The sale of THQ's assets in federal bankruptcy court will be finalized today. Word is that the hearing begins at 3 p.m.

Rumors already are spreading as to where THQ's studios and the series developed there have ended up. A Relic Entertainment developer has said he's now an employee of Sega—which it should be stressed is so far unconfirmed by Sega, THQ or the court.

Relic, the studio behind Company of Heroes and many of the Warhammer video games, was currently working on Company of Heroes 2. Their most recent release was Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

Additionally, Manveer Heir, a developer at BioWare in Montréal, said on his personal Twitter account that sources he knows within the industry said Ubisoft had purchased the THQ Montréal studio and the South Park license, which includes the upcoming South Park: The Stick of Truth.

[UPDATE: 3:14 P.M.] The sale of THQ's assets has been confirmed in both a letter to employees and in a document just now filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Here is a list of the winning bidders, the winning bid amounts, and the backup bidder (if any) for the assets sold during THQ's bankruptcy auction. The blog Distressed Debt Investing, which had been following the proceedings in person for some time, said no bids were made for Vigil Games, makers of the Darksiders series.

Relic Entertainment

Makers of Company of Heroes
Winning bidder: Sega, $26.6 million.
Backup: Zenimax Media, $26.3 million.

THQ Montreal

Makers of 1666 and Underdog, titles under development.
Winning bidder: Ubisoft, $2.5 million. No runner-up.

Evolve

(title in development at Turtle Rock Studios)
Winning bidder: Take-Two Interactive, $10.894 million.
Backup: Turtle Rock Studios, $250,000.

Volition, Inc.

Maker of Saints Row
Winning bidder: Koch Media, $22,312,925.
Backup: Ubisoft, $5.4 million.

Homefront

Released 2011; due for a sequel.
Winning bidder: Crytek. $544,218.

Metro

Series; due for the sequel Metro: Last Light.
Winning Bidder: Koch Media, $5,877,551
Backup: Ubisoft: $5.175 million.

South Park

License; South Park: The Stick of Truth is due for release March 5.
Winning bidder: Ubisoft, $3,265,306

Greg Zeschuk co-founded BioWare in 1995 and left it in September, after seeing his studio deliver Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate and some of video gaming's most notable series over the better part of two decades. What's he doing in his retirement? Well, he's drinking beer.

And producing videos about beer and brewing, and the people who make and enjoy beer. This is the second video in Zeschuk's series "The Beer Diaries," which in addition to featuring interviews and documentary shorts will also deliver apps and other beer-related interactive experiences at some point in the future. Zeschuk's starting with the craft-brewing community of Austin, Texas, but as he says in this interview, he hopes "The Beer Diaries" may someday take a bigger scope.

"Being in video games was really cool," he said (Zeschuk also was a physician, specializing in geriatrics, before founding BioWare). "I flew all over the world, talked to people, saw a lot of amazing things. I kind of want to do that for beer," he says.

YouTube video uploaded by TheBeerDiaries

Available free today on Google Play, Wiki Quiz (as seen on SlideDB) is as simple little Android app that randomly generates multiple choice questions from the digital repository of the world's accumulated knowledge, expurgated edition.

The questions and answers are all pulled from Wikipedia, and most of the time the correct answer is fairly obvious. What's nifty is that after you answer, you're given the option to learn more via a button that opens the corresponding Wikipedia page in your mobile browser. As a game it's fairly simple, but as a discovery tool it's quite lovely.

You can grab Rockbyte's Wiki Quiz here.

Wondering what the Wii U's Virtual Console looks like? We downloaded Balloon Fight, the first Wii U VC game, and dove through the menus to find that the new interface allows for customizable controllers and "restore points"—or temporary save states (like the 3DS has).

The Virtual Console, a system that lets you buy and play classic Nintendo games, officially launches this spring, and there will be monthly $0.30 releases from now through July, including, most notably, Super Metroid this May.

The world's best selling video game won't be sold in Pakistan. Fox News reports that a declaration has forbidden sales of Activision's Call of Duty games, as well as EA's newest Medal of Honor release.

According to the report, the ban came into effect after shop owners complained how Pakistan was portrayed in the games. A notice by the organization that controls sales of digital media in the Middle Eastern country, translated in the article, says the following:

"The Association has always boycotted these types of films and games. These (games) have been developed against the country's national unity and sanctity. The games ("Medal of Honor: Warfighter" and "Call of Duty: Black Ops II") have been developed against Pakistan, and the association has completely banned their sale. Shopkeepers are warned and will be responsible for the consequences if found purchasing or selling these games."

Both last year's Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Call of Duty: Black Ops II featured sequences set in Pakistan. Those moments are ones that portray Pakistan as a hotbed of terrorist activity which, according to the Fox News report, doesn't sit well with local merchants. Saleem Memon, head of the All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association (APCDACTM) said, "These games are an effort to malign the minds of youth against Pakistan."

This restriction on the two titles recalls the temporary halt of sales of 2010's Medal of Honor on U.S. military bases. That game became controversial after it was revealed that players could play as the Taliban in mulitplayer modes. But, unlike the Armed Forces PX store ban, this move by the Pakistani trade organization seems unlikely to be lifted any time soon. Still, the article notes that there's a robust market for pirated games in Pakistan, so players who want to get their hands on Black Ops II or Warfighter probably will still be able to do so.

Pakistan bans 'Call of Duty,' 'Medal of Honor' for showing country as terrorist haven [Fox News, via GoNIntendo]

Last March, we gave you an early look at how the PlayStation 4—code-named Orbis—was shaping up. Nearly a year later, we're about to bring you a clearer, more timely update, including new technical specs and information on an upgrade to Sony's traditional controller design.

The information you're about to read comes from official Orbis documentation, a hive of more than 90 PDFs about the forthcoming console. The details of the files were shared with Kotaku by an individual known as SuperDae, the same person who last year attempted to sell a pair of next-gen Xbox development kits on eBay.

What follows won't tell you when the PS4/Orbis is coming out or even what it's destined to be called. Our best sources are mixed on whether the new Sony console will be out late this year, to match the expected launch of the next-generation Xbox, or whether Sony will wait until 2014. What you will learn about below are some of the guts of the console (as they stand for now, at least) and how it works. Some of those details were familiar, matching things we'd heard before; others were new and refreshingly specific.

SPECS

We'll begin with the specs. And before we go any further, know that these are current specs for a PS4 development kit, not the final retail console itself. So while the general gist of the things you see here may be similar to what makes it into the actual commercial hardware, there's every chance some—if not all of it—changes, if only slightly.

That being the case, here's what we know is inside PS4 development kits—model # DVKT-KS000K—as of January 2013. As you'll see, some things have changed since earlier kits became available in March 2012.

• System Memory: 8GB
• Video Memory: 2.2 GB
• CPU: 4x Dual-Core AMD64 "Bulldozer" (so, 8x cores)
• GPU: AMD R10xx
• Ports: 4x USB 3.0, 2x Ethernet
• Drive: Blu-Ray
• HDD: 160GB
• Audio Output: HDMI & Optical, 2.0, 5.1 & 7.1 channels

• If you think the HDD is small, remember, these are the specs for a machine that developers are using to make games on, not the console you'll own and be storing media on. And don't worry about having two ethernet ports; as this is a dev kit, one is there for local sharing/testing purposes.

  
  

  Interestingly, while some of these specs (such as the 8x core CPU) match with those reported by Digital Foundry only a few days ago, others like the RAM (DF reported 4GB of GDDR5, while we've heard 8GB) differ.

  
  

  We've learned there's a headphone jack on the front of the console, but it's unclear whether that's just for dev kits or is an intended feature of the final retail console.

  
  

  CONTROLLER

  

  
  

  Ever since the release of the original PlayStation, Sony has maintained roughly the same basic controller design. This trend may be continuing with the PS4, because we've learned that developers are working with—and dev kits support—both the Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controller. This suggests that, for the most part, the design and capabilities of the PS4's controller will be similar to those on the PS3. The documentation also shows a Move controller, suggesting Sony's Wii-style motion wand will work with the new console.

  
  

  There is a new controller in development for the PS4, though, known internally as the Orbis Development Tool, and while it keeps many of the same features as the current pads—like the four iconic PlayStation face buttons, two thumbsticks and shoulder triggers—there's one key addition.

  
  

  THE CURRENT PS4 DEV KIT, AT A GLANCE

  
  

  • 8GB system memory, 2.2GB video memory
  • 4x Dual-Core AMD64 "Bulldozer" CPU, AMD R10xx Liverpool GPU
  • New controller features touch pad
  • Can link PSN accounts to controllers, allowing for multiple logins.

  British site CVG speculated last week that, because they'd heard the PS4's controller was "trying to emulate the same user interface philosophies as the PS Vita", that meant it would feature a touch screen. Instead, the Orbis' controller features a capacitive touch pad, like you find on the back of a Vita (presumably it's also on the back of the PS4's controller), that can recognise two-point multi-touch. The entire pad can also be "clicked" for an additional input button.

  
  

  The PS4's controller will again be capable of motion-sensing, like its PS3 predecessors, only now with improved technology like tilt correction. It will also feature vibration, which Sony has thankfully learned is a next-gen feature you need to launch with. It'll also have an RGB LED light in it.

  
  

  While there have been reports of the PS4 controller featuring "biometric" technology, there was no mention of it in the information we were provided.

  
  

  There's one other addition to the PS4's pad you won't find on a DualShock 3: a "Share" button. We're not exactly sure what it does. The most likely use would be to allow users to share some aspect of their gaming experience to Twitter or Facebook. Maybe a screenshot? We have no idea. But that Share button might have something to do with...

  
  

  ACCOUNTS

  

  
  

  Sony is trying to change the way you think about user accounts with the PS4. As it stands now, and this applies to all current consoles the PS3 (and the Wii U), when you log in, you log in as a single user. With Orbis, Sony is moving the place of "ownership" away from the console, with something it calls "multi-user simultaneous logins."

  
  

  Which means that the PS4 will let more than one person be logged into the same system at the same time. It achieves this by linking control pads to user accounts; as each new controller syncs with the system, that player's account can be logged in as well. Accounts won't be "locked" to a controller; you'll simply be prompted to sign in to an account every time an extra pad is connected to the console.

  
  

  One application we learned about for this feature would be that, were four players in a co-op battle able to defeat a boss, then all four would receive trophies.

  
  

  We only learned of this feature in relation to local accounts stored on the console itself. It's unclear whether you'd also be able to do this via the PlayStation Network if you were playing online.

  
  

  ——

  
  

  That's it for now. Remember, none of this information is confirmed, and even the information that is locked down in January 2013 may change before the console's eventual release, which is likely not for at least another nine months, at minimum. This is just what we've been told Sony is working on and planning for as of today. That being the case, how do you think it's shaping up?

  
  

Yeah, it's a "runner" game. You control a character that's perpetually moving forward, and all you have to do is move them left to right and sometimes roll or jump as well. And yeah, it's a "freemium" game, something I will likely never really embrace.

But man, I'm enjoying Subway Surfers all the same.

The key is that not only is it fun to play for free (stages are generated randomly, so you never hit a "wall"), but it's got real style, with a bubbly look that should be coming off as ridiculous but instead feels like a Nickelodeon tribute to the early 90s.

In terms of how it plays, like say, Temple Run, you're in command of a character constantly running away from the screen, with swipes of your device either moving them between "paths" or over/under obstacles. You can collect coins in missions to unlock items, or, of course, you can buy those items right away with real cash.

If you've got multiple devices or platforms, the iPad version is probably the best (especially if you've got a retina display), as the dedicated visuals really pop.

Subway Surfers

• Genre: Runner
• Developer: Kiloo
• Platform: iOS, Android
• Price: Free

Get Subway Surfers on iTunes | Get Subway Surfers on Google Play

With the latest trailer for LEGO City Undercover my desire for an open world brick-based game for my Wii U reaches dangerous new heights. At the risk of sounding vain, I'm pretty sure TT Fusion has crafted this game for the sole purpose of seducing me.

It's working. Call me.

LEGO City Undercover hits the Wii U on March 18. I was planning to move that week, but I can put it off.

(NSFW language in the above video)

You kill Kenny six times in this South Park tribute track created by "Mange Moi el Q," released on Sunday, and found by the Achievement Hunter gang at Rooster Teeth. The course pays tribute to just about every major character (but only two of the adults, I notice) in between the bovine posteriors marking the start and the finish. Appropriately enough, this run concludes with you driving your dirtbike right into a cow's ass.

YouTube video uploaded by Rooster Teeth

(NSFW language in the above video)

You kill Kenny six times in this South Park tribute track created by "Mange Moi el Q," released on Sunday, and found by the Achievement Hunter gang at Rooster Teeth. The course pays tribute to just about every major character (but only two of the adults, I notice) in between the bovine posteriors marking the start and the finish. Appropriately enough, this run concludes with you driving your dirtbike right into a cow's ass.

YouTube video uploaded by Rooster Teeth