It may be old news by now, but there will be no next generation Xbox or PlayStation unveiled at this year’s E3. I have hesitated to talk about this because by tomorrow we’ll likely hear more news that contradicts what we know today—but for now, that’s the story coming from Microsoft and Sony representatives.

Rumors up until a couple days ago have been pretty clear that both new consoles would make some sort of appearance at E3—not as clear, perhaps, as what was said by Microsoft France’s marketing director, Cedrick Delmax to Le Point.fr.

"We're in an industry that talks a lot, that likes to tell stories. I am not convinced things will happen this year.”

"Xbox 360′s cycle is not at all finished. The proof is that we don't see the logic in cutting the price this year. E3 is still premature. What's certain is that there'll be nothing new in 2012."

That last part is pretty clear.

In an interview on the same site, Playstation France’s CEO, Philippe Cardone also made it clear that Sony wouldn't be rushing its next generation console release.

"Wii is pressed for time because it's in decline. In our case, we have a lot less pressure. We were the last to release PS3, and we will probably be the last to announce something."

Competitive gaming tournament site, Virgin Gaming, recently announced that they have surpassed the one-million registered users mark. Since the service launched in June of 2010, over $7 million in prizes has been awarded to gamers.

This is great for the world of competitive gaming!

If you are not one of the 1M people in-the-know, Virgin Gaming offers free registration with the option of depositing a $20 minimum to compete in matches for cash. Currently, you can compete in 13 different games, ranging from FIFA 12 to Battlefield 3, on both Xbox 360 and PlayStaion 3 consoles.

A dispute over pay and working conditions resulted in about 300 workers climbing to the roof of one of the buildings at Foxconn Technology Park in China early last week. The incident began when employees asked their bosses for a raise but were denied. Employees were told either to quit with compensation or to keep their jobs with no additional payment. Many employees took the former, but the company decided to terminate the agreement anyway and not pay the promised compensation. The workers protested the action by threatening to jump to their deaths.

The standoff eventually came to an end when the mayor of Wuhan showed up and literally talked the former employees off the ledge.

These particular employees were responsible for manufacturing parts for Xbox 360 consoles and production had actually come to a halt for several hours during the protest.

Microsoft had this to say:

"Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue," a spokesperson told the Huffington Post UK.

"We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge.

"Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy."

Foxconn factories in China were already under examination because of several suicides by employees in the past five years—actually forcing the company to install anti-suicide nets at some of their facilities. In addition to Xbox 360 components, Foxconn also manufactures products for Apple, Sony, Nintendo and many other Fortune 500 companies.

See that picture? That’s genuine mammoth marrow!

Science is cool—and a bunch scientists from the Sakha Republic’s mammoth museum in Russia and the Kinki University in Japan will set out in 2012 to successfully bring the species Mammuthus back to life in a matter of five years’ time.

In August of this year, a thigh bone of a mammoth was found in the Siberian permafrost containing marrow that’s possibly in good enough condition to use to clone the long extinct creature. The plan is—and please excuse the attempt at understanding a complex scientific process—to extract mammoth DNA to be placed in the nuclei of the egg cell of its closest living relative, the African elephant for gestation. The mammoth embryo will then be placed inside the womb of the elephant in hopes that a healthy mammoth calf will be born. Simple!

The problem is, it’s not at all simple… and even if they can successfully do the above, cloning (as we all know from South Park) is slippery slopes.

Last Sunday marked the end of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and the end to Jimmie Johnson’s reign of five straight championships. In arguably the most exciting championship battle in NASCAR history, Tony Stewart edged out Carl Edwards for the Homestead Ford 400 victory AND the Sprint Cup trophy.

Tony “Smoke” Stewart’s performance during this race (and throughout the entire Chase, really) was an amazing feat of talent, determination and grit—and it’s something as a long-time NASCAR fan that will stick in my mind forever. He passed 118 cars (sometimes 3 at a time) on his way from the back of the pack TWICE after issues with his grill put him as far back as 40^th position. He dodged wrecks, debris and problems on pit road. He dodged raindrops and big picture uncertainties with his crew. He made his car work high, low and everywhere in between. It was like he was channeling Earnhardt and the luck of the gods.

Tony Stewart was already considered one of the sport’s top drivers… In my mind now, he has crossed over to “legend” status alongside names like Pearson, Petty and Stewart’s own hero, A.J. Foyt. Congratulations Smoke!

We asked you Freeks to share your best excuses to stay home “sick” and play your favorite video games. You answered. We got over 90 videos from you! It was fun. And your videos were… entertaining. Some of them were extremely… messed up. All of these ellipses are making me sound… stupid.

Anyway, Gamer’s PayDay is over and the grand prize winner is Jesse Carson with 345 "Likes"! Jesse wins $500 to stay home from work, a copy of MW3 and our Perfect Arsenal Pack (more on that later!).

Our three runners-up are Ben Phillips, Ryan Randall and Brian Lembke. You guys win a copy of Modern Warfare 3 and our Perfect Arsenal Pack. Congrats, guys! We’ll be in touch.

If you didn’t win this time, we’d like to thank you for having some fun with us anyway. Here’s a discount code worth 10% off anything in our store (including the new FPS Freek ELITE!) that you can use yourself or share with your friends. Enter code “payday” at checkout for the discount to be applied.

Here is the winning video from ­­­­­­­­Jesse:

In case you didn’t know, KontrolFreek products can now be found in Microsoft Stores nationwide. Microsoft Stores have 14 locations right now and more on the way next year—so this is definitely something for KontrolFreek fans to get excited about.

For a list of current Microsoft Store locations click here.

For the past two big game launches—Gears of War 3 and Battlefield 3—MS Stores have had some really great midnight launch events. The events featured food, drinks, SWAG bags, tournaments with sweet prizes and overall good times. Next Monday night will be no exception with the launch of Modern Warfare 3.

The Call of Duty: MW3 Launch Event will take place from Monday, November 7^th at 10pm – November 8^th at 1am local time. Starting at 10pm you’ll be able to play MW3 before you buy, compete in tournaments and win a limited edition Xbox 360 Call of Duty: MW3 console (among other awesome prizes).

There will also be KontrolFreek girls in every store giving product demos and posing for pictures with fans. And here’s where things get even more interesting: have your picture taken with the KontrolFreek girls, tag us and post it to our Facebook wall, and we’ll send you a free KontrolFreek t-shirt in the mail. Booyah!

Hope to see you Freeks there next Monday!