Video Game MADNESS!

• A Norwegian news site is reporting that a young boy and his sister were attacked by a moose, and the boy reportedly "taunted' the moose away from his sister, and then feigned death, causing the moose to lose aggro and leave. "Just like you learn in level 30 in World of Warcraft," the boy is reportedly quoted as saying.
• Activision and Vivindi have reached a deal to merge their two game studios to form Activision Blizzard, which eclipses EA as the largest video game company in the world. The company will cover franchises such as Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and World of Warcraft.
• The gaming community is up in arms over last week's firing of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot. Depending on who you listen to, the 10-year-vet was fired for his tone, because of the new "corporate" management in the company, or -- and this is what caused the scandel -- that he gave a less-than-favorable review to the game Kane & Lynch, which publisher Eidos was pumping in hundreds of thousands of dollars into advertising on Gamespot at the time. Eidos and Gamespot deny any wrongdoing or advertising pressure on the writing process, and Gerstmann cannot comment due to legal reasons. However, there is convincing insider info to believe this may be the case.