Analyst firm Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE), has reported this week that Valve's PC gaming distribution platform Steam is nearing the $1 billion mark in revenue after a strong holiday season 2010.

Estimated revenue for the year was $970 million, with $213 million coming in December alone.

Says Director of Research & Analysis, Benjamin Schlichterv (via GIW):

Steam's growth has been remarkable during the year. Over 180 titles were estimated reaching over $1 million USD in revenue for the year, painting a very healthy market for developers and publishers, with more room for growth in the future.

The top title on Steam was Call of Duty: Black Ops, which sold an estimated 1.6 million copies in just two months, bringing in $98 million revenue.

Here is the rest of the list (title - estimated revenue):

Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision) - $98.2 Million USD
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision) - $39.4 Million USD
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve) - $36.0 Million USD
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts) - $25.4 Million USD
Sid Meier's Civilization V (2K Games) - $21.9 Million USD
Portal (Valve) - $20.0 Million USD
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks) - $17.0 Million USD
Metro 2033 (THQ) - $13.4 Million USD
Mafia II (2K Games) - $11.9 Million USD
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising (THQ) - $10.8 Million USD

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Summit Distribution, the studio behind the blockbuster franchise 'Twilight,' is demanding that struggling rental chain Blockbuster pay up what it owes, or head into liquidation.

When Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy last year, it told Summit it would not pay Summit the $6.8 million it was owed for DVDs shipped out.

Summit is now demanding a judge force Blockbuster to pay up, or head into liquidation where it will raise the money needed.

Blockbuster went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, giving the company a chance to reorganize debt without liquidating. If the company cannot recover, it will be forced into Chapter 7 where the full management team will be replaced and all of the rental company's assets will be sold off to pay debts.

Summit's latest, 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,' was the 4th most popular DVD in 2010.

Reads the court documents (via Yahoo):

To Summit's surprise and dismay, the debtors informed Summit that the debtors would not pay Summit with respect to products that were shipped post-petition (after the bankruptcy filing) because the debtors lacked the funds to do so.

Summit's president, Stephen Nickerson, says Blockbuster is expected to rake in $8.3 million from sales of Eclipse, and that the missing $6.8 million is causing a hardship on the finances of the small, independent studio.

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According to a new survey conducted by online sample company uSamp, 54 percent of Verizon's current smartphone userbase is considering switching to the iPhone when it becomes available next week.

The company used a "highly profiled online panel" of over 700 current smartphone users.

Overall, 25 percent said they were "very likely" to switch while 29 percent were "somewhat likely" to switch over.

BlackBerry users were the most likely to switch, with a full 66 percent (when combining both answers) indicating a likelihood. Android users were at 44 percent.

Furthermore, a different survey last week said 16 percent of AT&T users would move over to Verizon for the iPhone.

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