Speaking on the development of Midway Austin's recently-released FPS BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, X360), creative director and industry veteran Harvey Smith described the entire project as "so fucked up."

Smith elaborated on the difficulties he and his team faced during a presentation at the 2007 Montreal International Game Summit, reports Game|Life. Read more »

Midway Studios Austin's alien-infested shooter BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, X360) has gone gold, Midway announced today. The game retails for PC and Xbox 360 November 12, a week later than expected, with the PlayStation 3 version following some time in December. Along with Midway's John Woo Presents: Stranglehold (PC, PS3, X360), the PS3 version of BlackSite was delayed due to problems with using the Unreal Engine 3 on Sony's platform. Though a demo for the game has already hit Xbox Live, Midway promises a second demo will be arriving soon, with a demo for PS3 gamers coming to the PlayStation Network as well.

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There's a new Blacksite: Area 51 preview on GameSpot, offering hands-on multiplayer impressions.

Midway sent over some new Blacksite: Area 51 media today in the form of three screenshots and this movie focusing on the game's environments. The game is set for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this November.

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Midway reported a $14.3 million net loss for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007, down from the company's $31.0 million loss during the same period last year. The cut in losses comes partly from a 22.7 year-over-year increase in sales to $31.8 million, higher than Midway's estimates. During the earnings conference call, CEO David Zucker gave updates on upcoming titles BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, X360) and The Wheelman (PC, PS3, X360). Previously set for a September release, BlackSite will now launch across all platforms on November 5 in North America and October 26 in Europe. Zucker also said The Wheelman, a game based on a movie of the same name featuring Vin Diesel, has been pushed to a 2008 first or second quarter retail window. "We'll be shifting our release of The Wheelman starring Vin Diesel for the first half of 2008 to give our development team more time to turn this ultimate car chase game into what we expect will be a broad impact top notch title," Zucker said. Despite pushing The Wheelman's release out of the current fiscal year, Zucker said the company would meet its previous fiscal year 2007 guidance of a 36% increase in sales to $225 million. The increased visibility of high profile titles like John Woo's Stranglehold (PC, PS3, X360) and Epic's Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3) will make up for the loss of the Diesel-powered game, Zucker said. The shift to current gen consoles has proved a costly one for Midway, with several quarters of net losses pushing realizable gains further down the road. "Our goal is to get to profitability as early as possible in this next cycle," Zucker added.

The recent Blacksite: Area 51 press onslaught continues with this interview on the game at Eurogamer. Lead designer Harvey Smith is asked about changes compared to the first Area 51, Smith's design principles, storyline, and the characters in the game.

Over at Eurogamer you can find a Blacksite: Area 51 preview, offering impressions and an interview with creative director Harvey Smith. There's also a Q&A with Smith at Computer & Video Games.

Midway sends along a batch of screenshots from Blacksite: Area 51, their Unreal Engine 3 powered sci-fi action game sequel. The game is set to ship for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this September.

There's a Blacksite: Area 51 preview on Pro-G, checking out Midway Austin's Unreal Engine-powered shooter. 1UP also has a brief preview, and Game Informer has impressions as well.

Over at IGN you can find a Blacksite: Area 51 preview, taking another look at Midway's shooter sequel. Includes new media.