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."

Speaking to Gamasutra about how business is going and how Electronic Arts underestimated Epic (again) and it's Unreal Engine, and about things like Spore and other IPs, EA CCO William "Bing" Gordon noted something amusing about Ubisoft - one of the other large publishers out there. The creative officer hints that EA fully acquiring Ubisoft is still possible. Here's his words:

I think everybody is for sale. I think in general, successful intellectual properties in all media are undervalued, especially in our media. There's been a lot of acquisitions, but the thing about acquisitions is that the only time it works is if you've got an intellectual property that can succeed without the people, or if the people have a ten-year career path that they're interested in at EA.

When Gamasutra asked if the acquisition would be a bad idea (since it may end up as something akin to a hostile takeover), William Gordon said that when it comes to acquisitions, one has to think if the intellectual property associated can succeed without the people, or if the important people want to get promoted in a big organization.

Rayman Raving Rabbids, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed, all those other Ubisoft IPs all under EA - now that's a thought isn't it? Well what's your take on that possibility? Are you comfortable with all that being under EA? Let us know.

For some reason that "everybody is for sale" comment reminds this blogger of the British East India Co. but that's just probably because he's still high on Pirates of the Carribean and all that "it's just good business" stuff.

For the complete interview with William Gordon, feel to head to it using our "read" link below.

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.