Newsbriefs: Starfox 64 VC, Gameshastra VP, Prima/Atari DealNewsbriefs: Starfox 64 VC, Gameshastra VP, Prima/Atari Deal

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 3:45pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include Nintendo bringing Star Fox 64 and more to the Virtual Console, outsourcing firm Gameshastra adding a new CTO and VP of development, and Prima announcing a one-year deal to exclusively publish Atari Games' strategy guides. - Game Agent, billed as the first talent agency in the world dedicated to working with individual game development talent, has announced the signing of Patrick O’Luanaigh and Justin Scharvona to the agency's roster. 30 year old O’Luanaigh was, most recently, both creative director and design director at Brit Publishers, Eidos Interactive and SCi Entertainment, overseeing titles such as Tomb Raider Legend, Championship Manager, Conflict: Desert Storm, Hitman: Blood Money and Just Cause. He is also the author of Game Design Complete, published by Paraglyph Press. In addition, Scharvona is recognized as one of Europe's leading game audio composers and sound designers having worked on over 50 published titles. Most recently he was responsible for the music and sound design from Nintendo's Battalion Wars and the intro sound design for Eidos's Conflict: Global Terror. - Nintendo has announced the three latest additions to its regular Monday update of the U.S. Virtual Console download service. This week Nintendo has released its own Star Fox 64, the Nintendo 64 version of its popular space opera shooter for 1000 Points ($10). Konami, in keeping with its recent movie promotions, has also added the first NES platform release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at 600 points ($6), and Hudson has brought side-scrolling action role-playing game Dragon’s Curse, the Turbo Grafx port of the Sega Master System's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap and sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Dragon’s Curse also retails through the service at 600 Points ($6). - Video game QA outsourcing firm Gameshastra has announced the appointment of Bjorn Book Larsson as VP of game development and CTO, where, the company says, he will oversee its new game services initiatives and product development roadmap. Prior to joining Gameshastra, Larsson was CTO of FUN Technologies Inc, where he led development of casual, sports, fantasy and sci-fi games across a wide range of devices and platforms (online, PC, downloads, devices, consoles and handhelds) for world-wide distribution, as well as CTO and co-founder of skilljam.com. Said Bjorn, "Gameshastra is in a solid position to turn into Gaming industry's leading Game Services provider world wide. It has a world-class facility, which addresses today's most demanding needs in Gaming Technology. I look forward to working with Gameshastra’s young and highly talented team and its extensive list of global customers as well as accelerate the company's rapid growth and market momentum." - Random House division Prima Games has announced that the company will now be the exclusive publisher of official strategy guides for Atari. Under the terms of the new deal, the guide for Xbox 360 action adventure Bullet Witch will be the first official release, with forthcoming guide releases for Alone in the Dark, Godzilla: Unleashed and various Dragon Ball Z franchises to follow over the one-year exclusive deal. “Prima is excited to be working with Atari as its exclusive game guide publisher,” said Debra Kempker, President of Prima Games. “With Alone in the Dark and Godzilla: Unleashed scheduled for release this year, Atari has two of the most anticipated games of the year.” - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch explore the topic of film directors and game directors working together; a collection of links covering such topics as favorite games made on the Game maker engine, new games coming from NIS America, and the end of the Japanmanship blog; as well as a discussion on the state of SOE's Station Access subscription service. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Activision, Blockdot, Disney Interactive Studios, Pandemic Studios Brisbane, Sierra Online, Solutions IQ, and Visual Concepts.