The Need for Speed ProStreet gig didn't work out for Electronic Arts and internal studio Black Box, but the superstar publisher decided they could still make a turnaround for the franchise again, starting with Need for Speed Undercover. Perhaps guided by the popularity of night and illegal street racing movies, Need for Speed Undercover's design resettled for the open sandbox design of Most Wanted with a different story. A story, they say, that will include Mission Impossible 3's Maggie Q.

After all the delays and the setbacks, publisher Electronic Arts has finally raised the green flag on its upcoming life simulation game, Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, Mac, and Mobile), and is ready to ship the much awaited title by next month. The company earlier announced that Spore has finally gone gold is now currently in the manufacturing process. Check out further statements issued by EA after the jump.

Do you ever wonder which among the consoles are getting the most attention from the developers, meaning how many developers are actually working on a particular platform? Apparently, Game Developer Magazine wondered precisely about this, and so has published a survey report on the state of the game development. Their findings can be found after the jump.

For those of you waiting for the release of Maxis' Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, Mac, and Mobile), it seems like the long wait is finally drawing to a close. During a studio visit from producer Thomas Vu, he confirmed to CNET that the game will be going gold by next week. Everything seems good to go for the game's September release on the PC and the Mac. More details on this development in our full article.

Recent reports from Gartner's Client Computing Markets group revealed that Apple is now one of the top three PC vendors in North America. The Cupertino-based company saw phenomenal sales during the second quarter of the year, with a spike of 38% in sales alongside Dell and HP. Find out more in our full article after the jump.

When Apple started sending out their rejection letters for the iPhone Development Program, the company also indicated that the offer was only good for the residents of North America. That seemed to be the case, at least until received word that at least one UK developer was let in. Details are in the full article.

With their strong library of annual franchises, Electronic Arts has gone out on a limb to say that games have longer lifespans today. To prove their point, EA talked about MMOs, DLCs, and their ten-year plan for the upcoming game, Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS,  Mac, Mobile). More details after the jump.

Much like what was done to the iPod Touch, is Apple's iPhone about to receive a 16GB upgrade to its memory capacity? Based on a recent rumor we encountered, this might be the case at least for the territories of the UK.

Details regarding this speculation are in the full article. Just click the "read more" link below.

The Gold Master retail version of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard was reported to have undergone a visual makeover for the OS X dock, an often-unused 3D shelf even at Apple. Perhaps Apple's been listening, or they simply didn't like the waste of viewscreen real-estate, so they've readopted a simplistic 2D shelf appearance for Mac OS X Leopard build 9A581.

This news came from an update via developer seeds for Build 9A581, and the new dock sports a 2D facelift of common OS GUI docks. There was no feedback on additional visual effects for the dock, but as long as it's no longer the older 3D dock that caused partial peripheral distractions. What was confirmed, however, is that the dock can keep the same visual style even when docked at the bottom of the screen.

October 26 still remains as Apple's release date for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard in North America, and this probably would be one of some last-minute updates to 10.5 as the days crawl slowly to Leopard's lift off. More on these developments as we come across them.

Apple just officially announced that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard has been completed and will be released on October 26 across North America. The launch will kick off at exactly 6 p.m. local time in all Apple retail stores.

For those who plan on picking up this product, Apple stores will be giving away free Leopard shirts to the first few customers. If you happen to be buying a new Mac on the day itself (or even before launch), you will be getting an OEM DVD containing the new operating system as well.

Before this, there have been rumors that Mac OS X 10.5 will be delayed, but it looks like Apple has stayed true to its word and will be launching it during the expected time frame. Hopefully, the new operating system lives up to all the hype.