The Weekly: Top News & New Releases

The Week of June 3, 2013

The weekend is finally here! Time to recap some important news buzzing around the game industry.

• How time flies - E3 is upon us! If you haven't listened to it yet make sure to hear our latest podcast, "The E3 at Gunpoint Show," where Nick, Brad, Nolan and Kris not only discuss games they've been playing but also share their E3 2013 predictions. If you're craving more of our opinions, then head over to the staff page and follow our Twitter handles to read up-to-the-minute commentaries during E3 as well.

• There have been a lot of PRE3 updates about what we should be expecting for the Xbox One and our writer Zack Wheat is on the case. It's also important to note what major publishers are not saying about the console as well. As for me, it looks like I'll be skipping this mess altogether...

• The Victoria and Albert Museum has appointed Sophia George as the first ever "game designer in residence." This is another big step for video games to be a part of high-art culture since the MoMA introduced its own game exhibit this year. I discussed this specific type of convergence of games and art in a three-piece feature that can be found here.
  
  
• An upcoming game about female masturbation titled HappyPlayTime has been receiving controversy, and not because it's about masturbation. Game designer and critic Anna Anthrophy writes about how the solution to the shame around masturbation is not gamification and how the game's focus on vaginas excludes women who do not have one.
  
  
• The Kickstarter for Shadow of the Eternals, the spiritual successor of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, has been temporary canceled. Precusor Games announced that this doesn't mean they're going away and that they will re-launch the Kickstarter "in just a few short weeks" with some new developments.
  
  
• It's always troubling to see studios shut down and people lose their jobs in this industry. This week, Zynga sadly laid off 520 employees and shut down their New York office, which is actually OMGPOP studios. Here's wishing the best of luck to the former employees and hoping we see fewer studios shut down in the future.
  
  
• If you needed proof that sexism exists in this industry (wait, did you really?), has-been Internet celebrity Maddox thinks he can solve all the problems. (Spoiler alert: he's actually wrong!)
  
  
• Remember Me was released this week and I've been hearing mixed reviews, while State of Decay sold more than 250K copies in two days. Gunpoint was released for a whopping $9 and Limbo is now available on the Vita. Today, Animal Crossing: New Leaf releases in North America on the 3DS and will be available on the 14th and 15th in Europe and Australia respectively. Have you picked up any new releases this week? Let us know in the comments!

That wraps it up for this week. If a game-related event occurs during the week and you think it deserves a mention, then please contact me and let me know.