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

ITEM! Epic Games has confirmed that it was planning to release a Gears of War spinoff title. However, as studio design director Cliff Bleszinski told GameSpot, Gears of War: Exile was cancelled prior to its unveiling.

ITEM! Troubled publisher THQ has confirmed that it will delay one of its marquee titles. Highly anticipated fantasy action sequel Darksiders II has been bumped from June to August.

ITEM! Former 343 Industries developer Ryan Payton has clambered aboard the Kickstarter bandwagon. Payton and his team at Camouflaj are hoping to raise $500K towards the development of an iOS stealth game known as Republique.

ITEM! The long wait may be almost over for Pikmin fans according to El Mundo (via Game Informer). Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto told the Spanish language newspaper that a new instalment in the series will be unveiled at this year’s E3.

ITEM! Diabolically challenging action RPG Dark Souls is set to torment a whole new demographic. According to publisher Namco Bandai, the ominously titled Dark Souls: Prepare to Die will be available to download in August.

The games industry has lost one of the greats. As reported by Forbes, Commodore International founder Jack Tramiel was 83 years old when he passed away on Sunday 8 April. Tramiel is survived by his wife and three sons.

Members of the gaming community, particularly those from Europe and Australia, will remember him as one of the driving forces behind the Commodore 64. Released in 1982, this surprisingly affordable personal computer introduced millions to the concept of video games.

Born in Poland in 1928, the Jewish Tramiel suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazi regime. He spent the war years in concentration and forced labour camps, before finally being freed in 1945.  He made his way to the United States in 1947 and founded the Commodore Portable Typewriter Company in 1954. The rest, as they say, is history.

We spent their much of our youths with Tramiel’s beige coloured machine, pouring hours into the likes of Paradroid, Jumpman and Wizard of Wor. Needless to say, Tramiel will be fondly remembered by the Black Panel crew.

Image Credit: Los Angeles Times

The following is a transcript of audio recordings made by the attending psychiatrist Dr B. Head of the ACT’s primary mental health care facility. It documents games writer Matt Hewson’s decent into madness. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Activision Australia, The Black Panel is giving away copies of dark action epic Prototype 2. This highly anticipated sequel from Radical Entertainment features a new protagonist, new powers and a massive open world to explore. Five 360/PS3 copies are up for grabs.

TWO WAYS TO WIN

For a chance to win: either (a) follow @BlackPanelDaily and retweet this message or (b) ‘like’ both The Black Panel page on Facebook and this post. The competition closes at 5.00 pm on Friday 20 April 2012.

Good luck!

Learn more about Prototype 2 at the official site.