“The move positions the Respawn Entertainment leadership team as the owners of the intellectual property they create.”

Respawn Entertainment is currently hiring to fill the studio’s roster with “a world-class team of designers, artists and engineers,” any interested can apply at jobs@respawn.com.

The move is certainly a jab at Activision, but was something many had predicted. We will soon find out if West and Zampella can recreate the magic they had at Infinity Ward and create a new franchise to claim their spot in the industry once again.

Also announced, EA will be bringing The Sims 3 to consoles and handhelds sometime in Q3 2010. Not much information was available on the games besides this, but more is sure to come in the near future.

“Like so many gamers worldwide, we love the Dead Space franchise and are very excited to announce a new game in the series,” said Nick Earl, Senior VP and Group General Manager at EA. “Visceral Games is quickly becoming known for delivering high-quality, action-packed games. Dead Space 2 is on target to deliver a jaw-dropping experience gamers won’t soon forget.”

“We’re thrilled to jump back into the series, making the next chapter in Isaac’s journey. The infection continues to spread throughout space and our hero Isaac Clarke is the only person able to contain it. There are still loads of necromorphs that need killing!” said Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer of Dead Space 2. “In Dead Space 2, not everything is exactly as it seems. Expect plot twists that will surprise you and a huge cast of twisted, disgusting monsters that are sure to scare the daylights out of you.”

No release date has been given for the game, but signs would point to late 2010.

The Medal of Honor series has been in hiding for a few years, but EA and DICE look to bring the game back from the shadows. Today EA announced that their Los Angeles team would be developing a new single player experience in the series and DICE would be taking the multiplayer content.

“Medal of Honor is being built with a best-in-class single-player campaign. The Medal of Honor development team at EALA has been hand-selected by the studio leadership of General Manager Sean Decker, Executive Producer Greg Goodrich and Senior Creative Director Rich Farrelly. To compliment the single-player experience, EALA has enlisted the multiplayer expertise at EA DICE. This team will develop the multiplayer experience of Medal of Honor. These two studios are coming together to deliver a world-class Medal of Honor that is poised to re-set and re-boot the franchise for a new generation.”

The debut trailer will air at December 12’s Spike Video Game Awards.

“Our fans are in for a genuine thrill in the New Year with Mass Effect 2 – the second installment in the trilogy will be of amazingly high quality,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. “BioWare’s fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting this epic sequel, and we couldn’t be more excited to reward them for pre-ordering by delivering some awesome bonus content!”

In North America, pre-order bonuses* include special-ops armor and weaponry that are designed to boost Commander Shepard’s skills and abilities. At GameStop, Terminus Gear is available with pre-orders, which includes the powerful Terminus Assault Armor and the M-490 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon:

The Terminus Armor is designed for use in extreme planetary conditions, increasing run speed and personal shields, and augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of reserve ammo.
The M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass, and ultimately expanding the selection of heavy weapons available to players when they gear up for combat missions in Mass Effect 2.
Players that pre-order Mass Effect 2 at other retail outlets in North America will receive the potent Inferno Armor, which is used by officers to monitor battlefield conditions by recognizing elevated heart rates, and regulates sub-systems with extreme efficiency to allow for greater response times – together these abilities translate in-game into a negotiation bonus for Commander Shepard and an increase in run speed and augmented damage from combat powers.”

Head out today and pre-order to get your bonus items, and get ready for Mass Effect 2 in January!

While Mass Effect 2 doesn’t hit for another half-year, the box art for the game has just been release by EA for you to enjoy while thinking of how much longer you have to wait to play. The box shows on again-off again dead-man Commander Shepard as well as what looks to be two new counterparts. The game is set to release next spring on the Xbox 360 and PC. Enjoy!

One of the cooler features the game offers is replay editing and uploading to EA.com. I wanted to post two videos of replays I uploaded (these are in-game with me playing). Enjoy!