Bin War

Midway Games is seeking the sale of its business and assets to Warner Bros Entertainment for USD 33 million.

Under a "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement, Midway has filed a sale and bid motion in the Bankruptcy Court to conduct the sale.

Assets including Midway's Mortal Kombat franchise and development studios in Chicago and Seattle would be included in the deal, but the deal does not include Midway studios in San Diego or Newcastle, nor the TNA franchise.

THQ's mixed martial arts fighter UFC: Undisputed has hit the top of the UK charts on its first week of release, as a handful of new titles shake up the top ten.

Sales of the title are evenly split 52 per cent and 48 per cent on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 respectively, with the title holding off Pokemon Platinum for the DS, which debuts at number two.

Electronic Art's big Wii Fit challenger EA Sports Active enters the charts at number three, pushing Nintendo's chart stalwart down to number four.

Atari's latest financial results reveal that the publisher expects to release the Xbox 360 version of Cryptic's superhero MMO Champions Online this year, and follow it up with Star Trek Online before the end of March 2010.

The PC version of Champions Online recently had its release delayed from June to September 1st in North America and 4th in Europe.

Atari's earnings statement says the game will be released on "PC in September 2009, X-Box in Q3" of its 2009/2010 fiscal year. Atari's financial year runs from April to March, which would put release of the 360 version sometime between October and December of this year.

Sony Computer Entertainment will bundle its upcoming action-adventure inFamous with PlayStation 3 hardware, according to an online retailer listing.

According to a product listing on Amazon UK, the game will be bundled with the 80GB version of the console. The package will be available for the game's May 29 launch at GBP 279.99.

Sony has a long tradition of releasing its high profile first-party titles in hardware bundles, with similar packages available in the UK for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Little Big Planet and Killzone 2. The company has also experimented with "movie pack" Blu-ray bundles, which include popular films such as Batman Begins and I Am Legend.

Atlus, the publisher behind the Trauma Centre series, is bringing a new medical-themed title to the Wii.

Trauma Team will let you play as a general surgeon, diagnostician, E.M.T., orthopedic surgeon, endoscope technician or medical examiner. Yes, gentlemen, you are about to enter the most fascinating sphere of police work: forensic medicine.

Expect "all-new dynamic story sequences inspired by Japanese animation and comics", plus hand-drawn art and "quality voice acting". The whole thing is said to be "bigger, more exciting and more balanced than ever before", making for "the ultimate medical entertainment experience". It's not clear whether you get to live on a boat.

Final Fantasy will not be released in North America until 2010, a billboard advertisement has confirmed.

The billboard, plastered on a building in Los Angeles in preparation of next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, reveals the date with a simple "Coming 2010" message.

Final Fantasy XIII is scheduled for release in Japan for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in the fourth quarter of this year. While it was widely believed that localised versions would not be out until 2010, such speculation was not confirmed until this advertisement's appearance.

Phil Harrison has become the non-executive director of Atari, following the company's shift to a US-centric publishing business.

Harrison joined the company as president in March last year, but the struggling company has since moved away from publishing directly in Europe, instead working with Namco Bandai and Sony.

"Because of a shift of business operations to the US, Phil Harrison will move from the role of president to that of non-executive director of the group. As all board members, he will continue to assist, support and guide the company's strategy," said Atari.

Representatives of TransGaming have announced that the company has opened an internal game development studio, and have partnered with Foreign Media Games on the development of a game for Nintendo's Wii.

The Canadian studio, which is known primarily for porting games to the Macintosh and iPhone, has begun developing its first original game, titled Armin van Buuren - In the Mix. The game, developed in partnership with Foreign Media Games, will be a DJ simulator based on the career and output of performer Armin van Buuren.

"It's an absolute thrill for our first game to be a new global franchise based on the top DJ in the world, Armin Van Buuren," said TransGaming CEO and president Vikas Gupta. "We are confident that Armin van Buuren – In the Mix will propel the highly popular music gaming genre to new heights with its innovative game play experience that embodies the creativity, energy and artistry of the ultimate DJ."

Microsoft has announced that sales of the Xbox 360 have surpassed 30 million units globally.

According to the company, Xbox Live membership has now passed 20 million active users, with US consumers spending over USD 14.5 billion on Xbox 360 product at retail.

"We've always been confident that Xbox 360 offers more entertainment value than any other console on the market, and these latest numbers show that consumers agree," offered Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.

World Wrestling Entertainment has lost its appeal against Jakks Pacific and THQ over alleged bribery and racketeering charges.

An appeal to the US District Court for the Second District has been dismissed, affirming a previous dismissal from the Connecticut Superior Court.

"We are pleased that both the Federal District Court and the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit have dismissed WWE's federal claims," said Jakks Pacific chairman and co-CEO Jack Friedman.

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