Welcome to the Weekly Wrap-Up, the weekly (and ever evolving) time when we look at the top five news stories of the week. And what a week we here at BagoGames had. You may have noticed the site was unavailable for a day. We decided to do a full server migration. Little did we know for how long we would be down. The good news is, we’re back and running better than ever. For the full stories, simply click on the hyperlink. So here’s the list without further adieu:
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Even though Just Add Water started working on the PlayStation Vita version of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath a few short weeks ago, the developer has a release date in mind. Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray stated that the person working on the Vita version has actually never touched a Vita before. He simply read documentation for a week and had a code running a week later.
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Fans of the Castlevania series who own a 3DS may soon have yet another reason to carry around Nintendo’s newest hand-held (it’s not just for street passes anymore). Rumor has it (that song from Adele just came into your head, didn’t it?) that a 3DS version of the game, currently known as Castlevania: Mirror of Faith is in the works and the game is set for an E3 reveal next month. The game is rumored to make use of the 3DS’s forward and rear facing cameras.
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Regretfully, the news in the gaming industry isn’t always good. After reports of financial turmoil within 38 Studios, the developer behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning laid off their entire staff in the Rhode Island office and the Baltimore office of Big Huge Games. The studios trouble first came to light in earlier this month when they failed to make a $1.125 million payment to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation on May 1. Our thoughts are with the former employees of the studio and we hope you all find other employment soon.
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Court documents from the Activision/Electronic Arts law suit have revealed details about Bungie’s next game. The game, simply known by the code-name “Destiny” is being touted as a “sci-fantasy action shooter” with a target release date of sometime in 2013. Subsequent games are planned for 2015 and 2019 with DLC planned for each game. The first game is planned to be an Xbox exclusive at first with PS3 version coming later on. The sequels will also be released on the PlayStation and PC.
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GAME Australia has announced it will be closing 60 stores and has already laid off 281 employees. GAME had problems in England earlier this year, but was able to escape without closing any stores. Kate Warwick of Game said that the decision was not an easy one to come to. PwC has been in contact with the Federal Government Department that works with General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme and they have agreed to assist former GAME employees with applications elsewhere.
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This week had a lot of big news and the news staff and I found it hard to narrow it down to the usual five stories. With that in mind, here are some honorable mentions: Konami has announced that Castlevania: Lord of Shadows 2 is in development, Kojima has teased a sequel to Zone of Enders and a US Judge recommends a ban on the import of the Xbox 360.
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Let us know if you agree with out top five. If you have suggestions for future Weekly Wrap-Ups, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com