Well isn’t this a strange turn of events. After seemingly endless court battles and ongoing patent litigation between Immersion and Sony over rumble technology, the two companies have finally agreed to put their disagreements aside and entertain the possibility of bringing Immersion’s force feedback technology to future PlayStation products.

You may recall that despite Sony’s company line to the contrary, Immersions complaint against the company was the chief reason PlayStation 3 consumers were left without rumble in their Sixaxis controllers. This latest news could conceivably spell a future filled with vibrating wireless first party controllers for Sony’s latest console, though nothing official has been chiseled into stone just yet.

In a statement released today, Immersion officials revealed that the company will receive the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court, which includes damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid.

Terms of the business agreement between the parties provide SCE with certain new rights with respect to Immersion’s patent portfolio. Additional financial terms are not being disclosed.

“We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group Chief Operating Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “We are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies.”

Immersion CEO Victor Viegas added: “We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us. Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products.”

In a stunning move today, Sony has decided to blacklist the gaming blog Kotaku. The story in a nutshell is that Sony warned Kotaku not to post an [url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/sony/rumor-sony-to-unveil-playstation-home-240746.php]upcoming article[/url] about a rumored new PS3 product/service called Playstation Home. Kotaku felt like the info they had was solid and published the story anyway. Sony informed them that the PS3 debug kit needed to be returned and they were un-invited from all future Sony media events and they would no longer be receiving emails from Sony regarding products.

Talk about a crazy turn of events. Kotaku must have really stolen Sony’s thunder for this to happen. I guess this just further validates the fact that the rumor was not quite a rumor. My only question is this… if you are in the position Sony is in where you are struggling, why would you turn your back on a site that averages about 360,000 visits a day? Does that make good business sense?

Furthermore, they had to know Kotaku would take the high road and let everyone know exactly what went down. You can read the full post from Kotaku [url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/sony-blackballs-kotaku-240860.php]here[/url].

Ubisoft has announced that the a Western themed first-person shooter Call of Juarez, previously announced for the PC, will also be released for the Xbox 360 this summer. Developed by Techland in Poland, Call of Juarez will feature multiplayer modes and a Wild West single-player campaign. Personally, I’m excited to be able to play this game on a platform that won’t grind to a screeching halt upon install.

Don’t look now, but there is yet another MMO in development. Atlanta, Georgia based [url=http://www.hirezstudios.com/]Hi-Rez Studios[/url] has announced that it is developing a “a mission-based action MMORPG using Unreal Engine 3, set in a near future world of espionage and tactical covert operations.”

Called Global Agenda, the game has apparently been in development for over two years, and features “fast-paced ranged and close combat, RPG-style character progression, solo or cooperative team missions, and competitive play on a massive scale between player-created agencies.” Global Agenda is set on 22nd century Earth amidst an “invisible war” fought between elite agents where “technology is a race, knowledge is power, and everyone has an agenda.”

“We want to provide players an engaging, next-generation tactical combat experience, but within the context of a single, evolving, massively multiplayer online world where actions have consequences”, says Todd Harris, COO of Hi-Rez Studios. “Player-created agencies, with the right strategy and skill, can have a very real impact on each other and the world itself.”