Gary Gygax, one of the creators of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he was 69.

Gygax co-wrote the original D&D game in 1974, and went on to create the Dangerous Journeys as well as a number of board games. He went well beyond the role of game developer and became an icon to gamers, appearing as himself in episodes of Futurama and participating in discussions on role-playing-related message boards as well as appearing at gaming conventions everywhere.

In a 2005 interview with Game Spy interview Gygax was quoted as saying:

“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.”

Rest In Peace.

Photo via: Wikipedia

Here is a quick, BIG one from 1up.com. Microsoft and Peter Moore himself have confirmed that Moore has left his position at Microsoft to head up the EA Sports division. Moore says it’s a desire to move his family back to Northern California, where he’d established himself before taking up a position at Microsoft. Stepping into Peter’s postion will be Don Mattrick the former president of Electronic Arts. 

Since joining Microsoft in 2003; Peter over-saw the global launch of the Xbox 360″, spearheaded a revitalized and rebranded Games for Windows business, and helped steer the console’s ascent.” Most recently Peter Moore Demo’d Rock Band the video game at E3 2007 where he showed of the games interface and peripherals as well as his guitar playing skills.

Microsoft is releasing a special edition Halo 3 Xbox 360 to coincide with the game’s release later this year.

The special Halo 3 edition Xbox will be painted to resemble the armor worn by Master Chief. The Halo 3 Xbox will be the 20GB model, but unlike the normal 20GB model, it has an HDMI output, so it’ll look awesome on an HDTV. It comes with a bunch of accessories, such as a Halo-themed controller, headset, and gamer pics. The only thing it won’t come with is; Halo 3. Also with no price cuts in the foreseeable future for the Xbox I wonder if it will sell many units. Come on of course it will sell. It’s a freakin’ Xbox with an HDMI output painted up like Master Chief’s duds. Of course it will sell.

Today at Microsoft’s press conference during E3 2007 Peter Moore (Microsoft) and the developers from Harmonix treated everyone to a Demo of Rock Band.

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Nintendo of America on July 2, 2007 announced the official release date for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS; along with a quick note about Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The game has been delayed by a week! It is currently set for release on August 27, 2007.

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Play-asia.com has listed a new peripheral, the Hori Fighting Stick on their website. Hori is a popular Japanese manufacturer specializing in joysticks. The Hori Fighting Stick looks very promising. It will definitely be a good addition to any Wii owners who are fans of the good ole six button arcade fighters like the Street Fighter series.

The stick will be released in Japan August of this year with a price tag of $52.90 via import. Hori also plans to release the stick directly to the US market though a direct US market release date has not been set.

 EA Mythic has announced that beta registration for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the long awaited MMORPG from Games Workshop, has officially begun. Players who want to join the battle before Warhammer Online launches in early 2008 can now sign up for a chance to participate in the invite-only Closed Beta Test.

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The Spirit of Vengeance will get his own video game for the PS2, PSP and GBA on February 13 three days before his feature film debut. It’s developed by Climax (Sudeki) and published by Take 2.

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