Last year, Square Enix dropped a lot of jaws when it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII would also be coming to the Xbox 360. This year they're planning to make another big splash.

It's officially official. Eidos Interactive's shareholders have approved Square Enix's takeover of the company, only the paperwork is left to finalize the arrangement. I hope they're considering a Super Square Enix Brawl game somewhere in their pipeline.

Things are looking up for Eidos, which had a very tough year. The owner of the Tomb Raider franchise is being courted by several big names, including the titan studio Square Enix, who's looking to expand with more titles that appeal to Western tastes.

Well if Lara doesn't appeal to Western tastes I don't know what does.

Following the Grand Theft Auto IV copycat crime in Thailand, the government's Ministry of Culture has tightened its grip on video games and banned five games from being sold in the country. Details after the read more link below.

Eidos is the latest company to announce their gaming lineup for this year's E3, which will include the latest game in the Tomb Raider franchise, and Just Cause 2. More details are available in the full article.

People say Jane Cavanagh, the founder of the SCi Entertainment Group, has just released the company's 2007 annual report where they revealed that sequels to the Tomb Raider, Hitman, and some of their other IPs are in development. There's an uneasy air surrounding its emergence, however, since SCi's own investors called for the ousting of Cavanagh a few months ago. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

It looks like Lara finally has a daddy to come home to. Warner Bros Home Entertainment recently subscribed up to £15 million (US$ 30 million) new shares in the company and announced a new strategic partnership with the house behind the Tomb Raider series. For more details regarding this, read our full article after the jump.

Worried about the possibility of video game violence tainting the minds of children, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy came up with a "do not buy" list of violent video games.

Contrary to what most might expect, Rockstar Games' controversial Manhunt 2 (Wii, Sony PlayStation Portable) isn't the number one violent video game, but Grand Theft Auto is. Check out the Top Ten list in the full article.

If you still aren't satisfied with the amount of scans we have for Marvelous Interactive's Hitman Reborn! Dream Hyper Battle, then we aim to please as we deliver you another scan from Shonen Jump.

This particular scan shows off two new characters from the manga adapted fighting game. If you've been following the Reborn! manga the game was based on, you'll be familiar with the different characters the game takes its roster from.

Since the Nintendo Wii seems such a popular platform for anime/manga-based fighting games, you can expect no less from Hitman Reborn! when it comes down to capturing the spirit of the series.

Sadly, we won't be seeing an English translated version for the game any time soon as Hitman Reborn! is still a Japan-exclusive title. However, you can always import the game if you really want to get a chance to fight it out with those underhanded Mafiosos and assassins.

The game is expected to hit stores in Japan by the end of the year.

In the 2007 Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Eidos Product Acquisitions director Ian Livingstone observed that gaming was still significantly behind movies and comics in terms of character "recognizability". This led him to say that the gaming industry "needs more Lara Crofts."

GameSpot narrates that in Livingstone's presentation at the aforementioned shindig, he presented the audience images of popular movie and comic characters first, then went on to flash pictures of iconic game personalities. The result: movie and comic book characters were easier to recognize for the crowd.

The Eidos bigwig then goes on to ask, "If we all work in the games industry, what does that say?" And then he went on to answer that same question by saying that developers need to establish more character in their games.

Livingstone discussed some key elements which can make a character linger in the psyche of gamers. One of the most important, he says, is the name. ""With a name like 'Darth Vader,' you know he's not going to be nice," he says. "Now 'Jar Jar Binks,' he's going to be much more fun."

Livingstone also pointed out that a distinctive look always helps. He cited their character Agent 47 from the popular Hitman series and revealed that the bald head with the bar code at the base often fascinated their audience, giving the character more life than others.

Finally, he says there are catch phrases. These are amazingly cool and original lines that will help people identify with a given character. Much like in a movie, people will find it hard to forget a particular line that hits close to home.