Dota 2 Compendium sales push International 3 prize pool past $2 million

Valve started the prize pool for its big Dota 2 tournament The International 3 with a very respectable $1.6 million. But to make teams Dote like they've never Doted before, Valve's kicking in 25% of sales from its $10 collector's chart-ish-sort-of-thing The Compendium. It's selling like nobody's business so the pool has now passed a cool $2 million, and Valve has added more "stretch goal" bonuses for Compendium owners.

Read more: Picking the next hero to add to Dota »

Fans that produce "Let's Play" style videos of Nintendo content will no longer be able to earn any ad revenue. The publisher has issued a "content ID match claim" on content that features audio or video of a certain length from its games. Offending videos will not be taken down from YouTube, but instead will feature advertising that will go directly to Nintendo--not the uploader.

YouTube user Zack Scott wrote an open letter on Facebook saying that "filing claims against LPers is backwards" and that because of Nintendo's actions, he can no longer play their games. "I won't because it jeopardizes my channel's copyright standing and the livelihood of all LPers," he added.

Read more: Nintendo defends policy »

The first expansion pack for SimCity is set to arrive on May 28th, the game's official Facebook page has announced, confirming a leak discovered on digital retailer Green Man Gaming.

The "Amusement Park" add-on will allow you to "build the amusement park of your dreams, right in the middle of your city," according to the leaked copy. "Classic rides, vehicle rides, and thrill rides allow you to make just the theme park you want!"

Read more: Make money for your city »

Perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the year is The Last of Us, Naughty Dog's upcoming PS3 adventure. Although the story is apparently "self-contained," assuming the game sells gangbusters, it's likely to turn into a franchise.

Read more: A history of trilogies »

Perhaps the most mysterious addition to the PlayStation 4 controller is its touchpad. Not quite a touchscreen, we're wondering how developers will utilize such a unique (and odd) addition to the DualShock.

The upcoming PS4 version of Diablo 3 will use the touchpad in some way, although Blizzard is being a bit coy about how it all actually works. "Diablo 3 has a lot of cool inventory things," lead console designer Josh Mosqueira said in a new video. "Just the possibility of the trackpad is really exciting and we can't wait to dive in and make it as awesome as we can."

Watch: Touchpad will make the interface easier »

Google has unveiled a handy suite of gaming account services in a similar vein to GameCenter on iOS, including cloud saves, leaderboards, and matchmaking. Unlike Apple's offering, however, the 'Google Play game services' are cross-platform, supported on Android, iOS, and browsers.

Read more: Optional anti-piracy features »

Telltale's The Walking Dead received a lot of critical praise for its narrative and gut-wrenching choices, but some fans lamented that multiple playthroughs exposed how little impact they made on the story. Its next comic-turned-game A Wolf Among Us aims to solve that concern by having entire chunks of game that are only available if you make a particular choice.

Read more: 'The evolution of choice' »

Crysis 3 appears to be getting a bit of multiplayer downloadable content in the near future. A set of Achievements list four new maps, a new weapon, and new multiplayer modes for the shooter.

Read more: Maps, modes, and a boat oar »

It's been a long time coming, but the iPad edition of turn-based tactics 'em up Frozen Synapse is finally upon us. It boasts cross-platform play which not only lets you fight people on other platforms, but lets you play your turns across other devices too.

Watch: Cross-play demonstrated »

It's near Christmas, it's snowing, but all is not well in the city of Arkham, as a young Batman will be fending off assassins that want to end his storied career before it even gets started. A new teaser for Batman: Arkham Origins shows the Dark Knight battling perhaps the toughest killer in the group, Deathstroke.

Watch: About 12 seconds of action »

Becoming a fledgling samurai in Shin Megami Tensei 4 sounds pleasant, but what responsibilities does an initiate have? Cleaning shoes? Answering phones? A new gameplay trailer shows a samurai's duties are far more of the 'wearing a cool wrist computer' and 'slaying demons' variety, thankfully.

Watch: Murder murder murder »

Gosh, wasn't it odd when Sony announced Gran Turismo 6 only for the PlayStation 3 when the PlayStation 4 is so close? What an unlikely turn of events! Would you believe that developer Polyphony Digital is also considering a PS4 version? Probably not. Too outlandish.

Read more: Will "probably" transfer progress from PS3 to PS4 »

Many years ago, EA launched "Project Ten Dollar," an initiative better known to gamers as the online pass. New copies of a game would include a one-time voucher that would offer access to game modes, typically online multiplayer. The program was to discourage used game sales--or, at the very least, make addition revenue off used games by selling passes to gamers.

Apparently, EA is doing away with the online pass, promising that "none of our new EA titles will include that feature."

Read more: 'Players didn't respond' to online passes »

Remember that old stuff? Well it's coming back a bit newer. In this case, we're talking Putty Squad, an updated take on the classic platformer from 1994. System 3 has talked idly about the game for several years, including aborted plans for it to be a European Vita launch title, but today dropped a trailer and word that it's coming to a whole heap of platforms.

Watch: Inflate, stretch, and bounce you way around »

Feel-good stories in which everyone learns a valuable lesson are usually reserved for sitcoms, but once in a while they happen in real life too. Take the case of the Hawken pin-up, for example. After a poster made one female employee uncomfortable, she set about exposing the problem in the best possible way: office hijinks.

Read more: Bro-sie the Riveter is born »