Today's emergency meeting by Rhode Island officials to determine what they are going to do about Curt Schilling's 38 Studios has concluded with officials freezing like deer in headlights. Nothing happened.

Rhode Island's Economic Development Corporation will take no immediate action to aid the developer, following a closed-door meeting attended by Governor Lincoln Chafee and Schilling, who asked for additional help to save the company. Schilling refused to answer press inquiries and officials wouldn't declare how much money the studio is seeking.

"How do we avoid throwing good money after bad?" Chafee is quoted by the Associated Press as saying after the three-hour emergency meeting finished.

"The company still has the option to cure the existing default by paying the $1,125,000 guaranty fee that is past due," reads an official statement by the EDC board. "In the meantime, we will continue to talk with 38 Studios and develop additional information, and will resume the Board meeting at our regularly scheduled meeting on May 21. The members of the Board may not discuss the confidential information received and discussed today."

If the studio doesn't receive assistance, it appears Rhode Island taxpayers may very well be on the hook for the $75 million 38 Studios loan that, after interest, would require paying back $112.6 million through 2020.

Continue Reading

Searching for the proper metaphor for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, the best I can conjure is a glass of milk. There's nothing really wrong with it per se, but it's not exactly exciting either. It has some good qualities and is mildly refreshing, but when's the last you time you raved about a glass of milk?

Continue Reading

We certainly didn't expect a 3DS spinoff of Lost Planet ... and we definitely didn't expect a 3DS-slash-PS3 spinoff. EX Troopers, revealed in this week's Famitsu magazine, is also unexpectedly anime styled, featuring manga panel cutscenes and a theme by Jpop star May'n.

EX Troopers takes place on EDN-3rd, in some kind of academy. Bren Turner is new in school, and seems to jump right into the Akrid fighting in what producer Shintaro Kojima describes as a beginners' action shooter.

No official images have been released yet (above is Lost Planet 3), but expect to see a lot of this, as Capcom indicated plans to use this IP outside of games, like its other "Single Content Multiple Usage" initiatives.

Like the TARDIS, the PS3 is "bigger on the inside," capable of holding an entirely new Doctor Who adventure within its slim casing. The BBC announced today that Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock will be released "globally" on PlayStation Network Wednesday, May 23, and in UK retail the following Friday. "We really appreciate your patience as we've been making sure the game is perfect for all you eager fans," said executive producer Simon Harris, referencing the two-month delay of the game, which made the title unfortunately ironic.

The brief announcement on the PlayStation Blog did not offer any release dates for the announced PC or PlayStation Vita versions. It also doesn't tell us if the game will finally reveal the fate of the Doctor's daughter Samantha.

The full PlayStation downloads list for April – as opposed to the sneak peek we got thanks to Pulse earlier this month, where the list is not segregated by platform – has been released and Ubisoft's I Am Alive was indeed the top download. On the PS3 and PSN list, thatgamecompany's Journey followed Ubisoft's long-awaited title. Reverge Labs' debut Skullgirls managed to snag the third spot.

On the PS Vita side, Escape Plan continued to dominate – no surprise since there's not much else for the PS Vita right now, though that changes today. Modern Warfare 3's Content Collection #1 drop on PSN also did well, topping out the PS3 add-on category. Finally, Final Fantasy VII was the top PSOne Classic, but then again you already knew that because it's always Final Fantasy VII.

Ubisoft is celebrating the gorgeous, inviting weather of May with a sale on PSN titles designed to keep you indoors for days. Today through May 22, a large Ubisoft lineup is 30 percent off for standard PSN users and 50 percent off for PlayStation Plus members.

Titles include Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Scott Pilgrim, Prince of Persia Classic Trilogy HD and Far Cry 2, among other full games and DLC packs. Check out the full list and prices below, you hermit.

Continue Reading

Capcom is revising its DLC strategy to include less content on-disc at launch, senior vice president Christian Svensson writes in a post in the Capcom forums. "We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future," Svensson says.

This introspection follows vicious complaints about Street Fighter X Tekken's on-disc DLC, to which Capcom responded that it sees no distinction between on- and off-disc DLC. A few titles currently in production will ship with on-disc DLC, including Dragon's Dogma, Svensson writes.

Capcom decided to add DLC on Dragon's Dogma discs "at the beginning of the game's development cycle as at the time this was determined to be the most efficient way of ensuring certain content was made available," according to Svensson. "You are being heard," Svensson concludes.

PixelJunk 4am drops its sick beats on PSN today, daring anyone to look cooler or make prettier sounds come out of a TV than mixmaster Baiyon. Seriously, launching this game is a dare in itself – to create something beautiful and share it with the world – so don't be a wuss. Today PSN also gets Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, Prototype 2 and Rock of Ages for download on PSN.

PlayStation Plus members get Rock of Ages for free, Goldeneye 007 Reloaded for half price ($30) and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Complete Edition for 40 percent off ($15). The entire run-down of content, free, discounted and just-launched, is available on the PlayStation Blog.

Translating the tome that is author George R.R. Martin's masterwork A Song of Ice and Fire is a task that must be both daunting and erratic. In its second season on HBO, the television adaptation of the series has been lovingly crafted into a marvelous weekly hour of television. In the video game world, developer Cyanide Studio has stumbled in its task thus far, releasing an abysmal strategy game that seemed to be created less in devotion to the source material and more in reaction to the franchise's new mainstream spotlight. With the studio's second effort at the series, the French developer has brought the Seven Kingdoms to life in a new, role-playing adventure.

Unlike the strategy title A Game of Thrones: Genesis, the RPG Game of Thrones feels like it was cobbled together by people who have genuine affection for the series. But Cyanide's ideas themselves seem more grand than the company is capable of delivering, showing stitches of the small studio's limitations throughout. It's the intention of the HBO series – with the budget of a SyFy original movie.

Continue Reading

"We look forward to launching Darksiders [2] beginning on August 14 in North America," announced THQ CEO Brian Farrell during an investor conference call today. Farrell said that the delay from the previous June date was a "demonstration of our commitment to quality" – and that, after discussions with retailers, the publisher determined that "mid-August is a more favorable release window."

Pre-orders for Darksiders 2 are more than five times what they were for the first game at the equivalent point before release, Farrell noted. THQ is accompanying this release with double the marketing spend of the first game as well – it needs a hit game, and badly.

THQ saw a net revenue loss of $239.9 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, $100 million more than the previous fiscal year's loss of $136.1 million.

"We have made significant changes to our business, and are on track to execute our strategy of delivering quality connected core gaming experiences, beginning with the sequel to the award-winning Darksiders in August," president and CEO Brian Farrell said in a THQ earnings statement.

THQ has seen a rough year, with plummeting revenue despite the success of Saints Row: The Third and WWE '12. THQ laid off 240 employees, slashed the salaries of its head honchos and cut its "kids' licensed video games" department earlier this fiscal year, following quarter losses of nearly triple the previous period.

THQ has sold through 84 percent of its shipped uDraw tablets and expects to sell its remaining inventory in fiscal 2013. The company's "future kids' license commitments" have been reduced by $30 million, THQ reports.

THQ describes its emergency layoffs, salary cuts and company rehashing as follows: "The company exited the traditional kids' licensed games business, and streamlined its product line, organization and cost structure to support a smaller company positioned for sustained profitability."

Ex-Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki's first project after leaving Tecmo could be in trouble. During today's financial briefing call to investors, THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell said Devil's Third no longer fits the publisher's "profitability profile."

"The profitability profile for Devil's Third no longer met our internal threshold and we are currently in discussions with third parties regarding the future of this title," Farrell said. "There were a couple of unforeseen events that happened during the development of Devil's Third. One was the company that Valhalla was using for the engine went out of business, so we had to assist Itagaki and the team with a new engine – it took a fair amount of time and cost a fair amount of money."

The other big issue was the appreciation of the Yen, which reduced Devil's Third's potential for profit compared to other stuff in THQ's pipeline. "We think it's an excellent franchise; we've really enjoyed working with Itagaki-san, and we're going to explore other opportunities with him and others to make sure this product comes to market."

Devil's Third is the first project from Tomonobu Itagaki's new development studio, Valhalla Game Studios. Itagaki, who is quite possibly best known for his years at Tecmo on the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series of games, left Tecmo back in 2008.

Street Fighter X Tekken may have sold over a million units since launch, but Capcom recently declared that the game didn't hit internal expectations.

"Sales of Street Fighter X Tekken have fallen short of our plan. We believe one of causes is cannibalism because of the large number of other games in this genre that were launched within a short time," Capcom stated in a Q&A following its earnings release.

Although such a quote could be directed at companies like Warner Bros.' Mortal Kombat, Namco Bandai's Soulcalibur 5 or indie titles like Skullgirls, we prefer to imagine Capcom speaking that quote into a mirror.

As Eurogamer notes, since bringing back the fighting genre to popular consciousness with Street Fighter 4 in 2008 (consoles in 2009), the company itself has launched: Super Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter x Tekken, along with PSN and XBLA re-releases of fighters from its back catalog.

Which would you be more likely to walk into a store and ask for? Something called "WWE 12" or something called "WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011?" THQ reports that common sense has won out, as it attributes increased sales of the new title, in part, to the new naming convention.

"The successful rebranding of this annual franchise has led to higher sell-through to date," the company notes in its latest earnings release, "which is up approximately 20 percent on like-for-like platforms in North America versus the year-ago title." THQ didn't share the sell-through number, but it did disclose that it shipped more than 2.2 million copies since November. It sounds like a much more successful rebranding than "Hollywood Hogan."

South Park: The Game was originally announced with a launch in the second half of 2012, but it has been pushed to Q4 of FY2013, THQ's financial statement reveals. THQ's financial years run April through March, putting the new launch window in early 2013 territory.

Developer Obsidian Entertainment was hit with layoffs in March, with a few losses coming from the South Park: The Game development team.

As part of today's year-end financials, THQ announced that the Saints Row franchise has shipped 11 million units globally. Speaking specifically to the latest installment, Saints Row: The Third, the company revealed it has shipped over 4.25 million units and that "the game has generated the highest digital revenue of any console title in the company's history."

That's not the conclusion of Saints Row for the year. Saints Row: The Third: Enter The Dominatrix is expected to launch this September. The game is a standalone product that does not require the third installment to play and started life as an April Fool's gag.

Ubisoft ended the 2012 financial year on the up, reporting a gross profit of €718 million ($917 million) and sales up 2.1 percent to €1 billion ($1.4 billion) year-over-year, according to its financial results for 2011-2012.

Ubisoft ended fiscal 2011-12 with net income of €37.3 million ($47.6 million), up from a net loss of €52.1 million ($66.5 million) in the 2011 fiscal year.

Sales from "core gamers" in Assassin's Creed Revelations, Rayman Origins, Driver San Francisco and free-to-play title The Settlers Online generated €578 million ($738.1 million) in revenue, Ubisoft reported. Casual games brought in €483 million ($616.8 million) in revenue, mainly from Just Dance, Rocksmith and free-to-play title Howrse.

Core and casual titles contributed to a 110.8 percent jump in online and digital sales, bringing that figure to €80 million ($102.1 million), Ubisoft reported.

Ubisoft's net cash position is down from €99.2 million ($126.6 million) in 2011 to €84.6 million ($108 million) in 2012, while current operating income rose 90 percent to €56 million ($71.5 million) year-over-year.

With Rhode Island politicians and 38 Studios silent on the precarious financial condition of the developer, the potential cost of the doomsday scenario to taxpayers has come to light. WPRI reports that if 38 Studios can't pay the bonds it received from the state, taxpayers will actually be responsible for paying back $112.6 million through 2020.

The math works a little something this this: The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation borrowed $75 million from private investors for 38 Studios, at interest rates between 6 - 7.75 percent, with the expectation that 38 Studios would pay it back with the sale of games.

For the record, 38 Studios has only launched one product, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which it only had due to its acquisition of developer Big Huge Games. Big Huge Games was already working on an RPG prior to the sale, but altered it to fit the Amalur world after the purchase.

If 38 Studios can't pay, the governor is required to ask the General Assembly to repay bondholders.

Game industry sources tell Joystiq that if 38 Studios does collapse, despite this specific deal having been widely criticized from the start, it could have wider repercussions for the industry trying to obtain tax breaks in other states. The silence out of Providence right now is deafening.