Rumor Control: Bono buys Eidos and Metal Gear Solid: The Movie

RUMOR #1: U2 front man Bono is planning to buy Eidos. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

Source: The online edition of Scotland on Sunday.

The official story: "No, this isn’t true. Just a wild rumor."--Eidos staffer. Bono was unavailable for comment.

What we heard: Though at first it was laughed off as one of the loopiest rumors to hit the Web, the Bono buyout theory actually has some credibility behind it. This summer, Bono joined Elevation Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that plans to invest in "media and entertainment projects," according to the Wall Street Journal. According to a September Bloomberg News report, the venture capital firm was seeking to raise $2 billion in funds. If successful, Elevation Partners could easily meet Eidos' reported asking price of 150 million pounds--some $291.6 million. So while apparently insane, it was actually feasible that Bono, who sits on Elevation Partners' board, could have been part of an Eidos buyout. It just ain't true.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus.

RUMOR #2: A Metal Gear Solid movie is in the works.

Source: A slew of game sites loosely quoting an article in Variety.

The official story: "It's just a rumor. And we don't comment on rumors."--Konami spokesperson.

What we heard: It's easy to see how rumors could have sprouted from the remarkably thin Variety piece, which bears the headline "Game creator ready for pix." The article starts off well enough, reading MGS creator "Hideo Kojima is finally thinking about invading Hollywood as well." After mentioning Metal Gear Solid series' huge sales numbers (14.63 million units in total), the article makes a brief mention of how Hollywood studios have courted Kojima for years to get the MGS film rights. It goes on to mention that "Kojima, a movie buff and occasional film critic, has held off on selling film rights until now." It then quotes Kojima as saying, "Things one can express in a game are different of those in a movie...It would have to be a very different script, almost a different story." And that's it. No mention is made about an MGS movie in the rest of the article, which reads like a truncated interview with Kojima. No deals are discussed, no specific studios are mentioned, no concrete film production information of any kind is offered. So while we may see an MGS film in the future, nothing is in the works yet.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus.

RUMOR #3: Proof that next-generation Xbox is going to be released in 2005 has been uncovered.

Source: Followers of all things Microsoft-console-related, Talkxbox.com.

The official story: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."--MS spokesperson.

What we heard: Talkxbox.com's article claims to have found a clue that the Xbox Next will be released in 2005. It comes in the form of the end of a trailer for the Xbox Next game WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within. The trailer ends with the titled card "Coming in 2005." Ergo: The Xbox Next will be released in 2005, right? Well, not exactly. The official WarDevil site says that the game is only being developed for "next-generation consoles" and that the game's "anticipated release date is late 2005." Since Microsoft has not made any announcements regarding "next-gen" consoles, it refused to confirm that WarDevil was an Xbox Next title, stamped this whole affair "speculation," and invoked the oft-repeated no-comment statement above. But that doesn't change the fact that neither PlayStation 3 nor the Nintendo "Revolution" are expected to come out until 2006, which means, by elimination, WarDevil is almost certainly an Xbox Next title.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus insofar that it is proof...but the whole game industry is already working under the assumption that the Xbox Next is coming in Q4 2005.