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The Rumor Round-Up summarizes and highlights the most important gaming related gossip over the past week. This weekly article, in conjunction with the Week in Review, will keep you plugged in and in-tune. According to Infogrames CEO David Gardner, despite the company’s recent losses, the Atari brand is strong enough that Infogrames should actually abandon their name and re-brand themselves as Atari. The news is still unconfirmed, but it may be a likely scenario considering all of the changes both companies have been going through. The appointment of David Gardner as CEO and that of Phil Harrison as President has brought a new corporate culture to the company. We will have to wait and see if a completely new image will help to bring the company the kind of success the executive duo and shareholders expect. The release of Alone in the Dark this summer should tell them if the move is viable. According to an article in Variety magazine, Rockstar may sell anywhere from 6 – 9.5 million units of GTA in its first week on the market. These figures are speculative but are based on the massive quantities of pre-orders being made. If the game moves the low-end prediction of units it will gross over $500 million dollars! The recurring Xbox handheld rumor keeps popping up. This time it is fueled by the $500 million purchase of Danger, the makers of the Sidekick mobile device. Recent key acquisitions by Microsoft have left the company in a strong position to vie for dominance in the mobile device sector. Tantalizingly, Microsoft stated that “Combining these services with Microsoft’s connected entertainment and experiences technologies, including MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live and Windows Mobile, will provide Microsoft with the tools to accelerate its work to create industry-leading entertainment and communication experiences for consumers.” According to Japanese-based Corocoro Comics via DarkZero, Paper Mario will come to the DS in Japan sometime in July with a US release to follow shortly thereafter. The handheld release is as of yet not detailed and unconfirmed, but it is felt that the game will most likely be a straight port of the 2001 N64 title that received critical acclaim but less-than-ideal sales figures. According to internet buzz, Diablo III or Diablo Online will be the next major hit released from Blizzard. The game has been in production since 2000, but now it looks as if the franchise is building up a head of steam. Click HERE for more detail. Not surprisingly, it looks as if one of the huge Nintendo announcements at this year’s E3 will be that of a new Zelda title. It has been long rumored, and actually, almost taken for granted that it’s the case. In an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, Jeremy Parish was able to wring out a bit of info from the iconic developer. Miyamoto specifically stated that, “The Zelda team is forming again to work on new games!” Not only is a new Zelda likely, but the use of the word “games” (plural) is telling. We will bring you more on this once the hints turn into facts this July. Thanks so much everyone and we will see you next week! |