Editor's note: Scott Steinberg is the head of technology and video game consulting firm TechSavvy Global as well as the founder of GameExec magazine and Game Industry TV. The creator and host of online video series Game Theory, he frequently appears as an on-air technology analyst for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CNN.

Notice anything familiar about 2010's wish list of most anticipated video games? Apart from a higher number or a snappier catchphrase in the title, many look disturbingly similar to games from last year or the year before.Credit video game publishers' growing reliance on sequels, spin-offs and series retreads, which draws disturbing parallels to what's happening on radio and at the movies.On the bright side, ardent gaming fans will see more innovation and experimentation within the field than ever before. [Read the full article]

This Friday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show to announce a $100 million donation to the Newark public school system.Skeptics might question the timing of the move, but it would be foolish to underestimate the significance of the gesture -- not only in its direct impact on public schools, but in its lasting imprint upon the technology industry. Zuckerberg's donation should be praised, as it will likely provide inspiration to the growing ranks of newly-minted technology founders.The date of the announcement is bound to fuel some cynicism. The Social Network, the much-hyped movie about Facebook's origins, has its general release on October 1.According to All Things D's Peter Kafka, the production frames Zuckerberg in a poor light: "the film portrays him as an insecure jerk who screws over people and becomes a much-richer insecure jerk", writes Kafka. [Read the full article]

Google announced it had won a major copyright-infringement case in Spain on Thursday, affirming that the Internet giant is not responsible for copyright violations when users post material on its YouTube website.A federal court in Madrid, Spain, found that it is the responsibility of copyright owners -- not YouTube, or Google, which owns it -- to identify material that infringed copyright, Google said.The ruling mirrors one in the United States earlier this year, when Google won a nasty three-year court battle with Viacom.In the Spanish case, Spanish broadcaster Telecinco had claimed that YouTube should be liable when users upload copyright-infringing material, Google said on its European policy blog.The court rejected Telecino's claim, Google said, calling the verdict "a clear victory for the internet and the rules that govern it."Three months ago, a U.S. [Read the full article]

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of social-networking powerhouse Facebook, is planning on donating $100 million toward improving public schools in the troubled district of Newark, New Jersey.The gift would be the largest known charitable donation by Zuckerberg, who Forbes magazine says is the 35th richest person in the United States with an estimated net worth of nearly $7 billion.The news comes just over a week before "The Social Network," a brutal (and, admittedly, fictionalized) biopic chronicling the early days of Facebook, is set to be released. By all accounts, the film doesn't cast Zuckerberg in a positive light, leading some critics to accuse him of making the donation as an image-booster.According to an official familiar with the agreement, Zuckerberg's donation will be the first installment from a foundation financed by Zuckerberg and focused on bettering education. [Read the full article]