Round-Up: ELSPA Betting Update, Sega Signs Olympics, Post-G.A.M.E. Tally

Today's wrap-up includes news on betting for the top UK Christmas game, as well as Sega's acquisition of the license to the 2008 Olympics, and some attendee numbers for the G.A.M.E. consumer event in San Francisco, as well as the latest product news and job postings. - The UK Entertainment and Software Leisure Publishers Association has announced that the favorites for the 2005 edition of the annual Chart-Track-based betting have changed. According to bookmaker Ladbrokes, previous leader The Chronicles of Narnia has slipped from 3:1 odds to 6:1, and EA's Need for Speed: Most Wanted is now the 1:1 favorite to be the highest performer in Christmas sales. "We never fail to be surprised by the title that finally takes the Christmas number one spot," said ELSPA director general Roger Bennett. Year on year, it's been a game from the main pack that's come from behind to take the win." - Sega has secured the license to the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing. The license grants the software publisher exclusive rights to make official games based on the Olympic events, which includes a wide variety of sports such as archery, fencing, the pentathlon, rowing, volleyball, and many others. The official title will be developed for consoles, PC and Macs, arcades, handheld games, and mobile phones. "Sega is excited to become the publisher for the Official Video Game of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and we are committed to creating innovative content for an unprecedented number of interactive entertainment platforms," said Sega president and COO Hisao Oguchi. - According to reports from GameSpot, co-host of last weekend's G.A.M.E. consumer video game event at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the event was a success, though it's not quite clear to what degree. GameSpot had previously cited a figure of over 11,000 attendees at the 3-day show, but has since removed the figures from its website, replacing it with a vaguer 'thousands'. Commenting on whether the event will see life in other cities, organizer Peter Shaw of the Centric Events Group said that "The determining factor in the end is going to be a business call. And in terms of what we built and the impact we had, there's a need and response to this that's very positive." - Over at Gamasutra's newly launched sister game weblog GameSetWatch, new posts have been added discussing an anti-game education college editorial, covering an interview with the Nintendo of America translators, and referencing a tribute to the Build 3D game engine, as used in Duke Nukem 3D. - Also updated today: product news including GameSpy's supply of server technology for Planet Moon's Infected, as well as the latest job postings from companies such as Blue Fang Games, Datascope Recruitment, Rockstar San Diego and The Art Institute of California - San Francisco.