EA Mobile said Friday that "Spore Origins,"an original game for the iPhone and iPod touch, will debut this month.

EA Mobile, a division of Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), said the game takes full advantage of the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) devices’ built-in accelerometer as players tilt, turn and twist their way through a world made of primordial ooze. In conjunction with the launch of "Spore Origins," the company also announced a list of nine games in development for both the iPhone and iPod touch platforms.

Yesterday, Microsoft officially confirmed that the long-rumored Xbox 360 price drop first announced in Japan would extend to North American gamers as well. As of September 5, Microsoft's Elite 120GB Xbox 360 SKU will drop $80 to $399, with the 60GB Pro and the hard-drive-less Arcade following in line at respective $100 intervals. The latter SKU is of particular note, as it will effectively give Microsoft the cheapest current-gen console on the market--$50 less than current market leader, the Nintendo Wii.

The price drop is sure to have an impact on the gaming industry, but just how much has yet to be seen. If there's anything that industry watchers seem to be in agreement upon, it's that the cut will shift momentum back into Microsoft's corner and that Sony and Nintendo aren't likely to counter the potentially game-changing move with price cuts of their own.

Left 4 Dead was originally set to hit retailers on November 4 but in a video interview with Gamekings.tv, Valve's Gabe Newell stated that the game was be pushed back to the third week of November to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Half-Life.  That meant L4D would have come out November 20, 2008, according to Newell.

Well the date has been changed again, and now Valve's highly anticipated co-op survival horror has different release dates for North America and Europe.  Left 4 Dead 411 made a request to Valve for definite confirmation, and Doug Lombardi responded, "Nov 18 in the States. Nov 21 in Europe (US retailers do 'new release Tues' and the EU does that on Friday)."

With the Leipzig Games Convention 2008 finally closing its curtains, we now get confirmation that next year's event has already been scheduled. The announcement was made via press release by Leipziger Messe GmbH CEO Wolfgang Marzin: GC 2009 will be held from August 19 to 23, also in Leipzig.

Along with the announcement, we hear of a survey conducted to this year's event's visitors, asking them if they'd want to see another GC next year.

Could a patent fight force Nintendo (NTDOY) to pull its popular Wii videogame console from U.S. store shelves? That's how some investors seem to have interpreted Hillcrest Labs ' announcement on Aug. 21 that it was suing Nintendo in a district court in Washington, D.C.

Hillcrest alleges that the wand-shaped remote controller for the Wii uses technology that infringes on the Rockville (Md.) company's patents for a "handheld three-dimensional pointing device" and software that works with it on a TV. Hillcrest has also asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban import of the Wii. A Nintendo spokesman declined to comment, saying the company had not been contacted by Hillcrest Labs.

Redwood City game developer Electronic Arts today withdrew its $2 billion hostile bid for Take-Two Interactive Software, saying it could not acquire Take-Two's video games in time for the holiday market.

"We no longer believe we can integrate Take-Two ahead of the important holiday season,'' Electronic Art's Chief Executive, John Riccitiello, said in a letter to Take-Two's Executive Chairman, Strauss Zelnick,

As as result, Riccitiello said his $25.74 per share offer for New York-based Take-Two, creator of the Grand Theft Auto video-game series, would expire at midnight East Coast time.

We first heard about it back in June, but Electronic Arts has now officially announced the latest entry in the Need for Speed series, along with a release date: Need for Speed: Undercover will hit store shelves on November 18, and naturally, it'll be available for every computerized apparatus with a button -- Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC (via GameSpot).

As the title suggests, players will go undercover to infiltrate an underground racing scene, which has some sort of connection to an international crime syndicate (because everyone knows all international crime conspirators love street racing). Helping propel the story will be a number of live-action cut-scenes, and EA has brought on board actress Maggie Q (of Mission: Impossible III and Live Free or Die Hard fame) to play agent Chase Linh, who oversees the undercover operation. You can get a preview of Undercover's theatrics (sadly, sans Maggie Q) in this new trailer:

It was bound to happen: the 40GB PlayStation 3 previously announced for Japan and Europe will arrive in the US in November 2 with a $400 price tag. The 80GB model will get a price cut too, going from $600 to $500. Both versions are still more expensive than its Microsoft and Nintendo rivals. [WSJ]
UPDATE: Here's the official word from Sony:

Could this be the start of a new trend involving more digital downloads of full titles? Some analysts actually believe the entire industry will go downloadable within the next 5-10 years, so perhaps this is the start of that...

There are already several full games available for download on the PlayStation Store, but they're all online-oriented (Warhawk, the upcoming SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation), big demos (Gran Turismo 5: Prologue), or small, arcade-style titles (flOw, Bionic Commando Rearmed, etc.).

NEW YORK — Even in a seasonally slow month and with the economy in the doldrums, U.S. sales of video game hardware and software soared 28 percent in July, hitting $1.19 billion.

According to data from market researcher NPD Group, Americans bought $446.9 million worth of video game hardware during the month, a 17 percent jump from the same month a year ago.

The portable Nintendo DS was the top-selling gaming system with 608,400 units, followed by the Wii at 555,000.