Last December, Cryptic Studios packed up and moved in with Atari and Infogrames, in effect turning over all of their proprietary IP, tools, technology and even WIPs to their new parent company. Inside sources are now alive and abuzz that part of the turned over WIPs would be an MMO version of Neverwinter Nights.

Last year, Phil Harrison made quite a ruckus when he severed ties with SCEI as their president, and then jumping on board Atari's team, via parent company Infogrames,  to serve as President. Today, however, we receive word that he will be stepping down from the position, and will assume instead a non-executive Director role.

3D Realms is now denying that they received an offer from Take-Two Interactive for the IP of Duke Nukem Forever. Rumors swirled last week that US$ 30 million was put on the table, but the devs are saying that these are all just that - rumors.

When contractual obligations are not carried out according to stipulations agreed to by both parties, you can expect an ugly lawsuit to come next. What more if the agreement is not carried out at all? 3D Realms is about to find out the answer to that scenario as Take-Two Interactive files suit against what's left of the developer company for failing to deliver Duke Nukem Forever, via its parent company, Apogee.

Two years ago, Atari Europe was fortunately in the safe zone, despite the mother company's grim and disheartening financial report of Q2 2007. Back then, the problem was isolated only to the US offices, and the Atari branch was said to be unharmed by the restructuring overseas. Today, however, Atari Europe is no more, now having been officially acquired by Namco Bandai.

Cryptic Studios, independent developer for games like Star Trek Online and Champions Online, will soon be officially acquired by Atari's parent company, Infogrames Entertainment, this according to a press release sent out today.

In the immortal words (and voice) of Michael Buffer, "Let's get ready to RUMBLE!" (Don't forget to hold "rumble" until you run out of breath). But seriously, Atari is bringing the best-selling franchise back with a vengeance as Ready 2 Rumble makes it comeback in Ready 2 Rumble Revolution. Read up on what's new in the full article.

The end of physical media is nigh! That's according to Phil Harrison, at least. See, he's "pretty confident [kids] will never buy a physical media product" in the future - that's counting CDs, DVDs, games in boxes... Man, could you imagine talking to your future kid? "Err, daddy what's a dee-vee-dee? Daddy, is it a title of an emo song?"

Atari, one of the oldest companies in the video game business, took an unfortunate turn and fell into a dive that was apparent last year. Now, in what's probably a bid to turn a new leaf, they are now headed in a new direction, and revealed that they will be focusing on online gaming. More in the full article.

It looks like Namco Bandai's presence in Europe and the rest of Asia is set to expand as the company has picked up a 34% stake in Infogrames' European and Asian distribution operations. In other words, Namco Bandai and Infogrames have teamed up to distribute Namco Bandai games in Europe and Asia. Learn more about this partnership after the jump!