a chance to "pull" a pi ata and win a variety of prizes including Xbox 360, Viva Pi ata videogame for Xbox 360 and Viva Pi ata prize packages (some age restrictions apply)
• Have your picture taken with Hudson Horstachio, Paulie Pretztail and Fergy Fudgehog from the animated TV series on FOX TV
• Face painting, fun activities and more!
• Kids even enjoy FREE carousel rides during the event

Then come home and wash off the smell of the Santa Monica Pier! Video games AND bath time fun! It's sure to be muy loco!

Hey, I just remembered. I'm in the Southern California area. Maybe I'll go! Nah, hanging out at this event without a child of my own would be super creepy. Michael McWhertor

World's Largest Pi ata Party, Saturday in LA

Update: Summa's right! After checking the invite, it appears Mario L pez (aka A.C. Slater from Saved By The Bell, star dancer-wither) will be the enigmatic "celebrity guest."

Nintendo held their Los Angeles based midnight launch at Universal Citywalk, which, on a Saturday night, is already filled to near capacity. Add an extra thousand gamers and you get a maddening crowd.

After $20 worth of "preferred" parking, we made the journey through the thick soup of teenagers and families to the far end of the strip. Basking in the tacky neon glow illuminating everything around us, I finally see the sign: EBgames! I'd never been so thrilled to see one.

After witnessing what looked like a surprisingly short (and sparse) line, we learned that the line had been split up into segments, wrapping around the Hard Rock Cafe and far beyond. With gamers stacked several hundred deep, I knew there was no way I'd sneak my way into nabbing a last minute Wii for myself.

The line had started to form early Friday for Saturday night's Wii launch. Staying cool in nothing but red overalls, Jonathan Mann was first in line. He was going to have his Wii handed to him by Nitnendo's very own George Harrison at 12:01.

To keep the Wii faithful entertained while waiting in line—despite the fact the virtually everyone was armed with a DS or DS lite—Nintendo had off-road Segways with widescreen monitors cruising through the crowd.

For line gawkers and passersby, about a dozen Wii demo stations (as well as a handful of DS kiosks) were installed. Gamers lined up to play Excite Truck, Wii Sports, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Red Steel. Hundreds of onlookers got their first exposure to the Wii that night and the buzz seemed positive.

The night kicked off with an interview with Nintendo's George Harrison, who was as excited about the Wii launch as a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications is allowed to get. In addition to thrilling executive interviews, the crowd was also kept entertained by DJ Rap and the acrobatic group Antigravity. (We were kept entertained by the Rum Runners and Pink Sunsets from the Hard Rock.)

As midnight approached, dozens of Wii retail boxes were pulled from the stock room and stacked on the now empty EBgames register countertops. Following a rousing DJ Rap lead countdown, Mr. Mann entered the store at 12:01 AM.

After picking up his Wii, he read his Nintendo themed poem (seriously) to the gathered media. The first Wii owner exited, booty held aloft, and the patient crowd was allowed entrance. Media were quickly booted out to give the staff some breathing room.

Having engaged in midnight launches myself, I knew that the last person in line wouldn't receive his or her Wii until very, very late that night.

Sleepy from our night of heavy Mexican food, overly sweet adult beverages, we headed back to the lot. Sans pre-order and spot in line, we then set off to find our own Wii. Will we find one? Michael McWhertor

My name aside, you can tell that the show is trying to take things seriously just by who's in the board. Some of the top people at EGM, GameInformer, GameSpot, 1Up, Official Xbox Magazine, GameTrailers and GamePro make up the board.

I've attached a list of the nominees for this year's awards. The process of creating this list was interesting, though I wasn't able to hit the meeting where the final list was hammered out. The initial step, though, involved each panelist selecting their choices for each of the categories. Imagine that? Someone gives you an empty sheet with these categories and tells you to pick the best. Sure, best game and the like was easy. But best Score, best human actor?

You don't really examaine a game in that detail, at least I don't, until someone asks you to make a list like this. So what do you think should and shouldn't have made the list? Brian Crecente

VGA 2006 [Spike TV]

The Nominees:

GAME OF THE YEAR

title

1 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

2 Okami

3 Gears of War

4 Guitar Hero 2

5 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

CRITIC'S CHOICE

(game to be released after 11/15 & before 12/31/2006)

title

1 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

2 Resistance: Fall of Man

3 Medieval II: Total War

8 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas

5 Wii Sports

BEST DRIVING GAME AWARD

title

1 Burnout Revenge

2 Need For Speed Carbon

3 TOCA Race Driver 3

4 GTR 2

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME

1 Rockstar Presents Table Tennis

2 EA Sports Fight Night Round 3

3 Tony Hawk Project 8

4 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07

5 Top Spin 2

BEST ACTION GAME

1 Dead Rising

2 New Super Mario Bros

3 Okami

4 Saints Row

6 Bully

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME

1 NBA2K7

2 Madden NFL 07

3 NCAA Football 07

4 FIFA 07

5 NHL 07

CYBER VIXEN OF THE YEAR

1 Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: Legend

2 Alyx Vance - Half Life Episode 1

3 Princess Peach - Super Mario Bros.

4 Enrica - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

5 Jen - Prey

BEST SONG

1 Loco Roco No Uta - Loco Roco

2 Heavenly Star - Lumines 2

3 Bloc Party - Helicopter - Mark ecko's getting Up & Burnout 2

4 Afi - Summer Shudder - Maddden

5 YellowCard - Lights and Sounds - Burnout Revenge

BEST SOUNDTRACK

1 Gutar Hero 2

2 Madden 07

3 Scarface: The World is Yours

4 GTA Vice City Stories

STUDIO OF THE YEAR

1 Clover / Hideki Kamiya (Okami)

2 Relic (Company of Heroes)

3 Cliffy B / Epic (Gears of War)

4 Todd Howard / Bethesda (Elder Scrolls Oblivion)

5 Alex Rigopoulos / Harmonix (Guitar Hero) / Red Octane

BEST WIRELESS GAME

1 Diner Dash

2 SWAT Force

3 Tower Bloxx

4 Super KO Boxing

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1 Elder Scrolls Oblivion

2 Bully

3 Elektroplankton

4 OKAMI

5 FINAL FANTASY XII

BEST FIGHTING GAME

1 Tekken: Dark Resurrection

2 Dead or Alive 4

3 Mortal Kombat Armageddon

4 Street Fighter Alpha Anthology

5 God Hand

BEST SHOOTER

1 Black

2 Prey

3 Half Life 2 Episode 1

4 Gears of War

5 Call of Duty 3

BEST MILITARY GAME

1 Company of Heroes

2 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

3 Call of Duty 3

4 The Outfit

5 Battlefield 2142

BEST GRAPHICS

1 Gears of War

2 Okami

3 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

4 Elder Scrolls Oblivion

5 Company of Heroes

BEST HANDHELD GAME

1 New Super Mario

2 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day

3 GTA Vice City Stories

4 Tetris DS

5 Loco Roco

BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME

1 Gears of War

2 Company of Heroes

3 Metal Gear Solid Substinence

4 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

5 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY

1 WII

2 PS3

3 DS Lite

4 Elektroplankton

BEST PC GAME

1 Company of Heroes

2 Half Life 2 Episode 1

3 Battlefield 2142

4 Star Wars: Empire at War

5 Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion

BEST RPG

1 Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion

2 Final Fantasy XII

3 Kingdom hearts 2

4 Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW

1 Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy

2 Godfather the Game

3 Scarface: The World is Yours

4 Sopranos

5 Family Guy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN - MALE

1 Seth McFarlane - Family Guy

2 Gerry Rosenthal - Bully

3 Patrick Stewart - Elder Scrolls Oblivion

4 Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow

5 Keifer Sutherland - 24

BEST MALE - supporting

1 Seth Green - Family Guy

2 James Woods - Scarface: The World is Yours

3 James Cann - Godfather

4 philip Micahel Thomas - Lance Vance GTA VCS

5 James Gandolfini - Sopranos

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN - FEMALE

1 Vida Guerra - Scarface

2 Tia Carrere - Saints Row

4 Emmanuelle Vaugier - NFS Carbon

5 Keely Haws - Lara Croft

5 Rosario Dawson - Marc Ecko's Getting Up Contents Under Pressure

BEST FEMALE - Supporting

1 Rachel Leigh Cook - Kingdom Hearts 2

2 Elisha Cuthbert - 24

3 Brittney Murphey - Marc Ecko's Getting Up Contents Under Pressure

4 Mila Kunis-Family Guy

5 Lynda Carter - Elder Scrolls Oblivion

BEST CAST

1 Godfather

3 Family Guy

4 Scarface: The World is Yours

5 Saint's Row

6 Elder Scrolls Oblivion

MOST ADDICTIVE (MT DEW VIEWER'S CHOICE)

1 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

2 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day

3 Gears of War

4 Guitar Hero 2

5 Company of Heroes

Los Angeles is disgusting. From the game store/check cashing combo, to Melissa's blas pep, to Batman's creepy laugh, to the Hulk hustling for a tip ( and being denied), this whole segment gives me the jibblies.

Not the jubblies.

It's like watching your fat friend run.

Well said, Batman. Eliza Gauger

[thanks Hal]

Unlike the NYC bar, Barcade LA sounds smaller and sweatier, definitely for the more dedicated:

Barcade looks like a fraternity den with a makeshift DJ booth decorated with a light-up goose. A DJ plays loungy tunes from The Roots to Al Green, which can barely be heard over the sound of space ships blowing up, Pac-Man getting eaten by ghosts, and the clanging of pinball jackpots. Game geeks are asked to be gentle with the classic machines, which include Centipede, Playboy Pinball and Rampage.

Barcade LA.

UPDATE: Kotaku reader Hofa writes in with this bad news for any thirsty types:

I am sad to inform you that barcade no longer exists. It was a spacious apartment in koreatown hybriding as a vintage arcade / bar with polite djs who played music to complement the atmosphere. Unfortunately, barcade did gain popularity and as word spread, the city found out too. Since the owners did not have a liquor license, barcade was shut down. There have been rumors of a reappearance sometime in the unknown
future...