www.gamasutra.com

The likelihood of Time Warner acquiring British publisher Eidos Interactive appears to have increased, as the American media giant buys up another 10 million shares in the beleaguered company.

The last round of reports surrounding Eidos suggested that Japanese publisher Square Enix was interested in acquiring the Tomb Raider and Hitman publisher, and Eidos was also believed to be fielding offers from EA and Ubisoft.

But Time Warner has always appeared the most likely winner of the apparent bidding war, as it already owns a minority stake in Eidos. In 2006, Warner Bros. also signed a comprehensive distribution and licensing deal with the publisher, granting Eidos access to many of Time Warner’s biggest intellectual properties and allowing for upcoming titles such as Batman: Arkham Asylum.

The new acquisition sees Time Warner shares in Eidos pass the 19 percent milestone, for a total of 52.52 million. Eidos only recently amended a “standstill” agreement with Time Warner, which had prevented the company from acquiring additional stock. However, the amended agreement prohibits Time Warner from acquiring more than a 30 percent total share.

Although the move is highly suggestive of Time Warner’s intention to acquire at least a controlling share in Eidos, neither company, nor any of its other suitors, has been willing to comment on the specifics of any plans.

With next month’s highly anticipated release of Notorious approaching, director Bob Teitel reveals what fans should expect from the Notorious B.I.G. biopic.

In an interview on National Public Radio, Teitel said the film will offer fans a close look into the life of Biggie before and after his rise to fame. Teitel also revealed initial difficulties he faced in trying to capture the rapper’s life.

“It was an interesting film,” Teitel said. It was actually one of the toughest films we had to tackle because Christopher Wallace a.k.a. Notorious lived a short life but he lived a very rich life and to try and capture that in a biopic, it was a challenge.”

Aiming to offer fans a different side of the late emcee, Teitel revealed what viewers could expect. “Our challenge, was to bring a lot of events, that a lot of people didn’t really know about, and we touch on the East Coast, West Coast vibe a lot, too,” he added.

“With Sean Puffy’s character and Notorious, you get to see how these two kinda rose to the top with each other, definitely Puffy needed Christopher Wallace and Christoper needed Puffy and as a team they were unstoppable.”

Known for making hit films like Barbershop and Soulfood, Teitel also described how his film career was inspired by the rapper.

“For George [Tillman] and I, we made our first film in Chicago,” he explained. “And we drove to L.A. with $600 between us and one CD, and that was Notorious B.I.G., Ready To Die.”

In related news, the upcoming soundtrack will be released three days prior to the film’s release and offers demo recordings from Biggie’s early days as well as the new Jay-Z single “Brooklyn Go Hard.”

Notorious is currently scheduled to hit theaters Friday, January 16.

www.psxextreme.com

Well, forgive us if we make a prediction. Everyone else is allowed to do it every now and then, so why shouldn’t we be able to issue an opinion on what we consider to be the painfully obvious?

In 2008, the trio of PS3 exclusives made a significant impact, as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, LittleBigPlanet, and Resistance 2 represented big boosts to the system’s library. Everyone continually talks about exclusive titles these days, even though in this generation, most exclusives have gone the way of the dodo and 2D console side-scrollers. But perhaps it’s not so much about power or even top-quality software; perhaps it’s also about variety. After seeing the results of the Video Game Awards yesterday, I was left wondering: could PS3 exclusives completely dominate the genre/category awards in 2009? Think about it.

Killzone 2 clearly has the most potential for Best FPS of the year, although there are sure to be plenty of competitors. This is the game that has absolutely everyone talking, and after spending time with the beta and single-player campaign, we have told you that Guerilla’s blockbuster will live up to the admittedly monumental hype. We’re hardly the only publication that says so.

God of War III and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will likely have to do battle with Gears of War 3 next year, but either of those PS3 exclusives have a legitimate shot at a Best Action/Adventure award. At this point, it’s hard to doubt the magnificence of GoWIII, and based on the evidence – the original Uncharted – few are expecting anything less than a fantastic experience from the sequel.

White Knight Chronicles technically releases this year (December 25) in Japan, but of course, it won’t be available until 2009 for North America. It’s already shaping up to be a huge RPG; easily the most anticipated of the generation except for Final Fantasy XIII at this point. And remember, the rumor is that if it does well, Level 5 will sign on to develop games exclusively for Sony. Will 2009 be the first year where the PS3 finally has an exclusive RPG of the Year contender?

Heavy Rain should be a cinematic adventure experience that could be entirely unparalleled. You know all those separate awards like Best Graphics, Best Original Score, Studio of the Year, etc.? Well, Quantic Dream could make a similar statement in 2009 as Media Molecule did with LittleBigPlanet this year, and provided they come through on their claims, Heavy Rain could easily be one of the best of the generation.

Gran Turismo 5 will likely release towards the end of the year – Yamauchi has already laughed off the possibility of a 2010 launch – and if that’s the case, you may as well give it any and all Best Racing Game awards right now. It could easily be in the running for Best Graphics, too, although it’s more likely that one of the aforementioned titles takes that honor home. We already saw the potential in Prologue…just imagine what the final product will be like.

Really, the diversity amongst the PS3 exclusives next year is actually quite impressive. I find it difficult to find enough 360 exclusives to even begin to compare with the preceding list, and in the end, there could be a whole lot more reasons for gamers to purchase a PS3 next year…

wrestlezone.com

The following has been posted on WWE.com:

SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 contains just about anything you could want in a fighting game, including Inferno Matches, improved tag team battles and even a Create-A-Finisher mode. But even with all that and over sixty playable characters, some gamers have been left wanting more…

Coming soon, for the very first time, the WWE Universe will have an opportunity to download updated costumes and even new Superstars for the game.

Make sure to check back with WWE.com for information on additional content for Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, as well as the first content for PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.

Download Pack 1
Available for Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360
Price: 400 Microsoft Points

Evan Bourne – playable Superstar
Ted DiBiase, Jr. – playable Superstar
Charlie Haas – playable Superstar
Chris Jericho – alternate attire