GRIN officially closes

The past year was a prodigious one for Swedish developer GRIN. Last August, the developer's downloadable NES remake Bionic Commando Rearmed debuted on the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3. That kicked off a 12-month run that also saw the studio produce Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Terminator Salvation, and 3D action series reboot Bionic Commando.

GRIN produced four major releases in its last year of existence.

Unfortunately, those titles--mostly met with lukewarm reactions from critics and consumers--will go down as the company's last. Following up on yesterday's reports of mass layoffs at the studio, GRIN's official site carries word of the company's closure.

"It is with a heavy heart we announce today that GRIN has been forced to close its doors," reads the statement, credited to cofounders Bo Andersson and Ulf Andersson. "This as too many publishers have been delaying their payments, causing an unbearable cash flow situation. After 12 years of hard work, employing hundreds of wonderfully talented men and women, it is over."

The statement doesn't specify which publishers' payment procrastination necessitated the closure. In the last year, GRIN has publicly worked with Capcom, Equity Games, Evolved Games, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

GRIN's farewell doesn't make it clear what type of project the studio was working on, although it does reference, "our unreleased masterpiece that we weren't allowed to finish." Earlier this decade, the developer worked on a gladiatorial combat game for the original Xbox called Vultures, but that title was canceled before release. The company also worked on the PC ports of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and its sequel for Ubisoft.

GRIN may be gone, but some of its developers are already hard at work at a new venture. Terminator Salvation lead programmer Peter Bjorklund has brought together nearly two dozen other members of the game's development team and founded Outbreak Studios in Goteborg, Sweden. The studio doesn't have any announced projects yet, but its Web site suggests an emphasis on digital distribution.

"Our mission is to develop titles for Xbox 360 (XBLA), PS3 (PlayStation Store), Games for Windows Live, PSP Go and iPhone. We also deliver online components for AAA titles, both existing or upcoming," the site says.

Microsoft job listing shows 'Live Anywhere' still alive

At the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates made a surprise appearance at his company's press briefing. He was there to talk about an ambitious concept called Live Anywhere, which would extend the Xbox Live social gaming network to PCs and Windows Mobile platforms.

Though Games for Windows Live launched the following year after the release of the often-criticized Windows Vista operating system, little has been heard about the Live Anywhere concept. This week, though, a job listing for a "Live Community Director" surfaced that shows that Microsoft is still planning to extended the Live network to mobile devices--and beyond.

"The Live Engagement Team is looking for a Live Community Director to manage its Live community strategy and execution across a range of properties, from Xbox Live to Windows Mobile," reads the listing. "This senior position will play a vital role in the community space as the Live Engagement team builds and program’s Microsoft’s next-generation, Live-enabled casual and social gaming platform across the Web, the console, mobile and beyond."

Live's first true extension beyond PCs and Xboxes arrives later this year, when video downloads for Microsoft's Zune media player will be added to Xbox Live. Despite the prospect being raised at the 2008 Game Developers Conference, currently no games can be transferred from the 360 to the Zune, as Sony's PlayStation 3 can to the PSP with certain titles. However, last month Microsoft corporate vice president Shane Kim said that his company plans to get into handheld gaming...eventually.

Beatles Rock Band tunes up Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper

With The Beatles: Rock Band set to launch September 9, the game is just about ready for a mainstream media blitz. The inevitable flood of coverage kicked off in earnest today with an in-depth feature in The New York Times.

Sgt. Pepper features hits like "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life."

The feature primarily delves into the genesis of the game and how Harmonix is progressing under the strict oversight of the Fab Four's surviving members and widows. However, the Times also brought to light some news of the developer's downloadable content plans.

Previously, Harmonix had only confirmed that The Beatles' legendary Abbey Road would be released as a downloadable add-on to the game. According to The Times, the band's classics Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band would round out the first three full-album offerings.

Rubber Soul marked a turning point for the band with songs like "In My Life" and "Nowhere Man."

The article also goes into some detail about some of the changes made to the Rock Band formula in order to satisfy Beatles license-holder Apple Corps. For one thing, failing a song will no longer result in the player's character (in this game's case, The Beatles) being booed off stage. Poor performance will instead just bring up a failure screen. Additionally, the improvisational drum fill and big finish sections of previous Rock Band games have been done away with in order to faithfully re-create the songs as approved by Apple Corps.

When the game launches September 9, it will include 45 songs on the disc, from early tracks like "Twist and Shout" to Let It Be highlights like "Dig a Pony." Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase "All You Need Is Love" on day one, with proceeds going to the Doctors Without Borders charity.

Tor Books forging Halo short-story comp

Halo fans looking for a way to sate their thirst for the sci-fi series will have something to tide them over between next month's launch of Halo 3: ODST and next year's release of Halo: Reach. Veteran publishing house Tor Books today announced that it will publish two books set in the war-torn universe created by Bungie Studios.

The first book, Halo: Evolutions, will go on sale this November. Rather than a full-fledged novel, the book will feature several short stories inspired by the series from three authors, two of which have penned Halo novels before: Tobias Buckell (Halo: The Cole Protocol) and Eric Nylund (Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx). Nylund who also co-wrote the storyline for Epic Games franchise-establishing shooter Gears of War, GameSpot's 2006 Game of the Year. A third author, bestselling writer Karen Traviss (Legacy of the Force: Revelation), will also contribute.

In addition to Halo: Evolutions, Tor Books has commissioned a trilogy of new Halo novels from Greg Bear, author of such acclaimed books as Blood Music and The Forge of God. The first installment will arrive in 2010, presumably right around the time the Halo: Reach beta, keys for which are packed in with Halo 3: ODST, goes live.

De La Hoya punching up Fight Night Round 4 DLC

As initially reported on the GameSpot Sports Blog, Electronic Arts has announced a new DLC boxer pack for Fight Night Round 4. Available in late August for Xbox 360 and PS3, the pack will run 800 Microsoft points and $9.99 respectively, and will include three new boxers: Oscar De La Hoya, Vitali Klitschko, his brother Vladimir Klitschko, as well as alternate versions of George Foreman and James Toney.

The paid DLC is in addition to the free update due in August that will add additional gear into the game, as well as the long-awaited button patch that will allow players to use buttons to throw punches in the game. In early September, an updated demo of Fight Night Round 4 will be released, this time featuring Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson in a 12-round match featuring button controls.

High Voltage licenses Ghostbusters tech

Although it has been developing games for more than 16 years, High Voltage Software gained its highest profile as the developer of The Conduit, a traditional first-person shooter for Nintendo's decidedly non-traditional Wii system. The game made headlines with its risky traditional first-person shooter approach to Nintendo's decidedly non-traditional Wii, which enjoyed only limited success.

High Voltage developed its own Wii-specific Quantum 3 engine for The Conduit, and is continuing to support the platform with upcoming action games like The Grinder and Gladiator A.D. However, the studio hasn't forgotten about the rest of the industry, as today it announced its acquisition of a lifetime license to use Terminal Reality's Infernal Engine for its "next-generation development."

The multiplatform Infernal Engine is best known as the technology powering Terminal Reality's recently released Ghostbusters: The Video Game (pictured). It is also being incorporated into Namco Bandai's upcoming Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked for the Wii and Piranha Games' fishing and hunting titles, The Strike and The Hunt.

LOTR: Aragorn's Quest delayed to spring 2010

In May, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment consolidated its hold on The Lord of the Rings license, picking up the rights to make games off of the books and films set in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy universe. However, instead of the adult-oriented fiction of Tolkien's fantasy universe, WBIE opted to target its first game at the kid-friendly audience, announcing The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest for the Wii, DS, PlayStation 2, and PSP.

Sam may have embellished a bit on the size of this spider.

Today, WBIE provided an updated release window for the game, saying Aragorn's Quest is now expected to ship in spring 2010. Previously, the game had been expected to ship this fall. The Wii edition of the game is in development at Headstrong Games, whose previous credits include House of the Dead: Overkill. The remaining installments are in development at TT Fusion, the handheld arm of Lego Star Wars developer Traveller's Tales Games.

As detailed in GameSpot's first look at the game during the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Aragorn's Quest is a third-person action game with a stylized, cartoony aesthetic. The game sees players reliving the War of the Rings through Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's companion and current mayor of the Shire. Players will assume control of Aragorn across 13 scenes pulled from the books.

Aragorn's Quest also supports drop-in/drop-out co-op play for up to two, where the second player gains control of the supreme sorcerer Gandalf.