Rockstar Games, popular child of parent company Take-Two Interactive, deals not in sandbox titles nor smut simulators, but in controversy. GamesIndustry.biz interview conducted with Take-Two CEO Ben Feder to discuss the controversial gaming landscape which the publisher's popular Grand Theft Auto games have decisively staked as its own territory, as well as the constantly changing topography of that landscape.

Now that many gamers have finished Grand Theft Auto IV's expansive campaign, the focus for many players looking for more storyline longevity from the title has shifted to the promised downloadable content. When asked how he feels about DLC's business model when (ostensibly) compared to other sales methods, Feder expressed his belief that the core GTA fans will be "screaming to buy it" when it becomes available.

Feder admitted that GTA software "just saturates hardware," but increased hardware sales are pivotal if GTA sales are to be increased. According to Feder, this holiday season's hardware sales will go a long way toward deciding which platform will receive more DLC. After all, noted Feder, it's financially wise for Take-Two to aim for the platform with the larger user base: more gamers equal more money.

The interview can be found on GamesIndustry.biz.

Okay, so we lied. We had to make another pun, because this one was just too easy. In the TOJam 2008 competitor Cheese Blaster Extreme, you play a man with a large gun whose goal it is to destroy an army of cheese. You can see how our awful puns relate! The game itself is fairly simple, consisting of just mouse control and your goal of killing the oncoming hordes of cheese. You can control a tank along with your regular guy. The character is no pushover either, being armed to the teeth. The graphics and sound are both phenomenal, and the gameplay is just simple arena action, making this a great game to chill with.

MCV magazine recently spoke with Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl on the recent merger between Activision and Vivendi that resulted in the largest gaming conglomerate in existence.

Due to the high number of popular franchises developed by Activision and Blizzard individually, MCV was curious as to which titles might be considered high priority in terms of the new juggernaut's future plans. Not surprisingly, Tippl was quick to herald Guitar Hero, which he stated has "sold more than any video game in the history of the industry," and the continued focus on Call of Duty.

On Blizzard's side of the equation is the ever-popular World of WarCraft, which now boasts more than 11 million worldwide subscribers, making it the leading subscription-based MMO. Coupled with last year's StarCraft II announcement and the more recent unveiling of Diablo III, Tippl didn't have to work hard to convince MCV (or anyone else in the gaming world) that Blizzard's line-up will be as strong as ever through the next several years.

Specifics regarding stock shares were also discussed. When asked if Vivendi's 52 per cent holding classified the merger as more of an acquisition of Activision than a partnership, Tippl discussed the company's recently announced self-tender, " which will last for 20 business days. During that period of time, shareholders who want to sell up can do so at a price of $27.50."

The full interview is available at MCVUK.com.

Alan Wake has been spotted... in Tokyo. According to a Microsoft promotional flyer the highly anticipated psychological thriller will make an appearance at the Tokyo Games Show in September. But there's more.

Microsoft held a competition last year called "WOW - Win Experiences Money Can't Buy" that gave one lucky winner the chance to be "digitally made-over and inserted (virtually of course) into a blockbuster game!" That game being Alan Wake. Whoever the lucky winner was flew to Finland where they were digitally mastered and inserted into Wake's world. Well, a year is a long time to wait to see the finished product, but the second part of the prize will come to fruition in September when the winner will be flown to the 2008 Tokyo Games Show to finally see themselves on the screen.

It looks like the hype meter for Alan Wake is set to go red-line later this year.

"I told them it was unsafe, and highly unstable. They didn't listen."

That sentence never bears good tidings. Developer Raven Software and publisher Activision have released the trailer for their upcoming third-person action title, Singularity. Action, yes, but we'll be darned if this doesn't have a distinct horror flare to it as well. Singularity is in development for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Are you in the mood to plunder some booty? Not the modern meaning of "booty," you pervert - pirate booty. You know, treasure: gold coins, scepters, crowns, that sort of thing. For those looking to scour the open seas for treasure, developer Certain Affinity and publisher Capcom's Age of Booty should fit your bill, swabbie.

Every time at E3, there's a game that you have never heard of before you arrive that you get to see and totally surprises you. For us, that game at E3 2008 was Wanted, a title that actually serves as a sequel to the impressive Universal Studios action game based (loosely) on the Top Cow comic book from writer Mark Millar and artist J.G. Jones.

At a last minute appointment during E3 we got to see a quick live demo of the Wanted game at Warner Bros. Interactive's meeting room (the company is distributing the title) on an Alienware PC using an Xbox 360 Windows controller. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, here's a MAJOR SPOILER WARNING as we intend to talk about the ending in the next paragraph

The trailer train keeps on-a-rollin'! Bionic Commando is a rarity for the gaming industry. Ordinarily when a company revamps a classic title they are met with great hostility unless it holds true to the original vision. When Bionic Commando was first revealed gamers shrugged it off to the side expecting it to be a train-wreck -- a cash-in on nostalgic memories, if you will. But then something happened, the game started to look good. Real good. Now, we can barely get enough of it. Coming soon from Capcom, Bionic Commando has the potential to be something special and from what we've seen we're hopeful.

A developer from Flagship Studios' Mythos team has written a forum post to bid the game's community a fond farewell, but not before thanking them for their support. The post has been included in its entirety below.

Well, it's an interesting few days here for all of us. It's just been killing me not to post until now, but I really needed to wait until some things were settled and announced. As you may or may not know Flagship Studios laid off almost all employees effective friday - you should be able to see the press release in the Announcements. Now, on the face of it, that really does sound like the end of Mythos as we know it - but we have a tight-knit team that feels like family and hopes to stick together. Unfortunately, I can't speak at any real length about our immediate plans just yet - but let's say that we hope to have you back up and Beta testing for us in one way or another sometime soon.

You've been an incredible community that we've all felt priveleged to be a part of, and we're not quite ready to let go of that little family just yet. No matter the outcome, this has been a fantastic experience, and I and the team would like to thank each and every one of you for the tireless hours of testing and discussion you've undergone, and the uniquely friendly community spirit that you all helped foster. It's been a treat every step of the way.

So, I'm not exactly sure how long Mythos in its current form will remain up, since it is effectively a testing server. I'll try to get you that information as soon as I can.
In the meantime, I know the rest of the team would love to post their farewells and thanks to all of you. We'll try to keep you as up to date as we can in one way or another.

Thanks again to all of you - and I hope to be seeing all of you online again very, very soon.
Travis

During the assault of E3 festivities, GameTrailers.com was able to interview one of the designers working on Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, the oft-delayed but still anticipated action-oriented sandbox game due out later this year from Pandemic Studios. Designer Laura Paolilli walks GameTrailers through a mission entitled "Paint the Town," which highlights many features fans can look forward to in the Mercenaries sequel.

Due for release on November 4, a scant three days before the new movie, is James Bond: Quantum of Solace, in development and published by Activision. Released during this year's E3 event, the teaser trailer shows the hard-hitting action fans have come to expect from Daniel Craig's portrayal of the venerable 00 agent.

Though a few fun Bond games have been released over the past decade's, it's arguable that not a truly enthralling one has been released since Rare's 1998 opus, Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64. Will Quantum of Solace be the next must-have Bond title? Find out this November when James Bond: Quantum of Solace makes its way to Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Gearbox Software released several details on their upcoming post-apocalyptic shooter Borderlands during the Take-Two Interactive E3 press conference earlier today, reports Shacknews. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford touted the game as a cooperative shooter with randomized elements such as items and level-based progression.

Set on the planet Pandora, Pitchford showed a cavernous mine filled with "trives of humanoid enemies to destroy," according to Shacknews. The game will contain over half a million weapons, all of which are supposed to be procedurally generated. "A revolver sniper rifle was spawned during the demo that even surprised Pitchford," says Shacknews. Many of the weapons contain wild explosive effects, prompting Pitchford to promise significant gore and limb loss.

Before the demonstration concluded, vehicles were shown via a dune buggie that was driven by two players working in tandem. Two classes, the Hunter and the Solider, were revealed.

Shown at yesterday's Sony E3 press conference, the newest DC Universe Online trailer is now available for viewing. Depicting legendary heroes and villains such as Batman, Joker, Superman, Bizarro, Catwoman, Bane, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Flash, and Wonder Woman, the upcoming PS3 and PC MMO from Sony Online Entertainment won't allow you to play as the iconic characters themselves, but judging by the trailer, you'll get to do more than your fair share of fighting alongside them.

It looks like the rumors were true; a game based on the recent action film Wanted is indeed in the works. Today the official press release came down the wires with word that developer GRIN (Bionic Commando) is handling the development chores for the game which will be published by Warner Bros. Interactive.

According to the press release the Wanted game will be in third person and take place after the events of the movie as Wesley Gibson learns more about to be a super assassin. The game will feature a "multi-layer cover mechanic" and allow the player to curve bullets in flight. We are expected to see at least some aspect of the game at E3 today. In the meantime Wanted is due out for release this fall for the PC and other platforms.

Activision didn't mention E3 once during its press conference Tuesday night but the event certainly wouldn't have been held without all those journalists who just happened to be in Los Angeles attending the event. We mentioned a couple of things about the press conference already but here are a few more bits that might interest PC gamers:

Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War was one of several games show in trailer form at the event (no live demos unfortunately). One of the two trailers showed off co-op gameplay in the Pacific Theater of WWII which is a first for th Call of Duty series. Also, the company announced that Jack Bauer himself, actor Kiefer Sutherland, will voice a character in the game and his unmistakable gravel-like voice was heard in the co-op trailer.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows was also shown and is the latest open world action game for Marvel's web slinger. The visuals of Spider-Man engadging in mid-air combat against the Vulture were pretty impressive.

The new James Bond game based on the movie Quantum of Solace was also shown in demo form. As previously announced the game will also have movie elements from Daniel Craig's first Bond flick Casino Royale and we were treated to two gameplay sections in the trailers. One, from Casino Royale, showed Bond taking out armed bad guys in a hotel room and creating a lot of damage. The other was a never-before-seen section from Quantum of Solace which showed Bond fighting the bad guys in a sewer system.

While mention was made on the just completed Activision Blizzard merger no Blizzard or former Vivendi Games titles were shown at the event.