According to our sources, Warner Brothers, Ubisoft and a private Chicago investor are all looking over the company for possible acquisition.

We're told that Ubisoft has been in talks with Midway for weeks now and that a vice president for Warner Bros. was visiting the studio just last week.

Reached for comment this morning, a Midway rep said the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

If our sources are correct, then Warner Bros. is the most likely candidate for a possible purchase.

The Linkedin profile, discovered by Strategy Informer, belongs to ex-Obsidian designer David Condor. The resume section of the public profile lists Obsidian Entertainment, as well as the most current project he had been working on.

Designer for canceled third-person action Aliens RPG (Xbox 360, PS3, & PC)

The profile goes on to list the specific areas of the game that Condor worked on, perhaps giving us insight into what might have been.

— Responsible for the planning, layout, setup, and tuning of multiple large areas including a Vertical Slice
— Worked directly with a team of Animators, Artists, Sound Designers, and Writers to ensure consistent area vision and to maintain fun gameplay, visual storytelling, and the atmosphere of the Aliens universe
— Worked with other Designers to contribute to and improve on the vision of game
— Designed, Scripted and Balanced Major Combat Encounters and Boss Battles
— Designed, Implemented, and Iterated on Missions and Scripted Scenes
— Created and Iterated on initial Area layouts using XSI
— Worked with programmers to develop & improve on a new In-House Game Engine & Tools

Of course this isn't official confirmation by any means, but it certainly supports earlier reports of the game's cancellation and layoffs at the developer.

Ex-Obsidian's CV confirms Aliens RPG project has been 'canceled' [Strategy Informer]

Mark Jacobs isn't known for being quiet, so when his forums explode with panicked players worrying about the state of Mythic's Warhammer Online, he did what he could to clarify the situation.

As part of EA, all studios are expected to do their fair share to meet the expectations of our CEO.

It isn't any more complicated than that other than to say that we have a very large studio and pretty much every person there has been and will continue to work on WAR for quite a while (meaning we haven't started work on another game yet). When we launched, we had over 400+ people working on the game in one capacity or another so it's not like we had a small team at launch or even a small team now.

Yes, when EA says they are laying off 1,000 employees, they weren't just talking EA proper. They've got a rather big company, in case you hadn't noticed, so of course the satellite development studios are likely to get hit.

That, and an MMO development team is generally going to trim down a bit as the player base begins to settle down and they switch from full-on development to maintenance and updating, so really this shouldn't be much of surprise, and it definitely isn't anything Warhammer fans should panic over.

Mark Jacobs Posts In "Mythic layoffs affect QA, customer support" [Warhammer Alliance Forums]

Michael thinks so too - in fact, in an interview on 60 Minutes he just let slip that there is indeed one in development. No further details were forthcoming and the sorry excuses for journalists they employ on Minutes these days didn't pursue the point. Activision are yet to confirm that they are working on such a title, though they would seem to be the likely choice.

We are going to go out on a limb here and assume that the game will involve swimming in some form, allthough we strongly suspect that there is no physical activity that Phelps is not the best at - except perhaps failing - so who knows?

Michael Phelps game in development [Gaming Target]

Posters at the Ragnarok forums reckon that in addition to some suspiciously similar monsters turning up in both Ragnarok and Aurora Blade they have spotted similarities between the Chinese-developed MMO and several other games including World Of Warcraft (skill backgrounds), Maple Story (class icons) and LaTale (character creation icons).

IGG, who publish the game in the West, have been contacted for comment. Meanwhile, the company posted a statement on the Aurora Blade forums claiming that they were not responsible for the content of the game they hosted and threatening posters with banning if they referred to the controversy.

Warning - Aurora Blade Similarity
Many forum members have posted threads regarding similarity betwen Aurora Blade, and other third party games

Note:
We would like to explain that SkyUnion(IGG) is not responsible for the developing of the game, that is any character, artwork and graphic is developed by another company and this game is HOSTED by IGG.

Any thread or post containing information about other games that including screenshots, game info or any other information will be deleted, as its against the forum rules.We will also take actions against members that will repeat breaking the forum rules.Therefore we have to ban members according to the severity.This may lead to a permanent ban from the forum.

Please take note of the warning!

[Thanks to reader 'Onis' for the tip]

All three games will shortly be removed from store shelves or simply not shipped. Batman and Indy were set for release in the territory on December 18th.

No reason has been offered for the move - perhaps Lego just isn't held in the same esteem by the Japanese, or perhaps there is some confusing licensing issue. It could be anything - maybe Lego is suspected of corrupting Japanese youth with bricks that can be made into makeshift (if brittle and ineffective) street weapons. Who knows. Wild theories in the comments please.

Japan - Activision stops sale of LEGO games [GoNintendo]

Asked by Five'sThe Gadget Show in the UK about the possibility of a Microsoft handheld to compete with the Nintendo DS and PSP, Xbox UK's head of gaming & entertainment Stephen McGill put paid to the suggestion. Again.

“No thank you, we’ve got plenty going on with the 360," said McGill, "We don’t want to get distracted by going into the handheld market.”

Maybe if we all keep asking him, though..

Xbox handheld: only available in dreamland says Microsoft [The Gadget Show]

Rumors have been stirring since December about a potential motion control apparatus for the Xbox 360, and instead of fading away like bad rumors generally do, more and more fuel has been added to the possibility as time went on. With the latest speculation indicating a new motion-controlled friendly redesign of the Xbox Dashboard, E3 could very well be the time for the big reveal.

The announcement of a motion controller would naturally lead to the reveal of a big-name title or titles that would use it. This could be Banjo Kazooie, once the subject of one of the motion controller rumors, or an entirely new title. Microsoft isn't the type of company to bank on innovative gameplay alone, so if a motion controller is announced you can bet they'll have the games to back it up.

Then there is the future of the Halo franchise. We all know something new is coming, whether it be Peter Jackson's Halo game or something entirely different. Microsoft isn't going to let the franchise stagnate, and as lovely as the strategy game Halo Wars is looking I very much doubt it has the strength to carry fans of the original FPS gameplay, so there's a good chance we'll be seeing something new, with or without Master Chief.

Personally I am hoping for more information regarding the Zune gaming we got a look at during GDC this year, including some actual titles and release dates for the functionality, but that might just be because I recently bought a Zune for some odd reason. Yeah, I don't know. It was shiny.

All will become clear Monday morning, so we have until then to speculate, assume, and wildly imagine to our hearts' content. What would you like to see from Microsoft? What do you think we'll get? This is why God created the comment section.

Also, an IGN Insider interview (transcript provided by reader Max) let slip that buyers of Rock Band 2 will have access to all of the songs off the original Rock Band disc, available as free DLC. Full details on both after the jump.

Says IGN 360 editor Nate Ahern:

Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour create an interesting situation for gamers. If you bought Rock Band 1 then chances are you'll feel cheated by the release of RB2, thus you'd think that GHWT would be the way to go as it somewhat redefines the music gaming genre. However, if you didn't buy the first Rock Band then I would absolutely agree with notagoth. Immediately upon purchasing Rock Band 2 you'll have the ability to download a huge library of songs, as well as all of the songs off of the original disc as a free download. Then again, Guitar Hero World Tour does allow users to create and share their own songs, so it's really only a matter of time until the Rock Band library is eclipsed. At the end of the day it could come down to which series has earned your allegiance over the last year since RB's original release."

And on to the leaked track lists. The first is from Demp, a commenter on 8bitfix, and he's got the FOAF who saw the email source. That's like fourth-hand hearsay, but whatever, this ain't court.

1 AC/DC Let There Be Rock
2 AFI Girl's Gone Grey
3 Alanis Morissette You Oughta Know
4 Alice in Chains Man in the Box
5 Allman Brothers Ramblin' Man
6 Avenged Sevenfold Almost Easy
7 Bad Company Shooting Star
8 Beastie Boys So Whatcha Want
9 Beck E-Pro
10 Bikini Kill Rebel Girl
11 Billy Idol White Wedding Pt I
12 Blondie One Way or Another
13 Bob Dylan Tangled Up in Blue
14 Bon Jovi Livin' on a Prayer
15 Cheap Trick Hello There
16 Devo Uncontrollable Urge
17 Dinosaur Jr Feel the Pain
18 Disturbed Down with the Sickness
19 Donnas, The New Kid in School
20 Dream Theater Panic Attack
21 Duran Duran Hungry Like the Wolf
22 Elvis Costello Pump it Up
23 Fleetwood Mac Go Your Own Way
24 Foo Fighters Everlong
25 Go-Go's, The We Got the Beat
26 Grateful Dead, The Alabama Getaway
27 Guess Who, The American Woman
28 Guns N' Roses Shackler's Revenge
29 Interpol PDA
30 Jane's Addiction Mountain Song
31 Jethro Tull Aqualung
32 Jimmy Eat World The Middle
33 Joan Jett Bad Reputation
34 Journey Anyway You Want It
35 Judas Priest Painkiller
36 Kansas Carry On Wayward Son
37 L7 Pretend We're Dead
38 Lacuna Coil Our Truth
39 Linkin Park One Step Closer
40 Lit My Own Worst Enemy
41 Lush De-Luxe
42 Mastodon Colony of Birchmen
43 Megadeth Peace Sells
44 Metallica Battery
45 Mighty Mighty Bosstones Where'd You Go
46 Modest Mouse Float On
47 Motorhead Ace of Spades
48 Muffs, The Kids in America
49 Nirvana Drain You
50 Norman Greenbaum Spirit in the Sky
51 Offspring, The Come Out & Play (Keep 'em Seperated)
52 Panic at the Disco Nine in the Afternoon
53 Paramore That's What You Get
54 Pearl Jam Alive
55 Presidents of the USA Lump
56 Rage Against the Machine Testify
57 Ratt Round & Round
58 Red Hot Chili Peppers Give it Away
59 Replacements, The Alex Chilton
60 Rise Against Give it All
61 Rush The Trees
62 Silversun Pickups Lazy Eye
63 Smashing Pumpkins Today
64 Social Distortion I Was Wrong
65 Sonic Youth Teenage Riot
66 Soundgarden Spoonman
67 Squeeze Cool for Cats
68 Steely Dan Bodhitsattva
69 Steve Miller Band Rock'n Me
70 Survivor Eye of the Tiger
71 System of a Down Chop Suey
72 Talking Heads Psycho Killer
73 Tenacious D Master Exploder
74 Testament Souls of Black
75 Who, The Pinball Wizard
BONUS SONGS (all HMX bands)
76 Abnormality Visions
77 Anarchy Club Get Clean
78 Bang Camaro Night Lies
79 Breaking Wheel Shoulder to the Plow
80 Libyans, The Neighborhood
81 Main Drag, The A Jagged Georgeous Winter.
82 Speck Conventional Lover
83 Sterns, The Supreme Girl
84 That Handsome Devil Rob the Prez-O-Dent

And then from Loading Reality, which notes that this numbers only about 60. Some of the tracks are the same as the list above, just in a different order. "Keep in mind, some of these could easily be DLC that's in the works," Loading Reality writes. A wise caveat.

1) Tangled Up in Blue (Bob Dylan)
2) Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood)
3) We've Got the Beat (Go-Gos)
4) Bad Reputation (Joan Jett)
5) Pinball Wizard (The Who)
6) Dammit (Blink 182)
7) That's What You Get (Paramore)
8) The Trees (Rush)
9) Ace of Spades (Motorhead)
10) Chop Suey (System of a Down)
11) Testify (Rage Against the Machine)
12) Spirit In the Sky (Norman Greenbaum)
13) Ramblin' Man (Allman Brothers)
14) Rebel Girl (Bikini Kill)
15) Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)
16) Panic Attack (Dream Theater)
17) Everlong (Foo Fighters)
18) One Step Closer (Linkin' Park)
19) Lump (Presidents of the USA)
20) Come Out and Play (Offspring)
21) Drain You (Nirvana)
22) Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas)
23) Peace Sells (Megadeath)
24) Souls of Black (Testament)
25) Livin' On a Prayer (Bon Jovi)
26) Round and Round (Ratt)
27) New Kid In School (The Donnas)
28) Alright Now (Free)
29) Today (Smashing Pumpkins)
30) Man In the Box (Alice In Chains)
31) Any Way You Want It (Journey)
32) Holiday In Cambodia (Dead Kennedys)
33) Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
34) White Wedding (Billy Idol)
35) Hello There (Cheap Trick)
36) Cool for Cats (Squeeze)
37) Psycho Killer (Talking Heads)
38) ? (Devo)
39) One Way or Another (Blondie)
40) De-luxe (Lush) [dare to dream, shoegaze in Rock Band!]
41) Push It (Static-X)
42) Pump It Up (Elvis Costello)
43) Master Exploder (Tenacious D)
44) Bandages (Hot Hot Heat)
45) PDA (Interpol)
46) My Own Worst Enemy (Lit)
47) Float On (Modest Mouse)
48) Aqualung (Jethro Tull)
49) Spoonman (Soundgarden)
50) Bodhisattva (Steely Dan)
51) Suffer (Bad Religion)
52) I Was Wrong (Social Distortion)
53) American Woman (The Guess Who)
56) You Oughta Know (Alanis Morrissette)
57) Mountain Song (Jane's Addiction)
58) Stop! (Against Me)
59) Hungry Like the Wolf (Duran Duran)
60) Alabama Getaway (Grateful Dead)

So there you have it. Could be real, could be bs, again that's the fun of rumors. But even if this is in-progress thinking, and not final stuff, it shows Harmonix is not F-in around, and will move to counter Guitar Hero: World Tour's peripherals and custom song features with outstanding content.

Rock Band Two Rumored Track List [8bitfix, in comments]
60 Rock Band 2 Tracks Leaked [Loading Reality, thanks Max]

We questioned the possibility of Forza 3 being distributed on more than one disc. Our source was quick to comment that “one way or the other, the core game will be shipped on a single disc. Content won’t be sacrificed … fans will be pleasantly surprised for what’s in store.”

Angry Pixel went snooping around Dhruva Interactive, a Bangalore-based developer that's worked on Forza in the past, as well as Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4, so presumably the unnamed source is from there. There was the obligatory "more to come fairly soon" (which means E3) but no other details.

Forza 3 is Coming, Sans Disc-Swapping [The Angry Pixel, via Gamer Center Online]

GayGamer notes that Svensson doesn't say which assertion is false — an offer of cash, or Capcom accepting — but "multiplatform release," means what it says, and thats moot. Also doesn't knock down the "big things" rumor about E3 but then, saying big things will be announced at that show is like saying a boxing match will feature people hitting each other in the face real hard.

Any Word if This is True or Not? [Capcom Unity, via GayGamer]

• The next Call of Duty will be known as "World at War" instead of CoD5. There are five box concepts leaked. There's speculation that calling it World at War is an effort to keep the lifespan of hot-selling CoD4 running as long as possible.

• Forza Motorsport 3 is so huge that the limitations of the DVD format became an issue. It will include 400 cars, 100 tracks and must ship on two discs. Car deformation was also mentioned as a feature of the new title.

Possible CoD5 Rename, Plus Boxarts and pic [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Forza Will Have 2 Discs, 400 Cars, More [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

A yet-to-be-plugged leak has spilled rumors and secrets on Call of Duty, Forza Motorsport 3, and plans for Xbox Live. Xbox 360 Fanboy is rooting through the plumbing, here's what has broken so far on that site.

• Microsoft seems to be developing a response to the Mii, confirming a long running-rumor. From the docs obtained, it seems avatars will replace the gamer picture and "provide a more lifelike, animated, and fully customizable persona."

More on these leaks as they develop.

Rumor: Avatars are Microsoft's Take on Miis? [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

[Speight] who voiced Gears of War's "Cole Train", recently made an appearance at the TriForce panel at Wizard World to shoot the breeze about the company's line of GoW-related replicas. When asked about the sequel's release date, the TriForce crew remained tight lipped, though Rasta suggested asking him again on November 16.

Sounds specific enough to me. The tip came in via David Hinkle of DS and Wii Fanboy. They're pursuing. We will too as soon as more is known.

Rumor: Voice of 'Cole Train' suggests November 16 release for Gears of War 2 [Joystiq]

Reader hukeedonfonics also tipped us to the above video, which shows in-game XMB over the BioShock title screen. Comments claim a BioShock developer leaked it.

Gaming Age writes that requested features like a universal friends list, and in-game messaging will be a part of the drop, in addition to "a few rather nice surprises (*cough*soundtracks*cough*)" (their words, not mine.)

So, spread the word, and we'll hopefully have more on this as it develops.

PS3 In-Game XMB is Coming[Gaming Age, via NeoGAF, thanks hukeedonfonics]

So ... now what? Analysts quoted in a Friday San Francisco Chronicle story still think the deal will get done. Michael Pachter cited the Wall Street Journal story that places Rockstar's Dan Houser in the pivot, as his contract with Take-Two is up next year and he's open to EA ownership. Pachter's reasoning: Houser would broker the deal in hopes of being rewarded by his new employer. EA talks about how GTA IV's success was already built into its offer to Take-Two, so surely GTA IV's success is already built into Take-Two's relationship with Houser. A grateful EA might be willing to throw in a premium Houser couldn't negotiate otherwise.

Even though the deadline was not extended, as some suspected, that by itself doesn't preclude another offer. Weekend deadline negotiations are usually for labor unions and management. They certainly aren't covered by amateurs like yours truly, or the Agence France Presse writer who called the game "Grand Theft Auto IV: Liberty City Stories." We're not that well sourced. Once the regular writers and analysts get back in the office this week, someone will say something.

Deadline Passes in EA Bid to Buy Take-Two [AFP/Yahoo News, via Joystiq]

Metroid was optioned for a film deal way back in 2004, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And then, nothing. I can't get this Swedish blog to load, but the date on this poster — if it's European format, that's February 5, 2009 and that's a Thursday. If it's US, that's May 2 (prime blockbuster season — have we ever had a video game adaptation release in May? I don't follow that closely) and that's a Saturday. US releases typically open on Wednesdays or Fridays.

Oh, and John Woo is not in the Comic Con's list of guests.

Debunked?

John Woo to Announce Metroid Film at NYC Comic-Con [Destructoid, via The Tanooki]

But this has been up for a solid two days, Rockstar hasn't demanded it be taken down (could they? I dunno) and the comments on its YouTube page point out a zillion problems with it. But what do they know? It is time for Kotakopolis to pass judgment: Is this real or is this fake? You make the call! Vote after the jump.

Arguments Pro:
It's got a case!
Immigrant's Guide to Liberty City
I WANT TO BELIEVE

Arguments Con:
Convenient transition right as 360 boots
Gameplay or it's fake
Music sucks
Rockstar hasn't bothered to get YouTube to take it down

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

She claims that Avatar, that's James Cameron movie game by Ubisoft Montreal, will feature images enhanced by theater-quality 3D glasses. We're guessing it's shutter polarized technology (not the red and blues above), and quite a few companies are still playing with 3D glasses (I last saw a 3D TV by JVC at CES 07...it was kinda neat). She also adds that a "Japanese company" is making a similar 3D "incarnation of a legendary racing franchise."

If the rumors are true, Ubisoft is making a huge gamble. Video and video-enhancing eyewear has been around for a long time and never taken off. But that doesn't mean it's out for the count.

December twenty-sixth things. [via gonintendo]

Not content to break the fictitious news that the Master Chief is dating a Hollywood star, satire site Dateline Hollywood also "reports" that the big MC is gay.

The site says that MC was seen hanging out with High School Musical star Zac Efron during the Universal City launch of Halo 3 last week and points to the widely spread images of the duo as proof of their hot story.

Not everyone is surprised, though, particularly those who have fought Master Chief in battle.

"He's a great warrior, but frankly, I started to get suspicious when he kept wanting to 'cover my rear' during our recent battle to prevent the covenant from setting off the Halo rings and destroying the universe," said the Arbiter, an alien who fought alongside Master Chief in "Halo 3."

Added Cortana, a female artificial intelligence who was once implanted in Master Chief's helmet: "I've been saying that Master Chief is a huge f*g for years, but no one believed me."

Cortana, who was not invited to the "Halo 3″ premiere event, ended up crashing the party.

"I'm pretty sure I heard Master Chief tell Zac he'd like to get his hands on his Covenant-held Forerunner structure," she said. "We all know what that means."

Ooooh, hoo, ho, ho, but don't we... wait, what does it mean again?

Zac Efron Rumored to be Dating Master Chief [Dateline Hollywood]