There’s been a lot of news lately about 38 Studios, and sadly it has been announced today that they’re shuttering the studio. We’re very sorry to hear this, and we hope that all the developers who were at the studio bounce back quickly.

Along those lines, we’re hiring! If you are looking for a game development gig in Boston now is a great time to apply. In general we’re happy to look at all candidates. Here are some specific roles we’re interested in:

• Biz Dev
• Marketing/PR
• Studio Management
• Senior Coders
• Senior Artists (animators, modelers/textures, etc.)

If you’re sick of working at a big studio and want to find out what it’s like being part of a small, hyper talented team of indie devs then you’ll love it at Fire Hose. You won’t be a cog in the machine, you’ll get to make real decisions and wear multiple hats, and you’ll really enjoy coming to work each day.

Check out our jobs page or drop us a line at jobs@firehosegames.com to apply. We hope to hear from you!

If you are an XBLA regular you’ve probably noticed that Red Lynx’s latest game, Trials Evolution ,has ads plastered everywhere and is breaking all download records for the service. And for good reason! The game is the premier physics based motorcycle puzzle platformer, and if that doesn’t mean anything to you then it should. The goal? Get to the finish line. The controls? Gas and brake, lean forwards and backwards. The challenge? Get past an increasingly difficult series of obstacles without crashing.

If it sounds simple, it’s because it is! But more important, the game is FUN in a way that most games have forgotten how to be. It’s frustrating difficult but easy to keep playing, the environments are beautiful, and the levels well designed and frequently amusing. We’ve been playing it almost exclusively at lunch time the past week.

Nico, our lead animator, is obsessed: “Trials is like someone is dangling a Snickers bar in front of your face, and then they take it away at the last minute. But then they give you another chance right away. When you do something smart and clever and awesome it is really rewarding. It isn’t a game you think too hard about, which makes it awesome. It is just fun.”

Trials Evolution is out on XBLA for 1200 fake Microsoft funny money points, or $15. If you have a 360 grab it!

We all had a fantastic time showing off Go Home Dinosaurs! at this year’s PAX East. People love the game and have had some very complimentary things to say about it:

“…Go Home Dinosaurs is an absolute speculator game to play. The tower defense genre has never been so much fun. “

-Greg Laporte | GamerFitNation

“Go Home Dinosaurs is bringing more of the cutesy charm that Fire Hose debuted with Slam Bolt Scrappers”

-Tony Wilson | FrontTowardsGamer

“Fire Hose [Games] have another winner on their books with Go Home Dinosaurs”

-Dave Bolton | BostonInno

“The aesthetic of Go Home Dinosaurs is charming, and presents the quirky and distinct look offered by Fire Hose Games’ previous title. ”

-Dave Voyles | Armless Octopus 

“Apparently, dinosaurs love BBQ and gophers use coconuts as currency – who knew?! … this game is all about silly fun…”

-Mike Gnade | The IndieGameMagazine 

Of course one of our favorite parts of PAX is being able to interact with fans. There is nothing more fun than handing a mouse to a fan and talking to them about their experience. Several of you made a point to stop by our booth just to say hi and see what we have been up to. You all rock.

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Eitan’s note:

One really sad thing we learned about at PAX was the passing of one of our biggest fans, David Roberto. David was an enforcer for us at PAX East two years ago when we were in the Boston Indie Showcase. It was our first time showing off Slam Bolt Scrappers at a big convention and we didn’t really know what we were doing, and he was super helpful. However the really incredible thing was how much he liked our game – he kept playing and playing, and by the end of the show was as good as any of us on the dev team.

David kept in touch with us and would always come and hang out at our booth at PAX. He would tell other people to play our game, and he’d talk to us in the down time about our game and other games. You can imagine how sad all of us were when his brother Michael paid us a visit this year on the show floor and told us the tragic news.

Here’s a picture from March 2010 of David (in the background, red enforcer’s t-shirt) playing SBS and becoming a fan for life.

Thanks for playing our games, you’ll be missed.

Have you met Compy yet? If not you probably should!

Compy is one of several dastardly dinosaurs coming after your BBQ from our game Go Home Dinosaurs! Compy has been making the rounds, boasting his own flickr account, posting on our twitter account, and most recently infiltrating PAX East.

Several PAX goers took a Compy home with them after the show and they have been posting pics of Compy’s new adventures.

As part of the Indie MEGABOOTH, Fire Hose Games was one of sixteen indies that formed one massive PAX presence. Like the Power Rangers, we are powerful on our own but combined we created an Indie MEGAZORD! (err booth) And while we did not fight against the evils of Rita Repulsa, or anyone else for that matter, we did have a great time showing off Go Home Dinosaurs to all of the PAXers!

All of those adorable Compys that you see on that Fire Hose sofa have migrated to PAX EAST!

We are selling them at our booths (663 and 680) for a “I have totally have that in my pocket” amount of $10.00.

You can also WIN A COMPY

Here’s How:

If you are at PAX East swing by our booth and take a picture with a loaner Compy. Then follow us on Twitter, Like Us on Facebook or both! Upload your Compy picture to either the @Firehosegames Twitter feed or the wall over at facebook.com/Firehosegames with the hash tag #PAXEast and you could win!

Not at PAX? Don’t worry! Head over to GoHomeDinosaurs.com, pick your favorite dino and draw us a picture. Send that super awesome art to us and you can win a Compy from afar.