Toy Story 3 virtually disappeared right after its initial announcement, but a shiny new trailer shows off players’ ability to make their own levels and missions. Designed to replicate the universal experience of playing with toys as a kid, Toy Box mode brings cowboys, space rangers, dinosaurs, and little green aliens together to create adventures only possible in a child’s imagination. Kids, families and fans will be able to dive into Andy’s toy box with creativity driving their own stories and adventures.

Blizzard does not mess around when it swings the banhammer, and booted 320,000 online accounts from some of its most popular games.

“We’ve recently banned over 320,000 Warcraft III and Diablo II accounts that were found to be violating the Battle.net Terms of Use,” a statement on the company’s forums reads. “If this is a first offense, the CD key associated with the banned account will be suspended for 30 days, while repeat offenders will see their keys banned permanently. All account ban decisions are final.”

Things that got users banned ranged from “abuse of unintended mechanics” to “use of third party programs.”

Source: Kotaku

Final Fight: Double Impact may be a collection of retro games, but some owners of the PS3 version discovered that it is, at heart, a little too modern. The game will not run unless the user is signed into an online PSN account. If you try to load it up while not signed in, you’ll just get a curt “Sign into PlayStation Network. (80029516)” message on the screen. (The Xbox 360 version launches without issue, even when not signed into Xbox Live.)

Last weekend, while you were working on the wizard outfit that will finally complete your cosplay group’s Trine collective, Steam was busy updating the PC version of the game with free content. The game received a free DLC level named “Path to New Dawn” as a post-completion bonus, and a handful of minor updates were made to the game itself, ranging from new information on “experience and secrets in the inventory menu” to fixing a “respawn bug in [the] Iron Forge level (in co-op) near the first gate.”

Unfortunately, it appears that the release of this new content for the PS3 version isn’t a sure thing. “At the moment we’re not sure if the free DLC is going to get released on PSN,” developer Frozenbyte told Joystiq. “It’s not in our direct control but we’d love to get it released and are trying to make that happen — but at this point it’s hard to say how it will play out. Same goes for the price as well.”

cdv Software Entertainment has released a statement citing Southpeak Interactive’s non-payment of a lawsuit settlement as the reason why it has been forced to file for preliminary insolvency. The company, now being run by a court-appointed administrator, is “proactively working on solutions to restructure the company,” while it has also entered into discussions with possible investors and purchasers. cdv continues to run as normal for the time being, and its US and UK subsidiaries remain unaffected.

Final Fight: Double Impact is available for download at the Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360, and for the PS3 via the PlayStation Network. This action-packed digital double feature houses the Capcom classics Final Fight and Magic Sword.

In Final Fight, players follow the heart-pounding adventures of Cody, Guy, and Haggar as they fight their way across crime-ridden Metro City in the hopes of saving Haggar’s daughter from the evil clutches of Mad Gear. Everything depends upon the unique fighting techniques mastered by each character.

In Magic Sword you assume the role a brave warrior who bears the daunting responsibility of cleansing evil forces from an ancient tower. As a consequence of his actions, he will inevitably meet the source of this scourge upon humanity – the dark lord Drokmar. But fear not, the hero is accompanied by eight allies who will lend their assistance through-out the game.

Games Industry Biz reports that German console and PC publisher CDV Software Entertainment has filed for insolvency in Frankfurt.

The company had only just won a long-running legal battle with Southpeak Interactive over payments from Gamecock Media Group, which Southpeak bought out in late 2008. Southpeak paid CDV $3.1 million in December when it was found in breach of contract, and had also been hit with a second ruling over copyright infringement. Southpeak, however, is also reported to be close to insolvency, which puts its ability to pay the remainder of the fines in question.

TikGames and Creat Studios will deliver another add-on pack for Magic Orbz. Since breaking apart pirates, witches and igloos just wasn’t enough, it’s now time to take your destructive tendencies into the jungle. Beginning tomorrow, you can download the Jungle Pack for just $2.99, and experience the wild beasts, ancient ruins, dense foliage, and harsh weather within.

For those unfamiliar with the title, Magic Orbz presents a fresh spin on classic brick-breaking gameplay, enabling players to bust apart bright, colorful 3D environments piece by piece. Using realistic physics and a high-tech system of object destruction, the game is presented in 1080p with online multiplayer and in-game live voice communications.

A couple of years ago, Anascape took Microsoft and Nintendo to court over its video game controller patents. Then in 2008 Nintendo was ordered to pay Anascape $21 million and faced the possibility that their WaveBird, GameCube and Wii Classic Controllers would be banned from sale. The fine and possible retail bans were immediately put on hold while Nintendo appealed the case to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Joystiq reports that nearly two years later, the court has officially overturned the original verdict, nullifying the fine and bans. In a brief statement, Nintendo of America general council Rick Flamm said, “today the Federal Circuit’s ruling confirmed that none of Nintendo’s controllers infringe. We appreciate that our position has been vindicated.”

EA’s latest attempt to rejuvenate the Ultima franchise, the browser-based MMORTS Lord of Ultima, will exit open beta and go fully live on Tuesday, April 20. The game breaks from the franchise’s usual norm of medieval vigilante heroism, and places you in the fur-lined boots of an up-and-coming ruler, who must build his kingdom through trade, diplomacy and neighborly acts of sabotage.

If you’re curious about how the game operates, you could just hop into the beta yourself. Or you could just be patient — it’s coming out in a week. Can’t you wait a single week? Geez!

2K Games has announced that XCOM is currently in development at 2K Marin for the Xbox 360 and PC. The title is the re-imagining of the classic tale of humanity’s struggle against an unknown enemy that puts players directly into the shoes of an FBI agent tasked with identifying and eliminating the growing threat. True to the roots of the franchise, players will be placed in charge of overcoming high-stake odds through risky strategic gambits coupled with heart-stopping combat experiences that pit human ingenuity – and frailty – against a foe beyond comprehension. By utilizing the first-person perspective, players will be able to feel the tension and fear that comes from combating a faceless enemy that is violently probing and plotting its way into our world.

EA has said that it will not interfere with the development process at Respawn Entertainment, the new studio established by sacked Infinity Ward employees Jason West and Vince Zampella.

“We’re in the back seat advising when asked, we’re not necessarily in the front seat grabbing at the wheel trying to make life more difficult,” EA Partner general manager David DeMartini told GamesIndustry.biz. “That’s one of the key differences, we have taken more of a back seat to allow these developers to stay fiercely independent.”

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Two more studio veterans have left Infinity Ward in the wake of troubles between the developer’s founding members and Activision. The departures of programmer Jon Shiring and designer Mackey McCandlish are the latest to be felt by the studio. Their resignations follow those of software engineer Francesco Gigliotti and lead designer Todd Alderman last week, who had spent seven and eight years respectively with the company.

As reported by VG247, Shirling announced his departure in a Tweet, “after almost 6 years at Infinity Ward, I resigned today. I’m incredibly proud of everything we accomplished and I’m going to miss everyone.” McCandlish, who had been with the company for eight years, announced his departure via Facebook.

Activision had recently stated that the troubled studio still retained a wealth of talent, but that wealth seems to be dwindling daily.

A report late last week on XBLAFans.com claimed that Czech game studio Amanita Design had been “refused” a publishing deal to bring Machinarium to the Xbox Live Arcade, because the game was not an Xbox exclusive. While the quotes in the article were incendiary in nature, they echoed information Joystiq received from developer Golgoth Studio earlier this year, when it too was denied a publishing deal from Microsoft for Toki HD.

Neither game has been refused space on the platform. Microsoft has simply decided not to publish the games itself. Microsoft does, however, require all XBLA titles be attached with a publishing partner, meaning that neither Amanita Design nor Golgoth Studio can self-publish the games on the XBLA platform.

Joystiq contacted Amanita Design founder, Jakub Dvorsky, to clarify the situation. “They told us, ‘It’s not Microsoft-exclusive, we don’t want it.’ They didn’t cite the Mac and Linux versions [as reasons for the refusal] but it’s quite clear that’s the reason.” As it did with Toki HD, Microsoft recommended Amanita Design pursue other publishers, an idea the team doesn’t appear intent on exploring. Now that Microsoft has decided against publishing the game, Amanita is exploring Sony’s platform. “We submitted the game to Sony after Microsoft refused it,” Dvorsky said.

Despite earlier claims that Haze developer Free Radical (now Crytek UK) was working on an “original FPS” for its new overlord Crytek Studios, it appears that the UK-based studio is actually hard at work on Crysis 2‘s multiplayer component. In an interview with VG247, CEO Cevat Yerli revealed, “that is all they [Crytek UK] are doing, with a full team on it, and they are blasting forward at full speed with more focus and dedication than I’ve ever had before at Crytek.”

Yerli unfortunately couldn’t expand on the various types of multiplayer we’ll find in the game when it arrives later this year, though he did note that the team at Crytek UK will be “making the gameplay unique to both the console and PC versions.”