Welcome back for another week here at News Pop!. We've got some exciting new details from the world of gaming today, including the addition of video gaming tournaments to this season's television lineups and some new game releases. So sit back, relax and enjoy a healthy helping of today's news.

Major U.S. TV networks to air World Series of Video Games

The World Series of Video Games, presented by Intel, will be hitting televisions this season thanks, in large part, to an MTV special which aired recently, shining the spotlight of cable TV on the WSVG. WSVG has signed deals with major broadcast, cable and satellite networks CBS, CSTV and VOOM HD Network's GAMEPLAY HD, who will air extensive coverage of the Series' 2006 season. The deals will bring a total of more than twenty hours of original programming from the Series to audiences in the U.S., but there are also deals for international distribution in the works too. CBS’ broadcast will mark the first appearance for professional video game competitions on U.S. broadcast network television. CBS is scheduled to air “THEY GOT GAME, Stars of the World Series of Video Games presented by Intel” on December 30 at 3 p.m. The one hour special, which was filmed during the Series and on location in the players' hometowns and is hosted by Quddus, tells the personal stories of five rising stars of the competitive video gaming world. CSTV will be airing complete coverage of the first World Series of Video Games Finals beginning January 21, 2007 and VOOM's GAMEPLAY HD will continue its coverage of WSVG's tournaments. For more information on the WSVG, you can check out its website at www.thewsvg.com.

New Auto Assault content

NCsoft announced the release of its third free update for Auto Assault today, in both North America and Europe. Players will enjoy new instances, enhancements to the outpost token system and skills, two new weapon sets, and a few new bosses to test their mettle. The ultimate challenge in this newest update involves two bosses, Momma Bite and The Tower, a boss that the highest level players will have a hard time bringing down on their own. However, the benefits of taking out these bosses are many: Momma Bite can drop some pretty unique loot, and players who can beat The Tower will have a chance to get items from a brand new set of weapons and equipment, some of the most powerful yet seen in the game. There are also three new instances and two other bosses to beat, Pike Kingpin and Mammon. Each race will enjoy a new area to explore: Scav Uprising (Human), The Temple of La Leche Madre (Mutant) and The Malachite Detention Center (Biomek). In addition to all of this great new content, the team has announced enhancements to the outpost token system where players will be able to receive tokens for both holding outposts for their race and for player-versus-player kills. Players can use their tokens to purchase items from the brand new Warmonger weapon set, only available to the best of the best! Fees will still stay the same though, $14.99 USD per month.

Take-Two joins the in-game ad bandwagon

Take-Two, through its 2K and 2K Sports labels, along with Double Fusion, a widely used in-game advertising company, announced that the companies have entered into a multi-title advertising agreement for the sale of in-game ad opportunities in 2K and 2K Sports titles. Under the terms of the agreement, Double Fusion will be the exclusive North American and European representative for integrated advertising opportunities in select 2K titles debuting in 2007 and 2008. In addition, Double Fusion will serve as the exclusive representative and technology provider for dynamic in-game advertising across all PC and certain console platforms except for the Xbox and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft. Select versions of 2K and 2K Sports titles will feature integrated, hard-coded placements that will offer marketers opportunities for deep integration into gameplay and storylines, reaching users of the games whether or not they are connected to the Internet. In addition, certain titles will also contain a rich array of dynamic advertising placements, allowing advertisers to reach millions of gamers through real-time media buys, while also offering consumer targeting, measurability, and flexibility in delivering advertising content. As long as there aren't any chances of players becoming victims to spyware, we're not completely against it. Developers and publishers can use all the money they can get.