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

ITEM! Certain Affinity’s pirate themed (and criminally underappreciated) Age of Booty is coming to iOS and Android devices. This excellent little real time strategy title is already available on XBLA, PSN and PC.

ITEM! It looks like you’ll have to wait a little longer for Rockstar’s take on the Max Payne franchise. Parent company Take-Two has revealed that the bullet (time) riddled action game will ship in May, rather than March as originally planned.

ITEM! Lightbox Interactive’s long awaited sequel to Warhawk is fast approaching. According to publisher Sony, the PS3 exclusive multiplayer epic Starhawk will arrive on store shelves in the second week of May.

ITEM! A new DLC pack is in the works for Paradox Interactive’s co-op romp, Magicka. The Other Side of the Coin will see players abandon their wizard’s robes and instead take on a range of villainous roles (vampire, necromancer, etc.)

ITEM! Sony has closed the developer responsible for Vita launch title Little Deviants, according to a report published by Develop. Bigbig Studios was also known for its work on PSP racer MotorStorm: Arctic Edge.

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The very definition of an unsafe work environment…

The company that blacklisted Phone Story has conceded that many of its suppliers are still not meeting their obligations to their employees. As reported by The Age, the tech giant has confirmed that one third of its partners are failing to provide a safe workplace, while almost two thirds are demanding excessive hours from their workers.

While in some respects a damning expose of its own negligence, Apple’s latest Supplier Responsibility Progress Report is also intended to publically reposition the company on the issue of worker’s rights. Apple’s claims to be reducing underage labour and forcing some of its partners to repay excessive ‘recruitment fees’ to employees.

It has also asked the independent Fair Labour Association (FLA) to monitor the progress of its reforms. Apple is the first technology company to join the FLA. It will be interesting to see if the likes of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are inclined to follow suit.

Last year, Apple was lambasted for blacklisting Phone Story, an iPhone game critical of its labour practices.

Do you know what the world needs? More zombie video games, that’s what. No, I am serious. The more of the undead we take out in a virtual setting, the better prepared the human race will be when the inevitable zombie apocalypse happens. Luckily new studio Tequila Works realises this and are providing us with another brain eater survival training simulator called Deadlight.

Tequila Works is made up of a pretty impressive group of programmers, containing folk who have worked on big movies such as Avatar and The Lovely Bones as well as massive games such as Diablo 3, MotorStorm, Overlord 2 and Castlevania: Lord of Shadows. This highly talented group of computer jockeys have put together what, from the trailer at least, looks like an impressive debut title.

Not much about the gameplay is known as yet, only that it will be an action/puzzle platformer. Microsoft has managed to bag the exclusive rights to Deadlight so XBLA is the only place to get your zombie platforming fix come winter. Zombies may be borderline clichéd at the moment, but with a development crew like this, Deadlight should be one to watch out for.

Presented in glorious alphabetical order, New Media: Retail Roundup is your indispensible checklist of the home console and handheld titles arriving in stores this week. What will you be playing?

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Nothing

NINTENDO Wii Nothing 3DS Nothing DS Nothing

SONY PS3 Nothing PSP Nothing

VARIOUS PC The Sims 3: Master Suite Stuff

New Media: Downloadable Digest is your handy reminder of the downloadable titles released during the past week.

MICROSOFT XBLA Doom * Haunt * Scarygirl Games on Demand Nothing

NINTENDO WiiWare Nothing Wii VC Prince of Persia (SNES) 3DS eShop Nothing 3DS VC Prince of Persia (GBC) DSiWare Come On! Heroes

SONY PSN Nothing Minis P.O.W. – Prisoners of War * Stickman Rescue Full Games Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent PS1 Classics Arc the Lad * Pandemonium 2

VALVE Steam Dustforce * Evochron Mercenary * Sonic CD * Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 * Storm in a Teacup * Unstoppable Gorg

Looking for more New Media? View previous instalments here.