There's quite a lot to catch up on this week if you haven't been checking up, and there's a lot of color to go around too. Gold and silver are the colors of the new Pokemon remakes that have now been confirmed for the DS. Red is the theme of the crisp-looking Red Steel 2, although it's rather unfortunate that others won't see the video now. Finally, there's black, and quite a lot of it as the black-cloaked Nobodies of Organization XIII dish out some serious pain. Catch all that and more on this week's recap.

Nintendo does have a lot of celebrating to do cos the past couple of years have been really good for them. Not only did their gaming consoles (DS and Wii) give them much source of pride -- and profit -- they have also been just recognized as one of the world's most reputable companies, landing in at an impressive #6.

Forbes recently accused Rock Band of being a "shameless knockoff" of Guitar Hero, only with added peripherals. Shame on you, Forbes. You know how much the truth hurts. EA responded to the accusation with a very firm no comment statement.

Irony in the full article.

Well no wonder you've got layoffs in the industry recently - not to mention the shutting down of certain studios and whatnot. According to research conducted by EEDAR, only 4% of the total games out in the market ever make a profit - all other 96% just either break even or lose money. Yeouch.

Last month, we asked: has Nintendo abandoned its core community? Evidently, the answer is a resounding "no." According to the big N, they are currently developing core gaming franchises that are set to be released in the future. Ok, they're not coming anytime soon, but they are coming. More details in the full article.

Sega may not be the console manufacturing giant that it was in the early to mid-90's, but it's pretty happy where it's at right now. The publisher says it's in a good position to succeed and it's looking at companies like THQ to compete with. The game maker, however, said that it doesn't aim to compete with industry giants just yet. More in the full article.

It looks like there's more bad news from the company that can't seem to acquire Take-Two. Electronic Arts is expected to report US$ 111 million in losses at 33 cents per share. This report is for the quarter which ended on June 30. Find out more after the jump!

That man right there is Japan's richest man. After his top three finish last year, Nintendo's Hiroshi Yamauchi has now claimed the top spot among Japan's billionaires - thanks to the success of the Nintendo Wii and DS. More details after the jump.

We haven't run out of Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) reports as of late (with recent freezing problems and banning in other countries). This only goes to show that as far as popularity goes, GTA IV is on top of the list. But business publication Forbes wants to know if this hype will be enough to give the Nintendo Wii a run for its money. More at the full article.

In this day and age, it would seem that the boundaries of traditional gender roles are blurring, even with regard to electronic gaming. Forbes, for example, has recently picked up on what appears to be a surge of female interest in the casual game market.

If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to turn to the full article after the jump for more on gender-related gaming.