AU News Wrap, August 10 - What Happened Today

If anything happened today that wasn't games news, I missed it, because the local blogosphere was all Aussie job cuts, all the time.

Today should been a nice quiet opportunity to catch up on a number of projects, but I had to keep ducking bombshells. Dramatic staff cuts at THQ, Steam legitimising gold farming on the heels of greenlighting free to play, a Secret World developer diary forcing me to watch it over and over again. It was all go.

Today's header image comes from the suddenly empty website of Melbourne studio Blue Tongue, developer of the fantastic de Blob 2, which has been shuttered.

The savvy games reader knows the best way to catch up on the past 24 hours is to check out Johnny's European round up and Steph's US summary in addition to mine, but the lazy (and community minded!) games reader waits for Pat to read the best bits in the Bulletcast. A word to the wise.

• Sega boss: PS Vita "brilliant" and "beautiful"
  Please launch on my birthday.
• Bethesda releases Prey 2, Skyrim screens to Facebook
  A strong argument for keeping an eye on social networks.
• Official ten minute walkthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles
  It's funny hearing them speak with non-American accents, isn't it? I don't even notice US voicing anymore.
• THQ shutters three dev teams, dumps MX vs ATV
  Carnage. Again.
• PlayStation 3 firmware 3.70 to introduce Automatic Update
  Finally. This just made PS Plus essential for me.
• The Secret World goes globetrotting in new dev diary
  I don't have many gaming buddies keen on this, so we should have a VG247 guild (or whatever).
• Swap in-game items for new games with Steam Trading
  The world has gone mad.
• Warhammer 40K: Space Marine co-op may be patched in post-launch
  Interesting!
• Humble Indie Bundle 3 closes down with $2.1 million earned
  I... I forgot to buy this. And now I'm having a sad.
• Gamefly announces digital distribution service
  They have to do something with all that Direct2Drive tech they bought.
• Future Dragon Age II DLC to continue addressing core complaints
  It's alarming that BioWare is reiterating this message. Were fans not pleased by Legacy...?
• Gotham City Impostors beta signs ups open now
  It asked for my zip code, so if anyone asks, I live in Louisiana.
• Nippon Ichi keen on PSP Remasters
  When I found this header image, I did a modest little dance.
• Driver: San Francisco promo talks up demo
  This game's looking pretty stylin'. What a pity I can't drive for balls.
• Resistance 3 still available in 3D TV bundle - for free
  I want one of these, but first: How much will it cost in Australia, land of the price jack?
• Sony extends identity protection offer to Australian PSN members
  Don't publish your invite code Brenna. Don't publish your invite code Brenna.
• Wednesday Shorts - Diablo III classes, indie beauties, more
  A happy accident of formatting.

I put a pot of soup on to cook at lunch and the smell has been driving me mad for hours. Excuse me while I go attempt to drown myself with deliciousness.