Weekly News Roundup: 20 May 2012

What a downer week this was!  Lots of losses posted, games cancelled, and 38 Studios going from "darling upstart studio" (for their work on Kingdoms of Amalur) to "state-owned debt house" after missing their first loan repayment.  I've been trying to work through Max Payne 3's brutally hard campaign, and that is another downer.  Max is such a broken man...

Ah well, with that, on with the news!

38 Stuidos and Rhode Island Work to Keep Studio Afloat

Baseball great Curt Shilling faces reporters after loan repayment fails

38 Studios is in deep trouble.  The developer, praised for it's debut title Kingdoms of Amalur, can't pay it's bills.  The company was having issues and faced being unable to pay payroll.  It's not going to be pretty if the company collapses either. The studio has already defaulted, but may yet avoid a disastrous meltdown.  The govenor, various financers, Curt Shilling all faced inquiry.  It didn't go well for those that pushed the loan and things got ugly afterwards, too.  Let's hope that everything gets sorted out nicely, but that's looking more doubtful by the day.  (via Joystiq)

THQ's Losses Posted

We have to hit bottom sometime, right?

Not much to say on this one.  THQ has already said that they will skip having a booth at the two major trade shows coming up (see last week).  They have put various IP up for auction, too.  The biggest game for sale belongs to Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third.  It is the first game by the former head of Team Ninja (the folks behind Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden) and his new studio, Valhalla Games.  Let's hope that THQ can get their house in order, or we will see one of the bigger publishers vanish.  (via Joystiq)

Activision Used a P.I. to Get Dirt on West/Zampella

The sordid court battle over unpaid royalties, betrayal, and shady corporate practices took another twist when it was revealed that Activision used an outsider to "dig up dirt" on then-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella.  The court battles between West/Zampella/EA (their new bosses) and Activision have made for some interesting moments, but now that the actual battle is looming, things are coming to a head.  Shortly after the above announcement, another shocker came.  A settlement has been reached, but we'll see if it sticks.  The two sides have a lot of bad blood and it remains to be seen if the settlement terms are satisfactory for all.  If not, we get to see who has the better lawyers.  (via Kotaku)

Well, That Was Quick

It's finally here!  And folks beat it super fast

It's expected, I suppose, but still.  A solo player shot through Diablo III in under 12 hours.  This comes on the heels of two teams in Asia, one Korean, one Chinese, finishing the game in under 5 hours.  So, twelve years of waiting for a game that is finished now.  Cool I guess.  The comments I've seen on this have me laughing, though.  Someone on a Kotaku thread mentioned it's all about "the e-peen" and a response was "So yours is shorter and finishes quicker?"  Ahhh, the playful banter of the internet.  (via Joystiq)

And Now for Something Silly

As much as I dislike basketball, hearing it called like a soccer match makes me giggle.  The cliches he comes up with!  "He cleans up like a teenager after a heavy internet session!" and "...looking at the departures board, waiting for the train to come, but it won't...there's been a fire."  Freaking genius!  (via Kotaku)

LA Clippers V San Antonio Spurs, as called by a Briton