In a move very similar to Sony's last year, Microsoft announced today at its E3 media briefing that it will be adding monthly game downloads for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. The promotion has already (apparently) begun with Fable 3, and more heavy-hitters are on the way next month.

Read more: Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed 2 »

The PlayStation 3 is getting yet another exclusive compilation to let players catch up on some games they might have missed. But unlike collections like the recent Ratchet or Infamous sets, this one is a third-party series. The Assassin's Creed franchise spun off into a mini-trilogy in the middle of its trilogy, and it's being compiled onto one Blu-ray.

Read more: Includes three games, DLC, multiplayer »

Video games and films are not generally on good terms. Hollywood has tried to crack the nut over and over, but the infamously terrible examples of adaptations continue to mount. Producers still haven't figured out what makes a successful video game to film adaptation, but we have a pretty good idea of what doesn't. And as much as I enjoy the work of Michael Fassbender, his name alone isn't enough to inspire confidence in the Assassin's Creed film project.

Read more: The script's the key »

Michael Fassbender, who has starred in recent sci-fi movies Prometheus and X-Men: First Class, will take on the lead role of an as-yet unnamed assassin as Ubisoft moves to bring its Assassin's Creed franchise to the big screen.

Read more: Which Assassin will he play? »

Author John L. Beiswenger had sued Ubisoft, claiming its popular Assassin's Creed franchise had too many similarities to his 2002 novel, Link. Both share chair-shaped devices that allow characters to relive memories of ancestors. Two days ago, Beiswenger backed away from the case, with the option of revisiting it later.

Ubisoft isn't sitting idly by, however. Instead, it's asking the court to declare the author's original suit as "without merit" to eliminate the chance the case is reopened.

Read more: Ubisoft seeks to be 'free from the cloud' »

It's that time of year again: the PlayStation Network "Gamers' Choice Awards" are opening tomorrow, letting your votes determine which games will get deep discounts. The nominees were announced today, across the 4 categories from last year and six new categories.

Read more: The full list of nominees and categories »

Ubisoft has made no secret that Assassin's Creed will be an annualized franchise. This year's iteration of the game is supposed to mark the end of Desmond's story, due to a 2012 apocalypse predicted within the franchise lore.

"In Assassin's Creed we set up a timeline with this whole end of the world plot of December 2012," Ubisoft's Alexandre Amacio explained. "That's fast approaching, and the story we have to tell, we obviously need to do it before we arrive at that point."

Read more: 'The true next generation' »

Sony Pictures is reportedly entering final negotiations to adapt the Assassin's Creed series into a feature movie. Ubisoft had been shopping its most popular properties to various Hollywood production houses, gaining the interest of some studios including Universal. Ubisoft wants to more creative control of their properties than is usual for deals of this kind, and that was apparently a key factor for Sony leading the pack.

Read more: Ubisoft's push into movies »

E3 hasn't stopped the march of the PlayStation Store update, and now that it's back, the marketplace is getting pretty hefty loads of content.

New demos include El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron and Dungeon Siege 3. New game downloads featured this week include New Adventure Island and Soldier Blade for $5.99 each, and the fourth episode of Back to the Future. Read more »

Ubisoft has confirmed to Shacknews that the always-on DRM in a few of its PC titles has been patched out, including Assassin's Creed II and Splinter Cell: Conviction. The Ubisoft representative reminded us that this was done on a case-by-case basis and that from the beginning the company had said it might patch the DRM out at some point.

New games, however, may still ship with the always-on DRM, Ubisoft confirmed to Shacknews. Read more »

This week's Xbox Live Deal of the Week is heavily influenced by the Italian Renaissance, featuring a number of deals for Assassin's Creed 2.For the rest of the week, gamers can purchase all downloadable content for Assassin's Creed 2 as well as select Avatar gear for a reduced price.

Assassin's Creed 2 DLC and Avatar Items on Sale Read more »

This weekend, Stardock's Impulse digital distribution service will be giving away free digital copies of the original Assassin's Creed with a purchase of Assassin's Creed II for $39.99.

Additionally, Ubisoft is running its own sale on its official PC store, marking down titles from 20% to 67%. Stand-outs include both Assassin's Creed titles for $$30 ($10 less than Impulse) and a Splinter Cell: Conviction bundle including DLC bonuses for $49.99. Read more »

The "Games on Demand" section of Microsoft's digital distribution platform Games for Windows Live "will soon be the home of day-and-date game releases from the industry's biggest names," the company declared today.

Alongside the day-and-date releases, which kicked off today with Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands PC, the company will be adding more games to the online catalog, including those that don't utilize Games for Windows Live functionality. Read more »

[Update - 5/28/2010 18:49PM (BL)] Just a reminder, the contest is now closed. Due to the holiday, we will be selecting the winner on Tuesday, June 1 and notifying him or her via Shackmessage. Thanks for entering and good luck.

[Update - 5/25/2010 11:21AM (BL)] There was some confusion with this contest and some details are changing. The good news: anyone who has already entered is still entered. The better news, the prize is actually an Intel Core (tm) i7 980x! Additionally, we're giving everyone the chance to get a second entry to the giveaway: Read more »

Both Amazon and GameStop have quietly dropped the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II to $29.99, half of its earlier $59.99 list price.

Read more »