BBC's report on a mysterious game which marks the brink of a step change in what games consoles are capable of in terms of storytelling and immersion sent waves that excited Sony PlayStation 3 fans. Of course, Surfer Girl wasted no time riding the wave and revealing that this title could be Heavy Rain. Check out the full article to learn more.

Rockstar Games has seen it all in this industry. Its flagship franchise Grand Theft Auto has reached a point where few, if any other, games have been. Streaking with ingenious game design and a smash-mouth attitude, the games created by brothers Sam and Dan Houser along with their buddy Terry Donovan have combined to sell 50 million copies worldwide and counting.

Revenues to the tune of billions have come in and will keep on flowing with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV this fall, yet, like a real rockstar, you only see the dreamy life on the surface. It's what's happening inside that's more interesting.

No, the founding trio are not into drugs or devil worship, but their gig seems to have hit a snag, or two, or three, maybe more the past few years. With publisher Take-Two Interactive embroiled in scores of legal and corporate battles from within and without, it's no surprise that the stars, are themselves getting rocked.

Wired.com interviewed the founders and a lot was revealed on what kind of trouble the proponents of virtual crimes are in. Lawsuits for explicit content, anomalous accounting and improper corporate practices have further raised the notoriety on the already infamous firm.

Things came to a head as rumors spread across blogs a couple of weeks back that Microsoft may buy Take Two. The news was later proven premature and was negated entirely. Observers say that the company and the franchise is on the fast lane to self-destruction, but company bigwigs are saying otherwise.

Is this the beginning of the end for the lads at Rockstar? Or is this an exercise of the modern axiom "bad news is good news?" We'll see, won't we? You can find out more by following the read URL.

Can EA Sports gain sole dominion of the video game sports arena in the next generation of consoles? With the right money, it just might, says Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter, remarking that the stock status of Take-Two interactive has gone from "hold" to "sell."

He says, "We think that Take-Two’s flagship franchise, Grand Theft Auto, will continue to generate significant profits but are less optimistic about the profit potential from its sports business and from 'everything else."

And though GTA IV's October breakout is a sure-fire splash, Pachter says that the sports division creates less-than-significant profit. He cites the reason - the fact that the division is lacking and spending is astronomical.

The woes are compounded by the company's corporate drama which involved the resignation of such stalwarts like Rockstar Games co-founder Terry Donovan, Take-Two founder Ryan Brant, and board member Barbara Kazcynski, who left some scathing remarks to the management team in her resignation letter. Michael Pachter further mentioned that:

We think that Take-Two's greatest asset is also its greatest liability...The company has an environment conducive to creativity and reaps tremendous benefits from allowing its creative staff to work on what it thinks will work...It has also resulted in the inclusion of sexual content (hot coffee) in the company’s flagship brand, the decision to enter the sports business and compete with an 800-pound gorilla named EA, the decision to green light a slew of movie properties with consistently poor results, and several other decisions with poor outcomes.

Pachter said that the equation boils down to the fact that "It is clear to us that Take-Two’s sports business would have tremendous value to EA, as it would give EA a monopoly on football, basketball, baseball, and hockey...It is arguable that EA would benefit by as much as billion if it were to obtain an exclusive; this does not mean that it is willing to pay billion."

It's not hard to figure out that very few competitors, if any at all, would be willing to wage a war of attrition against EA Sports in this age, and Pachter says 2K Sports can go to EA for roughly a quarter of a billion dollars and sleep sound at night knowing that its biggest rival is dead and buried. Neither EA or Take-Two has given statements on the matter so far.

Rockstar Games' family tree took a hit with Terry Donovan's resignation from the company. GameSpot received the confirmation from a Take-Two Interactive rep that Donovan took a leave of absence from the company in September. However, that leave turned out to be permanent as he decided last month that he would not be coming back.

Donovan was the managing director and co-founder of the publishing label for the controversially famous GTA series. However, the representative did stress that most of Donovan's duties have already been dealt with. These would include the publishing and marketing of their games. "Rockstar is a very robust organization and has tremendous depth. It has over 600 artists and developers, marketing people...The roles have been filled."

Replacing Donovan as Rockstar's COO, is Gary Dale, Capcom's European managing director.