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

ITEM! After watching Double Fine raise almost $2m towards the production of a new adventure game, Brian Fargo has decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign of his own. As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, he will be seeking $1m to revive the classic Wasteland IP.

ITEM! Square Enix has unveiled a new instalment of DLC for Final Fantasy XIII-2 devotees. Launching in the last week of February, Sazh: Heads or Tails will include new story content, two new mini games and a pair of downloadable costumes.

ITEM! It looks like kart racing enthusiasts will soon be spoiled for choice. Kotaku has revealed that a new instalment of Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing is in the pipeline, while Sony has confirmed that work has commenced on LittleBigPlanet Karting.

ITEM! The Gears of War 3 DLC just keeps coming. As revealed by GameTrailers, Epic is working on Forces of Nature, a map pack containing three new environments and two old favourites. Look for it to arrive in late March.

ITEM! With Twisted Metal done and dusted, firebrand developer David Jaffe has confirmed he will soon leave Eat Sleep Play. As noted by the Salt Lake Tribune (via Game Informer) Jaffe will form a new team while his (soon to be former) colleagues will transition to iOS development.

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Is the Double Fine logo now a license to print money?

Just a week after asking ordinary gamers to bankroll its latest title, Stacking developer Double Fine Productions has reached (and dramatically surpassed) its $400,000 target. The as yet untitled project has already attracted $1.7m worth of donations from more than 50,000 backers via the Kickstarter crowd funding website. Donors will receive a digital copy of the game and, depending on the size of their commitment, related merchandise and memorabilia.

The initial budget was intended to accommodate both a point-and-click adventure and a video documentary series chronicling its development. According to Double Fine, the extra money will enable the studio to bring the game to additional platforms and localise it for more territories.

The developer revealed precious little about its endeavour before asking its followers to dip into their pockets. Even so, many are already excited at the prospect of studio founder Tim Schaffer returning to the genre he dominated with The Secret of Monkey Island and other LucasArts classics.

Double Fine’s runaway success certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. As reported by Develop, Alpha Protocol creator Obsidian Entertainment is already asking its fans if they would be interested in doing something similar.

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

ITEM! Is a Psychonauts sequel back on the cards? Minecraft creator Markus Perrson has offered to help Double Fine Productions finance the project. While nothing has been announced as yet, Giant Bomb has confirmed that discussions have commenced.

ITEM! Mass Effect: Galaxy didn’t exactly wow the critics, but that hasn’t discouraged EA from announcing a second Mass Effect spinoff for iOS. As noted by Newsarama, third person shooter Mass Effect: Infiltrator will launch “around the same time as Mass Effect 3”.

ITEM! The local development scene has endured another rocky week, with Kotaku reporting that SEGA Studios Australia has cut 37 jobs. The company has also revealed that it will move away from boxed games in order to focus on the downloadable market.

ITEM! Troubled publisher THQ has revealed that Metro: Last Light won’t be arriving on store shelves during 2012. According to CVG, the sequel to 4A Games’ cult hit FPS Metro 2033 is now expected to be completed in time for a Q1 2013 release.

ITEM! True Crime: Hong Kong is continuing its tumultuous run to retail. Following its cancellation by Activision and its more recent revival by Square Enix, the open world game has now been retitled. Look for Sleeping Dogs on 360, PS3 and PC in the latter half of 2012.

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Another “accidental” fire at the uDraw factory...

THQ has endured a wretched run in recent times, with a string of underperforming releases such as de Blob 2 and Red Faction: Armageddon culminating in the disastrous flop of the uDraw peripheral for 360 and PS3. Worse yet, according to IGN, the plummeting value of its shares may yet see the company delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange.

THQ is taking several measures to bolster the confidence of both the NASDAQ and investors, slashing 240 jobs (including 14 in Australia) and trimming CEO Brian Farrell’s base salary by 50% for the next 12 months. As reported by Develop, the publisher also claims to have no fewer than 17 games in the works, including six unannounced ‘core titles’.

In addition to the unannounced games, work will continue on Devil’s Third, from Tomonobu Itagaki’s Valhala Studios and Insane, from film maker Guillermo del Toro. Also confirmed as still in the pipeline are untitled projects from Assassin’s Creed creative director Patrice Désilets and Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock Studio. Gamers can also look forward to a raft of sequels and licensed titles.