SCi, the parent company of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos, is apparently a takeover target.

UK newspaper the Daily Mail reports that Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are both considering an acquisition of the troubled firm.

Given that SCi is on hard times, EA and Ubi are no doubt enticed by the prospect of picking up Eidos's popular Tomb Raider and Hitman franchises on the cheap. From the Daily Mail story:

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office has suspended Nintendo's application to trademark the term Wii Remote.

A letter sent by the USPTO to Nintendo last week indicates that the word remote is too commonly used to be trademarked.

Nintendo submitted an official application to trademark Wii Remote in March of this year. The USPTO's letter indicates that it may still be possible for the console manufacturer to trademark the term, but Nintendo would need to "disclaim" any ownership of remote except when used in Wii remote.

If you're wondering why Nintendo doesn't trademark Wiimote, the term commonly - but unofficially - used to describe its Wii controller, that's an interesting question.

There's a confusing story on GameSpot this morning which reports that the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV will be released in the Australian market with no content edits.

It's odd because earlier this uear Australian censors refused to issue a rating to the console versions of GTA IV until some of the game's animated hooker sex scenes were chopped. An unnanmed Australian Rockstar spokesperson told GameSpot:

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Financially-troubled game publisher Midway has been sold for a mere pittance of its former value.

Reuters reports that media tycoon Sumner Redstone (left) unloaded his controlling interest in the Mortal Kombat publisher for $0.0012 a share, or about $100,000.

Hell, at that price any gamer with a full-time job could have gotten a loan and owned their own game company.

The buyer is investor Mark Thomas. In addition acquiring Midway's assets, however, Thomas also bought himself $70 million worth of Midway debts.

As part of an in-depth new interview, Pac-Man Championship Edition producer Nobutaka Nakajima and director Tadashi Iguchi have been explaining how "focus on the core fun and polish" with a small team -- and help from Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani -- birthed the critically acclaimed remake. The rare interview with the Bandai Namco duo, whose teams were also responsible for Galaga Legions, explained the creation of the Xbox Live Arcade hit Pac-Man remake as follows: ...

Paris-based developer Darkworks announced an exclusive partnership with Trioviz to use its 3D technology to create PC and console games that make "fully 3D interactive experiences" possible on ordinary televisions using a pair of Trioviz glasses and no other special equipment. Trioviz says that its technology differs from traditional red-and-blue 3D glasses, as it is designed to offer natural colors and sharp images without any "ghosting." The company also claims that users will not suffer ...

MMORPG publisher Acclaim Games announced Rockfree, a free-to-play, browser-based music game scheduled to release in the first quarter of 2009. The company partnered with Warner Music, Sony, and EMI to include songs from those record labels, and also teamed up with WaveGroup, the production company behind the song covers in the Guitar Hero series and other music titles. Rockfree allows players to create custom avatars, open a rock club, upload new tracks, and battle against ...

Gamasutra's regular round-up of worldwide video game releases, "Release This!", takes a look at every game title we know to be shipping to stores this week, in an exclusively compiled list. Prince of Persia, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, and a PC port of Grand Theft Auto IV headline in this week's North American multiplatform lineup. Gamers in Europe can expect to see a localization of Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City, while ...

Gamasutra parent Think Services has announced its flagship European event, Game Developers Conference (GDC) Europe for August 17th-19th 2009, alongside new German consumer games event GamesCom, with former GCDC head Frank Sliwka joining Think Services to run the event. Think Services also runs game industry events including next March's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and September's Austin GDC, as well as the recently announced GDC Canada, while also operating Gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine. ...

Digital Illusions CE has sold some 17 million copies of its Battlefield series of multiplayer shooters since 2002's original Battlefield 1942 -- but the next entry in the franchise, Battlefield Heroes, is going free-to-play. It's an unusual move for an established hardcore Western franchise, but one that DICE believes will open its game to new audiences, while taking advantage of emerging business models. The game has been publicly delayed multiple times during development, in one ...