The most faithful LittleBigPlanet fans might have noticed that Media Molecule has interrupted the series of updates for the PS3’s social game, which used to be launched in a weekly basis. The Christmas pause is over, however, and the updates will continue very soon: from January 22nd on, to be precise.

This is, in fact, the date chosen by LittleBigWorkshop for the arrival of the next additional content, that will apparently feature “a lot of new stuff, returning stuff and big surprises”. A patch to correct some issues that came with the version 1.07 should also be released.

Spore, the new venture from Maxis and Will Wright, is now available for purchase in the European and Worldwide markets. The goal is to create a new phenomena such as Sim City and The Sims. Analysts have predicted the sales of 2 million copies of the game, just in the United States.

Spore involves the journey through five stages, emulating life’s evolution, going from microscopic single-celled creatures that evolve into advanced beings that are able to control their own civilization and affect those of others, militarily and culturally, up to being able to manage a whole universe thanks to their technology. In each of the stages, the player can decide their own system, thanks to the respective editors, in which they can customize creatures, houses, buildings, veichles and even the vegetation.

The game is available for PC, Wii, Nintendo DS and iPhone platforms.

Microsoft reveals plans for a new chapter of Age of Empires. In the past few days, they officially announced the close of business for their Ensemble Studios, team that had always been in charge of the game series (included Age of Mythology). Before Ensemble ceases their activity, they will finish Halo Wars.

Microsoft continues to own Age of Empires.” Kim explains, “It is not losing Age of Empires itself. We’re still super excited for the potential for the franchise. The Windows gaming world continues to evolve, and we believe in the future of that property.”

As previously announced, the most part of the Ensemble Studios employees will move into the new team that Microsoft is currently developing, and that will be revealed officially in the next few weeks. This new software house will be completely independent, but will keep collaboration strings with Microsoft for the international distribution of their developed games.