Planet Fallout is in the process of mapping Fallout 3 using Google Maps. Currently, 65 users have contributed to the site that now has 418 markers detailing where quests, items, easter eggs etc can be found, with all the functionality provided by Google Maps, including a zoom in/out feature. Contributers are being rewarded with points according to the importance of their findings and a high-score table has been included on the site. Check it out here.

Llamasoft’s insane XBLA shooter, Space Giraffe, is coming to the PC. The original game divided opinion in the 360 community, prompting a hissy fit from designer Jeff Minter, who stated he would not make any more games. There’s no official release date yet, but developer Ivan Zorzin (aka Giles) revealed on the Llamasoft blog that some of the more psychedelic of the 100 new levels for the PC will be toned down: “Some of them could be a bit more ‘vanilla’.”

Ubisoft has acquired the Swedish developer of World In Conflict, Massive Entertainment. The studio was closed following the Activision-Blizzard merger, though there was never much doubt over the future of the successful development team. The rights to the World In Conflict franchise also pass to the publisher, and follows a trend of cuts and acquisitions by publishers including Atari picking the rights to Ghostbusters and THQ dropping several of its studios to focus on core titles.

Atari officially announced today that it will be publishing the forthcoming Ghostbusters game, formerly a Vivendi title dropped after the Activision-Blizzard merge. “Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a fantastic addition to Atari’s global line-up in 2009,” said Phil Harrison, president of Atari’s parent company, Infogrames Entertainment. This comes shortly after Hollywood actor and Ghostbusters writer, Dan Aykroyd, commented that the Alone In The Dark publisher had picked the title up and that it was about a year away from release.

Intriguingly, at the time of writing, the Ghostbusters game website (www.ghostbustersgame.com) still has the Sierra (a subsidiary of Vivendi) logo on it.

Market research firm DFC Intelligence has issued a new Online Game Market Forecast, which shows online game revenue passed $7 billion in 2007. That figure, which doesn’t include retail sales, is set to reach $19 billion by 2013. Those figures will, of course, depend on whether or not the entire planet gets sucked into a financial hole (wasn’t life much simpler when we temporarily worried about CERN creating a black hole?). But when you take into account that the PC Gaming Alliance estimates there are currently 263 million online PC gamers, you do have to wonder why people continue to say the PC market is dead or dying. From where we are sitting, it seems very much alive and kicking.

China has levied a 20 per cent personal income tax on all virtual currencies. It specifically targets all those that profit from the redistribution of virtual currencies, with officials being able to determine the value of the virtual currency if an individual fails to prove the original price. This will affect those that redistribute currencies for web portals and messaging services as well games.

The repercussions in the Western world will prove very interesting: China is the infamous host to a large majority of almost untouchable MMO gold farmers. This latest development can only come as good news to the likes of Activision-Blizzard, Codemasters Online and GOA, whose terms and conditions for their respective MMOs strictly forbid real-world trading of virtual currencies for cash. If our limited knowledge of economics are anything to go by, then no doubt we will see a uniform increase in the black market price of all MMO currencies even a small decline in trade.

At the time of writing, there’s a live interview on the subject of Fallout 3 with Pete Hines, vice president of PR and marketing at Bethesda Softworks, on Eurogamer. Conversation has covered a range of Fallout 3 topics, but most notable include those that involve forthcoming downloadable content, PC version patches and the current level cap:

On taking characters beyond Level 20:

Pete Hines: No plans to increase the level cap beyond 20. We think at that point you’re plenty tough enough.

On downloadable content:

Pete Hines: We’re working on stuff that adds multiple hours of gameplay; new quests, content, enemies, etc. Something along the lines of Knights Of The Nine for Oblivion in size and scope.

On PC patches:

Pete Hines: As far as fixes, there’s a PC update coming out later today that will address a few PC-specific things that have come up.

On drivable vehicles:

Pete Hines: Nope, no driveable vehicles. Sorry.

It’s shame about the level cap, though there are obviously balancing issues at stake here, but good news on the downloadable content: Knights Of The Nine was a pretty hefty series of quests and content in one expansion. Check the full interview out here.

Yoda versus the Silver Surfer? Legolas versus Doctor Who (Tom Baker version)? The Predator versus Dr Emmett Brown?

From SciFi Now magazine and Imagine Publishing, the people who brought you Digital Photographer’s Photo Face-off, comes SFIcons. It’s a head-to-head showdown between the biggest science fiction icons of all time: simply click the character to select who you think is cooler, sexier or who’s more likely to kick the other’s arse, then check the leaderboard to see who’s winning.

Why don’t you take a look here?

The indication from early Fallout 3 reviews bodes well for Bethesda’s much-hyped big-budget title. The sprawling, open-world action RPG has been rated maximum scores on 1Up, Eurogamer, Gamespy and Official Xbox UK and scores in the nineties on Metacritic. Incidentally, PC Gamer rated Fallout 3 at 90%, 4% less than Far Cry 2 in its September issue, which would indicate a lesser game to the undiscerning eye…

Look out for our Fallout 3 review in issue 14 of Total PC Gaming magazine, on sale 27 November.

A Dutch court in Leeuwarden has sentenced a 16-year-old boy to do either 160 hours community service or 80 days jail time after stealing virtual property. The ruling comes after the defendant was charged with beating a 13-year-old boy and forcing him to hand over money and virtual property from a character on his Runescape account. The defendant was accused of wielding a knife with intent, but the civil case dealt not with the threat to the boy’s life but with the theft of the virtual amulet and mask. It’s the first time a Dutch judge has treated theft of virtual property as an illegal act, stating that “Goods don’t have to be material for the law to consider them stolen.”