Blizzard has confirmed that Brian Morrisroe, the art director on Diablo III, has resigned from the company. Mossisroe was the driving for behind the game's fan-lamented visual style, but Blizzard assured MTV Multiplayer in an email that any outcry over color and rainbows in the world of Diablo had nothing to do with his departure.

"Regarding Brian, he recently resigned to form a startup technology company (outside the game industry)," the email read, continuing, "This change won't impact the game ... we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring onboard will work with the other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward." Funny – the job posting doesn't mention anything about "must own fire-retardant undergarments" or "must possess an ability to weather fans' lamentations over your use of a color palette." Oh well, whoever Blizzard hires will find out soon enough.

[Via MTV]

Developers vying for a slice of the rhythm game pie may soon find the cost to dig in to be increasing -- at least if they want players to nod along with music they know. According to Reuters, Warner Music's top exec Edgar Bronfman has come forward, stating that game companies should pay more to the music industry in order to include licensed tunes in their music-based games.

Says Bronfman, who compared the relationship to the likes of MTV or Apple's iPod, "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small." Given Warner's interest in music currently flowing through both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, not to mention the war that is about to unfold on living room stages later this year, it will be interesting to see who will 5-star this game of financial tug-of-war.

In an interview with GameDaily, Sega's VP of marketing, Sean Ratcliffe, formally acknowledged something that, oh, every gamer and members of the media have known for the past decade: the Sonic franchise has largely gone to poop. Well, Ratcliffe didn't go that far. He did offer explanations, promises, and gently worded ways of saying that Sega is going to continue doing ... the same old thing with the Blue Blur (except for the, um, "werehog" part). In summary:

"Some of that criticism is probably warranted. We definitely recognize that a franchise that has been going as long as Sonic, you really have to put a huge amount of effort in to make sure that you maintain that quality ... which is why you're seeing us this year taking the first steps in making sure the quality is right, and we're constantly looking at innovation ... you know, blending classic 2D gameplay with 3D, beautiful landscapes, rich environments. Then with a nice innovative twist, we're taking Sonic in a different direction, slow him down and he transforms into a 'Werehog.' And that changes the gameplay again. For fans of Sonic that have been looking for a next-gen experience, this is the game they've been waiting for."

Slow him down? ... *facepalm* (Oh BioWare, save us now!)

Namco Bandai's ridiculously cross-branded Soul Calibur IV has cut a deep swath into retail shelves worldwide, shipping not one million units but two since its July 29 debut.

Still, and not to make an example out of you, Namco, but really all of this chest puffery over units shipped is a bit overblown. It's like bragging about how many pencils you threw at the ceiling, rather than what's really important, namely how many stuck. Then again, we imagine it's difficult to look up and count while you're ducking under the desk from falling profits.

Although using an image of "Bum Fighting" would have been insensitive, that probably would have accurately portrayed the feeling of watching publishers Interplay and Atari fight over Dungeons & Dragons rights. Big Download reports the once great publishers have settled a D&D licensing dispute, with Atari agreeing to purchase all rights that Interplay had to the franchise and canceling a $1 million promissory note.

Wonder what we could get the two companies to do for a block of cheese and a bottle of Listerine?

With Brett Favre booked for a one-way ticket out of retirement and into New York (as a Jet!), Madden NFL 09 will look decidedly vintage when it releases next week with Favre on the cover ... as a Packer. Some may attribute the gaffe to evidence of the "Madden Curse" at work (c'mon, it can do better than that!), but EA Sports boss Peter Moore assures, "There's a plan."

While IGN has already confirmed there will be no second printing -- Favre will remain a Packer on the surface of Madden 09, at least -- a Crispy Gamer interview with Moore and marketing director David Tinson published last week addressed the possibility of Favre switching teams; to which Moore offered his vague assurance. "It will ship with what you've seen. Yes. And then we'll have a plan if he's not [a Packer]," Tinson added. Day-one roster update confirmed!

Update: EA will indeed release a day-one update placing Favre on the Jets (and reflecting any other relevant roster changes), reports MTV Multiplayer. But that's not all: "We do not plan to re-issue packaging, but WILL offer a free downloadable cover in the coming days on easports.com featuring Brett Favre in a Jets uniform. Fans can print this new cover out and insert it into the case of Madden NFL 09," a company spokesperson revealed to MTV. See, EA did have a plan! ... But if you're not feelin' it, why not make your own cover?

[Image credit: FirstCuts]

This year's Game Critics Awards for E3 honored Fallout 3 with "Best of Show," but will that translate into sales when the game actually releases? Well, chances are, sales of the game will probably have very little to do with the title receiving the E3 award; however, according to analyst Ben Schachter of UBS, the "Best of Show" does typically go on to see an average of 2.42 million units in sales within the US.

Schachter notes that every software winner over nine years has gone on to see over a million units sold (except for 2000's Jet Grind Radio). He also points out that each of the winners was either a first-party game or a console exclusive*.

*Don't get nitpicky, we're way ahead of those nerdsploding and furiously typing that MGS came to the GameCube six years later.

It's not the size of your explosion that matters, but rather how many random objects you can send flying about in realistic fashion. Microsoft Game Studios today announced a new "perpetual licensing agreement" with the physics connoisseurs at Havok, opening up the middleware outfit's suite of current and future tech to MGS and its development partners. Perpetual, you say? Sounds like someone is over their puppy love and is ready for a real commitment.

Havok's reputation for overturning tables in dramatic fashion is well known. A number of Microsoft's titles, both internally developed and published, utilize the technology already, giving us reason to believe that whatever Microsoft Game Studios has up its sleeves next, it's sure to have exploding barrels aplenty.

Massive Entertainment, makers of competent RTS games like World in Conflict and (personal favorite) the Ground Control series, looks like it's going to land on its feet as Actilizzard cleans house of many Sierra properties. The Swedish developer tells VG247 that it seems to have "plenty of options" and that it's had some good meetings, but it is currently in limbo.

The developer is currently working on the Xbox 360 and PS3 version of World in Conflict, called Soviet Assault, but Activision now owns the franchise, so there are some delicate issues that sound like they still need to be worked out. Well, we wish the studio the best, they've brought us many hours of gaming enjoyment.

Speaking with Variety, Traveller's Tales president Jon Burton revealed that his company – which created LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones, and the upcoming LEGO Batman – is working on more block-tastic titles based on Warner Bros. IPs. "We've gotten started doing some LEGO games on the Warner IP," Burton confirms, stating that they are "down the line." That's games plural.

In the piece, Burton is also quoted as saying: "To be able to dabble around in CG and film would be interesting," and that, "Warner allows me to push in those directions without 'quitting the day job,' so to speak." We reckon that games based on movies are definitely one way to fulfill that interest, but which WB properties (other than the Caped Crusader) could be LEGO-worthy? We'd be interested in seeing how Traveller's Tales would tackle such anticipated Warner projects as Watchmen, Terminator Salvation, and Superman: Man of Steel. Let's just hope it passes on The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. Which Warner flicks would you like to see LEGO-fied?

Japanese publisher (and House of Sonic) Sega Sammy posted a ¥10.5 billion (approx. US $96 million) net loss for the first quarter of Fiscal 2009 – that's double the losses from a year earlier -- and sales of ¥74.6b, a 22% decline. Despite all this, the publisher managed to beat expectations and subsequently shares were up 13% to ¥1,201 per share, the sharpest increase since its listing as a holding company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2004, according to Bloomberg.

The pachinko and arcade divisions, as well as the global and Japanese economy, were cited as reasons for the losses. Particularly, the pachinko business saw around US$40 million in losses. The games division increased sales to ¥30.5 billion, reducing the operating loss to ¥4.12b. Overall unit sales were around 6.89 million (3.16m in US, 2.89m in Europe and 830k in Japan), with Mario and Sonic at the Olympics noted as having so far shipped 7 million units worldwide.

Spacetime Studios posted some sad news last week, announcing that it was letting half its staff go. The company has been self-funded while it sought a publishing deal for Blackstar, its sci-fi MMO space/ground action game. The company says it is scaling down from 32 to 16 employees while it tries to get a prototype and a publisher lined up. If you're a studio looking for good talent, Spacetime has urged you to contact them.

The developer has been going through a rough patch since NCSoft decided not to be Blackstar's publisher back in January. For a basic idea of what the gameplay looked like at GDC, check out the video after the break.

It's alright Lars, you don't need to keep it a secret any longer. With or without your intimations, we all know Guitar Hero: Metallica will be joining the pantheon of geriatric rock simulators right alongside that other game, probably next summer. But if you really just want to get it off your chest, go right on ahead ...

When asked about the existence of the aforementioned game by MTV News, Metallica drummer and lead Napster-hater Lars Ulrich said, "... if somebody's gonna follow [GH: Aerosmith] up ... we're talking, and its exciting, and the people at Guitar Hero and Activision are rapidly becoming our best new friends in the world. You can put the rest of it together yourself." We took a moment to put those various pieces together and, sure enough, they basically assembled the retail packaging for the game. For further evidence, hit up the video after the break.

Just a day after learning of another blood-red quarter at Midway, with $34.8m lost in its second quarter, Kotaku brings word of a trio of high-level departures from the beleaguered publisher including Mike Bilder, head of Midway's internal Chicago studio, currently tasked with bringing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Blitz: The League II to market.

Also gone: Mona Hamilton, veep of marketing, and Reilly Brennan, director of media relations. Midway confirmed all three departures, and said that Bilder accepted a senior management position with another Chicagoland dev (any ideas, Joystiqland?). There are two additional rumored departures, but Midway's apparently not ready to talk about them yet. That's fine. For now we'll just add these three to the list we've already got going, right there next to these two guys and the company's CEO.

Microsoft recently revealed that the Xbox Live Marketplace has seen over $240 million in revenue, with $180 million of that occurring in the last 12 months. Gamasutra reports the company also revealed that games with paid DLC make an average of $21 million more at retail if the content hits within a 30-day "sweet spot," causing customers to hold on to the titles longer.

Gamasutra's piece also delves deeper into XBLM issues like content testing and the submission process, but we're surprised by that spike in revenue over the last year. It means the Marketplace made $60 million since its inception in late 2005 and then raked in $180 million over the last year. We'll take that as a sign customers are getting comfortable with this newfangled digital shopping thing the kids are talking about.