Happy Meals [McDonalds, via Go Nintendo]

Previews: Watchmen [1UP]

Warner's Samantha Ryan explains:

Rather than the more traditional "time is limited squeeze the puppy onto the market" route, we wanted to craft something that's the best possible game it can be.

So Deadline Games will be developing two episodic titles, one due for release at the same time as the film, the second when it's released on DVD. If they perform well, the rest will follow.

These won't be cheap XBLA/PSN titles, either, as Ryan says the "graphics look as good as any traditional PS3 or 360 game sitting on the shelf at retail". As for gameplay, all that's known at the moment is that the game's a "brawler", and that two of the selectable characters are Night Owl & Rorsach (with Doc Manhattan and The Comedian surely included as well).

Why Warner is releasing Watchmen as episodic downloadable games [Variety]

Evil Avatar Radio Ep. Eleventy One - David Hayter [Evil Avatar]

Tremblay was Vivendi's worldwide studios president since 2006, overlooking the release of titles including Scarface: The World is Yours, World in Conflict, the Crash and Spyro series and F.E.A.R on consoles. Prior to that, Tremblay was President and COO at Ubisoft Montreal.

Warner Bros. has been creating, licensing and publishing some of the best in class interactive entertainment out there today," said Tremblay. "I look forward to working with the team of talented and creative people at WBIE to expand on the great work they are already doing."

Tremblay will begin at WBIE in July 2008, and will report directly to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara.

However, says Infogrames: "The SCi Board has declined, at this stage, to entertain Infogrames' offer."

Infogrames is still raring to go on the bid, though, saying that it has "sufficient resources" to satisfy the offer, and adding it has also "secured commitments" that will help fund SCi's potential working capital requirements. "Importantly," the statement adds, "Infogrames is in a position to move expeditiously with its proposal."

The regulatory announcement suggests the door's still open on the proposal, though there are no guarantees:

"Whilst Infogrames has been considering a range of options, including but not limited to a potential merger with SCi, there can be no certainty that any offer will be made for SCi," said the statement in part, concluding with, "A further announcement may be made, if and when appropriate."

SCi recently got a shot in the arm in the form of a $120 million bailout from investor Warner Bros.,who increased its stake in the company to 20 percent. In the process, SCi gained access to couple WB licenses (Looney Toons, The OC, the Batman comics) — and, apparently, lost 25 percent of its staff as well as some current projects (flagship titles like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex and Championship Manager are safe).

When approached for questions, a rep for SCi said he was unable to comment on the company's current business.

In the game, which is aiming for a release to coincide with the movie hitting later this year, Harry returns to Hogwarts for a sixth year. The game will include wizard duels, potion brewing and Quidditch play.

The game hits the DS, Mac, mobile devices, PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360. What no iPhone? Come on!

EA AND WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE VIDEO GAME
Fans will relive the thrills, action and excitement of the movie this holiday season

Guildford, U.K. – April 22nd, 2008 – EA’s Casual Entertainment Label and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced that the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™ video game will be released later this year to coincide with the Warner Bros. Pictures film based on J.K. Rowling’s sixth Harry Potter book.

“We believe that the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game represents a milestone in the movie tie-in genre,” said Harvey Elliott, Head of EA Bright Light studio in the UK where the Harry Potter franchise has its home. “Building on the technological advancements of previous games in the series and with a particular focus on the unique control system of Nintendo’s WiiTM, the team here is working closely with the filmmakers to create an immersive interactive experience that captures the story, the action, the excitement and, above all, the fun of the film. ”

“Working with EA, we look forward to offering fans a compelling Harry Potter video game, one which captures the thrilling storyline and high visual quality of the movie,” said Scott Johnson, Vice President, Business Development for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The adherence to the rich fiction is a trademark of this franchise and with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince fans will experience the most authentic and enjoyable game in the series to date.”

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simmering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

In the game of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, players will return to Hogwarts to help Harry survive a fraught sixth year. They will also have a chance to engage in exciting wizard duels, mix and brew magical ingredients in Potions class and take to the air to lead the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. Players may even get sidetracked by Ron’s romantic entanglements as they journey towards a dramatic climax and discover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

Under development by EA Bright Light Studio, the team behind the worldwide success of the Harry Potter library of games, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is scheduled for release in time for the movie launch this fall for the Wii, PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360™, PlayStation®2, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), Nintendo DS, Windows PC, Macintosh and mobile devices.

Teaser trailers for games seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Take, for example, the Lego Batman trailer just posted on Yahoo. It features 15 second of what looks to be CGI footage of Lego Batman and that's about it. Still, if the game is half as fun as Lego Star Wars I'm sure it will be a good time. Will we get to see Lego Robin as well? To see the trailer you'll have to click through to Yahoo, as it looks like they don't have a way to embed video with their less-than-stellar video player.

Lego Batman Teaser Trailer [Yahoo]

The game will follow a similar formula to the Lego Star Wars series, which is a good thing. You could simply swap a Batman model into either of the LSW games without changing anything else and still have the best Batman video game ever made.

The only bad thing about the whole deal is the sometime in 2008 release date, which means we have at the very least 9 months until we see this bat-baby on store shelves. Michael Fahey

'Lego' flies with Batman [Variety.com - Thanks Josh!]
screen courtesy of Fahey's mad photoshop skillz