The founders of Hitman and Kane and Lynch developer IO Interactive have left to form Reto-Moto, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based studio "committed to redefining the online multi-player space." While the team isn't talking about its initial project, a press release announcing the company notes that Reto-Moto is in "active dialogue with strategic industry partners."

In a rather incestuous twist, it turns out that Reto-Moto was actually established in 1997, and was the former parent of IO Interactive before it was handed off to Eidos in 2004 as part of a £20 million acquisition. It looks like Thomas Wolfe was wrong; you can go home again.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men has hit the million-sold milestone – and somewhere a journalism fairy just died. Unfortunately, the achievement has been overshadowed by parent company SCi's current woes. Despite strong Kane & Lynch sales, SCi still plans to declare an operating loss for fiscal year 2008.

SCi said in a statement that it expects Kane & Lynch to "firmly establish itself as another key franchise" in the company's arsenal. In other words: Sequel confirmed! Start practicing those superlative adjectives game reviewers because Kane & Lynch got no problems rubbing your career out – allegedly.

[Via X3F]

Kane and Lynch have gotten a bum rap lately as the guys responsible for double-handedly ripping the internet asunder and scattering the pieces to the wind. But did you know that they also starred in an electronic video game? And it's a game which, despite the negativity, is actually sporadically pretty fun. A reminder is now available on Xbox Live with a new, single-player demo.

What we hope is that more people getting their hands on the demo with re-establish the game as what it should have been all along: A decent action game, not a pariah. Give it a try yourself, we'd bet that no matter what your impressions are, they're going to be better than "symbol for all that is wrong with games journalism," which is where we'd imagine several of you now have it ranked.

In a bit of news that seriously calls into question the rumors (that we attempted to start) of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Zachery Ty Bryan filling the lead roles in a fast-tracked Kane & Lynch film, Times Online is reporting that A-listers Billy Bob Thorton and Bruce Willis are in talks to take on the roles of the hardened criminal and his psychotic, GTA-lovin' buddy.

Judging from some of the reviews we've read, the story and characters are the strongest part of the recently-released game, so a film seems to make perfect sense. But Bruce Willis as a hardened thief? Does Hollywood never learn?

[Via 1UP]

Poor Kane & Lynch. We were thinking they'd do better (and be better) than this, especially considering Eidos dropped them at Ground Zero in the holiday game release insanity. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is apparently a game driven by story but stifled by gameplay. Guess we'll wait and see what type of review Variety gives it since they seem to prefer one over the other. As for the video game press, they give Kane & Lynch a thumbs "meh." From the reviews it sounds like the title would have been perfect for a delay to work out the kinks -- and really, that wouldn't have been a bad thing given the amount of games coming out just this week.

• 1UP (75/100): "So there are problems that prevent Kane & Lynch from fully realizing its potential, but its concept and execution are strong enough to survive them. We rarely see scenarios and story structure this good in a game, and that makes it easier to forgive some of the more hardcore technical game-design issues. It's definitely more of a popcorn game for the action-movie crowd than a hardcore shooter, but there's nothing wrong with that."
• IGN (70/100): "As well constructed as the plot is, one would assume the game would play smoothly. Unfortunately, it does not. Instead, it plays like a game that lacks focus and needs a few more months of polish. But then, most of the gameplay feels like it was pulled directly out of a game from the last generation, so perhaps more time wouldn't have done any good."
• GameSpot (60/100): "Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a premise with promise, but the gameplay isn't sound while the story and characters go nowhere. And it's got enough random AI-based glitches to make you want to scream. Considering the nearly ridiculous number of extremely high-quality shooters available recently, there's not much room for something like Kane & Lynch. But the multiplayer is a really great idea that's worth seeing, even if playing it makes you wish that it was used in another, better game."

How badly do we as a nation want the next iteration of the Grand Theft Auto series? Glad you asked. Our desire has become so rampant that it has actually broken the fourth wall and is plaguing fictional characters. Take Lynch, of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men fame for example. The guy's so eager for GTA IV that he can't stop jawing about it even moments before he ... well, does something very bad, we're assuming.

The videos a lot of fun, but you may want to watch it quick. Who knows how long it will be before Rockstar freaks out and demands that it be pulled?

[Thanks, Arsh]

While Kane & Lynch's bank heist multiplayer had us intrigued, we were quite disappointed to learn that the eponymous duo's criminal cooperation wouldn't extend beyond an offline split-screen mode. Eurogamer politely asked game director Jens Peter Kurup to explain the omission, to which he responded, "It's a matter of focus, choosing what you want to deliver at what time. We looked at it and decided it was too much of a risk to change our code to be very very good at that, and we're not going to be very very good at other elements." He noted that he'd miss the feature, "but not terribly."

As that's not a sentiment likely to be shared by those enjoying the online co-op of a little game called Halo 3, Kurup places a divide between the two titles. "They are not only selling Halo," he said, "they are selling technology, they are selling consoles, they are selling Microsoft, the whole online package. That's not what we're doing." He's right on two counts! They are selling (by the boatloads) and IO Interactive isn't selling the whole online package. Instead of applause, let's offer some commentary.

Regardless of Microsoft's intentions for its platform, Halo 3 is still a video game competing for the time and attention of gamers, as is EA's cooperatively themed Army of Two. With Gears of War well behind us and Perfect Dark Zero (thankfully) even further back, we're of the belief that online co-op is (or should be), where appropriate, a standard "next-gen" offering by now. Kurup made a valid point about increased development time when he said gamers "also want the game at some point," but when some point happens to be November, you'd best give your game a full pair of water wings before tossing it into that shark-infested maelstrom.

Deathmatch? Deathly boring. Capture the flag? Go capture it yourself. Assault? More like ass-ault. We admit that even we can get a little bored with traditional multiplayer game types. So you can imagine our excitement when the developers of Kane and Lynch said that their brand of online action was so fresh, so radical that they can't believe that no one's thought of it yet.

When playing K&L online (known as Fragile Alliance), you'll be part of a bank heist. Basically, your squad will try to grab as much loot as possible, taking out cops and other security measures all the while. If you notice that a teammate has a sack a bit fuller than yours (or you just want to pad your sack a bit more) you can, as they say on the streets, kill him. But once you do so, the whole team knows, and they likely won't take kindly to it. Even if you do get popped, you're still in the game, reincarnated as a police officer, allowing you to take delicious vengeance on your killer.

We don't know all the ins-and-outs of Fragile Alliance yet, but, suffice it to say that we can't wait to get our hands on it.

"Get down!" That's the last thing you're told before your vision fades away. You hear what's going on: somehow, Lynch, the psychopath partner of yours, has managed to bust you out of a prison van. Your vision returns, blurry, as you limp away, following his directives.

So begins Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. It's clear why the game is already optioned for a movie -- it's intense, visceral, in your face. Dazed and confused, you follow Lynch's directives and join your fellow inmates in a mad escape. The cops are on hot pursuit, and bullets fly in every direction. You're not just seeing a massive gunfight unfold before your eyes -- you're a vital part of it. The cons ahead of you are also fighting for their lives. You realize you have no choice but to follow, for the sake of your own survival. As your vision slowly returns and you're able to start walking normally, you see that the world developer IO Interactive has created is a very real one. Don't expect the gritty browns and grays that are so typical of modern action games. Instead, the colors are refreshingly un-stylized. As your progress through the first chapter of the game, you end up in a rather un-spectacular backdrop: a local diner, taking cover from an increasing barrage of bullets. This is where you fight back.

We liked our time playing Kane and Lynch at E3; unfortunately, it appears the Gods That Be have given the title a rather arduous gauntlet. Eidos is bringing the title to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 20.

As if the holiday lineup wasn't crowded enough, this particular week will also see the deployment of BioWare's much-ballyhooed Mass Effect for Xbox 360 and Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. We're not saying Kane and Lynch has a death sentence; it's a fun game from the makers of Hitman that has garnered enough interest for a movie deal. But the competition will be fierce.

[Via X3F]

Apparently, Lionsgate likes what they're seeing in an adaptation of forthcoming Eidos action game Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. IGN reports that the studio has fast-tracked the film to start shooting in the fall from a script by Kyle Ward. (We'll save you a click, he's done one movie and you haven't heard of it.)

According to IGN though, you probably have heard of at least one of the actors who are interested in playing one of the lead roles. If Lionsgate is looking for name actors here, we'd like to throw in a suggestion: Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Zachery Ty Bryan. No one would see that coming. Now, if they'd complete the Home Improvement trifecta and cast Taran Noah Smith as a cop hell-bent on bringing them to justice, we'd go ahead and pre-order our tickets today.

Eidos' Product Acquisition Director Ian Livingstone, speaking at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, said that game developers need to create more iconic characters. Not just for games, but so they can be used in various other products as well. He showed the audience a series of iconic characters and mixed in there were game heroes ... some people in the audience couldn't put names to the characters. Livingstone said, "If we all work in the games industry, what does that say?"

Eidos has definitely had a focus on iconic characters. From Lara Croft to Agent 47, to the upcoming Kane & Lynch. From what we saw of the game at E3, the characters exude bad-boy personality, which can also be seen in the trailer. Livingstone says that Kane originally looked much younger -- "a bit of a ladies' man." He says the decision was made to age him up and scar him to keep in line with the story. He also says that Lara Croft was originally going to be Lara Cruz, but then the decision was made to make her a posh British lady, so the team went through the phone book until they found the right name.

If you're unsure about the nature of content in IO Interactive's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, you need only a single glance at the bench you're sitting on in the Eidos E3 demonstration room. Packed beneath a layer of glass you can find either a cache of machine guns and bullets, packets of suspicious white powder (baking powder, perhaps?) or countless rows of hundred-dollar bills. Judging by the brief demonstration of the single-player component of the game, these are all items that have been thoroughly used, abused and stolen by Kane and Lynch at some point in their dubious careers.

Despite sharing similar criminal and psychotic tendencies, the eponymous duo don't get along very well. Their brutish behavior and decidedly harsh vocabulary stems from the Hitman developer's desire to keep things "raw and realistic," says product manager Matt Knowles. He sums the game up as "an emotionally intense crime drama," pointing towards a bickering Kane and Lynch as they prepare to enter a vibrant upmarket nightclub. They're certainly dressed for the part, but it soon becomes clear that those snazzy suits conceal a sinister kidnapping plot.

A new trailer has been released for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, a title we've come to think of first and foremost as "that game with the really stylish advertising." The worst part? We're still susceptible to it, thanks to the video's irresistible combination of the three Ms: murder, mayhem and a mullet.

Seriously, look at that thing. Lynch (possibly Kane) is a real "business up front, party out back" sort of guy. Our eyes are only occasionally drawn away from the mullet by Kane's (possibly Lynch's) Breathe Right strip, and usually you couldn't pry our eyes away from those things with a crowbar. Oh, before we forget, this video contains another "M": mature language. So you probably shouldn't watch it at work if your boss is offended by profanity ... or, you know, mullets.