So I promise myself to put aside a few hours for GTA 4 very soon. I keep wanting time to play it but silly nonsense keeps getting in the way. I NEED TO KILL HOOKERS. Oh plus I gotta check out that GRID demo.

• The platypus is wack
• AMD going for 12 cores
• Google losing employees
• In case blindly love law enforcement without question

As for the the videogame news around these parts for today:

• Stide gum vs Uwe Boll
• Race Driver: GRID demo on XBLM
• Ninja Gaiden 2 screenshots and video
• MotorStorm sequel Pacific Rift
• Sony hates F1
• Lord of the Rings: Conquest shown off
• The latest legal tangles for buying games
• Comcast bandwidth cap?
• Steam store slight redesign
• Replay Couch 23 got served
• EA pondering Wii Fitness game
• Activision is rich!
• Haze demo hits PSN
• APB to become GTA MMO

Lastly, go Stars?

Codemasters has released a playable PC demo of Race Driver: GRID, offering 3 events to compete in. Word is: "Charge a Ford Mustang GTR muscle car through the iconic streets of San Francisco, race a BMW 320Si in the Jarama Touring Car Race and drift around the docks of Yokohama in a Nissan Silvia S15. Race against 11 friends on your favourite track and test your mettle online or prove yourself in the single player game." The 893MB demo is mirrored on Atomic Gamer, CGO.ro, Exp.de, FileFront, FilePlanet, FileShack, GH.

Race Driver: GRID will be released for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS next month.

According to a Taiwanese Economic News (TEN) report, MS has TSMC producing a 65nm version of the Xbox 360's graphics chip. The part, along with the 'Xenon' CPU - already fabbed by IBM at 65nm - will be stamped onto the motherboard by Nanya. TSMC is also making the ancillary chippery, it's said. The result will be 'Jasper', the forecast next version of the Xbox 360's core components. The original 360 has a 90nm GPU and a 90nm CPU. Last year, console based on the 'Falcon' platform incorporated the 65nm CPU. With the debut of Jasper and its 65nm GPU, the over-heating problems - manifested most clearly in the infamous Red Ring of Death - that have plagued no small number of Xbox 360 owners will evaporate. So Microsoft undoubtedly hopes, having had to replace many a console that has RRoD-ed. Even today, numerous Register Hardware readers have posted comments stating they have still had to send back malfunctioning consoles for replacement.

1UP takes an inside look at the studio's headquarters.

Nvidia content relations VP Roy Taylor said that PC gaming has moved beyond reasonable justification for pirating PC games.

The executive suggested that it was unfair to steal content from the same developers who are struggling to keep the PC gaming market alive in a market dominated by surging console sales.

"I think that we've arrived at a point now where I don't know how anyone could ever possibly justify pirating a game," Taylor told Eurogamer. "I just don't know how anyone could consider that a cool thing to do - it's not. It sucks."

"One of the things that I find frustrating is that PC gamers tend to be very passionate, and they love the people that make great PC games. If you ask any PC gamer what they think of John Carmack, they'll say he's a hero. What do they think of Tim Sweeney? He's a hero. Ken Levine is a hero. And yet many of them, sadly, will go and steal from them. I just don't get that," he added.

Taylor believes that digital authentication and an increase of post-launch content downloads available to legitimate owners of PC gaming software would help combat software piracy. It was recently revealed that BioWare's Mass Effect and EA Maxis' Spore would make use of copy protection requiring online validation every ten days.

"I think that we're going to see more digital authentication, and we're going to see more of an approach that says that PC games aren't products—they're a service," Taylor said. "You're going to start out with a basic service, which is the game, and then increase the value of that service [through DLC]. That's the direction it's going to go, because the pirates are just killing the developers."

Crackdown (X360) developer Realtime Worlds bought back the rights to its upcoming crime MMO All Points Bulletin (PC, X360) in hopes of selling it to Rockstar for use as a Grand Theft Auto MMO, according to a rumor reported by Eurogamer.

While such a rumor would typically seem ludicrous, Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones founded Realtime Worlds and is a major influence on the development of APB. The story cites a "credible industry source" as the origin of the claim, but provides no additional details as to his or her credentials.

Rockstar founder Sam Houser recently noted that a massively multiplayer Grand Theft Auto was "very, very doable" and "very, very compelling." Last week's release of Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) marked the first time the series has featured online multiplayer on consoles.

When reached for comment, a Realtime representative said they had not heard the claim before, but that the company rebought the rights to "give themselves some options" and "look for another partner."

• New AMD server roadmap includes 4-, 6-, 12-core CPUs - In 2009, rather than push its Bulldozer architecture as it originally planned, AMD now intends to stick to 45nm four- and six-core server CPUs.
• S3's Chrome 430 GT Tested -  The new GPU does outperform the Radeon HD 3450 and GeForce 8400 GS in 3DMark06 at 1280 x 1024, although it falls behind the Radeon at 1600 x 1200 with 4x antialiasing and 16x anisotropic filtering.
• What Can You Do With a Second Ethernet Port? -  This article explains everything from bonding to bridging and which one is right for you.
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 hits Windows Update - For those of you who haven't noticed it yet, the third service pack for Windows XP has finally made its way onto Windows Update and Microsoft's Download Center.
• Trojan Adware Hiding in MP3s, McAfee Says -  Although the files have names that make them look like audio recordings, they're really Trojan horse programs that try to install a shoddy media player and adware on your computer
• Nanotubes as a supermaterial - The clever researchers seem to have come up with a way of making carbon nanotubes that instantaneously
• Hands-On with the HTC Touch Diamond (video) - In case you didn't catch the earlier reports, the HTC Touch Diamond measures a mere 11.33mm thick and comes equipped with HSDPA/HSUPA, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera with video calling, 4GB internal memory, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 256MB Flash, 192MB ROM, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS/aGPS, push email, and a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM 7201A processor.
• Does Your ISP Slow Down BitTorrent Traffic? - Hundreds of larger and smaller ISPs all over the world try to limit BitTorrent traffic on their networks. Unfortunately, most companies are not very open about their network management solutions, with Comcast as the prime example. Thanks to the Glasnost project, you can now test wheter your ISP is one of the bad guys
• Twilight teaser trailer - Twilight is an upcoming American vampire film directed by Catherine Hardwicke
• Satisfaction Director's Cut BENNY BENASSI (video) - From the DMV channel on NO GOOD TV, here's the pumpin' super hot director's cut video for the slammin' track "Satisfaction" from Benny Benassi.
• Another Cheating Girlfriend Dumped Hard (audio) - Danny Dumps the British DJ strikes again and this time he totally owns this cheating girlfriend.
• Two Suicides (pic) - check it out
• Your College Life Ambition (pic) - The Nobel Prize sounds pretty nice, but... Pepperoni pizza is awesome, too!
• Comparing Three Hot BMW Sports Coupes (video) - Featured in the video are the all-new 2008 BMW 135i, the 2008 BMW 335i, and the legendary 2002 BMW M3.
• When Wives Meet GTA IV - good article :-)
• Top 10 Jackie Chan Fight Scenes (video) - Jackie Chan rocks!
• Miranda Kerr promotes Heavenly Kiss - Here is Miranda Kerr promoting Heavenly Kiss, a new scent from Victoria's Secret and as usual she looks absolutely "heavenly".
• Candice Swanepoel - Lingerie Photoshoot - Look at these sexy lingerie pictures

In the wake of a $34 million loss, publisher THQ said that it would be laying off 200 employees across several of its studios, according to MCV.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell noted that studios focused on last-gen development would be reduced in size as part of the restructuring, adding that the company expects overall headcount growth of about 300 workers by the end of its next fiscal year.

In an investor conference call yesterday, THQ posted a net loss of $35.3 million for its 2008 fiscal year ending on March 31, 2008. The company's loss was chalked up to its underwhelming fourth quarter performance, where it lost $34.5 million due to lower-than-expected sales of previously released games.

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