It seems yesterday's news of two Midway executives bailing out didn't mark the only departures from the publisher this week. According to GamesIndustry.biz, Midway has confirmed a number of layoffs at its Austin studio, classifying it as a "minor" and "routine" move following the completion of a project. Midway insisted that its numerous other teams and studios will continue to grow according to the needs of its current developments.

Hopefully, such developments won't have to endure "f*cked up" processes and chilly commercial receptions.

This week's batch of PlayStation Network content is pretty massive - "our biggest ever," according to the official US PlayStation blog. There's a catch, of course, in that PSN will not be updated next Thursday (also known as Christmas Eve). Enough pouting, let's open our presents a week early!

Warhawk fans have the most gifts under the tree this week, with the already-opened Omega Dawn expansion, a free theme, a game video of the expansion and (gasp!) the original Warhawk PS One title downloadable as a classic for play on either the PS3 or PSP. Rhythm fans also get a tasty sampler of the usual Rock Band DLC and a free Guitar Hero III song, the holiday-themed "We Three Kings" (strangely absent from the list: the premium GH3 songs for this week).

Downloadable games include Toy Home, Snakeball and two PS Eye games: Trials of Topoq and Mesmerize: Distort. A demo for Blacksite: Area 51 is also out, and those looking for more festive updates can check out the free Folklore DLC and PAIN wallpaper. Full update list after the break; check out our sister site PS3 Fanboy for European PSN update info.

Update: So apparently we have two fewer days to shop for Christmas gifts than we thought. Hmph.

Harvey Smith, who recently made a stink about the "f*cked up" development of Blacksite: Area 51, has parted ways with Midway. According to GameTap, the separation was a mutual decision between Midway and Smith. Word on the street, according to Joystiq, is that Smith actually made the BlackSite comments in order to get fired in the first place. The purely speculative reason he did this: so he could join Eidos to work on the recently announced Deus Ex 3. Smith has worked on previous Deus Ex titles for the now defunct Ion Storm game studio, so it makes sense (speculatively, mind you). We're glad it's Friday because, frankly, all the firings, rants, and ad agency shuffling is getting confusing.

[Via Joystiq]

There's only so many times in a week one can make a "so long and thanks for all the fish" joke. GameTap is reporting Harvey Smith has left Midway Austin after making some very public waves in Montreal, calling Blacksite: Area 51's production "f*cked up." Although he took "personal accountability," he also pointed at Midway saying the project went from alpha to final in a "completely reprehensible" fashion.

GameTap says their source confirmed Smith's departure was "by mutual agreement between Harvey and the studio." Smith became creative director at Midway Austin after previously working at the now defunct Ion Storm on Deus Ex. Conspiracy theorists believe Smith made his statements to get fired by Midway so he could try and work on the recently announced Deus Ex 3 at Eidos Montreal. Yeah, the same Eidos implicated in the Kane & Lynch shenanigans. Look at that, we've come full circle. Best 'o luck Mr. Smith. (Also, call us when you want to talk Deus Ex).

In the financially driven world of the video game industry, honesty can sometimes be hard to come by. From sycophantic game reviewers to gab-gifted PR reps that constantly spin crap into gold (no easy feat), finding a bit of real honesty is refreshing. Kind of like politics. For today's bit of honesty we turn to Harvey Smith, designer of the recently released Midway shooter BlackSite: Area 51. You may recall the game not wowing critics upon release. So, how honest is Smith about BlackSite? Take this quote for a spin: "This project was so f*cked up." Of course, he didn't go to the trouble of injecting an asterisk into his statement. No, he really said it. Smith went on to say that development was hampered with multiple problems, noting that one (unnamed) aspect of the game took eight months to implement. Furthermore, the development team didn't have adequate time to test and polish the game, and Smith said that the project went directly from alpha to final (ouch). He concluded that he was upset that many failed to see the game's subversive and satirical nature -- he would have given the game an 80 -- but said the low scores were "no surprise."

[Via Joystiq]

Blacksite: Area 51's creative director Harvey Smith let loose about the title's "f*cked up" development during the Montreal Inernational Game Summit. Reported by Wired, he says he wasn't too interested in the project to begin with and the game was "disastrously off rails" a year before finishing. He also says the game went from alpha to final in a "completely reprehensible" fashion. The critics agree.

Smith says his openness about the problems is due to "personal accountability." It's pretty obvious that publisher Midway just wanted the game out and maybe get some daft holiday shopper purchases, rather than hold off and do the title justice with a Spring '08 release -- like many publishers opted for this year. Remember Midway, don't ruin your name (more) by just pushing cow pies out the door -- go ask Atari how that ends.

[Via NextGen]

You gotta love Easter eggs. They just make things more fun. They bring extra joy to DVDs, video games, and, well, Easter. The video above contains an easter egg for BlackSite: Area 51 which was released last week to hungry alien hunters everywhere. It's a drawn out process which requires players to find a hidden sequence of numbers in order to unlock ... a petting zoo. Okay, so it's not a petting zoo per se, seeing as it's filled with half decayed alien goats instead of non-decayed normal goats, but it's close. We particularly enjoy the vulture actively eating one of the goats. The goat, for its part, seems completely oblivious.

Hey, remember BlackSite? What's that? You don't? Allow us to refresh your memory: Unreal Engine 3, aliens, rain, Clancy-esque squad controls. Ringing any bells? There we go. It seems BlackSite is hoping to make more of an impression, as a new demo has been released on Xbox Live Marketplace. We haven't gotten a chance to take it for a spin yet (it's nearly a gig, so the download is taking its sweet time), but the description lets us know two things. One, it is a new demo, and two, you'll be fighting your way through "the streets and backyards of a small American town." As you well know, there aren't nearly enough backyards in FPS games, so you should probably give BlackSite a try.

[Via Joystiq]

Back when BlackSite: Area 51 was originally slated to be released in the same time frame as Halo 3, it was hard not to pull for it. It was like Rocky going up against Apollo Creed in the first movie, except if Rocky had crutches and was blind. But after it (wisely, we guess) relocated, it kind of just shuffled off into the pack, and the lackluster demo of the game certainly didn't help it build any buzz.

Now, the game is vying for your intention once again with a brand-new demo on Xbox Live where you'll "battle against a strange insurgency through the streets and backyards of a small American town." We're still too swamped with this month's releases to give it a whirl. What about you?

The holiday onslaught continues this week with nine new games for the Xbox 360. Assassin's Creed is arguably the most anticipated of the bunch -- and it's likely many gamers will be buying a copy on faith alone -- but we're sure there are plenty of people out there interested in the likes of BlackSite, Kane & Lynch, and Need for Speed Pro Street. And there are five more games aside from those. What the hell is a frugal gamer to do? Just take a look at all these games.

• Assassin's Creed
• BlackSite: Area 51
• Beowulf: The Game
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
• Need for Speed Pro Street
• Monster Jam
• Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back
• America's Army: True Soldiers
• WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW 2008

We hope you've paid the bills already.

[Via Joystiq]

It's been a bumpy road for BlackSite: Area 51, but now the game is gold and ready to invade PC and Xbox 360 Nov. 12. The PS3 version is currently caught in a temporal vortex and is expected to release before "the holidays." The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions sport different features, so figure out what's important to you before buying.

BlackSite is actually best known at this point for its delays and developer comments -- one of which involved it being a good idea to release BlackSite the same week as Halo 3. Well, good luck to BlackSite, the pool is looking awfully full this holiday.

Did you know that the American PS3 version of Stranglehold slow-mo dived out the door this week? Midway's destructive Hard Boiled follow-up, like several PS3 games in the past few months, had been pushed off the edge of the calendar so many times that many eventually lost sight of it, played it on competing platforms or just moved on to other things. Midway CEO David F. Zucker recently discussed the predicament following a Top Secret! financial conference call, noting that technical hurdles on Sony's platform initially slowed them down.

"For our first wave of next-gen games... lead development has been on the Xbox 360, due to its earlier introduction and larger installed base," said Zucker. "We ran into some technical issues developing for the PlayStation 3 that have taken more time to finalize than we expected." He now considers said issues resolved, however, and expects "PS3 versions of [Midway] titles to ship day and date" with those on other platforms beginning next year. As for Unreal Tournament III, PS3 owners should look for it "as soon as it's ready."

Finally, with development hassles supposedly out of the way, Midway can continue work on a soon-to-be-announced title described by Zucker as an "ambitious open-world game." We certainly hope he means the Psi-Ops meets Crackdown adventure we just envisioned.

We have beef with the aliens of Blacksite: Area 51. In their latest television commercial we see one of them picking on an innocent little girl who's minding her business, singing "Ring Around the Rosy" by here lonesome. Her school bus is broken down, her house is on fire and her yellow dress is a filthy mess. And these insidious Area 51 aliens have nothing better to do then scare the poor girl and get all up in her face, seriously ... what do they want with her? Don't they know messing with a child is universally unacceptable? And to you Midway, do you expect us to reward such blatant commercial wrong doing with a Blacksite pre-order? Well, okay ... maybe this once.

IGN's preview of Area 51: BlackSite is sort of a mixed bag. Sure, we loved hearing new game modes like Abduction and how weapons would affect running speed, but imagine how disheartened we were when the preview ended with the news that online co-op had been cut from the game. It was like an awesome birthday party with a cake made of SARS.

In other disappointing news, the article says that while the 360 version will feature ranked and unranked play as well as constant chatter for teammates, the PS3 version won't, and the PC version is still a question mark. Sure, there's cause for concern, but, luckily for Midway, we really, really hate aliens.

BlackSite: Area 51, Midway's upcoming Unreal Engine-powered shooter, is going to have a fairly robust online mode. According to IGN: "With the Xbox 360 version of the game, players will be able to play ranked and unranked matches, and voice support will have constant chatter for teammates while everyone will be able to hear each other if they're close enough, regardless of which team they're on."

Wait, but that's not the case for PS3! Most of these features are being cut for Sony's version. According to a Midway representative: "Basically, the PS3 supports the ability to host, search, and join - that's it. All of the other functionality did not make it to PS3: ranked / leader boards, match making, voice chat, private slots, etc." Essentially, expect a fairly bare-bones online mode for the PS3 version of BlackSite. This seems like a strange omission from Midway, especially considering the robust online features their upcoming Unreal Tournament will have.

[Thanks, Amphlett!]