NanoBITES captures those small but important morsels of gaming information that otherwise might slip between the cracks.

ITEM! Sony has secured the exclusive rights for the next project from indie developer DrinkBox Studios. A Mexican flavoured downloadable brawler, Guacamelee will be coming to both PS3 and Vita.

ITEM! Insomniac Games may be moving on from Resistance, but it still has time for its other Sony exclusive offspring. Due to arrive on both PSN and disc later this year, Ratchet & Clank: QForce will be, in the words of its developer, “fun-sized”.

ITEM! Those of you clamouring for a Spy Hunter reboot are about to see your patience rewarded. Thanks to Warner Bros, a new Spy Hunter will roar onto 3DS and Vita this spring. The original combat racer hit the arcades back in 1983.

ITEM! One of id Software’s more divisive releases is being retooled for a new generation. Doom 3: BFG Edition will feature the core game and its expansion pack as well as new levels and 3D support when it arrives on 360 and PS3.

ITEM! The Final Fantasy drought will soon be over! Square Enix has revealed plans to bring Final Fantasy Dimensions to iOS and Android. As noted by Game Informer, the game has, until now, been exclusive to the Japanese market.

PART ONE l TWO

After spending a good long while watching Russians die, Russians kill Germans, Russians experience the apocalypse and Russians shoot mutants, I was keen to get into some gaming action myself. So after a quick refreshment break, which may or may not have involved Russian vodka, I wandered over to the nearest available Xbox 360 and grabbed the controller. Read the rest of this entry »

PART ONE l TWO

Strolling into a swanky pub at Sydney’s famous Circular Quay is not the way I usually spend my Thursday nights. I’m much more of a stay at home with the wife and kids type bloke. So what could drag me off my comfortable couch and into to the car for a three hour drive? Well how does a special showing of four upcoming games from THQ and Capcom sound? The promise of hands on time with Darksiders 2 and Lost Planet 3 as well as demos for Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light was just too tempting to ignore, so it was with an overnight bag, a copy of the new Slash album for the car ride and an extra-large cappuccino I headed off to this fancy schmancy bar anticipating some gaming goodness. Read the rest of this entry »

The team responsible for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is in dire straits. As noted by Joystiq and WPRI, 38 Studios has terminated virtually its entire workforce, including staff at its subsidiary Big Huge Games, which had reportedly commenced work on an unannounced Amalur sequel.

The tremulous financial state of 38 Studios came to light earlier this month when it was forced to delay a scheduled loan repayment to the state of Rhode Island and failed meet its own payroll obligations. Some 379 workers are thought to be impacted by the decision.

While Big Huge Games toiled away on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the core team at 38 Studios was working on an ambitious fantasy MMO set in the same universe. While it had previously played its cards extremely close to its chest, 38 Studios earlier this month issued the first trailer (posted above) for the game, dubbed Project Copernicus. Was the release of the clip timed to attract new investors? If so, the appeal seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Unless the owners of 38 Studios can secure new funding, the good people of Rhode Island will soon inherit the Amalur IP under the terms of the original loan.