Here I am minding my own business, getting ready to write a post updating Fallout New Vegas with some gameplay footage revealed at E3 and what do I come across? Beta sign ups for the Fallout MMO!

I remember hearing about this awhile ago, but there were legal issues about who was allowed to use the Fallout name. Well I guess those have been settled. In a week where there is already so much gaming news I certainly did not expect something new outside of E3, especially with no accompanying announcement.

Back in July, it was announced that Sam Raimi would be directing the long-rumored movie adaptation of MMO powerhouse, World of Warcraft. This along with Spider-Man 4 presented two gigantic and time-consuming projects for the Evil Dead and Drag Me To Hell director, and it is still uncertain which will be coming first.

It was first assumed that the WoW movie would be based on a spinoff novel that was written within the game’s world called Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, but it is now confirmed via an interview with MTV that the movie will be an original story set in the world and involving its characters. It was also confirmed that the movie is being written by Saving Private Ryan scripter Robert Rodat and that it will likely be simply titled Warcraft.

Turning a game like Warcraft into a movie is probably about as difficult as it could be to turn a game into a movie. Being an MMO, there is a story, but the game is never-ending and the story isn’t the selling point, so you have to pick and choose what you want to use and construct a story out of these countless elements, settings, and characters. The challenge becomes even greater knowing the track record of video game based movies, as we all are well-aware of, so the mountain for Raimi is large.

Click over to read what Raimi had to say.

I’ve heard of marketing companies going overboard, what with The Dark Knight‘s viral advertising campaigns, etc. However, the freight train that is Zack Snyder‘s Watchmen is going further.

Not content with one of the biggest movies of the year, an animated DVD, and Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, there is also going to be an iPhone & iPod Touch MMO based on the graphic novel adaptation dubbed Watchmen: Justice is Coming.

Having literally just posted the story on The End Is Nigh, I’ve just read about the iPhone game — due for release in the App Store sometime this month. Happily, although the game is an MMO, there will be no monthly fee ala World of Warcraft — however more expansion packs are planned, and will most likely be chargeable. As yet we don’t know the impending price on the App Store.

Star Wars fans can get excited again (if you aren’t already thanks to Star Wars: The Clone Wars) with BioWare and LucasArts announcing yesterday news that they are working on a new Star Wars MMORPG. But this time, instead of being related to Star Wars Galaxies, it’ll be set in the massively popular universe of Knights of the Old Republic.

“It’s a whole galaxy. It’s a galaxy of Star Wars,” said Ray Muzyka, CEO of BioWare. “It’s going to take your gaming experience to a higher level.”

OK, well that’s all good and well, but “¦ why will it do that?

Well, according to the developers of the game, players will not be stuck on one planet, but will be able to traverse an entire Star Wars universe, with two factions to choose from so far announced: the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire.