Three senior figures at Bizarre Creations help us pick through the issues surrounding the studio’s demise.
Oregon Trail developer The Learning Company claims damages for upcoming FrontierVille expansion.
Educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is suing Zynga in an attempt to prevent the social game studio from using the name Oregon Trail. The suit alleges that original Oregon Trail developer and HMH subsidiary The Learning Company approached Zynga in 2008 to discuss the creation of a Facebook version of its game.
Developer: Vincent Morisset
Format: Flash
Bla Bla is a “film for computer” by Vincent Morisset. It’s a piece of interactive animation spread across six chapters, each part concerned with examining the possibilities – and limitations – of human communication.
Star Defense developer brought on board to help bolster Mobage first-party releases.
We Rule developer and publisher Ngmoco has acquired Dutch studio and long-time collaborator Rough Cookie. The studio is responsible for the award-winning iOS title Star Defense, along with Touch Pets and Pulse: The Game - all of which were published by Ngmoco. Rough Cookie also lent a hand on Ngmoco's We Rule and We Farm games.
N'Gai Croal warns that the increasing conservatism of the game industry is in danger of suffocating it.
When we think of the first and fourth quarters of the year from a gaming perspective, we think of a period when many of the year’s most successful or most acclaimed games are released. But for the past several years, it’s also been a time of course correction, where publishers shed employees and close studios – and the most recent sixmonth period has proven no exception.
Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies and Doodle Jump to grace WP7 handsets over the next two months.
The promotion, announced earlier this year, will see mobile hits including Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies and Doodle Jump migrating to Windows Phone 7 handsets over the next two months.
Studios reaction mixed at Sony's intention to offer multiple updates per week once service is restored.
Both companies deny responsibility for problem; Intel gaming head tells us LA Noire could indeed be overheating systems.
Leaked memo suggests stores return date but leaves room for manoeuvre.
Sony's PlayStation Network Store could be returning on May 24, according to an internal memo seen by Gamasutra. The memo also sheds more light on Sony's proposed accelerated updates schedule which will see two updates every week for a fortnight in order to catch up with the backlog of missed releases.
Customers to receive £5 off next bill.
Lovefilm has emailed customers of its PS3 service to notify them that they'll receive £5 off their next order as a good will gesture. In the email, Lovefilm thanks PS3 customers for their patience, reiterating that it has been a frustrating period for all.
Dashboard update which adds PayPal functionality and auto-standby begins roll out.
Microsoft has confirmed that the new Xbox 360 system update, reported earlier in the month, will allow Xbox Live users to make purchases on their console using PayPal. Users will need to link their PayPal and Live accounts on Xbox.com before using the service.
Plants Vs Zombies and Bejeweled the first to receive new modes and social networking elements.
The developer's horticultural defense game Plants Vs Zombies will launch on China's leading social network Renren, while its sparkling puzzler Bejeweled will launch alongside Pop Tower, a collaboration between PopCap and Taito that represents the social developer's first mobile social game service on Japan's leading mobile social network Gree.
The two announcements were made only a day apart.
Social developer snaps up Casino City and Slot City studio DNA Games.
Social game developer Zynga has made its 14th acquisition in 12 months, snapping up DNA Games. The studio, which was founded in 2009 by Jon Lee and Shaun Hasse, is behind several Facebook titles including Casino City, Slot City and Bar World.
Format: 3DS
Release: May 20 (UK), May 24 (US)
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Developer: Team Ninja
Square Enix's DS title spends second consecutive week at the top while Steel Diver debuts in third.
The Square Enix-published DS title Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 remains at the top of the Japanese charts this week, having returned to number one in the last chart.
This week's highest new entry is the PS3 version of Haruhi Suzumiya no Tsuisou at number two, the PSP version debuting at number four. Both sandwich Nintendo's Steel Diver, which debuts at number three.
Platinum Games' multiplayer online brawler to miss original Autumn release window.
The Inaba-produced Platinum Games online brawler Anarchy Reigns has been delayed until early 2012. The thir-person multiplayer game was originally scheduled for Autumn this year and is being published by Sega Sammy.
The MAG and SOCOM developer shedding staff due to "normal business practice".
MAG and SOCOM developer Zipper Interactive has been hit by layoffs, according to Kotaku. No information on how many staff have lost their jobs is yet forthcoming.
A Sony spokesperson subsequently confirmed the layoffs, saying they were "normal business practice and a result of cutting back on production resources after the launch of two major franchises."
Problem spreads to Xbox 360 as Sony denies culpability and Rockstar issues workaround.
Sony has told us unequivocally that there is no issue with its 3.61 firmware update. Earlier today it was thought that the update, which was released to upgrade security on the console, was causing units to overheat following complaints from some LA Noire players.
Rio themed release accounts for 35 million of that figure.
Speaking at the PaidContent Mobile conference in New York, which took place yesterday, Rovio marketing boss Peter Vesterbacka revealed that Angry Birds has now passed 200 million downloads. This figure includes 35 million downloads of the Rio-branded version of the game.
Password reset website back up, potential security hole now fixed.
Following yesterday's revelation that Sony's PSN password reset page was vulnerable to a "URL exploit", Sony has posted a statement on its blog saying that it has now resolved the issue.
Consoles freezing and shutting down; Rockstar customer service rep attributes problem to update.
UPDATE:
Sony has told us that while it is aware of the problem, there is currently "no evidence to indicate firmware 3.61 is causing any issues with PS3s."
Users need take no action, update will roll out globally "over the next few days".
Following yesterday's discovery that 99.7 per cent of smartphones using Google's Android OS were vulnerable to a hacking exploit, Google has begun rolling out a fix to plug the security hole.
Fresh exploit means PSN passwords could be changed using information stolen in initial attack.
It would seem that Sony's rebuilt security measures have already been bypassed, according to reports. An exploit on Sony's password reset page allows people to change users' passwords using only a PSN account email and date of birth - both of which were stolen in last month's hacking attack.
32-month high following North American release of Team Bondi's crime thriller.
Take-Two has enjoyed a significant boost to its share price following the North American release of LA Noire yesterday. The publishers shares closed at $17.10 at the end of trading yesterday, $1.23 up on the previous day - an increase of 7.75 per cent.
