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According to the rumor mill, reports have surfaced that CNET is being targeted by a consortium group (with a 21 percent stake) seeking to establish majority rule over CNET's board and to remove the company's directors in a hostile takeover bid.

This consortium group, led by Jana Partners and Sandell Asset Management, has been heavily criticized by Wall Street analysts with CNET stating the group's intention to control the company's board to be in direct violation of its bylaws. CNET has not commented on the specific details at this time.

CNET is the owner of the Gamespot and GameFAQs websites.

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Since Punky Brewster and Fresh Prince are no longer on the air and leaving nobody to make jokes about him, Don King has decided to stick his name on a boxing game from Take 2's 2K Sports label..

Or, Take 2 wanted to make a boxing game but doubted they'd get anywhere considering there's not very much demand and EA's Fight Night covers what little there is, so they thought putting a well-known name on it might give them an edge.

Probably the second one. Personally, I don't think the market can bare many fighting games that don't include popular Nintendo characters or the ability to decapitate an enemy by reciting a 16-button-long combo attack.

Regardless, here's Don King Presents: Prizefighter coming soon from Take 2!

Quoth the press release:

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Call of Duty 4 fans interested in earning freebies via logging in online play time on the 360 version may do so beginning Friday, Nov 16 at 12:01 est for a 72-hour "play and win sweepstakes."

A winner will be selected every hour and gamers are automatically entered for each hour of play. Here's a look at prizes and instructions:


Here's an "event" schedule:


Hopefully Infinity Ward has addressed those multiplayer issues to the point that people are actually able to play online and thus enter the sweepstakes. Cross your fingers.

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Just in case you missed out on some interesting Grand Theft Auto IV news yesterday, Take Two's Strauss Zelnick, chairman, has commented that the company will not announce a firm (read: specific) release date for Rockstar's next GTA hit until it's "utterly convinced" that the title can make the date. However, as GameSpot and other sources have pointed out, this does not mean that the game will not make its Q2 2008 release (we just don't know the exact date to expect it in Q2).

That's a bonus for fans who want a completed, quality product, no doubt, but the main question the company is considering is whether missing out on holiday sales will prove a serious mistake.

Explained Zelnick, "I think there was a concern initially when we slipped (on the October 16 date) that we missed the boat in terms of Christmas but I think that concern has been alleviated... because this is a must-have title it's probably okay that we're not selling it in the Christmas season."

Sounds logical. You can hit the jump to view the full question and answer.

Continue reading...

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What was a rumor as of yesterday has now been confirmed by Rockstar: hackers have accessed part of Manhunt 2 deemed "Adults Only" by the ESRB.

The game had previously been given the dreaded-by-retail "Adults Only" rating only to see Rockstar edit the game down to receive its current "Mature" rating.

However, utilizing a modified (read: not Sony approved) PSP, hackers were able to illegally modify the game and access the portions edited out (but apparently not completely) of the final release. Rockstar was mum on details of whether or not hackers would be able to access this verboten content on the PS2 or Wii versions.

Hot Coffee, anyone? Perhaps the scope is not the same as a completely hidden sex minigame, though this begs some questioning: are developers responsible for content not accessible by legal means? Is Rockstar leaving this content in and counting down the days until someone opens the virtual magical door and leaks the details to the masses?

Click "read" to jump to GamePolitics and get the full story.

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If you've been playing Lost Planet: Extreme Condition on the Xbox 360 and have been wondering why it just feels a little... different from recent games like Gears of War or Halo, that's because it was made in Japan, silly.

The game's Japanese feel comes from its use of some design elements that the Western market has all but abandoned, things like clear-cut missions with a mostly-pointless "mission briefing" screen between each; and a boss battle at the end of every level, where the boss has a clearly-identifiable weakness. Even the somewhat-clunky control scheme is a carryover of the Japanese design industry.

Everything else, the gigantic levels and sweeping cinematic visuals, are all inspired by recent Western games. It is very rare these days for a Japanese action game to be designed with a Western and Asian market in mind.

Jun Takeuchi, the game's producer, says that if Japanese companies aren't careful, they could be overrun by Western studios. Currently, Western companies design for Western audiences and Japanese studios design for Japan; but if Western studios started aiming at Japan, they might be able to take over the market without a fight.

This seems to conflict with the fact that RPG games are freaking HUGE in Japan and only partially accepted in the states. I find it hard to believe that any Western studio could infiltrate the diluted Japanese RPG market.

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Electronic Arts has announced a new Def Jam title for the PSP, Def Jam Fight For New York: The Takeover.

The game is the prequel to Def Jam Vendetta and allows players to take on the role of musicians and celebrities like Busta Rhymes, Lil' Kim, Ludacris, Carmen Electra, Method Man, Redman, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit among others. The game will feature new arenas to fight in and the ability to create your own fighter. The Takeover is scheduled to release this spring for the PSP handheld.

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Originally written by Brian Mohr

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