Spector - currently at work on Epic Mickey - has told Variety that prior to picking up work the Disney gig, he and his wife had been kicking some ideas around for new projects, one a massive piece of original IP, the other a "spiritual successor" to Deus Ex.

He says that at one time he tried to get the rights to his game back from publishers Eidos, but they weren't willing to part with it, so Spector was forced to come up with a Go-Bots to Deus Ex's Transformers.

"There were and still are ‘Deus Ex' stories I would like to tell. That story is not done for me," he told Variety. "[For the sci-fi game] I sort of filed the serial numbers off. ‘Deus Ex' was very much a game of the millennium."

Behind the scenes at "Epic Mickey" – Part One [Variety]

Deus Ex 3 is a prequel to the other two Deus Ex games. In it, you're Adam Jensen, a private security officer working at a company that develops biomechanical augmentations for the human body, just one stepping stone towards the nanotech augmentations of the other games. Jensen witnesses an attack on his company, and has to investigate. Besides Shanghai, the game will take you to future versions of Detroit, Montreal and two other cities.

Here are some more bitchin images:

[EIDOS Forums]

A sniff of plot details accompanied the art. Seems you'll take the role of a Mr. Adam Jensen, who works for Sarif, a biotech company. Jensen goes to work one day, Sarif gets stormed by bad men, everyone is killed except...yes, Adam Jensen. The rest of the game sees you on a quest to find out what happened/avenge the deaths of your white-coated colleagues.

Hit the link below to see the full gallery.

First details from Deus Ex 3 [Gamereactor]

Deus Ex Coming to GameTap's Free Game Roster Next Week [Shacknews]

"Following our business review over the last six weeks, we are initiating a clear action plan based on three fundamental strands of activity: a radical change in our structure to a studio-led business, a top to bottom programme of product improvement and efficiency and a considerable cost reduction plan," Phil Rogers, Chief Executive of SCi Entertainment Group said, in a prepared statement. "To get SCi on track we have to act rapidly and effect change quickly. We must allow the world-class people that we have within the Group to focus on strong, profitable titles which will create the value our shareholders deserve."

A chief part of that plan is a fundamental change to the way the company does business with SCi shifting from the current centrally-controlled development and publishing model to a studio-led one, similar to the labels model that EA moved to last year.

Under the new structure, SCI would have studios based around "cornerstone products" like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager and Deus Ex. The company is also creating an Eidos PLAY studio which will "fuse together casual and new media resources." Finally, production services will form part of the studio group and be relocated to Montreal from London.

I blame the Wii... well that and a company that has essentially been living off of three franchises for nearly two decades.

SCi Corporate

Business review and half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 31
December 2007

COMPANY TO BE RE-STRUCTURED

SCi Entertainment Group plc ('SCi' 'the Company' or the 'Group'), today announces a group re-structuring plan following its business review and its interim results for the six months to 31 December 2007.

The business review led by new Chief Executive, Phil Rogers, has decided on the following actions:

Fundamental change in business structure:

* SCi's business structure will be significantly changed from a centrally controlled development and publishing model to a studio-led business focused around cornerstone products, such as Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager and Deus Ex.
* Creation of Eidos PLAY to fuse together casual and new media resources to attack growing markets.
* Flexible and efficient approach to distribution.

Product improvement initiatives started:

* Cancellation of 14 projects which the Board considers are unlikely to generate an acceptable return on investment or are not of appropriate quality.
* Studios focusing on product innovation and delivery of high quality games.
* Production services to form part of the studio group, relocating to Montreal from London.

Cost reduction plan:

* New business structure targeted to operate with a maximum of 800 people, a reduction of 25% from current headcount.
* Annual operating costs to be cut by £14 million by the end of June 2008 at a one-off cost of £7 million

Phil Rogers, Chief Executive of SCi Entertainment Group said, 'SCi is in need of immediate change.

'Following our business review over the last six weeks, we are initiating a clear action plan based on three fundamental strands of activity: a radical change in our structure to a studio-led business, a top to bottom programme of product improvement and efficiency and a considerable cost reduction plan.

'To get SCi on track we have to act rapidly and effect change quickly. We must allow the world-class people that we have within the Group to focus on strong, profitable titles which will create the value our shareholders deserve.

'I am confident our staff share this vision and excitement for the future, and determination to build a working environment where our innovation and creativity can be commercially realised.'

Holy cow, do I love the Wii and DS. I am a Nintendo freak right now! It's partly because where I am in my life; games for families, trying to make people smile. Who's doing that? Nintendo. The tone of the games, the audience they attract... I'm loving it. But look at games on the PS3 and Xbox 360! They look gorgeous. So there are attractions to every platform.

I think to succeed at this point, given the cost of making a game, and given the competition, I think that every game has to appeal to people who don't know who Warren Spector or Will Wright or... again, I'm not putting myself in that category. I describe myself as the bargain basement Will Wright, the Wal-Mart version of Peter Molyneux. But none of us are a big enough game to sell enough copies to justify the cost.

A.I. [arena fighting game based off the film] (XBOX, ACES Studio/Microsoft) Alone in the Dark: The Abductions (PS2, Computer Artworks/Atari) Amped 4 (XBOX 360/PS3, Indie Built/2K Sports) Army Men: Air Cavalry (PS2/GC/XBOX, Check Six Studios/3DO) Blood Wake 2 (XBOX, Stormfront Studios/Microsoft) Damage Inc. [Metallica car combat title] (PC/PS2/GC/XBOX, Climax/VU Games)* Dante [firefighting simulation] (XBOX, ACeS Studio/Microsoft) Deus Ex 3 (PS2/XBOX/PC, Ion Storm/Eidos) Eidos announced back in May that their Montreal studio will be making a new Deus Ex 3 different from the one canceled. Also, this title was not Deus Ex: Clan Wars. Dirty Work [sandbox-style game] (platforms unknown, Ubisoft) Fight For Your Right [party game] (platforms unknown, Z-Axis/Activision) Freefall [sci-fi extreme skydiving game] (XBOX, ironWorks/Microsoft) Freelancer 2 (XBOX 360, Digital Anvil/Microsoft) The Getaway Online [eventually became Home] (PS2, Studio London/SCEE) Ghost World [spooky-themed action-platformer] (PS2, Luxoflux/Activision) Jonny Moseley's Mad Trix 2 (PS2/GC, 3DO) Joust (PS2/GC/XBOX, Midway) Lemmings Forever (PS2, PictureHouse/SCEE) Oni 2 (PS2, Angel Studios/Take-Two)

1. Diablo
2. Guitar Hero
3. Half Life
4. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
5. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
6. Suikoden
7. Super Mario 64
8. Tetris
9. Ultima IV
10. Warcraft II
11. (Ico)
12. (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess — okay, so I cheated and went for 12 on the videogame list. So sue me.)

Too safe? Too perfect? While I've played every game on that list to death, save for Suikoden, I might tend to list the same ten. I have a soft spot for games like Shinobi, Silent Hill and the Advance Wars series, but Warren knows how to pick 'em.

"Hobby Games: The 100 Best" or I Love Lists [Warren Spector's blog via GameSetWatch]

Writer Austin Grossman has lent his talents to over a dozen games, including System Shock, Deus Ex and Tomb Raider: Legend. He's recently published his first novel Soon I Will Be Invincible — a humorously bittersweet look at the emotional goings-on of comic book characters. Hollywood is calling, and there's already talk of a film adaptation. But what does Grossman think of game writing?

Video games have their own emotional vocabulary, their own language. Maybe they just don't do character.

Dare to Suck [Wired via Alice]

Even though Warren Spector has moved onto new projects at Junction Point (where he's reportedly going to do something dayoosexy anyway, in an episodic format), he still pines for his lost children. Warren Spector misses Deus Ex!

Speaking to UK publication PC Zone (passed on via Computer & Video Games), Spector laments over the problems of intellectual property ownership. "I wish I knew, but you'd have to ask someone at Eidos about that. I'd love to go back there, myself," he said to the magazine. "There are plenty more games to set and stories to tell in that universe. I miss the Dentons a lot...Hey, Eidos, wanna sell the IP?"

Yeah, Eidos. You suck. Sell the IP already. Maybe Valve will put up the cash and help Spector out. Florian Eckhardt

Warren Spector Still Loves Deus Ex [1Up]

In a fantastic interview with Eurogamer, game designer Warren Spector talks about working with game studio Valve, the importance of creative freedom and what in-game choices really mean. Spector says:

I don't believe it's ever a waste of time to give players real choices, rather than fake ones. If all you're doing is putting players on rails and rocketing them through your story, why not just build a roller coaster or make a movie? If the only choice a player gets to make is which weapon to use to kill a bad guy, you've completely wasted that player's time. Roller coaster rides are immense amounts of fun, but really, all they do is provide an adrenalin rush and a moment's distraction from the workaday world. Games can be more. Movies are terrific storytelling devices - I love movies - but movies already exist. I don't need to make them. (Well, I kinda want to produce a movie someday, but that's another matter entirely...) If all you're doing is telling your story to players (with the added attraction of getting to pick a gun once in a while), why bother?

Spector is one of those designers that I actually like more than the games he creates. He's fostering an insightful dialogue here, packed full of wisdom. Great stuff. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Eurogamer]