After EA’s surprise move to acquire rival Take Two, and Take Two’s clean dismissal, new information has been revealed by T2. Since EA is determined for a hostile takeover, Take Two revealed in a recent SEC filing that the company has been approached by several other potential buyers, but that the company is not in talks with any company.

Recently we reported that GameSpot lost long time editor Jason Ocampo, rumored to be because of the notorious Gertsmann firing. IGN has now revealed that Ocampo has joined their staff, as PC Editor-in-chief. Ocampo may not have left GameSpot directly because of the Gertsmann affair, but it’s obvious that a high-ranking and well known games journalist like him was getting his image and name devalued by staying at GameSpot.

Infinity ward has announced that the upcoming Call of Duty patch is scheduled for arrival this weekend on the Xbox 360 and PS3. The patch is currently at Microsoft (and Sony) for certification, and includes the usual updates and tweaks, but will also include a yet-to-be-revealed secret map. Call of Duty 4 has been the top played game on Xbox Live for 4 straight weeks now, beating Halo 3 every week.

SouthPeak Games has announced X-Blades, a third-person hack-and-slash action title for PC and next-gen consoles. Set for release later this year, the game has players controlling an anime-styled heroine who battles through a host of locations using guns, blades and magic.

“The unique anime-style backdrop combined with high-octane, multi-discipline combat gameplay really pushes X-Blades into brand new territory,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. “The 3rd-person ‘hack-em-up’ genre needs a fresh perspective and X-Blades is poised to deliver it.”

Players assume the role of Ayumi, a heroine who battles enemies with the aforementioned weapons. It is not exactly known why she must fight, but their press release speaks of “demonic hordes” and “frenetic supernatural battling,” so it should be fun.

Publisher Konami has announced that the beta for Metal Gear Online will begin on April 21. A 16-person multiplayer component of Metal Gear Solid 4, players will receive access to the MGO beta by preordering MGS 4 from major retailers. The pre-order program will start in April, with consumers receiving a limited edition DVD that contains a download code for the beta.

It is expected that the beta will run for about two weeks and may also be open to those who didn’t pre-order, according to a post by Konami PR director on the Official PlayStation blog.

Developer Replay Studios, along with publisher Gamecock, today announced that their stealth-action title formerly known as Sabotage has been renamed to Velvet Assassin. The new title portrays the story of real-life hero Violette Szabo and the clandestine act of sabotage she championed.”Rather than a trite, overused, and generic working title like ‘Sabotage,’ ‘Velvet Assassin’ captures the heart of what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Sascha Jungnickel, Creative Director at Replay Studios. “From the start we’ve wanted a game with a strong female lead that stays true to the history of Violette Szabo while pulling players into a world of dark intrigue.”

Velvent Assassin is due out this Fall on PC and next-gen consoles, though exact platforms weren’t mentioned.

It has been revealed that even the Blu-ray disc isn’t big enough for the awesomeness that is Metal Gear Solid 4. Speaking in Kojima Production’s podcast, producer Ryan Penton stated that the highly anticipated game will not include voice overs in other languages, meaning that the Japanese version will not have English voice overs and vice versa.

“Unfortunately because of disc space, we don’t have the space to include other languages, other voice over files for the respective versions,” he siad. “So the Japanese version’s not gonna have English VO, and the North American and European versions won’t have Japanese VO.”

No worries, though, since the PS3 does not have any regional protection, letting you import a Japanese copy if you were so inclined on listening to the characters speak gibberish.

The upcoming Wii version of House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return will feature a new game mode, as revealed by Sega today. Beating the games will unlock an Extreme mode, a special single-player mode in House of the Dead 3 with a number of gameplay changes.

Enemies will attack much quicker, making the action much more frantic; the bullet blast radius will also be much smaller. However, to make up for it, players will have faster reloading of the shotgun as well as a new melee attack. When the enemy is within melee range, the “A” button can be pressed to unleash a powerful attack that can hit several enemies. It can also be used to block enemy attacks, missile weapons and even boss attacks. It requires the player to reload, though.

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return will be released for the WIi this March.

Videogamer.com carries word that Grand Theft Auto IV will take around 100 hours to complete. It is said to be confirmed by Rockstar, too.

“If you’re not in a rush and you answer the phone when it rings it’ll take about 100 hours to complete”, reads the article. “It’s harder to distinguish between main and side missions – there are loads of both. But there are more main missions than side missions. It’s not as clear cut as it used to be because of the phone.”

Also, according to the site, the game will not have any “Hot Coffee” code in the game, but will let players take women out on dates. If the dates can be impressed well enough, they can be taken back to Niko’s (or her’s) place and do the birds-and-bees-thing off camera.

SCi, the parent company of Eidos Interactive, has announced a major restructuring plan that will see a total of 14 projects being canned and almost one-fourth of its workforce laid off.

“Following our business review over the last six weeks, we are initiating a clear action plan based on three fundamental strands of activity: a radical change in our structure to a studio-led business, a top to bottom programme of product improvement and efficiency and a considerable cost reduction plan,” said Phil Rogers, SCi CEO. “We must allow the world-class people that we have within the Group to focus on strong, profitable titles which will create the value our shareholders deserve.”

The company admitted that the quality of its recent titles had fallen below their high standards, citing “disappointing game development and working within an ineffective operating structure” as the main reason.

It wasn’t mentioned which games were cancelled, though one can easily understand that Lara Croft won’t be getting the axe anytime soon.