Gamecock founder Mike Wilson has been in talks with the owner of eBay-listed gaming magazine Hardcore Gamer about a potential purchase, Wilson confirmed to Kotaku today.

An unconfirmed rumour also names Wilson as possibly the person behind the last-minute offer to buy Hardcore Gamer. The New York Times quotes mag owner Tim Lindquist as saying that an unnamed suitor “who had recently sold his video game business” dropped by an hour before the auction was due to close and offered a bit more than Lindquist’s asking price.

The deal for the mag, rights and associated domain names, isn’t quite done yet, but is expected to be finalised this week.

Reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, Wilson was first coy about the possibility that he sold his game publishing company to SouthPeak only to jump into the video game journalism business.

“Awesome rumour! I hope (the magazine I own is) Tiger Beat!”

But later said that he did talk to the magazine.

“I did talk to them and would love to help the guys find a way to stay in business, because they do it just for the love of it, and you know I have a serious soft spot for dedicated indies. But I did not and am not buying them.”

But is Wilson perhaps part of a group picking up the magazine? Wilson declined to say.

He did say that he’s currently currently entertaining offers for SubstanceTV.com and that he’s busy putting on a charity burlesque event in Austin, Texas for Valentine’s Day.

We only have the rest of the week to wait to see if he is a part of the upcoming mag deal mentioned in the New York Times.

The article seems to imply that Harper Collins are just helping Nintendo get the ‘classic’ books onto the DS, but all of the books on the cart are in the public domain and available in electronic form via the Project Gutenberg, so one has to assume that the publisher will be providing some of its own catalogue of titles for future download or cartridge release.

Currently an additional 10 titles (all free) are up for download via Nintendo WiFi. Although the DS screen is a good deal smaller than that of the Amazon Kindle or Sony Ereader, it is also a good deal cheaper and has the added benefit of AWESOME GAMES. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Mario makes way for Shakespeare on Nintendo DS in HarperCollins deal [Times Online]

“Square Enix is a very successful, development-led organisation with a total commitment to quality,” said David Braben, Frontier’s Chairman and founder. “Frontier shares those same core ideals and we are very pleased to be doing business together. Square Enix’s strength in Japan will give LostWinds the chance to shine there, as it has done elsewhere.”

Seems like a smart move on Squeenix’s part here. LostWinds’ quirky gameplay and lovely art style should be right at home in the Asian market. Good for them!

LostWinds Blows into Japan with Square Enix

Partnership brings Frontier’s WiiWare hit to Asia

19th November 2008 – Cambridge, UK – Frontier Developments, one of Europe’s leading independent game developers, is delighted to announce a partnership with Square Enix to publish Frontier’s critically-acclaimed WiiWareTM title LostWindsTM in Japan and Asia.

“Square Enix is a very successful, development-led organisation with a total commitment to quality,” said David Braben, Frontier’s Chairman and founder. “Frontier shares those same core ideals and we are very pleased to be doing business together. Square Enix’s strength in Japan will give LostWinds the chance to shine there, as it has done elsewhere.”

LostWinds topped the WiiWare charts in both the US and Europe upon launch of the new distribution system in May 2008. The game also gathered a host of high scoring reviews praising its deep, explorative gameplay and beautiful art style.

LostWinds picked up Develop Magazine’s ‘Best New IP’ award in July 2008, a prestigious accolade voted on by Frontier’s games industry peers.

LostWinds is an enchanting adventure bursting with new gameplay ideas that embrace the innovative controller of the WiiTM – it puts “the power of the wind in the palm of your hand”.

For more information about the game visit: http://frontier.co.uk/games/lostwinds/

Nearing a decade since the last official Ninty mag graced our shores, Nintendo Australia have announced the launch of the Official Nintendo Magazine in Oz. The mag will be published by UK-based Future Publishing, the same guys behind the uber-popular UK and US versions.

ONM looks set to be for fanboy and casual gamers, alike, taking the best international material and mixing it with home-grown content from some of Oz’ leading games journos.

According to Managing Ed. Nic Healey;

“The Official Nintendo Magazine- Australia and New Zealand will be the definitive source of Nintendo news and features for both the traditional gamer, and the new audience of Nintendo fans too… Our official status gives us unlimited access to the newest Nintendo games and the people who make them, as well as the latest developments on the console platforms.”

So mark December 10 guys, because that’s the day the first issue hits newsstands.

“We lost the first deal in February but we could survive that one because we had a shortage of staff in other projects and we decided to put together a team to work on an original IP that we had in development. But the team that were working on a project that was terminated last week – there were about 67 people on that team.”

Undeterred by such setbacks, Sundberg goes on to state that the trimmed staff has resulted in a stronger focus on their remaining titles, Just Cause 2 for Eidos and The Hunter with Emote Games. They’re also in discussions with different publishers regarding a new project, so the layoffs certainly aren’t affecting the company’s ambition. Good for them.

Avalanche prepares to lay off 77 staff [GamesIndustry.biz]

The game will be released for PC, PS3 & Xbox 360 and be developed by Epic’s People Can Fly studio, based in Poland. For those of you wondering, People Can Fly were the folks behind Painkiller.

“Epic is excited to work with EA Partners to launch our next big IP on the global stage,” said Mark Rein, vice president, Epic Games. “EA Partners gives independent developers like Epic the muscle of a global publisher like EA, along with the focus and flexibility of a smaller team committed to working with our individual needs.”

Full details after the jump

EA SIGNS PUBLISHING DEAL WITH EPIC GAMES

EA Partners Team up with the Creators of the award-winning Gears of War and Unreal series

to Publish an All-New IP

Redwood City, Calif. – August 14, 2008 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Epic Games, Inc. today announced that they have signed a publishing agreement for an all-new action title for the PC, Xbox 360® video game system and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The new intellectual property is currently in development by Epic’s People Can Fly studio in Poland.

“Epic is excited to work with EA Partners to launch our next big IP on the global stage,” said Mark Rein, vice president, Epic Games. “EA Partners gives independent developers like Epic the muscle of a global publisher like EA, along with the focus and flexibility of a smaller team committed to working with our individual needs.”

“In the last year, EAP has become a powerhouse player in the publishing world with the best of breed developers signing on to leverage EA’s studio-focused philosophy, global scale and publishing leadership,” said Frank Gibeau, President of the EA Games Label. “Epic brings first class talent and technology to the development of this new title. We are very proud to have Epic join the growing roster of EA Partners.”

“Epic is a legendary studio that is synonymous with quality and EA Partners jumped at the chance to team up with them on the launch of their next blockbuster IP,” said David DeMartini, senior vice president and general manager, EA Partners. “EA Partners is committed to giving the world’s best independent developers access to EA’s global publishing resources, letting them focus on what they do best – making great games.”

For more information about Epic Games, please visit www.epicgames.com

For more information about EA, please visit our press Web site at http://info.ea.com

Perpetual Reassumes Publishing Duties From SOE [Warcry Network]