Former Bizarre Creations senior staffers have opened up about their studio's untimely demise, reports Edge. They talked about how their culture changed under Activision, and how they had the opportunity to buy themselves back.

Former creative director Martyn Chudley recalls a change in the atmosphere once Activision bought the company. "We really felt that they would leave our culture alone, and for a while it was fine, but slowly the feeling did start to change," he said. "We weren't an independent studio making 'our' games anymore -- we were making games to fill slots. Although we did all believe in them, they were more products of committee and analysts." He concedes that Blur "failed to resonate" and called it "too tough to pigeonhole." Read more »

After weeks of unsuccessfully trying to find a buyer following Activision's decision to put developer Bizarre Creations on the chopping block, the studio that brought us the beloved Project Gotham series, Geometry Wars, and - more recently - Blur, has closed up shop for good today. (via Develop)

As a farewell send-off, Bizarre's (now former) video editor Eamon Urtone has put together a very classy video featuring soft piano music and slow-motion clips of the studio's work. If you've been a fan of the studio or its titles, it's more than a little sad-inducing. Read more »

After searching for a buyer, Activision has issued a recommendation for closure to Bizarre Creations, which the studio reportedly plans to accept. Develop reports that Activision has been searching for a buyer since November, but was unable to find one.

"I want to be clear, our first choice was to try and keep this group together and find a buyer for the studio," said Coddy Johnson, Activision Worldwide Studios' chief operating officer. "This decision comes after a few months of exhausted examination and a number of different options across the board." Johnson says the company is offering displaced employees "counseling, external placement services and external career fairs." Read more »

After releasing over $100 worth of downloadable content and expansions for Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare has announced a bundled "Ultimate Edition" will launch later this year [via Kotaku]. The Dragon Age Ultimate Edition includes all seven previously released DLC packs as well as the "Awakening" expansion. Read more »

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

For our Friday Filter starts with co-op campaign screenshots for Portal 2, directly from PAX 2010. We've also added the announcement trailer for Bloody Good Time, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, H.A.W.X. 2, Panzer Command: Ostfront, FIFA Soccer 11 and a "Witch Hunt" DLC trailer for Dragon Age: Origins. Read more »

If an OFLC listing is to be believed, Dragon Age: Origins will receive a much needed "Ultimate Edition," which will presumably bundle the role-playing game with its mountain of downloadable content.

Discovered by Joystiq, the listing by the Australian ratings board is the second hint that Dragon Age would see a retail re-release. Earlier this month, GameStop.com listed (and then quickly removed) a Dragon Age: Origins "Ultimate Edition" for release on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Although the listing did not detail the disc's contents, it dated the release for October 12 with a $60 price-point. Read more »

The mysterious tale of Morrigan will come to close, very soon, as BioWare has announced new DLC featuring the brash witch is inbound for Dragon Age: Origins.

"Witch Hunt" will be made available on September 7 on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $7 (560 Microsoft/BioWare Points). The content will delve into Morrigan's true motives and give players insight into certain choices she made during the course of the original adventure. (We're trying to keep it spoiler free!) Read more »

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

Today's Daily Filter features the "launch" trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, a dev diary with an insane amount of hoodies for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, a "combo" trailer for the upcoming downloadable title Shank, a trailer featuring the upcoming DLC "The Golems of Amgarrak" for Dragon Age: Origins, a video for Naughty Bear announcing upcoming (and free) DLC, and additional videos for Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, the newest EverQuest 2 expansion Destiny of Velious, the PSN-exclusive Top Gun and Tales of Cosmos. Read more »

Microsoft's Major Nelson has released the Xbox Live Marketplace content schedule for the better part of August.

Notable items include a sale on current Dragon Age: Origins downloadable content, which runs from August 2 until August 22. New DLC for the critically acclaimed Bioware RPG releases on August 10 for 400MS Points ($5). Read more »

Today, BioWare has released patch version 1.04 that fixes issues for both Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. PC players can download the patch now on FileShack, while Xbox 360 and PS3 users will have to wait until the update passes certification. Unfortunately, some of the errors persistent in Awakening cannot be corrected. According to the detailed patch notes, BioWare outlines three specific issues that cannot be corrected. The problems include entering the Silvermite Mine too early, problems with Sentinel Armor and the Vigilance Sword on consoles as well as the Blackblade Armor on all platforms and locking a party in place in the Arl of Denerim's Estate prior to a guard encounter.

Details and workarounds for the Awakening issues can be found on the BioWare Forum. Read more »

BioWare will be making an announcement, the company revealed via Twitter: "2morrow will be a great day for BioWare fans. Just sayin'"

The horrendous use of "2morrow" might be a clue and not just Internet-speak. Besides, there was plenty of room left in that 140 character-limited tweet. With Mass Effect ready to move on to number 3, that leaves Dragon Age ready for number 2. Read more »

BioWare has somewhat mysteriously announced in near-silence a new batch of Dragon Age: Origins downloadable content amidst the hubbub of E3.

Titled 'Leilana's Song,' the $7 (560 Microsoft Points) downloadable content is due out on July 6 and will casts players as Leliana, "a young bard involved in a criminal ring that deals in political secrets." What little BioWare is willing to say for now follows below. Read more »

BioWare's fantasy RPG franchise Dragon Age is to be adapted into an anime feature film, the developer announced today, created with anime distributor FUNimation.

"Anime is a great medium for us to continue the robust Dragon Age story," said Dragon Age franchise executive producer Mark Darrah in the announcement. Over on the FUNimation side of the partnership, CEO Gen Fukunaga promises "We are going to be bringing the classic visual and storytelling techniques found in anime to create a film that will extend the narrative of the world BioWare has created." Read more »

Continuing to dole out educational tutorial trailers in advance of Blur's impending release, publisher Activision has passed along three more videos to help you get acquainted with Bizarre Creations' action-racer and the various aspects of its in-game events.

Prima, longtime provider of video game strategy guides, will now be offering digital guides through Steam. Using the Steam overlay, guides can also be accessed within a game. The digital guides also include videos, which are obviously not available in print.

Regularly priced at $19.99, all guides are 50% off to celebrate the launch. Currently, guides are available for: Read more »