Crispy Gamer News

Sony has denied reports that it was considering additional restructuring actions beyond what it had announced in December. The speculation came from  a report over the weekend that said the company planned a big corporate upheaval. This might include more job cuts, dramatic changes to management and manufacturing processes, according to UK-based paper, the Times of London. If true, the restructuring would probably be announced after the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Naturally Sony flatly denies the report saying that it has no further beyond the job cuts and plant closures it unveiled in December. 

“We announced the restructuring of the electronics business last month,” said Sony spokesman Atsuo Omagari, speaking to Bloomberg. “We are not planning to announce further restructuring at this time.”

U.K. newspaper the Independent ran a story over the holiday weekend that Microsoft is considering a massive layoff of 10 - 16 percent of its workforce. The report is based on a report last week filed on the Fudzilla blog. Microsoft has no comment on the story. According to that blog report the layoffs could come as early as January 15, ahead of a week ahead of the company’s announcement of the December quarter results. No further information on what divisions might be feel the heat, but with an estimated 90,000 cuts i’d imagine EVERY division will share in the pain. Of course it’s all unconfirmed rumor at this point.

Rumors today peg a start-up comprised of former Realtime World Studios employees as a possible developer for Crackdown 2. Realtime Worlds studio head Colin MacDonald responds. First the particulars. A picture appearing on FlickR revealed a new Dundee, Scotland start-up looking for office space. The new company is called Ruffian Games and of note is that Crackdown lead designer Billy Thomson is a key player in the start-up. The picture also shows Xen Group veteran Gaz Liddon, who provided the technology to build the original game. After Crackdown was complete, Billy Thomson did a stint at the company.

Now to the prevailing, unconfirmed rumor: Microsoft is in talks with Ruffian to create the sequel to the hit action game for Xbox 360. Given the familiarity that Billy Thomson has with the franchise - along with a handful of other former Realtime Worlds who are now at the start-up - the rumor seems pretty viable. There’s also a rumor that Microsoft is providing funding for Ruffian. Both rumors have not been confirmed. This is according to Gamasutra.

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According to a report from Kyle Orland on Joystiq citing several anonymous but reliable sources inside Ziff Davis, the UGO Network is making a play for the popular 1UP site. Employees were told earlier this week in a staff meeting that they should prepare for the possibility that the popular ad and affiliate network might purchase them.

1UP Network is comprised of 1UP.com, GameVideos.com and MyCheats.com. The site was designed to be an online destination to promote Games For Windows Magazine and Electronic Gaming Monthly. Games For Windows Magazine was shut down last year, and this deal could see the end of EGM because UGO apparently has no interest in owning that part of the business. FileFront.com, a popular destination for downloading all kinds of PC software and media, may also prove to be a victim in the deal, as UGO has no interest in the site. The report goes on to say that UGO would let 1UP.com continue to independently operate.

Besides giving UGO direct and instant access to all of the network’s access, it also gives the company the ability to sell and service ads to that market without having to pay the percentage it pays its third-part affiliates. The deal, if it is real, is in the advanced stages at this point and could be finalized soon, according to Orland’s report. Stay tuned for more on this as it develops.

Source: Joystiq via Kyle Orland

According to CVG, who taps into a questionable news report from a UK newspaper The Sunday Times, Sony’s Home will launch on Dec. 17. The virtual world space, which has been compared (much to the chagrin of Sony) to Second Life, lets users create a virtual space of their own complete with themed decor, trophies and other baubles. Home also lets you enter into public areas where you can find other players to chat with or play against in a relaxed setting.

The Sunday Times report may just be a confused moment on the part of the writer, or maybe even wishful thinking; gamers are expecting an open beta, as opposed to the final version of Sony’s special product so soon. Still, the Home beta is in the hands of hundreds of thousands of gamers now, so maybe it is ready for wide distribution. The official word so far from Sony is no word at all: “No comment.” We’ll keep you posted.

Computer and Video Games, citing a second “reliable” undisclosed source, says that Starbreeze Studios is working on a new syndicate game for electronic Arts. This latest report follows a report last week citing another reliable undisclosed source that said Syndicate was the super secret project Starbreeze had signed on to do for EA.

EA is not commenting on what exactly Starbreeze is working on at this time, so it is hard to tell whether or not we could see a return pof of syndicate to the PC and current generation platforms like the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The original game, released in 1993 by EA and developed by Bullfrog proved to be very popular among fans. In this real-time tactical strategy game players took control of a militant global corporation’s cyborg soldiers. Players control four of these cyborgs agents, invading cyberpunk-themed cities, assassinating executives of a rival corporations, rescuing captured allies, convincing civilians to join, demolishing buildings, and killing enemy agents. Fu, fun.

Well I certainly hope this story is true, for now it’s just a rumor. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Source: C&VG

According to an MCV report, which cites an “impeccable source in Japan,” a new version of Nintendo’s DS hand-held will be announced tomorrow morning. The new version of Nintendo’s ultra popular dual screen hand-held will have some sort of multimedia function, though no specific details are available as of this writing.

But don’t worry, there’s plenty of speculation on what “might be” announced tomorrow. Among the rumored features is the plan to offer support for multimedia like pictures and music, and possible support for external storage devices via the GBA slot - which will be replaced.

While all the wild speculation is interesting, what is more interesting is not what this new DS will do, but rather when it will be released. We’ll have more on this story as it develops, and hopefully Nintendo will have release dates for Japan and other regions tomorrow.

Source: MCV