A press release sent out in the early hours of the morning today officially announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of THQ's assets to other publishers and developers who had placed bids the previous day. The approval came from court judge Mary F. Walrath, giving the green light to the prospective buyers eager to snatch up their new acquisitions. Regrettably, only seven of the eight asset groupings were purchased, leaving Darksiders developer Vigil out in the cold and uncertain of its status going forward.

It's funny, we at Geekosystem have covered developments regarding THQ twice this month, the first being their Humble Bundle offering -- which reportedly raked in $5 million in a matter of two weeks -- and the Metro 2033 Facebook promotion where users could snag a free copy just for "liking" the page, but the whole time we did so, we couldn't help feel that these were ill portents of THQ's gradual decline in the marketplace. Turns out our intuition was right since the video game publisher has announced it will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On the surface this seems like terrible news, but it actually isn't an utter loss for us gamers.

The video game publisher THQ is certainly feeling magnanimous this holiday season, what with their unprecedented Humble Bundle featuring a slew of must-have video games for download on Steam. In another bold move, THQ is drumming up hype for the upcoming Metro: Last Light by offering a free copy of Metro 2033 to everyone on Facebook, and all you have to do is give it a like on the game's official page. No, really, that's all you have to do to snag yourself  a copy on the house. It's a nice gesture, but you still can't help but wonder if this is just a major marketing campaign or yet another instance of THQ attempting to avoid focus on its recent company woes.

Yet another Humble Bundle has arrived, but unlike the video game bundles of the past that were primarily of the indie variety, major third-party publisher THQ is stepping up to the charitable plate in an unprecedented move and offering a Humble Bundle of their very own. We're not talking about their run-of-the-mill, rubbish assortment of shovelware based on Nickelodeon cartoons and Disney movies either. With great games like Company of Heroes -- yes, with its expansions -- ready to play on Steam, there couldn't be a better way to give to a charitable cause.

Hollywood seems to be investing heavily in the rights to video game-inspired movies lately. Though the Bioshock, Halo, and Uncharted flicks didn't work out, films based on Assassin's Creed, Need for Speed, and Metal Gear Solid are all at some stage in pre-production as we speak. If you're still wont to deny to that a tidal wave of video game movies is forming, destined to hit theaters two-four years years from now, I think that this movie removes all doubt from the equation: MGM Pictures has brought the rights to make a movie based on Metro 2033, a series of Russian sci-fi novels, which inspired the critically lauded 2010 video game.

In what will probably be the latest big gaming controversy, publisher THQ decided to hamper their used games via one-time codes that unlock online functionality. After THQ's announced plans to hamper their used games by including a single-use code that allows online play in their upcoming Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, the publisher's creative director Corey Ledesma made some rather controversial statements to CVG regarding the move:

"I don't think we really care whether used game buyers are upset because new game buyers get everything. So if used game buyers are upset they don't get the online feature set I don't really have much sympathy for them.

That's a little blunt but we hope it doesn't disappoint people. We hope people understand that when the game's bought used we get cheated.

I don't think anyone wants that so in order for us to make strong, high-quality WWE games we need loyal fans that are interested in purchasing the game. We want to award those fans with additional content."

Last week, gaming developer Rare changed that golden logo we remember so well from Donkey Kong Country and Goldeneye to a new, more 'modern' logo in commemoration of its 25th anniversary and its newfound focus on Project Natal. It's always a bit of a shock when a brand we know well radically changes its look, like a friend getting a new haircut that we don't know what to think about, but Rare's redesign reminds us that a lot of the gaming logos that greet us on the sides of boxes and on startup screens haven't been around forever.

Below, Geekosystem has put 15 video game companies' old-school logos side-by-side with their modern counterparts. Which do you like better?