It almost seems impossible, considering the frequent reports of studio closings we've reported over the past twelve months, but the survey indicates a slight rise in U.S. game industry employment in 2009, with 44,806 industry professionals in the country as opposed to 2008's 44,400. The census indicates that while major publishers from EA to THQ were closing studios left and right, new casual and online gaming developers were popping up around the country, counterbalancing the rash of layoffs. Still, a difference of only 406 isn't much, and we've still got a week left of 2009.

Canada, on the other hand, saw an increase of nearly 30%, with 12,480 employees to the previous year's 9,500. While some of that growth can be attributed to a sharper focus on the country by census takers Game Developer Research, even more was due to the opening and announcement of new Canadian studios from Ubisoft, THQ, and Funcom.

For more stats and figures from the 2009 video game industry, check out Game Developer Research's full 2009 Game Developer Census, available for purchase via the Game Developer Store for a mere $2,500.

We're now in the process of updating Work and Play: A Peek Inside the Lives of Gaming's Greatest with new desks and new developers. We've decided to move the entire project over to our new photo system, making it much easier to zip through and read the descriptions.

The original idea for the concept was born out of a simple concept: You can judge a lot from a person's desk. And you can judge just as much from their home entertainment system.

Currently the project includes photos from nearly 20 studios.

You'll get to see the desk of such greats as Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux and Tetsuya Mizuguchi along with plenty of others. Have fun.

Special thanks to intern Andrew Freedman for all of his hard work on this.

2K Games: creative director Greg Gobbi's desk
2K Games: founder, lead designer 2K Boston Ken Levine's desk
ASTRO Games: producer Joshua "Stormy" LaTendresse's gaming setup
ASTRO Games: producer Joshua "Stormy" LaTendresse's loft
ASTRO Games: producer Joshua "Stormy" LaTendresse's new triple head computer workstation
ASTRO Games: producer Joshua "Stormy" LaTendresse's new triple head computer workstation
Buzz Monkey Software: Lead Level Designer Ted Brown's desk (Neversoft, 2006)
Bungie: Design Director Paul Bertone's home
Bungie: Design Director Paul Bertone's desk
Capcom: Bionic Commando producer Ben Judd's desk
Capcom: Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi's desk
Double Fine Production: founder Tim Schafer's desk.
Double Fine Production: founder Tim Schafer's desk.
Double Fine Production: founder Tim Schafer's desk.
Double Fine Production: founder Tim Schafer's couch. Shhhhh.
Eat, Sleep, Play: co-founder David Jaffe's desk
Eat, Sleep, Play: co-founder David Jaffe's game area
Eat, Sleep, Play: co-founder David Jaffe's bookshelf
Eat, Sleep, Play: co-founder David Jaffe's desk
Eat, Sleep, Play: co-founder David Jaffe's shelves
Eat, Sleep, Play: co-founder David Jaffe's office
Electronic Arts Montreal: general manager Alan Tascan's office
Electronic Arts Montreal: general manager Alan Tascan's home
Electronic Arts Montreal: general manager Alan Tascan's office
Electronic Arts: head of The Sims studio Rod Humble's desk
Electronic Arts: head of The Sims studio Rod Humble's office
Electronic Arts: head of The Sims studio Rod Humble in his office
Electronic Arts: head of The Sims studio Rod Humble's game table
Electronic Arts: head of The Sims studio Rod Humble's office
Electronic Arts: head of The Sims studio Rod Humble's office
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's display case.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's display case.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's display case.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's Lynx.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's desk.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's office.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's smock wearing T-Rex.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's display shelves.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's display case.
Epic Games: designer, Cliff Bleszinski's display case.
Firaxis Games: founder and director of creative development Sid Meier's office desk
Firaxis Games: founder and director of creative development Sid Meier's home office
Firaxis Games: founder and director of creative development Sid Meier's Firaxis office
Firaxis Games: founder and director of creative development Sid Meier's home office
Flying Lab Software: Public relations for Flying Lab Software Theresa Pundenz' office
Flying Lab Software: Public relations for Flying Lab Software Theresa Pundenz' home office
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's desk
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's game area
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's office
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's game area
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's Office
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford at his desk
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's office
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's office
Gearbox Software: Co-founder Randy Pitchford's game area
Harmonix Music: technical artist Leo Tolentino's office
Harmonix Music: technical artist Leo Tolentino's office
Harmonix Music: technical artist Leo Tolentino's office
Harmonix Music: technical artist Leo Tolentino's office
Harmonix Music: vice president of operations Mike Dornbrook's office
Harmonix Music: vice president of operations Mike Dornbrook's office
I AM 8-BIT: founder Jon M. Gibson's office
I AM 8-BIT: founder Jon M. Gibson's desk
I AM 8-BIT: founder Jon M. Gibson's game room
Incognito Entertainment: producer Dylan Jobe's office
Incognito Entertainment: producer Dylan Jobe's game room
Incognito Entertainment: producer Dylan Jobe's office
Insomniac Games: CEO Ted Price's Office
Insomniac Games: CEO Ted Price's game room
Kojima Productions: assistant producer Ryan Payton's desk
Lionhead Studios: founder Peter M olyneux's desk
NanaOn-Sha: founder Masaya Matsuura
Naughty Dog: co-president Christopher Balestra's office
Naughty Dog: co-president Christopher Balestra's home
Naughty Dog: co-president Evan Wells' Office
Naughty Dog: co-president Evan Wells' home
NCSoft: executive producer Richard Garriot's house
NCSoft: executive producer Richard Garriot's desk
NCSoft: executive producer Richard Garriot's office
NetDevil: art director Peter Grundy's office
NetDevil: art director Peter Grundy's home game room
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's office
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's office
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's office key
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's office
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's shelves
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's desk
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's zombie portrait
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's office
NetDevil: Lead Producer on LEGO Universe Ryan Seabury's office library
NetDevil: president Scott Brown's office
NetDevil: president Scott Brown's home game room
NetDevil: president Scott Brown's office desk
Neversoft: lead designer Alan Flores' office
Neversoft: senior producer Brian Bright's home setup
Neversoft: senior producer Brian Bright's office
Neversoft: character art director Nolan Nelson's office
Ninja Theory: co-founder Mike Ball's home
Ninja Theory: co-founder Mike Ball's office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Andrew Goldman in his office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Andrew Goldman in his office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Andrew Goldman in his office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Andrew Goldman in his ofice
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick's office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick's game room
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick's office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick's office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick's home office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick in his office
Pandemic Studios: co-founder and co-general manager Josh Resnick's home office
Jet Set Games: co-founder and vp of design Adam Isgreen's Home
Jet Set Games: co-founder and vp of design Adam Isgreen's Home
Jet Set Games: designer Chris Ainsworth's game room
Jet Set Games: designer Chris Ainsworth's game room
Petroglyph Games: president Mike Legg's den
Petroglyph Games: president Mike Legg's den
Petroglyph Games: 3D artist Nick Teasdale's work office
Petroglyph Games: 3D artist Nick Teasdale's work office
Petroglyph Games: 3D artist Nick Teasdale's home office
Petroglyph Games: 3D artist Nick Teasdale's home office
Q Entertainment: founder Tetsuya Mizaguchi's game room
Q Entertainment: founder Tetsuya Mizaguchi's game room
THQ: creative director Scott Rogers' office
THQ: creative director Scott Rogers' desk
THQ: creative director Scott Rogers' office
THQ: creative director Scott Rogers' desk
THQ: creative director Scott Rogers' whiteboard
Video Games Live: co-creator, executive producer, and host Tommy Tallarico's game theatre
Video Games Live: co-creator, executive producer, and host Tommy Tallarico's studio
Video Games Live: co-creator, executive producer, and host Tommy Tallarico's desk
Video Games Live: co-creator, executive producer, and host Tommy Tallarico's game library
Whorecraft: Pornography producer Dez' computer
Whorecraft: Pornogrpahy producer Dez at his computer
Whorecraft: Pornography producer Dez at his desk

While last year's top developer Nintendo still performed admirable, Blizzard Entertainment pulled ahead this year to score the top spot in the Develop 100. With more than $100 million in subscription revenue per month generated from World of Warcraft alone and the fastest selling PC game of all time in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack, Blizzard simply dominated all things PC and massively-multiplayer related last year. Considering they've got Diablo III and StarCraft 2 coming down the line, I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard held onto the spot for another couple of years.

Nintendo's numbers are still pretty amazing. Over the course of last year four titles saw sales of 3-4 million apiece - Mario Kart DS, Nintendogs, Brain Training, and The New Super Mario Bros. - with all but one of those titles being released in 2005. That's 3-4 million sales each of games two to three years old. That's some serious longevity.

Rounding out the top ten developers we have Rockstar North, EA Canada, Capcom, Ubisoft Montreal, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Epic, and Bethesda. Perhaps the most interesting take away from that list is Treyarch trumping Infinity Ward despite the fact that many gamers consider them to be the inferior Call of Duty developer.

Hit the link below for the full list of 2008's most bankable video game companies.

The Develop 100 [Official Site]

Crytek purchased the TimeSplitters developer in February, following a period of reorganizing that resulted in the layoff of 140 employees. In an interview with Develop, CEO Cevat Yerli explains that Crytek was picked to purchase the failing Free Radical because they offered the remaining staff the opportunity to create the sort of games they've always wanted to create.

"We are working with Free Radical on things that they always dreamed to do" Yerli said. "We are providing the team a roadmap and the chance to grow, which is why we were picked as a partner, and not anyone else."

Hopefully those dreams include finishing TimeSplitters 4.

Crytek giving Free Radical ‘dream projects' [Develop]

Last month, Japanese game developer Capcom gathered journalists from around the world to Monte Carlo to show them their line-up of new titles and talk a little bit about their struggle to deal with that shift

Among the developers on hand was the producer of Lost Planet, the designer of Mega Man and creator of Dead Rising and the co-producer of zombie thriller Resident Evil 5.

"Five years ago, Capcom was at the very bottom of the industry, it was up to me to figure out how we were going to get us out of this pit," said Mega Man creator and head of Capcom Research and Development Keiji Inafune. "I realized the key word we had to focus on was globalization. It's not that Capcom hasn't had global hits, but there was a long time when key products weren't selling around the world."

Inafune said the company realized they had to "strengthen their will", to take risks and create games that traditionally would have been easy to reject.

That thinking lead to a revitalization for Capcom, with the developer creating Dead Rising, a free-roaming game about a photojournalist's fight to survive a zombie-infested town and expose the truth to the world. It's also a game with a distinct Western look.

"Back when we made Dead Rising I remember distinctly a lot of Japanese development and publishing houses said is this a title that is being developed in the west, because it didn't look like anything being developed in Japan at the time," Inafune said. "It was always our intent to make a game that was distinctly western stylized from the start, so to have other developers tell us that, was the biggest compliment we could have gotten."

But when the game hit the U.S., western press and developers noted that while the game looked western, something about it "felt Japanese," he said.

Inafune said he realized then that if Capcom was going to do a Dead Rising 2 they should go all of the way and have a Western developer make the game.

When Capcom met with Canada-based Blue Castle Games, the thing that sold them on the developer was the fact that they saw the original Dead Rising as a Western game with some unique Japanese elements to it.

"It was that one statement that made me realize this was the one company that could make a proper Dead Rising sequel," he said. "Our big challenge to ourselves with Dead Rising 2 is to try and find the right blend between western design and Japanese design."

Inafune added that Capcom isn't trying to "rip off" what is popular in the west, they're after something new, "the perfect combination of western and Japanese game design."

One of Capcom's other big titles, Lost Planet 2, has gamers fighting across a slowly thawing frozen planet for limited resources. Interestingly, though, Capcom's Jun Takeuchi, who worked on the original title and Resident Evil 5, says Lost Planet 2 won't be trying to find that blend.

"Inafune talked about Dead Rising 2 being a game trying to combine the best of Japanese and western design and make it into something new," Takeuchi said. "I think that's a great idea, but Lost Planet 2 is taking a slightly different approach.

"What we are trying to do with Lost Planet 2 is different. We want to take a Japanese designed game and make it a success in the west."

Well Played is a weekly opinion column about the big news of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

As we speak, Gaplus, Star Force, The Tower of Druaga, Mappy and more with Space Harrier are all available to download and play on your Wii, priced at 500 Wii points a piece with the exception of Gaplus, where the plus apparently translates to 100 more Wii points. Space Harrier and Solvalou named as two additional titles coming soon.

As McWhertor pointed out during the liveblog of Nintendo's keynote, that means Sega, Namco and Taito has all signed on to provide their arcade hits to Wii owners. What games would you like to see show up on the Virtual Console Arcade?

Windstorm Studios' president and founder Dusty Monk saw an opportunity when Microsoft closed down his former employer, Ensemble Studios. An opportunity to create something new in the massively multiplayer online game he loves. The studio is currently contracting industry talent to work on a project shrouded in mystery, but incredibly appealing, even in textual teaser form.

Are you tired of online games filled with depressing predictions of post apocalyptic destruction? Are you weary of walking through grey streets beneath grey skies and killing grey zombies? Have you had your fill of dank cellars and dark caves? Well so have we! And we're ready to build a brighter world! A better online game - a game with the promise of of a hopeful future — cities of glass and steel, and most importantly, flying cars!

Wait, so not all futures have to be dark? What about the apocalypse? Aren't we supposed to have one? I could have sworn one was scheduled. It seems like Dusty here is talking about the sort of shining future city that writers used to dream about back in the 1950's. Towers of glass and steel, flying cars? I'm not exactly sure what Windstorm is selling, but I'm dangerously close to buying it, sight unseen.

You can find some more concept art floating about Windstorm's website. We'll be paying close attention as well.

Windstorm Studios - Tomorrow's Games Today [Official Site via IGN]

"We're a creative business, and how do you put objectivity into it? But at the end of the day publishers will always want to do that, particularly if you're spending $20 million — you have to try and find that objectivity, and it's going to come from how much it costs, when it's coming out, and how good the game is," Hayes told GamesIndustry.biz.

Further, "If you're going for a high-end PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 game and you want to break out in the genre, or something like that, you have to target that quality - because otherwise you don't have a hope in hell," Hayes said. "There's too much evidence that shows games which score below a certain level in certain genres are not going to cut through."

Hayes said that "we won't say to every developer we work with that there's a target in there." Which sounds like, for some developers, there is. And the size of the deal seems to be a factor in how much a Metacritic score means to the project.

"Where we're spending a lot of money, and the score is essential to the success of the product, absolutely I think there's a value in it," Hayes said, adding "I don't think it's unreasonable for publishers spending that much money to have certain expectations of quality levels. But to demand it on absolutely everything wouldn't be right at all."

Metacritic Helps Business Objectivity says Hayes [GamesIndustry.Biz via play.tm]

According to lawsuit documents, the Department of Labor was notified in late October of the pay issue and sent a wage-hour investigator to Utah to look into the claim. On Jan. 16, Labor filed an injunction filed in U.S. District Court in Utah preventing Sensory Sweep from shipping out finished product associated with the unpaid labor, as well as to set in motion a back-pay action against the company.

The filing says Sensory Sweep owes $2,018,437.30 to 198 employees for unpaid wages, both overtime and straight pay. It doesn't describe what portion is unpaid OT and what is regular hourly wages, but the specific inclusion of the charge "failure to pay the minimum wage" sounds like it means people were working without any compensation at all.

The products subject to the government's request for an injunction were described as:

My English Coach (Ubisoft, for Nintendo)
Gluco Boy II (Bayer Medical Group, for Nintendo)
TNA Impact/Wrestling (Midway, for Nintendo DS)
Drama Queens (Paramount, for Unknown)
Tale of Desperaux (Atari, formerly Brash, for PS2 and Wii)
The Bigs (2K for Nintendo)
Scentient (an in-house game for 360)

Of course, some of these titles have already shipped. The injunction listed them as examples of work the programmers were doing during the unpaid period.

A one-page site put up presents this allegation from Sensory Sweep's workers, "past and present":

"Sensory Sweep demanded a lot from us. We put our lives on hold for them. We worked shifts than ran long into the night, and then into the following morning. We sacrificed relationships for them. Marriages and families suffered because of them. They wanted the impossible from us, and that is exactly what we delivered. In return, they fed us lies and deception."

The site alleges that Sensory Sweep hasn't paid them in 112 days and, further "it has been 346 days since Sensory Sweep stole our 401(k) Money."

The documents do not give any narrative or reasoning from Sensory Sweep for the alleged withholding of pay, nor is anything specifically said about 401(k) funds. An unsigned copy of the injunction sought by the government was among the documents. It is not known if a judge granted the injunction or when that decision will be made.

Kotaku will follow this story and update with Sensory Sweep's comment and developments in the legal proceedings as they become available.

Chao et al. v Fooptube LLC d/b/a Sensory Sweep and Dave Rushton [Federal District Court Filings & Dockets]

Yes, yours truly is on there, but so are many others we quote around these parts too. The list is broken up into four categories — game companies, game press, PR professionals, and communities/fansites.

There's a love/hate mood on Twitter — some do it obsessively, some are too cool for school about it — but there is always the possibility you catch some interesting scuttlebutt or revealing thoughts from those in the business or associated with it. This past week I spied a couple of things that ended up on this blog. And sometimes I talk about things that maybe aren't hefty enough for a blog post. Others have too. Ask Crecente about his Legos this weekend.

So for those interested, consider this, and not the previous post nor the page it linked to, as your bottom line clearing house. Sam's been pretty fanatical about updating this, and I'm sure he'll continue to do so as more begin using Twitter, or make their addresses known.

Game Industry Tweet: A Complete List of Video Game Professionals on Twitter

Not sure what else to add, as just looking over it gets a little mesmerizing. The author says it's not a complete family tree, and it's got a few errors ("Infograms" for eg.) I'm sure nitpickers can find many more. But as an original effort, it's damn interesting.

A Check Your Hud Development Family Tree [Check Your HUD}

The list runs the gamut of industry presences, from large publishers and well-known studios to indie firms and community managers. The maintainer of this list, Sam "QforQ" is the community manager for gamerDNA, and over the summer he called out developers and publishers for not making greater use of social media. Well, now they are, and he's culled together this list, which he updates with new information once it's sent in.

You can follow David Jaffe, Warhammer's John Drescher, Shawn Elliot (formerly of EGM/1Up, now of 2K Boston), even Curt Schilling, if you haven't gotten enough of the guy talking about himself already. Official Twitter feeds include those for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Electronic Arts, Infinity Ward, SCEA and many others. Who knows what you might overhear. And if it's any good, be sure to tip us, you know?

And for the record, here's mine. Some personal stuff goes in there, but I try to keep it interesting and for public consumption.

Video Game Companies on Twitter [Sam "QforQ" Houston]

Also joining 38 Studios is Irena Pereira from Blizzard Entertainment, who has spent the past couple of years working on the interface design for World of Warcraft and its expansions. Sounds like 38 is assembling one hell of a dream team for this project. Let's just hope the game turns out as good as the talent working on it.

38 Studios Adds Pioneer Audio Director and User Interface Designer

- Aubrey Hodges and Irena Pereira Join 38 Studios' team of expert game designers -

Maynard, MA – November 4, 2008 - 38 Studios, a pioneering entertainment company dedicated to delivering a broad spectrum of immersive products, today announced that Aubrey Hodges and Irena Pereira have joined 38 Studios as director of audio and senior UI (user interface) designer, respectively.

With his music and sound design heard in more than 180 video games, Composer and Sound Designer Aubrey Hodges is an audio pioneer in the video and computer game industry. Hodges is credited as among the very first to use MIDI in a video game, the first to use sound effects in an online game and among the first to use General Midi in a video game. He also is cited as the innovator of ambient music design for games with his groundbreaking work on the Doom and Quake series. Before joining 38 Studios, Hodges spent five years as an audio director at EA-Tiburon, home of the popular Madden franchise; and before that as audio director, composer and sound designer for Midway Home Entertainment for ten years. Hodges began his career in audio for videogames at Sierra Online in 1991. His music and audio credits span classic series such as King's Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory, and Conquests of the Longbow to some of the most popular video game series including NFL Blitz and Madden NFL. In his new role, Hodges will report directly to 38 Studios CEO and President Brett Close.

Senior UI Designer Irena Pereira comes to 38 Studios from Blizzard Entertainment, where she spent over two years working on the interface design and development for World of Warcraft and its expansions The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King. Pereira also worked at game studio Artifact Entertainment where she was responsible for interface design, technical documentation, tools development, and web site design; and at Verant Interactive. Her experience extends beyond MMOG development to include interface development and web design for online companies Hollywood Stock Exchange, Homestore Inc, and LowerMyBills. Pereira will report to Design Director Jason Roberts.

"38 Studios has been able to attract phenomenal talent, and these hires continue that trend," Close said. "Smart interface design and rich audio are key components of the 38 Studios product vision, and Irena and Aubrey have extensive records of exceptional success in these areas."

"We lost the first deal in February but we could survive that one because we had a shortage of staff in other projects and we decided to put together a team to work on a original IP that we had in development. But the team that were working on a project that was terminated last week – there were about 67 people on that team."

Undeterred by such setbacks, Sundberg goes on to state that the trimmed staff has resulted in a stronger focus on their remaining titles, Just Cause 2 for Eidos and The Hunter with Emote Games. They're also in discussions with different publishers regarding a new project, so the layoffs certainly aren't affecting the company's ambition. Good for them.

Avalanche prepares to lay off 77 staff [GamesIndustry.biz]

An OLPC Jam is a sort of intense workathon where developers, artists, and other 'creatives' throw themselves at a problem over a short space of time. Previous Jams have created educational and medical resources for use with the OLPC in developing countries and the organizers are confident that the talented geeks putting themselves forward for the Physics Game Jam will come up with something special.

All the code will be open source, so it is not impossible that the games created in the Jam will see the light of day in web-based games or other platforms down the line.

If you have any coding, game design or artistic chops and fancy helping out, get in touch here. There are prizes — including XO laptops and other goodies — for the best creations, plus a lovely warm feeling from helping a good cause.

OLPC Physics Game Jam For an XO [Slashdot]

Ian Baverstock, CEO for Kuju Entertainment, said, “Headstrong is the final ‘piece in the puzzle’ for Kuju’s offering in the UK. As action specialists they complement the other studios that have already rebranded and together offer publishers a full service solution to their development needs. ”

The development studio is expected to stay busy-busy through the rebranding, working on several projects, including an unannounced game for Sega. Teases.

Kuju London renamed Headstrong.

Headstrong launched today as the rebranded London studio of the Kuju Entertainment network. The central London developer has already enjoyed huge success with Nintendo's Battalion Wars™ and Battalion Wars™ 2 and continues to focus on what it does best; great Character Action titles. Headstrong offers publishers a specialist service on the Wii™ and occupies an exclusive position in the market due to a wealth of experience gained by working on Nintendo titles.

Studio Head, Bradley Crooks, commented, “We have the ideal opportunity to build on a solid foundation at Headstrong and we have some great projects in development. The studio has a real advantage on the Wii due to our experience with both single-player and multi-player development and we can get projects up and running quickly with our mature technology and tools”.

The studio is expecting a busy schedule over the coming months with discussions on a number of projects. Headstrong has a flexible approach to new opportunities and is happy to work with publishers on licensed products, existing IP or to develop new ideas.

Ian Baverstock, CEO for Kuju Entertainment, said, “Headstrong is the final ‘piece in the puzzle’ for Kuju’s offering in the UK. As action specialists they complement the other studios that have already rebranded and together offer publishers a full service solution to their development needs. ”

Headstrong is located in the Bankside area of London, near the Tate Modern, and is working on a soon to be announced title with SEGA® and a number of other projects.

“Since we re-branded last year we have had an enormous interest in the studio from both publishers and new recruits” says Ed Daly, Studio Head. “Following on from our huge growth in Brighton where we are now approaching 150 staff, we felt the time was right to open a second studio. This will enable us to take on more projects and staff without losing the intimate company culture that is so central to our approach”.

The new studio will hit the ground running, with two projects lined up for the new team, overseen by current Zoë Mode Brighton executive producer Nick Rodriguez.

Zoë Mode® Announces New London Studio

Following their hugely successful first year since Kuju Brighton rebranded, music and party game specialist Zoë Mode is pleased to announce the formation of Zoë Mode London. Launching on 1st September 2008, the studio will be based near the south bank of the Thames in central London and will be led by Nick Rodriguez, currently Executive Producer at Zoë Mode Brighton.

“Since we re-branded last year we have had an enormous interest in the studio from both publishers and new recruits” says Ed Daly, Studio Head. “Following on from our huge growth in Brighton where we are now approaching 150 staff, we felt the time was right to open a second studio. This will enable us to take on more projects and staff without losing the intimate company culture that is so central to our approach”.

With two projects already lined up and a core team established from the Brighton studio, Zoë Mode London is set to grow quickly.

Nick Rodriguez, Studio Head London;
“London has been a development hub for the games industry for many years now, which means that there’s a fantastic pool of talent here to join our new studio. We’re looking for staff in all disciplines and we’re really excited about the opportunities that being in London present to us”.

For more information about Zoë Mode London and details of positions available please visit: www.zoemode.com

"What Zootfly did for us, inadvertently, is help sell the concept. When their footage came out, we were close to our green-light meeting, and when the executives saw the reaction from the fans, they immediately knew, 'Hey, Ghostbusters is going to be a big hit - we need to put this game into production.'"

Small consolation for the folks at ZootFly, but Ghostbusters fans around the world sure appreciate the help. Next time just make sure you're allowed to make the game before you make it!

Zootfly Ghostbusters footage helped sell concept [CVG]

Kojima explains his brand of antiwar sentiment, which is more or less circumspect about the reasons and results of war rather than outright pacifism. He also pines for a future where smaller, art-house productions are comparatively viable, among a world of titles that are increasingly developed for blockbuster effect, like Grand Theft Auto IV and MGS4.

Kojima said that action, sex and gambling are the genres "immediately understood all over the world," and expands on that in a thought-provoking way.

"We use action and that is why our games become bigger and bigger - Hollywood big. It is however possible to make smaller, more personal games if you, for example, limit the target region, the gender or the age of the audience. MGS is a Hollywood blockbuster, like GTA. But maybe it is time for something like independent movies, with a smaller target audience, like movies for an arthouse movie theater.

And he gives a great one-liner when asked to explain MGS4 to a non-gamer. "It's a game of hide-and-seek."

Spiegel Online Interview: Hideo Kojima talks about pacifism, movies and GTA [Gaming in Germany, thanks for the translation maxax]

Totilo talks to some pretty big names about the practice, including GameSpot's former employee Jeff Gerstmann, who explains why the practice is so disturbing.

I’ve gotten e-mails from developers over the years who have said, ‘I don’t think you realize what you’re doing to me with this review’ because my review knocked them out of the range of some bonus that they were up for...

It's really a ridiculous practice that almost always works in the publisher's favor. Luckily it isn't as widespread as it once was, but it does give you interesting insight into why some developers will defend their games as if their lives depended on it. Sometimes they might.

Low Metacritic Scores Cause Game Publishers To Withhold Developer Royalties [MTV Multiplayer]