It’s official: XNA is dead Microsoft has confirmed that it does not plan to release future versions of the XNA development toolset. A blog post from developer Promit Roy earlier this week apparently detailed Microsoft’s plans to fully retire the XNA Game Studio tools on April 1, 2014, while also suggesting that the future of API collection DirectX is uncertain. via: indiegames.com

Will ‘Grand Theft Auto 5′ Top ‘Call of Duty’ in 2013? Sometimes it takes a giant to slay a giant, and in the case of video games there is no bigger giant than Activision’s Call of Duty franchise. A perennial “best selling game of the year” title holder, Call of Duty is poised to continue said tradition in 2013, that is if it can fend off some pretty stiff competition. via: gamerant.com

New Sherlock Holmes game announced, uses Unreal Engine 3 Focus Home Interactive recently announced a new game in the Sherlock Holmes series called Crimes & Punishments. In development by Frogwares, the adventure game will feature eight cases in which players will guide Holmes through “important moral choices instead of simply enforcing justice by the book. via: www.joystiq.com

The Dreamcast lives on thanks to a pair of new games The Dreamcast has been dead for well over a decade, but the venerable console’s library still grows to this day. Slowly but surely independent developers continue to release games the platform, such as Gunlord, hoping that its vocal community of supporters still care enough to support “brand new retro games.” And it appears that they do. via: www.destructoid.com

Why is Nintendo not ready for HD? One possibility for all the silly artwork of games we’ve been seeing such as the cloth style for Yoshi is that Nintendo isn’t ready for HD. Lately, Miyamoto said they are still buying specialists and hiring people. Nintendo has also been on Gamecube architecture for over ten years. Remember how long it took to get Twilight Princess out? via: seanmalstrom.wordpress.com

Ubuntu 13.04 Wallpaper Contest Begins Canonical announced at the end of January that the Ubuntu Wallpaper Contest for the upcoming 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) operating system is now open for submissions. Once again, Canonical wants you to submit some quality photos, which can be used as desktop backgrounds for its Ubuntu distribution. The rules are simple! via: news.softpedia.com

Animal Crossing New Leaf Coming To The West By Summer Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has announced during Nintendo’s fiscal call that they will release Fire Emblem, Brain Age, Lego City, and the long-awaited Animal Crossing: New Leaf by mid year. Nintendo has been hesitant about revealing a release date for Animal Crossing:… via: mynintendonews.com