Skip to main content

Rhode Island prepares to sell 38 Studios’ ‘Amalur’ IP

Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A legal representative for the state of Rhode Island is prepared to sell 38 Studios’ intellectual property, including materials related to its Kingdoms of Amalur game and any other projects the studio had in development (such as the Amalur-related MMORPG Project Copernicus), according to Providence Journal (via Joystiq). It is unknown at this time how much the state is asking for the IP.

The Rhode Island government hopes to recover some of the $130 million loan made to Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios. That money was intended to jump-start the game development industry in the state, but 38 was unable to repay its debt and ultimately forced to close. Now the state’s legal counsel is building a case against the studio in a hearing set to take place on May 22, 2013. Meanwhile, another imminent hearing is set to discuss the auctioning off of 38’s IP.

The studio’s material assets, including office equipment, computers and game development tools, were auctioned off in 2012 for roughly $830,000.

Topics
Michael Rougeau
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mike Rougeau is a journalist and writer who lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and two dogs. He specializes in video…
All Baobab Tree locations in Tales of Kenzera
Zau fights a dragon in Tales of Kenzera: Zau.

While it wasn't marketed as being a particularly punishing game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is by no means easy. You will have plenty of environmental challenges that can instantly sap your life, and the enemies you face -- especially the bosses -- are no slouches. When you first begin, it will only take a couple of bad hits to send Zau to the land of the dead himself. Alongside the Trinkets you can unlock through hidden challenges around the map, there are also Baobab Trees where Zau can stop to reflect on his journey thus far, have a short dialogue with Kalunga, and get a small addition to his health bar. Like everything in the game, these trees aren't prohibitively hidden, but you could easily pass one by and have no idea where it was when trying to backtrack. These are all the Baobab Tree locations so you can max out your health bar.
All Baobab Tree locations
There are six Baobab Trees to find in Tales of Kenzera: Zau and each adds a small segment of health to your total. When you collect them all, you will roughly double your HP bar. Here are each of their locations in the rough order you should naturally find them in. Most can be picked up on your first time through that area.
Ikakaramba

This one is very hard to miss as it is directly on your critical path. If you do, you can fast travel to the nearby campfire to grab it.
The Great Cliffs

Read more
All Fallout games, ranked
The courier in his nuclear gear and holding his gun in Fallout: New Vegas key art.

Who would've thought the post-apocalypse could be such a fun time? The Fallout franchise has taken the idea of a Mad Max-like future and not only made it into a wildly popular game franchise but also a hit TV series. The core franchise has been around since the late '90s, and yet we've had only a handful of mainline entries in the series since it was revived by Bethesda with Fallout 3. With Starfield in the rearview mirror and the next Elder Scrolls title currently being the dev team's focus, it could be close to another decade before we can set foot in the wasteland ourselves once again. What better time, then, to look back at the franchise and rank all the games from best to worst?

Fallout: New Vegas

Read more
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is as fun to watch as it is to play
Monkeys race one another in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble.

I couldn’t tell you what the last Super Monkey Ball game I played was, but I can still talk your ear off about the series. That’s thanks to the speedrunning community that has formed around the franchise, making it into the most exciting game to watch when it's played at a high level. After spending close to a decade watching old games turned inside and out, I’m ready to finally dig into a new entry for myself.

Thankfully, I’m getting that chance on June 25 when Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble launches on Nintendo Switch. The latest entry in Sega’s precise platforming series comes loaded with content, from an adventure mode with 200 stages to multiple 16-player multiplayer modes. That’s all exciting, but my attention was on one question when I sat down to demo all of that last week: How fun will it be to watch players master it?

Read more