The gaming world was recently greeted by the news of Eidos signing a beneficial deal with Time Warner, but it looks like there were some dire consequences: according to some insider sources, Eidos has laid off its PR, marketing and sales departments in what seems to be in exchange to Time Warner's financial assistance. Read more about it in the full article.

It seems like SCi Entertainment is finally getting into the role of the reluctant "father", ready to give away his daughter (i.e. Lara Croft) at the altar. It was confirmed recently that SCi will be entertaining the possibility of opening a major business investment in the near future to help get the company back on track. You can read a statement released by the company explaining this move in our full article.

Keeping up with the SCi Entertainment takeover bid? Well, if you put money on Time Warner, then this update might make you re-think your wager: it seems that NBC is putting forward big money to be the king of the hill, in terms of being considered as the top buyer. Just how big, you ask? Try a hundred million greenbacks. Enough money to choke a mammal of colossal proportions. Check out the details in the full article.

Following the news about SCi Entertainment being open for a takeover bid so far? Well, it seems that someone has finally been able to snap up the firm that brought us the famous Lara Croft, as media giant  Warner Bros. is reportedly gearing up to make an announcement about a recent acquisition they'll be making in Europe. All the details after the jump.

The adventure isn't over for our favorite tomb raider, Lara Croft. Neither is it over for her creator, SCi Entertainment. Takeover talks for the publisher have surfaced once again, and certain companies are once again being eyed as Lara's suitors. Details in the full article.

It looks like Lara Croft won't be getting a new daddy any time soon. Contrary to prior reports that Ubisoft will be vying for SCi Entertainment, the company who owns the rights to one of the video gaming world's most popular female characters, it was announced by a spokesman that "Ubisoft has no intention of making an offer for SCI-Eidos."

Although Ubisoft won't be bidding for any shares to SCi Entertainment, SCi has been considering a number of potential buyers whose identities they were not willing to reveal just yet.

It looks like anybody who's interested in owning the hand of the fair Miss Croft won't find it cheap either. Analysts have reported that SCi management, led by Chief Executive Jane Cavanagh, will not accept anything less than 500 pence (around US$ 10) a share and could lead to something as high as GBP 300 million (US$ 600 million).

The three biggest bidders previously reported were Time Warner, Ubisoft, and an unnamed Chinese company. Ubisoft, however, explained that SCi's valutation did not fit with Ubisoft's "profitability criteria." In other words, the game for SCi's bid was just a little to rich for its blood.

Ubisoft's spokesman explained it further saying "we are looking at other opportunities for external and internal growth which can create more potential value for shareholders."

Here's an update on Lara Croft's rather sensitive position as the company that owns the franchise, SCi Entertainment, is up for grabs. While offers are primarily done behind closed doors, it's known that Ubisoft has made a bid for the company, as well as Time Warner. A third party, unnamed Chinese company, has also expressed interest.

Times Online supposes that the presence of three companies interested in the franchise, two of them major players, may result in a bidding game, which is no small thing considering that that the company's stock has risen significantly since its announcing its interest in being open to being taken over by third parties.

Currently, the company is estimated to be worth GBP 300 million (US$ 606 million), with Time Warner holding 10% of its shares. Another player, Electronic Arts, may also be expressing interest in SCi Entertainment, but whether it will participate in the bidding game is doubtful since it is the largest shareholder in Ubisoft.

Here's the follow up to the surprise announcement by SCi Entertainment that will definitely affect the Tomb Raider franchise in more ways than one. If you don't know what is currently happening, the publisher recently said that it is open to being taken over by third parties.

SCi admitted today that French developer and publisher Ubisoft had approached its officials for a bid even before the announcement was made. To be accurate, it is believed that the first bid approach was done back in October 2005. Talks went on for months but no deal was reached until meetings ended in February 2006.

The second bid approach came just recently after the above mentioned announcement. According to industry spectators, this development should "arouse" the curiosity of other companies such as Time Warner which actually owns a 10% stake in SCi. Largest shareholder Thorson Investments (15.5% share) should also be largely involved.

Some also speculated that companies Electronic Arts and Sony will also be involved. It is needless to say that these bids involve a large amount of money with some estimating it to be around 300 million GBP (US$ 600 million).

We interrupt the game news with hardware "news" (more sales figures, an exec says something quotable, intercorporate politics, and questions about game format).

Parts of the porn industry may have "sided" with HD-DVD, but according to NPD sales figures, Blu-ray is still way ahead. Not that the HD-DVD Xbox 360 add-on isn't moving: the MS hardware sold an impressive 92,000 units in the last two months of 2006! But Sony's Blu-ray has sold 687,000 units in the PS3.

Still, Richard Parsons, CEO of Time Warner (Time Warner supports both HD-DVD and Blu-ray) says the PS3 sales figure doesn't necessarily mean Blu-ray is winning the format war. "Do I think that the game console platform is really going to drive the conversion?" Parsons said, "I don't think so. People get those things [PS3s] to play games, not watch movies."

The real winner will be determined by the sales of HD-DVD and Blu-ray players. Or both could end up as losers with some companies opting to manufacture a compromise. Warner Brothers is fielding Total HD, a disc that can play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media. Meanwhile, LG Electronics has its Super Multi Blue player which plays both formats.

What would be interesting would be a hybrid HD-DVD/Blu-ray format. That should end all this brouhaha about which HD-DVD versus Blu-ray, so we can finally stop arguing about disc players and start talking about what matters most: game titles. Right? Right?

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of its 58th Annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards. This year is the first time that the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards was held at the International CES.

Needless to say, a lot of companies related to video games were quick to announce that they received the said award. Given that we're in a middle of a console war right now, anything that could help add to bragging rights seems very welcome.

The list of recipients include Microsoft, AMD, Sony, Nintendo, and Nvidia for their contributions to everything tech and gaming.

To get a list of this year's Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards recipients, click on the "Full Article" link below.