The Evening Report: Bye Bye Bees Edition

A negative energy has haunted the report today. The mix of highs and lows has really put us in a spot as we report the increasingly sad news of more closures and layoffs. We can only hope that the innovative ideas of the other studios keep video games flying high.

The hits just keep on coming for the video game industry this week. According to IGN, a brand manager from Hudson Entertainment announced that the studio would be closing its doors at the end of February. All of there current projects have been canceled. We can only hope that the creators of Bomberman, Mario Party and Adventure Island, are not forgotten in the sea of corporate raiding by their parent company, Konami. Source: IGN

Today, Major Nelson posted the lineup for The Xbox Live House Party and it really will be a ball. The first game up for grabs is Hard Corps: Uprising, which will be available February 16th for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). The magic really starts with Bejeweled Blitz for 800 Points ($10) on February 23rd. On March 2nd we see the release of Beyond Good & Evil HD for the impressive price of 800 Points ($10). The final two releases are the linchpins of the deal, Torchlight makes it debut on consoles at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), followed by Full House Poker for 800 Points ($10). Source: Major Nelson

Joystiq’s french friends “GameBlog” reported rumors that the soon to open “World Joyland” amusement park in Wujin, China will contain Blizzard themed sections. Though Blizzavision hasn’t said anything about this little tender morsel of news, the park is said to include “Universe of Starcraft” land, “Terrain of Warcraft” domain, and “World of Legend” which is said to be Diablo-themed. In case you missed that first part and just woke from your excite-a-coma a second ago, let me say it again: this park is in China. A strange decision to be sure, since most Chinese Blizzard fans haven’t left their homes in 6 months, and get really antsy in crowds. If you do decide it’s worth the visit, it would be a good opportunity to pay your gold farmer in person. Source: Tom’s Hardware

A recent survey from Harmonix has passed into the hands of the internet; Leaking out of it some interesting, potential bits about Dance Central 2. Features like custom dances, backup dancers, and a possible fitness mode are just a few of the speculated features. Thank you to Kotaku for originally leaking this stuff, because you know, we all LOVE spoilers.Think of all that shame and distress you would feel when you first heard this stuff announced for real, thank god we don’t have to experience that. Source: Joystiq