Rockstar has received a larger amount of heat because of the recent in-house work condition accusations, which is something that Rockstar has declined to comment about. However, its employees/ex-employees have been very candid on the matter. According to Joystiq, a former employee told to them that the in-house conflict has affected the development of Max Payne.

When discussing Max Payne’s release, the former employee revealed that Rockstar had planned on releasing Max Payne “August 2010″, but they aren’t sure if that will still happen. “The game’s story just went through another total re-write earlier this month (the third that I am aware of in the past two years) and that [means] the team would have to have all of the content done by April or May to make that August release date,” said the source.

The source also reports of an “enforced crunch mode through to the end of the project”, meaning “14 – 16 hour work days, six or seven days a week” for developers, with a canceled two-week vacation time over the holidays. However, Rockstar has, unsurprising, declined to comment on anything, once again. Max Payne 3 is due to release later this year, however, that release target is still in the question.

It’s a good news/bad news situation, depending on how you view it: if you pre-ordered the game for as a Christmas gift, it’s bad. If it’s one of the many games on your Christmas shopping list, and you’re short on holiday money, it’s good – but not all that good.

Yesterday, Take-Two Interactive announced that BioShock 2 won’t be releasing within the company’s fourth quarter, as previously planned. BioShock 2 has instead been pushed up to the “first half” of 2010.

“The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2,” said Take-Two CEO Ben Feder. “We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve.”

However, the move is worst for the company’s current fiscal year, which ends on October 31, but good news for its 2010 fiscal year, said Jesse Divnich, director of analyst services at Electronic Entertainment Design & Research in Carlsbad, Calif.

“I expect them to dominate fiscal 2010,” Divnich said. “BioShock 2, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption, Mafia II, additional Grand Theft Auto Downloadable Content (DLC), and the possible launch of Agent should make fiscal 2010 the year of Take-Two. As far as I am concerned, Take-Two is just moving numbers from one financial year to another.”

[Bioshock 2 delayed; Take-Two's stock takes a hit via LA Times]

Max Payne developer Remedy Entertainment has licensed Umbra Software’s rendering optimization middleware for its upcoming title Alan Wake, which was announced all the way back at E3 ‘05 and was recently shown at E3 ‘09.

Umbra Software is the expert in 3D rendering optimization middleware for PC, Xbox360 and PS3. Umbra Software’s flagship product, Umbra, increases rendering performance in 3D games and allows game developers to create rich, complex and highly dynamic game worlds previously impossible.

“Umbra gave a significant boost in rendering performance on the Xbox360, and at the same time made our content creation faster. With Umbra’s culling technology, Remedy’s team can add more details to Alan Wake’s world and concentrate on the cool visuals while minimizing tedious work such as adding portals,” said Remedy Entertainment’s Development Director Markus Mäki.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Remedy on Alan Wake,” said Marko Nurro, Umbra Software’s CEO. “Remedy is one of the most innovative and technically competent studios in the world. Their games just rock, simple as that.”

Max Payne 3 is scheduled to hit the PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 this winter – which Rockstar Games announced this morning.

The game, Max Panye 3, will stars series know main character, Max Payne, in where he has now lefted New York and his job at the NYPD behind. When openning this new area in his life, he is somehow betrayed and “trapped [with]in a city full of violence” – sounds like a typical day in the life of Max Payne.

However, it now appears like if we’d be getting older Max Payne, much like what happen to Snake in Metal Gear.

“We’re starting a new chapter of Max’s life with this game. This is Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation.”

Since leaving the NYPD and New York itself behind, Max has drifted from bad to worse. Double-crossed and a long way from home, Max is now trapped in a city full of violence and bloodshed, using his weapons and instincts in a desperate search for the truth and a way out.

3D Realms really loves movies so they have decided to move their well known franchise, Duke Nukem, to the big screen. To help with this big screen move they have decided to pick a very responsible man Scott Faye will be taking on this big project. If you don’t know Faye, he has worked on the upcoming future blockbuster Max Payne, starring Mark Wahlberg. “I am already working on building a scenario that does justice to the game, as Duke Nukem is one of the most important franchises in the history of video games,” Said Faye. As producer he will work very close with Scott Miller,3D Realms, to ensure that this movie is done right. Even if it takes 10 years to make this movie as gamers we would rather have a great movie then a bad one.