According to internet reports, media conglomerate Hearst has purchased the 1UP Network from Ziff Davis Media. However, as speculation suggested, the sale does not include Electronic Gaming Monthly, another long-running Ziff property. With Ziff no longer interested in keeping the mag afloat, primarily due to a decline in readership, this means EGM will be forced to close its doors later this month. Said move will end a reign of over ten years in print-based industry coverage.

Considering EGM was one of the more prominent gaming magazines, one wonders how long the rest of similar outlets will manage to stay around. The future of print certainly looks bleak in this industry.

Breaking: Ziff Davis Sells 1UP To UGO/Hearst, Closes EGM [Gamasutra]

After taking a break from sending out media blasts during the holidays, Capcom returns in full force this week with four all-new screenshots from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter IV. The images showcase series mainstay Cammy inflicting bodily harm on her opponents.

Street Fighter IV is slated for a February 17 debut in North America. A release in European territories will follow on the 20th.

Street Fighter IV Screenshots

Independent game developer Semnat Studios has announced that Eduardo the Samurai Toaster is poised to hit Nintendo’s WiiWare download service later this Winter. Billed as a “run ‘n gun” action shooter with sidescrolling elements, the game promises drop-in and drop-out co-op play for up to four players, 13 diverse story levels, and customizable difficulty settings tailored towards players of all skill levels.

Screenshots can be found after the break. The game features a rather distinct visual style, resembling that of a watercolor painting. Semnat is promising that a video showcasing gameplay footage will be released soon.

Eduardo and the Samurai Toaster Screenshots

Microsoft announced today that a Star Ocean 4 and Biohazard 5 flavored hardware bundle will hit Japan later this year.

The former is due out February 19 and includes a copy of the Star Ocean 4 original soundtrack and faceplate. As for the Biohazard pack, it’ll include a coll ctor’s edition copy of Biohazard 5, along with a Xbox Live Gold Membership card good for 48-hours upon use.

There’s no word on if either bundles will make their way stateside in the future. Microsoft isn’t exactly stressing to sell hardware over here, though, so we’d place our bets on no.

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Microsoft is kicking off 2009 with yet another casual title on the XBLA front. Interpol, due out this Wednesday, is a point and click puzzle title in which players are tasked with uncovering various crime scenes in an effort to stop the villainous Dr. Chaos. Also featured is support for four way co-op, allowing players to work together in uncovering clues.

Interpol will be priced at 800 MS Points.

A few days ago, well known PSP developer MaTiAz discovered a new savegame exploit in the game GripShift on the PSP. Working together with another well known developer named FreePlay, they have managed to put together a Hello World and an SDK so that other developers can write programs specifically made to work with this exploit.

Unfortunately, so far this exploit only works in User Mode - meaning no flash0 access and no downgraders and is limited to the US version of GripShift only. However, on the bright side, this new exploit has been tested and is known to work on the PSP-3000.

For the time being, only specifically developed programs can be run using this exploit but this is a step in the right direction - towards an eloader-like application or, if a kernel exploit is found, towards a downgrader, finally enabling PSP-3000s to be downgraded.

Only time will tell! For the readme, FAQ and downloads, hit the jump.

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Resident developer ne0h has released an update to Xplora, a feature packed all-in-one file management utility for the PSP. Notably, build version 1.8 includes a feature-complete text editor, along with the ability to sort homebrew applications and games located on the Memory Stick. Other enhancements consist of support for OGG Vorbis format audio files, and several minor interface tweaks. For the complete changelog, hit the jump.

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Make no mistake, 2008 was a great year for Xbox Live. On the whole, our hopes for 2009 are high, but in retrospect, let’s take a look at the big hitters of last year.

Microsoft has released data revealing twenty of the most played titles on Live, convenient broken up in separate charts of retail games, XBLA titles, and even Xbox Originals.

Results on the retail side of the charts are far from surprising, with both Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 topping out at first and second place, respectively. But where things get a tad more interesting, is the list of top XBLA titles, which is dominated by several indy efforts, including Behemoth’s Castle Crashers and Jonathan Blow’s Braid. Look for the complete chart listing past the break, provided by Xbox community manager Larry Hryb.

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With the economy in a slump, well-placed “company sources”  at Times reckon that Sony is planning to further its restructuring plans later this year, possibly as soon as next month. Said sources say we could see the closure of several Japanese factories, in addition to “major divisions.”

Analysts, such as Koya Tabata of Credit Suisse, believe that Sony is dire need of a business model restructuring. However, Sony is calling denial on the report right now, with company spokesman Atsuo Omagari claiming that no such plan is in place.

The Times piece did not elaborate as to which divisions are in danger of being axed. Guess we’ll have to wait this one out and hope for the best, that none of these cuts will end up affecting the PlayStation division.

Sony on brink of upheaval as analysts back British chief [Times via Reuters]

The staff here at eXophase.com would like to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year. We’d also like to extend thanks to all who have supported us throughout the years. Shout-outs go to our friends at Dark-Alex.org as well as affiliates sites 1Emulation.com and AcidMods.com.

To celebrate, we’ll be rolling out several site-wide enhancements within the next couple weeks, including a much-requested centralized download database for homebrew applications, which will hopefully make locating files around the site less of a chore.

And we’re off. Be back Monday!