Rumor Smash Galore: EA Not Interested in Epic, No Sega Portable

Often times it's more work to discover something is crap and shouldn't be posted than it is to find something that is. But we've heard so much noise about a couple things it's nice to put the rumor smash on two that couldn't pass the sniff test doused in Chanel No. 5. First, Electronic Arts is not buying Epic Games, OK? Doesn't matter that EA has tons of money and someone else with a lot of time on his hands has good ideas for what to do with it. "Rubbish," says Epic Vice President Mark Rein, a guy who's in position to actually know something substantive about this.Then everyone jumped on the bandwagon of a rumor that Sega was breaking back into the handheld market. That's not true either. Well, not exactly. The "Sega Vision" isn't a PSP competitor, unless Java games have gotten way more sophisticated, because that's it's only game functionality. Unofficial RPG Site ran down the Sega rumor with, of course, Sega itself. While it's not a fake, "it is not intended as a re-entry to the gaming hardware market or a rival to Sony or Nintendo's systems," said a spokesman. "Sega is committed to remaining a software third party in the videogames industry," the spokesman continued, "but also has several non-games products in the market. The Vision is primarily an MP4 video player with some basic games functionality, and not a new handheld gaming machine." Best part? "Further investigation on our part finds the Sega Vision isn't actually a Sega-developed device at all, and in fact a cheap Chinese iPod-style alternative, rebranded with the name of the fallen hardware company." So there you go. You didn't hear this stuff here first, for a reason. By the way the source of this EA-Epic rumor was the same site behind last week's Xbox 360 slim horseshit, shot down by Major Nelson himself. One's own personal speculation is fine — it helps if it's informed, of course — but it should always be clearly labeled as speculation. EA Buying Epic? "Rubbish" Says Rein [Videogaming247] SEGA Vision is "Real," Not a PSP Rival [Unofficial RPG Site]