Just in time to alleviate the post-holiday blues (and ease the ‘empty wallet’ phenomenon that follows), the European PlayStation Store will be hosting a January sale where you’ll be able to take advantage of a massive amount of special price offers on content from publishers like Rockstar, Capcom, THQ and Konami, as well as other miscellaneous games.

The January sale on the European PlayStation Store starts tomorrow, January 19th, and ends on February 2nd, so don’t miss out! These offers are awesome!

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Kotaku have posted up pics of an enormous piece of art created by professional illustrator Eric Maruscak, commissioned by Bioshock publishers 2K Games to be completed during PAX 2009.

Maruscak began drawing the piece during the opening hours of PAX on Friday (September 4th) this year, and spent 26+ hours working on it. Now that PAX 2009 is over, the piece has been sent to 2K Games, probably to be used as an awesome display at 2K Marin (developers of Bioshock 2) or simply to impress people at 2K headquarters.

Shift your eyes below to see a work-in-progress snapshot of the piece, featuring an almost life-size Big Daddy:

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The latest trailer for 2K/Gearbox’s first-person, post-apocalyptic shooter, Borderlands, has been released, and it’s looking extremely promising.

The new ‘cel-shaded’ visual style is also on show in the trailer, as footage cuts from excellent looking environments to action shots and more. Watch the latest teaser trailer for Borderlands below:

After the highly publicised closure of 3D Realms two weeks ago, and the subsequent news that Take-Two, the publishing rights holder for the perpetually in development Duke Nukem Forever, had filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms for not producing a game after the publisher’s $12 million investment, 3D Realms’ CEO, big man George Broussard, has finally released a public statement to quell the tide of angry, disappointed and indifferent fans:

“Despite rumors and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing. 3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise.

“Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) development team go on May 6, while we regroup as a company.

“While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise.”

Broussard then goes on to provide his side of the Take-Two $12 million story, revealing that, not only has 3D Realms never directly received any money from Take-Two for the development of Duke Nukem Forever, but the $12 million in question was paid to the now defunct GT Interactive, 3D Realms’ publishing partner at the time.

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Those of you hoping for a resolution to the Duke Nukem Forever ‘situation’ may want to lower your expectations for the game to be released any time soon, if ever.

Take-Two, owner of the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever, has only gone and sued Apogee Software Ltd. (3D Realms’ legal name) over their failure to produce the game that has been in development for twelve years, having seen continually promised release dates come and go without a result.

From the complaint filed by Take-Two in a state court in Manhattan recently: “Apogee continually delayed the completion date for the Duke Nukem Forever. Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward comp[l]eting development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever.”

It has also been revealed that in 2000, Take-Two paid $12 million for the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever, despite a statement to the contrary released shortly after the news that 3D Realms would be shut down, and their employees laid off.

Take-Two is apparently now trying to reclaim the $12 million that they had provided to 3D Realms, after the developer’s failure to fulfil its obligations to produce Duke Nukem Forever.

After generously giving the original Bioshock art book away for free online, as an accompaniment for the game, 2K are now taking pre-orders for the overhauled version of the same book, now entitled Bioshock: Breaking the Mold – Developer’s Edition.

The book will cost you $24.99 and includes commentary about the game’s evolutionary journey throughout the years of its development, as well as a few new sections

The 174 page soft cover book will be available exclusively through 2K’s online store, and those of you that pre-order the book will receive free shipping anywhere in the world.

Head over here to 2K’s store to glimpse some more pages from the Bioshock: Breaking the Mold – Developer’s Edition art book, or head over here to pre-order.

While 2K Games has been teasing us with scant details for BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams through the game’s newly launched website (SomethingInTheSea.com), the April issue of Game Informer seems to have some more solid information for us.

Game Informer released a scan of its April cover online, with none other than a Big Sister from BioShock 2 featured on the cover! It appears as if players will return to the underwater city of Rapture but this time you can expect a Big Sister to greet you.

Feast your eyes on the first image of the Big Sister below.

EA have announced that they are discontinuing their takeover bid for Take-Two (2K) and have terminated their discussions with that company. This brings to an end EA’s campaign to acquire 2K with their initial bid of $2 billion, a sum of money 2K repeatedly turned as they felt it severely undervalued the company. The initial bid, which saw numerous extensions, eventually turned hostile in a perceived attempt to acquire 2K before the lucrative release of Grand Theft Auto IV, a notion EA denied, but acknowledged.

More recently, EA stepped away from their hostile takeover plan, entering closed-doors talks with 2K in an attempt to negotiate 2K’s true worth. EA repeatedly stressed the urgency of the talks, wanting to gain control of 2K’s line-up before the lead-up to Christmas. It now appears as though no agreement has been met and the talks have been terminated, after EA’s “careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials”.

2K will continue to seek alternative partnerships, according to chairman of the Board of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick, “…we remain actively engaged in discussions with other parties in the context of our formal process to consider strategic alternatives. We’re especially proud of the success we’ve enjoyed over the past eighteen months and we remain confident in our ability to generate value for stockholders”.

Take Two has announced that it will be publishing Cryptic Studios’ MMO Champions Online under its 2K Games label. The publisher also revealed that Champions Online is being developed for the Xbox 360 and PC. The game is scheduled to be released in Spring of 2009.

Cryptic Studios are well known for creating the City of Heroes and City of Villains MMO titles. Champions Online will be based on the Champions pen-and-paper RPG. It will enable players to customize their experience and explore a vast comic book universe.

“2K Games is excited to work with such a talented group as Cryptic Studios,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Given their stellar pedigree and amazing grasp of the MMO genre, we are confident that Champions Online will deliver an innovative and exciting action MMO experience to gamers.”

“2K Games is a terrific publishing partner for Champions Online,” said John Needham, CEO of Cryptic Studios. “Cryptic is proud that Champions Online will be 2K’s first MMO title and we look forward to working together towards a tremendous launch next year.”