URNotE said:
 

     Welcome to the Rumour mill, VideoGamer.com's run-down of the big rumours currently doing the rounds in the video game industry. Every week we'll hunt down the juiciest stories and give our opinion on how legit they are. So, whether you want the ridiculous or the plausible, read on.

EA wants to buy Ubisoft after Take Two

The Rumor:  Now that EA has revealed its attempt to buy Take Two, rumours are circulating that French publisher Ubisoft is next. The rumour has been around for a while now, indeed EA already owns a number of shares in Ubisoft. However, this week website Gamecyte noticed that a proxy registration for eaubisoft.com was set up by the same company on the same day as the registration for eatake2.com, the lobbying site created to convince Take Two shareholders to accept the company's takeover bid. Verdict: The evidence looks strong. Will Ubisoft sell up though? That remains to be seen. The company has already said it aims to speed up its expansion plans as a result of the bid by EA for Take Two. Still, this rumour looks like it has credibility.

Plausibility rating: 4/5

Harvey Smith has joined Arcane Studios

The Rumour: The man behind Midway's Blacksite (and more importantly the original Deus Ex) has joined Arkane Studios Austin. Arkane is most famous for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, but is currently working on the single-player/multiplayer hybrid The Crossing. Verdict: This one comes from Rumour Mill favourite Surfer Girl, but there's no reason to suggest it's false. Harvey Smith left Midway Austin after finishing work on the badly received Blacksite and a move to another Austin-based studio would make sense. As game director of an unannounced title it's unlikely he'll be involved in the development of The Crossing.

Plausibility rating: 4/5

Phil Harrison has left Sony to join Infogrames

The Rumour:  According to Gamesindustry.biz, Phil Harrison, who this week announced he was quitting Sony after 15 years, will be joining Infogrames. Sources the industry site has spoken to suggest he will join up with ex-EA executive David Gardner at French company Infogrames. It owns 51.2 per cent of Atari Inc. Verdict: Gamesindustry.biz's sources may be right, they may be wrong. What's clear is that Harrison will be in a great deal of demand following his resignation. Having spearheaded UK-based Sony projects including LittleBigPlanet, EyeToy and Singstar, he has a successful track-record with casual game projects. What is in no doubt is that Harrison will not be long out of the industry. Where he turns up, however, remains to be seen.

Plausibility rating: 3/5

ZOE 3 to be PS3 exclusive

The Rumour: GamesBlow, the latest gaming blog to specialise in rumours, posted: "ZOE 3 will be shown at Sony's next game expo and it's Ps3 exclusive and it's going to be fully integrated with online multiplayer that host up to 32 players..." The previous two games in the series were exclusive to the PlayStation 2 and the third game will follow suit. Verdict: Although it's plausible, given the series' history on Sony platforms, the source is an unknown. Other entries on the blog range from the ridiculous to the obvious, including Microsoft buying EA after EA buys Take Two, a price cut to the Xbox 360 at GDC (which didn't happen), a Blu-ray add-on announcement for Xbox 360 at GDC (which didn't happen) and news on how a new Xbox console will launch in November 2009. Sounds pretty far fetched to us.

Plausibility rating: 2/5

Resistance 2 out in July

The Rumour: A video created by Insomniac Games, developer of Resistance 2, revealed a number that suggests a July 8 date. This date has been taken to mean that the highly anticipated sequel will be released on July 8, some months before it was expected. Verdict: The video is legit, created by Insomniac, so that isn't in doubt. The question is whether or not the number is in fact a date and if the date is indeed for the game's release. Earlier this month an Insomniac Games press releases stated the game was in development for release "this fall", indicating the hidden number does not refer to the game's release date. A demo seems more likely.

Plausibility rating: 1/5