Roccat Studios released a new package of its Kulo USB surround gaming headset that packs donut-shaped earpads. Made of soft velvet and cushioning, these replacement earpads make extended gaming sessions with the Kulo more comfortable.

Being an on-ear headset instead of around ear, Kulo applies pressure on the pinna, which could be unfomfortable after a few straight hours of gaming. These earpads help spread the pressure more evenly, even if they don't necessarily turn the headset into around ear.

DICE has confirmed through a post on the official Battlefield blog that rumors of an upcoming patch for the PC version are much closer than many expected. In fact, the patch will address a number of issues players have had with the game, as well as add a number of fixes to increase stability and improve gameplay and balance; it will go live later today. The patch will be delivered though EA’s Origin software distribution systems, which is the normal way that Battlefield 3 on the PC is patched.

The highlights of the included improvements and fixes that are of interest include:

Oilfields- Conquest Large - Fixed a client crash when users spawn in certain vehicles.

Canals - Rush - Fixed a client crash at the 2nd set of mcoms if the player drives a vehicle into the vicinity of the exploding rocket battery.

AMD Radeon 7xxx series performance improvements.

Support for Intel's new Ivy Bridge product line (as yet unreleased).

While DICE is calling this patch minor, rumor has it that DICE continues to work on the balance, gameplay, performance, stability, and overall features that are going to lead to a much bigger patch than is expected to arrive in the weeks ahead. No word on when this bigger patch will be deployed.

Mark Rein from Epic Games is confirming that apparently the new Unreal 4 engine is up and running on at least some of the next generation systems. Rein confirmed during the DICE summit that it was up on next-gen systems, but he can’t confirm which systems those next-gen systems might be. Rein also said during a talk at the DICE summit that the Unreal Engine 4 is running on a variety of hardware, which we assume also means that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the engine are up and running as well.

The engine will be unveiled later this year and Rein claims that people will be “shocked when they see how much of a profound effect that the new engine is going to have.” So far, no upcoming titles are confirmed to be using the new version of the Unreal Engine; but we suspect that more announcements are coming at a later date. Rumors suggest that Epic has the Unreal Engine up on the new Wii U console, but those reports are unconfirmed.

Activision Blizzard has released their 2011 Q4 financials. As you might expect, they did well last year, but lost 100,000 subscribers to Warcraft; but that does not matter when you still have 10.3 million more subscribers. Besides that, they made a lot of money, and we will not bore you with those numbers.

Instead, we can tell you what else they talked about. Diablo III is apparently on track for a Q2 2012 release, and it looks like they will make that May/June targeted time frame. There will be a new Call of Duty title this year that will feature what they are calling “meaningful innovation,” so we are assuming that it is something more than just a sequel to Black Ops.

It was also announced that they expected the release of a second title from Blizzard this year, which (although not called out by name) is expected to be the Heart of the Swarm expansion for the new StarCraft II.

Microsoft is ready with a new limited edition Xbox 360 Kinect system bundle for all you Star Wars fans out there. The bundle includes a copy of Star Wars Kinect, which lets you take advantage of Kinect to slash your lightsaber away.

The hardware itself is themed around two of the most lovable characters of the franchise, the console is R2-D2 themed, and the main controller C-3P0. The Kinect module is white colored. The system packs 320 GB of local storage. The special bundle is listed on Amazon for US $449, and is up for pre-orders. It will start shipping on April 3.

While sales of the rebooted Medal of Honor were not as high as EA might have hoped, neither the developer, Danger Close, nor EA closed the book on a potential sequel. From what the rumors say, the Medal Of Honor sequel to the 2010 release will arrive in 2012 and apparently has already been in development for some time now.

In addition, we suspect that DICE will again be involved, but are unsure as to the level of involvement that they will have this time around.  However, we do expect that the game will be using the Frostbite 2 engine for everything this time around. While some copies of Battlefield 3 contained an insert that suggested a sequel, beyond rumors that Danger Close was working on it thing have been silent till now. Expect to hear more from EA on this title soon, as sources tell us to expect a fall release.

While it has been the most successful MMORPG of all-time, World of Warcraft is slowly dying. Blizzard, game publisher, said that the numbers are down by 600,000 players in the last seven months. Blizzard reported another loss in the second quarter, subtracting another 300,000 players from the game. This means that WoW has lost nearly a million users in about nine months. The reason that the decline might have slowed by Blizzard bringing in a free-to-play model. Players can play for an unlimited amount of time for free until a character hits level 20. Then they have to start paying the monthly fee for online access. Blizzard has been releasing recent expansion packs like Cataclysm and future content like the Mists Of Pandaria. But it looks like that trand is set, as more attractive MMORPGs take the scene. But fear not for Blizzard, as Diablo III launch is coming. For good or worst, remains to be seen.

Ubisoft has been in the headlines the last year due to its use of DRM that requires an "always-on" Internet connection. If you ever have a connection hiccup or just plain lose service, you are returned to the main menu. With the DRM, you cannot play games offline, even in "single player" modes. This has happened multiple times where an Ubisoft authorization server has gone down, leaving legitimate players standing idle while those with pirated copies play happily.

The most recent game to feature the DRM is "Driver: San Francisco," which will launch in August. In an interview with PC Gamer, the developer says the DRM has been a success, seeing "a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection". Despite the outcry over the DRM, it appears Ubisoft believes it is here to stay.

A development copy of Epic's Gears of War 3 has leaked onto the Internet and is available on torrent sites, file lockers and Usenet. The copy is a raw dump that can only be played on a modified Xbox 360 console that has undergone a JTAG hack. Gears of War 3 is the conclusion to one of the most memorable series in the current video game generation, and it's due to be released on September 20, in about 11 weeks time from now.

The leak will undoubtedly anger Epic because of the time between now and the release, and as the game is reportedly unfinished in parts. However, since it can only be played on JTAG-hacked Xbox 360 consoles, that really cuts down the number of people who will be able to pirate and play it. The 7.5GB dump is in English and was posted to an Xbox 360 group on Usenet yesterday.

PopCap yesterday denied earlier reports that it was being sold for $1 billion to an unnamed buyer, but TechCrunch has posted another report today claiming the deal is still very much on. Citing multiple sources, the report claims Electronic Arts is the buyer, with the deal in late-stage negotiations. At a whopping $1 billion, the deal will be a huge hail mary for EA, which has a tiny market value of just $7 billion.