The Morning Roast: Making games available to everyone, going into the Metro, and that one thing you always wanted

38 Studios lays off all employees

As reported earlier yesterday, 38 Studios completely cleaned house of all employees, including those of Big Huge Games. Thankfully, the industry came out in force to help those affected by the shuttering, while Rhode Island Governor Chafee seemed unaware. “Nothing changed today,” Chafee said at a news conference, just an hour after news of the layoffs broke. Chafee also estimated that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the only game released by 38 Studios and developed by Big Huge Games, would have had to sell 3 million copies to break even. The game was able to sell 1.22 million in the first 90 days of its release, an impressive feat for any new IP, but not impressive enough to save the studio.

[Sources: Joystiq, 2, 3]

Nvidia CEO wants to bring games to absolutely everybody

Nvidia CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, announced today at the company’s annual investor meeting that he hopes the recently announced GeForce GRID will help bring video games to the public as a whole rather than to already established gamers on different platforms. The GRID technology enables cloud gaming on smartphones, PCs, tablets or even TVs, something Huang wants to use to expand the audience of video games by a billion new customers.

[Source: Polygon]

Live-Action Trailer for Metro: Last Light

The official Youtube channel for Metro: Last Light, the sequel to 2010’s Metro 2033 released a live-action trailer for the game. The video shows us what happened in Moscow just as the bombs launched and citizens fled into the titular bomb-proof metro tunnels. Seeing the people flee, the soldiers seal them in, and a real version of the game’s ranger armor is cool and all, but the best part is the crazy ‘end-is-nigh’ homeless guy’s reaction. Seriously, just the most vindicated.

[Source: Metro: Last Light Youtube]

Mounted Combat in Skyrim!

The official Bethesda Blog announced a new patch today, one that will fix issues with lightning causing crashes, stability and memory optimizations, map cursor errors, and MOUNTED COMBAT!  Bethesda didn’t release any information on when the update will be available for console users, but PC gamers can test it out now on the Steam beta version. No word yet on if you’ll be able to engage in mounted combat while mountain climbing.

[Source: BethBlog]

Coffee Selection

This morning’s roast is perhaps Rhode Island’s own (and the aptly named) Steamroller Bold Blend.