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Sunday Comics: Dead Island 
Though THQ recently beat back rumours it was readying itself for sale, all is not happy within its house. Earlier today the company restated that it’s done with the kidstuff, blaming the commercial failure of its uDraw tablet, among other things, for its poor performance of late. The company’s stock closed at 70 cents today.
Unconfirmed, but word has it that LucasArts just axed the team responsible for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. If this true, this rumour is reminiscent of rumblings we heard earlier this month that once The Force Unleashed ships, LucasArts will pinkslip 100 employees and cease internal development. All of this comes as LucasArts recently saw massive layouts. These latest, rumoured layoffs were long-time staffers who had worked on big titles like X-Wing, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. If The Force Unleashed proves successful, LucasArts might find itself at a disadvantage if it plans on doing the game internally.
Eds Note: We were contacted by a LucasArts staffer who was part of the Force Unleashed team, stating these layoffs mentioned in the original Joystiq post were not recent and that there have been no additional layoffs since what we reported earlier this month.
LucasArts Cuts Hit [Joystiq via CVG]
Back before SNK was bought by a pachinko company (SNK is now once again independent), the company announced it was working on new hardware. What kind of hardware? Most assumed that meant a new Neo Geo portable. A former employee tells Insert Credit’s Brandon Sheffield that SNK that wasn’t quite true. Apparently, SNK sunk a chunk of cash into a new chip that was going to be used for next-gen arcade hardware and a new home console. SNK’s cash flow got tight, and the new chip started to look “a bit silly” when compared to other consoles that were on the market between 1999~2000. The chip was small enough to fit in a portable device, and that could’ve been another option. So, how did it look? “Much better than Neo Geo 64,” the insider tells Sheffield. Good to know! SNK Hardware [Insert Credit]
Director Steven Spielberg is making three games for Electronic Arts. One of them is a block-puzzle game (ungh) for the Wii, and it was a result of meeting Nintendo’s resident genius Shigeru Miyamoto at E3 2006. The second game is an epic adventure title for the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PC. According to EA, the game “focuses on a touching and ever-changing relationship between you and a mysterious female character who holds the key to many futures.” The third game is a secret.
Last week, the inaugural E For All Expo (Oct. 18-19) snared Electronic Arts as an exhibitor. And this week? E For All has apparently lost EA. Game site FiringSquad reports that there’s doubt as to the publisher’s participation as the previous EA exhibitor announcement has been removed from the E For All blog. What’s more, the Flash-based revolving logo list no longer shows EA. To do a quick recount of companies that dropped out: Sony, Capcom, Sega and Microsoft. Namco and THQ still are sticking around, even though the rot has set in. And guess what! Konami has just confirmed it would be an E For All exhibitor. Well, at least this week. No EA? [FiringSquad]
Consider this confirmation of sorts. There have been rumours that Toyota was involved with an Xbox 360 advergame for the Yaris, and an ESRB rating for a title by developer Backbone Emeryville fuelled that speculative fire. Via game blog Siliconera, comes this Flickr find that shows the Toyota Yaris game is very real. Kinda hard to see what’s going on on that monitor, but we imagine something with the Toyota Yaris. Think this is going to be free? I’d totally play it if the advergame’s gratis. That, and if doesn’t suck. Evolution FGC [Flckr via Siliconera]
60GB PS3s are on their way out. The US online store SonyStyle.com has run plum out of the 60GB consoles, leading to speculation that only retail units remain. The $US499.99 machine is listed as “Back Order,” while the $US599.99 80GB PS3 is readily available. According to a Sony rep: The online site has exhausted its inventory of the 60GB. They still have inventory available in-store, however, and other larger retailers and their web operations still have ample supply.
Previously Sony announced that the 60GB PS3s would be available until they were no longer available. So potential customers snap up those remaining “cheaper” consoles while you can, because 20GBs more will set you back a hundred bucks. Don’t you just love this pricing scheme? It’s evolution, you know. Run Out? [PC Advisor]
Excited about Home? It’s the PS3′s answer to Xbox Live’s Achievements/GamerCard and lets players create a virtual avatar to wander about a virtual world. There is currently a private beta, but no public one. An insider in the private beta has told game site IGN loads of details. The status report after the jump:
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello’s name has popped up in a German Activision brochure as a boss for the upcoming Guitar Hero III. No word if Morello will be penning an original tune or playing something from his back catalogue. The game already features Slash and Poison’s Bret Michaels. (Fear not, Michaels won’t be playing the guitar, but singing along with your shredding.) And as we previously mentioned, the game also features the Stone Roses’ “She Bangs the Drums.” With all the Rock Band hype, Guitar Hero III might feel all second fiddle-like. But know, I’m excited — even if it features Tom Morello. Rumor Mill or Fact [kwaselow's Blog via Dtoid]
Back at the Square Enix Party (a delightful time), I got a look at Square Enix’s Subarashiki Kono Sekai (AKA “It’s a Wonderful World”). The game was developed by Kyoto’s Jupiter Corporation, which also brought us Picross DS. The game is a totally original IP, based on Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura’s creations. Though, the characters don’t look all that FF, but rather, have an urban edge. The game itself is interesting and difficult as players must concentrate on both screens (sometimes at the same time!) during play. In short, the game is somewhat risky for the conservative Square Enix — but a commendable risk. Oddly enough, the game wasn’t reviewed in Famitsu when it was released last July. Next-Gen’s Tim Rogers has a theory about that:
