Midway’s been in deep water for some time now but finally Warner Bros. has picked them up and acquired all of their assets. But one question remains, what will the studio be called?

It was previously thought that Midway would just cease to exist and now operate under the Warner Bros. brand. However, Midway exec Geoff Mogilner was quoted to have said the following:

The name and the mark are owned by Warner Bros. and it is up to them to figure out the branding strategy.

Well Warner Bros., as long as you come out with a new Mortal Kombat game, we’ll call it even.

Read (Joystiq)

Unfortunately this won’t ever see the light of day due to the financial stumblings of Midway and their buy-out by Warner Bros. Ed Boon posted a render for sorceror Quan Chi onto his personal twitter account with the commentary “Excited about MK9 and WB, but wish we could have released DLC for MKvsDC”. Due to the abbreviated nature of twitter there aren’t any more details but with a huge roster of Mortal Kombat characters who hadn’t made the cut we’d probably have seen a fair number of fan favorites added to the list.

Not too long ago buzz began circulating the internet that suggested Midway’s San Deigo studios were in the final stages of being purchased by Warner Bros. Unfortunately for them, they have recently released a statement that Warner Bros. will not be picking them up.

And, to make things worse, they said that they have just 60 days to find a buyer before going completely out of business. Common you foreign investors, Midway needs your money help!

Read (Joystiq)

Larry Kasanoff has filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and his company, Threshold Entertainment claiming that in 1993 Midway granted him the rights in perpituity to the film and TV license for the series. Unfortunately for Kasanoff the clauses in his contract don’t actually grant that; his argument says that they ‘amount to the same thing’. He goes on to claim that Mortal Kombat is much more a product of Threshold than Midway since they claim that the characters in the video games were simply flat, stock archetypes who were developed into actual characters by the production company in the various films and tv series. That of course ignores all the inconsistencies between the depictions of the characters in their films and television series, not to mention that the film takes a certain degree of  story-related artistic license. In the film both Kano and Shang Tsung are killed, while as established in game canon by Mortal Kombat II (released two years before the film) Kano was a captive of Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung was still living.

His claims of establishing the back stories of the characters are illogical as well considering that with the exception of Liu Kang having a younger brother who was killed by Shang Tsung in the film, all the back stories of the characters in the film are established in the original Mortal Kombat. Much of Kasanoff’s claim is based on his argument that he made the series “more than just video games” and claims responsibility for its rise to fame, citing certain introductions by reporters and newscasters who mistakenly attribute the incredible popularity of the series to him. The original film was profitable for the same reason all video game films can be: fans go to see if they got it right, others get dragged along or go to see what looks like a fun, brainless action flick.

Creating one relatively successful movie, one terrible sequel and two television series that lasted a single season doesn’t grant Kasanoff the rights to even call it a ‘multimedia enterprise’ much less lay claim to any rights.

Many of the branches have already been They’re not going quietly into that good night- their Newcastle studio has revealed their last hope at getting a financial backer who can help them pull out of their slump. It’s an open-world action game called Necessary Force, set in the film cliche of a maverick cop in the city who makes his own rules. They’re looking to explore the ‘troubled morality’ of the situation with the game and feature the sort of choice/consequence idea that’s becoming increasingly popular these days.

The website for the game is up and features a trailer which looks good so far, though it seems to be long on rendered environments, concept art and cutscenes and short on actualy gameplay footage, but it does look good. Will this be enough to get someone interested in the studio? Can a non-fantastic open world title that lacks the familiar GTA branding succeed?

However, the deal will not include Midway-owned studios in San Diego and Newcastle. Midway confirmed that the offer has been made and will have 30 days to consider. The company also noted that several other buyers might be interested, although no formal offers have been made.

The team, whose latest output was Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, is currently in talks with other publishers to relocate. Apparently, all this stems from Midway failing to pay out bonuses for meeting the game’s sales targets.

Midway representatives claim that the unsecured creditors committee is holding up the payments. The company recently announced that it plans on selling the franchise, though no further announcements were made.

Midway’s community manager said “A sweet new demo of an early-stage game just arrived in my office. Color me excited.” Another Midway representative confirmed that it’s for an unannounced title which they are describing as “awesome”, though I doubt anyone can recall when a game company described one of their upcoming titles with any less bombastic phrasing.

With heavy debts looming Midway is likely hoping to generate significant interest in this new title as soon as possible to keep themselves afloat.

The game is shipping in North America on March 24th and in Europe on the 27th for both the Xbox 360 and PS3- plenty of time for you to finish Resident Evil 5. Does the typecast anti-hero actor have the pull to get copies of the game moving off the shelves? Has Midway successfully blended shooting and driving action into a delicious gameplay cocktail with hints of axle grease and gunpowder? Or will this ambitious effort simply crash and burn?

The demo features a single level created specifically for this bite-sized version of the title. While the main game will be an open-world adventure where you play an undercover agent (with the looks and voice of Vin Diesel) who seeks to infiltrate the Barcelona underground by posing as a driver-for-hire for now you are limited to a specific mission that is designed to effectively display the game’s impressive mechanics and features. After you complete that mission you’ll get two additional side missions, “Made to Order” and “Street Showdown”. Unfortunately you only get to play the side missions three times before the demo expires, but with the game shipping in North America on March 24th you won’t have too long to wait.

Their plan outlined three specific plans. The first – which was recently accomplished – was to find a co-publisher for Wheelman (Ubisoft stepped up to the plate) which will see a $497,500 bonus given out to employees.

The other two plans are to sell the Mortal Kombat property to another company and submit a new reorganization plan. Either is worth $1,292,500.

This move is surprising because the MK property has been a best-selling franchise for the publisher since the original’s release back in 1992.

While all this is fine and dandy, the company is backtracking on its promises that employees would be paid for unused paid time off. The promises were made three days before its recent bankruptcy filing.

I feel Unreal Tournament III was a great game, but not regarded so highly as many. Perhaps Epic’s recent announcement of a huge DLC pack could spurr some forgotten interest.

Included in the Titan Pack are 11 all new maps along with 2 new game modes called Betrayal and Greed.  The new Greed mode is described as a “tug of war style kill points battle”, whatever that means. And Betrayal seems to be a mode where teams are changed throughout the match leading you to kill your previous teammates, hence Betrayal.

Other than that, the Titan Pack adds a bunch of new weapons, vehicles, and new characters. Yes, really lives up to it’s name because that’s not all. It also adds support for Steam Achievements and Trophy Support for the PS3. Phew.

The Titan Pack for Unreal Tournament III will be released for the PS3 and PC on March 5th. No update for the 360, I guess.

Read (That VideoGame Blog)

Following Midway’s descent to bankruptcy, Ubisoft has stepped up to the plate to announce that it will be handling sales, marketing and distribution of Wheelman in most major markets.

The action-driving game stars Vin Diesel and offers gameplay in the same vein as the Driver franchise. Developed by Midway’s Newcastle studio, the game is set to hit PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 24.

Ubisoft will specifically be responsible for distribution in North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK, while Midway will publish it in all other territories.

With Wheelman featuring Vin Diesel in the pipeline along with an as-yet unspecified Mortal Kombat title Midway could have enough steam to keep going after the restructuring period, but only time will tell for the developer.

Midway hasn’t been doing so hot for some time now, and the tough economical times don’t exactly help that. But that doesn’t stop them from making haste to fill their executive positions.

They have recently announced that Mathew Booty, current President and CEO of the company, will take up the position of Chairman of the Board.  

Booty had recently secured the position of President and CEO of Midway when David F. Zucker resigned, now he’s the Chairman after Peter C. Brown resigned. Pretty soon it will be called Midbooty instead of Midway (insert chuckle here).

Read (Kotaku)

While that information may be boring, it’s more exciting to know that the company is working on more entries in the long-running violent fighting series. Here’s what franchise co-creator Ed Boon said: “We’re already hard at work on our next version of Mortal Kombat, and look forward to being able to reveal more details in the future.”

However, we might not be able to see the upcoming game, seeing as how Midway is currently $240 million in debt and facing possible bankruptcy next month.

Midway sent out word that Wheelman, its upcoming action game starring Vin Diesel, will be released to stores on March 20, several weeks later than the original February 16 launch date.

The game was supposed to serve as a prequel to a movie of the same name – which would also star Vin Diesel – and was set to arrive simultaneously with the film. There is currently no news as to how this will affect the release date of the movie.

However, Midway did reveal an interesting bit of information: a playable demo of Wheelman will be made available on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network before its retail release; no specific date was mentioned.

Back in December, the developer/publisher closed it’s Austin studio and simultaneously cut their workforce by 25% — some 180 jobs.

Midway currently faces $240 million in debt, according to an SEC filing, with $90 million owed to Redstone’s theater business National Amusement. The company currently has 20 days to notify investors of the control change, with creditors getting 30 days to demand payment.

If creditors do demand their money, Midway will be in deep excrement, with the company stating that “it would not have the ability to satisfy its obligations to repay these amounts.”

To aid their precarious financial situation, the company has brought on analyst firm Lazard to “assist it in the evaluation of strategic and financial alternatives available.”

This comes from creative director Simon Woodroffe who was speaking to Videogamer at a Wheelman press event in London.

Apparently, the game has been in development for only three months and that it is powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine. Woodroffe notes that the company’s policy of sharing technology is finally paying off as they are now achieving their target of simplified development and better-looking games.

As for the game itself, he disclosed that it is similar to Epic’s cover-heavy game, but that the “game mechanics are kind of different.”

“It’s going to be really big and really important,” he explained. “It’s not often, especially when you’re a cynical type, that you see a prototype or creative slice and just get blown away by it. But in this case, the hype is justified.”

He also revealed that another game is in development at Midway Chicago, though it isn’t due out until 2010.