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Armature Studio hiring for 'unannounced project' with 'unannounced publisher'
The last time we heard from Armature Studio, the developer founded by ex-Retro Studios executives, it had signed a multi-game agreement with EA. That was in fall 2008, and there hasn't been a peep from Armature since then -- until now. The Austin-based developer is up to something! And hiring people to do that thing that it's up to! A newsletter sent out by the former Metroid Prime dev announced that "We are staffing up for the initial stages of an exciting unannounced project with an excited unannounced publisher!" That "unannounced publisher" bit puts the status of Armature's "long-term, exclusive" deal with EA into question. Perhaps the Armature deal was affected by the EA Blueprint closure -- in any case, this announcement is potentially great news for the millions who loved Metroid Prime and want to see more from the people who created it. Oh, and it's also potentially great news for engineers, designers, animators, or visual effects artists looking for a job in Austin.
AGDC: We talk to Jack Mathews of Armature Studio
Earlier this week, EA announced that the three developers (Jack Matthews, Mark Pacini, and Todd Keller) who jumped ship from the Nintendo-owned Retro Studios back in April would be forming their own development house, Armature Studio. They were courted by several big companies (read: as big as EA, and/or bigger) and finally signed a long-term publishing deal with EA to develop games for all consoles. Pacini said, "What really gets me going is that now, no platform is off limit. That is just something we didn't have the ability to do before." Both Retro and Armature are located in Austin, TX, so the timing of the press release was meant to be a part of the Austin GDC. Even though this same team worked on the Metroid Prime series, it's itching for more knuckle-blasting, thumbstick-twiddling, button-mashing fare. After the jump you can read our interview with Jack Mathews and find out what sort of platforms the new studio will be developing for. One thing we did learn: they're not making any MMOs.
Retro Studios vets form Armature, sign publishing agreement with EA
Back in April, we reported three key staffers at Retro Studios had vacated their offices and turned in their letters of resignation. These three individuals were design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller and technology engineer Jack Mathews. Speculation was the three left to start their own company. Well, that's what happened.The three have announced their new company, Armature Studio, has signed a "long-term, exclusive" publishing deal with games giant Electronic Arts. Armature and EA were both, obviously, excited about the move. "We are very excited about trying to rethink how games are developed for this generation of consoles, and our partners at EA have been nothing but supportive in this pursuit," said Pacini. "What really gets me going is that now, no platform is off limits. That is just something we didn't have the ability to do before." "I can't begin to describe how thrilled I am to be working with the talented team that created such an amazingly well-crafted series of games," said Louis Castle of EA, whom would be acting executive producer on the future Armature games.With Retro Studios making such wonderful games on Nintendo hardware, it would appear these three key players aren't going to be favoring the Wii, sadly. Pacini really wants to see what the other consoles are about, commenting that "now, no platform is off limits. That is just something we didn't have the ability to do before." [Via Joystiq]
Jens (of Sweden) unveils d-JAY earphones
They say you can't keep a good man down, and so it is with Scandinavian entrepreneur and rabble-rouser Jens Nylander, who keeps popping up with one or another device designed to enhance our portable audio experience. Usually we see Jens hawking digital audio players under the Jens of Sweden brand (now seeminlgly defunct), but today he's hit us up with a product from another one of his companies called JAYS: a pair of in-ear headphones which promise to reduce up to 90% of the surrounding noise by "producing the sound inside the ear." Known as the d-JAYS, these 'phones incorporate a proprietary Sound Isolating System built around a so-called micro armature, that Jens claims, in his typical fashion, will help reduce the risk of a hearing impairment he dubs "iPod ears." We'll find out if the d-JAYS live up to the hype come August, when they'll be shipping in a total of five colors (black, white, and three limited-edition shades) for a hundred bucks -- although you can get your pre-order on now for a 20% discount.
