Midway is now owned by Warner Bros. -- by default. The LA Times report that the media conglomerate has won the bidding rights to Midway for US$ 33 million. So how come they won it by default? According to reports, the big WB was the only one who had a "serious offer".

It's Unreal Engine 3's fault. This is what the former employees of Midway are claiming after the much publicized downspiral of the publishing company. But how did they pinpoint the technology to be the source of their woes? Find out after the jump.

After their takeover bid of Take-Two Interactive fell through, Electronic Arts may be on the hunt once again for another studio to buy out. Rumor has it that this time, EA's eyes are set on Epic Games.

THQ may have gone through some rough times lately, but it's not out of the fight yet. In fact  THQ president Brian Farrell announced that THQ's DS platformer Drawn to Life will eventually be making its way to the Nintendo Wii. Farrell also commented on other THQ franchises, such as the Stuntman and Juiced series. Read what he had to say after the jump.

Reacting to the company's revenue forecasts being lowered for the fiscal year, THQ CEO Brian Farrell has announced that the studio will be taking steps to address the situation. THQ's estimates for their fiscal year was recently lowered due to the lack of performance of their games.

Farrell explains that the company will be taking steps to ensure that the under-performance of Stuntman: Ignition (PS2, PS3, 360) and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, PC, DS) won't be repeated, saying that the incident is "not acceptable."

Farrell also goes on to explain the status of some of their games. The Xbox 360 and PC versions of Frontlines: Fuel of War are expected to ship on time, but the PlayStation 3 version will be delayed due to problems with the Unreal Engine. As for their game de Blob, Farrell explains that the delay was to give the game the "final level of polish" to make it "look more like a Nintendo-level Wii product."

Farrell also commented on the status of Saints Row 2 (PS3, Xbox 360), explaining that the departure of some of their lead design members (who formed the Blazing Lizard studio) will not affect the game. He states that "we haven't lost any key development talent. We have a tremendous studio there with a lot of talent."

Cubed's Adam Riley was able to get an interview with Square Enix's Senior Vice President Hiromichi Tanaka. Several new bits of information were revealed and several clarifications were made. Below are the finer points of the interview.

Anniversaries and Consoles - When asked about the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary project and whether or not Nintendo systems will see something special, considering that the franchise started on the NES, he responded by saying that games will be made for as many platforms as part of the project

Tanaka notes that the Wii will not be able to cope with Final Fantasy XI. Apparently, it has nothing to do with the hardware since the game has already appeared on the previous gen PS2. It has more to do with Nintendo's current online stance - which is not wanting people to interact online without the aid of Friends Codes. The bright side to this part is that Square Enix is currently in talks with Nintendo about coming up with a solution for this problem.

Franchises and dream teams - Tanaka san does not believe that the Secret of Mana franchise and the Seiken Densetsu franchise will see a remake or port in the near future, he does not however rule out working with Koichi Ishii on a future Mana title.

When asked for a clarification regarding the future for Chrono franchise, he says that it is certainly not out of the question that Chrono will make a return, it is just that it will come down to working out copyright details between the various members of the original team (Toriyama, Uematsu, Sakaguchi) most of whom are no longer staff of Square Enix.

Saving on development - In light of the FFIII engine, and the speculation that it might be re-used for other DS games, Tanaka notes that Square Enix has a habit of starting engines from scratch for each game. He says that this is proving to be inefficient and they are looking to amend this. Especially given the rising development costs of next generation titles. Aha! Reasoning behind the Unreal Engine 3 license.

That outlines most of the points covered. For a more in-depth look at Cubed
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6#@%!'s interview, feel free to use our "Read" link below

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UPDATE: More PSP rumors - 1UP reports Squeenix looks to be bringing the recently announced PSP remakes of the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II to the States. The evidence that sparked this rumor? A removed listing of the games on EBGames.

EBGames says that the game should be available on retail in June and July at a US$ 39.99 price point. 1UP notes that while EBGames listings are a good tool for prognosticating the reality/existence of games, the listings are not trustworthy when it comes to release dates and prices.

No, this vicious cycle isn't about ports to the PSP. Vicious Cycle's Eric Peters and John O'Neill talks to Gamasutra about their Vicious Engine, and their vicious faith in the PSP.

Yes, we emphasize that this isn't about ports because Vicious wants to be all about new IP. "With Dead Head Fred, which is a brand new IP, we felt that the PSP was a perfect platform for this new IP development, because it could be done on a smaller scope, and have less risk than say a next-gen title." The PSP also gives them a chance to show off what their new multi-platform Vicious Engine can do.

There was also word about... er, the Vicious competition: Unreal Engine 3. Well, not competition, really. O'Neill says that while Unreal really specializes in FPS/TPS games, they've tried to position Vicious as more multi-genre. And they really "aren't" competing with Unreal, in a sense.

Last time we mentioned something about Criterion and Unreal Engine 3 in the same EA boat. Since there's been quite a lot of news regarding Epic's baby, this article will be focusing on Criterion. Is there life after EA acquires UE3? So far, the latest we know about Criterion was that they were developing Burnout 5 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Alex Ward of Criterion was interviewed regarding the game and here's the gist.

Alex says that they will be starting the game from scratch with new hardware. What "new" hardware was he talking about? He wasn't clear whether they'll still be using the Renderware program, an upgraded version of Renderware, or the Unreal Engine 3. Regarding games being ported to other consoles, it's something they try to make special every time. They always add something new to each system. For instance, with Burnout Live Revenge, they spent a considerable amount of time working on visuals and content. Since Live Revenge was an online game, they see this as the future of gaming that the company would just love to get involved in.

Regarding the EA acquisition, life hasn't changed at all. Criterion is still Criterion. However, EA has been known to churn out sequels of old games. Are they willing to be identified with a company with that kind of reputation? Alex says that churning sequels of great games is something they're proud of. Games like Burnout, Black, Army of Two, Need for Speed, The Sims, and Medal of Honour are great games that deserve a sequel or two.

They are not picky when it comes to consoles. Whether they are from the ps2">PS2/Xbox gen or the next-gen, they will develop games for whatever console they are interested in. For example, they had the successful Burnout Legends in PSP, the somewhat, and the lukewarm-received DS Burnout game. However, mobile gaming is not yet in their plans, but that may change in the future. Is Criterion in the hot seat since EA acquired the license for the Unreal Engine 3? Pressure? Probably. But they're not showing it.