eidos posts

Warren Spector, despite the fact that he has (temporarily we hope) left the PC game space to work on some Wii game called Epic Mick-something-or-other, is still in love with the Deus Ex game franchise. How much? So much that, according to a new Variety article, he tried to buy the rights to the series from its current owners Eidos. Unfortunately for us, he failed.

Spector clearly wants to work on the franchise saying, "There were and still are 'Deus Ex' stories I would like to tell. That story is not done for me." Eidos' Montreal studios are currently working on Deus Ex 3 but they have been extremely quiet for the most part on their progress since the game was announced two years ago.

It surprised many in the industry earlier this year. Batman: Arkham Asylum did in both sales and in solid reviews for the super hero action game, a genre known for its disappointing titles. So of course there are rumblings that a sequel to the game from developer Rocksteady and published Eidos might be in the works.

According to Goononline.com, the new issue of the Official Playstation Magazine has a quote from Rocksteady's Sefton Hill. When asked about the possibility of a sequel to the game he says, "I'm not really allowed to comment on that, but there are definitely lots of exciting stories to tell in Batman's world, and I can say that we're really privileged to work on it, and excited about future possibilities." Sounds like sequel talk to us.

When it comes to getting impossible jobs done, Just Cause 2 will let players run wild to creatively overcome any and all obstacles.

"As Rico Rodriguez, the Agency's most powerful weapon, players must take on the island and its military regime to track down Rico's former boss and mentor, Tom Sheldon, who has gone rogue in Panau with millions in Agency cash and secrets. Using a unique grapple and parachute combination, there is no vertical limit as the air becomes your playground: grapple a passing plane in flight, hijack helicopters or BASE jump from the tallest buildings or mountains."

Download HD Just Cause 2 'No Ordinary Mission' Trailer (111 MB)
Check out all Just Cause 2 downloads

And you thought Uwe Boll had video game movies on the brain. Hollywood movie producer Adrian Askarieh also loves to turn video games into feature films and his first effort, the adaptation of the Eidos game Hitman in 2007, brought in over $100 million in revenues (even if it got mixed reviews from critics).

Our sister site GameDaily has posted up a chat with Askarieh who talks about his various upcoming movie projects which include the long-in-development movie adaptation of Kane and Lynch. Askarieh says that the film, after " . . . two and a half years of false starts, is finally going into production." Filming will begin in March 2010 and it still has Bruce Willis signed on for playing Kane. Another Eidos game property, Just Cause, will "shoot spring of next year." A Hitman movie sequel is in the works but Askarieh says its unknown if the first movie's lead, Tim Olyphant, will return, although he states, " . . . we'd love to have Tim if he wants to do the movie."

This patch for Championship Manager 2010 addresses a number of game issues and adds game enhancements. A list of changes is shown after the jump. The playable demo can be downloaded here.

Download Championship Manager 2010 October Patch (118 MB)
Download Championship Manager 2010 Demo (720 MB)

As with just about any open-world game, the environment is as much a part of the game as the main character. Avalanche Studios, developers of Just Cause 2, talk about the setting of Panau Island, where players will spend their time driving, sky diving and blowing things up. The goal is to make this place one big playground for the player to explore. To see some of the stunts you can pull off, check out the previous developer video.

Download HD Just Cause 2 'The Island of Panau' Video (176 MB)
Check out all Just Cause 2 downloads

Steam's weekend sales deal involves a bald guy with a talent for sniper shooting. The PC game download service has put three of Eidos' Hitman games on the price chopping block from now until Monday. Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money are just $4.99 each. You can also get all three games in a bundle for $9.99.

In related news, Steam has lowered the price of the strategy game Defense Grid: The Awakening to a new permenant price of just $9.99. Also an upcoming futuristic action game, Metal Drift, is taking pre-orders for just $9.99. People who put their money down early get immediate access to the game's beta test.

The DRM-free web site GoG.com has added yet another game from developer Pyro Studios to its line up of downloadable titles. This time it's Imperial Glory, the historical RTS game. Similar to the more recent Empire: Total War, this game was set in the late 18th-early 19th centuries and even has naval battles. The game was first released by Eidos in 2005 but the game's rights have apparently been bought by Kalypso Media. You can download the game now for $5.99.

In related news, GoG.com has put another of their games on sale. The adventure game Broken Sword 2 can be purchased for $1 off its normal $5.99 price tag from now until Sunday.

There are rare few good superhero games that are based on existing licenses, and there have certainly been no great games involving Batman. You can cringe every time you hear about a Batman game, and it will normally be justified. But not with Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is one of the best superhero games of all time, and certainly the best Batman game ever made. It combines some excellent atmosphere with a truly amazing faithfulness to old-school style, and this classic feel makes it one of the best games this year.

Last week, Batman: Arkham Asylum was released for the PC and quickly got its first free downloadable map pack. Tomorrow, publisher Eidos intends to release a second such free map pack for the super hero action game. The Prey in the Darkness Map Pack will be available exclusively via the Games For Windows Live Marketplace for the PC version.

One of the two new maps will be titled Heart of Darkness and is a Combat FreeFlow level where the Caped Crusader will fight off enemies at the Arkham Pumping Station. The other new map is an Invisible Predator level called Hothouse Prey where Batman will take out his foes silently in the Abandoned Glasshouse. Hopefully there won't be any issues with getting these levels available to download like there were last week with the first map pack.

Update: According to this Eidos message board post, it looks like this DLC will NOT be released for the PC after all. There's no word as to why this decision was made but we will try to find out some more info.

Update 2: Eidos sent over a press release announcing that the map pack would be exclusively for the PS3 only in the US and for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in Europe.