As previously reported, Nintendo's long-time Sr. Director, Corporate Communications, Beth Llewelyn has officially resigned. At the same time, Julia Roether, head of PR for Nintendo at external agency Golin Harris, has also resigned. Read more about it in our original story.

During a recent fiscal release, SCi announced several changes in their upper management. Primary among these changes, Phil Rogers, has been promoted to the PLC Board as Chief Financial Officer from his position as Corporate Development Director, which he inherited in February 2007. Rogers was formerly the Vice President of Corporate Development at Electronic Arts and is a Chartered Accountant.

Rob Murphy, whom Rogers is replacing, will become the new Managing Director - Studios. Bill Ennis, formerly Commercial Director, will become Managing Director - Publishing. All of these changes are effective immediately.

Spacetime Studios recently announced that it hired David Levy. The veteran computer game artist will be the Visual Director for the company's new MMO, set to be published by NCsoft.

"We are thrilled to have David Levy on our team," said Gary Gattis, co-founder of Spacetime Studios. "David is a world-class talent with a proven track record in the games industry and brings more than 10 years of professional experience to the job. His hiring is a huge step for us as we add yet another highly skilled member to an already experienced and successful team of industry veterans."

Levy's artistic experience includes time as lead artist at Acclaim where he worked on Turok Evolution. He also had a stint at Reel FX where his clients included Blue Sky Studios, Hasbro, and the Disney Channel. Levy was mostly recently senior concept artist and illustrator for Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

"Spacetime Studios is working on one of the initial second-generation MMOs," said Richard Garriott, Chief Creative Officer at NCsoft. "The recruitment of David Levy is a real coup and we are delighted at the visual direction he will bring. Matching his unique vision to the team's technological expertise should create an exceptional product."

"I'm delighted to have joined Spacetime Studios," Levy commented. "There's a passion and commitment to excellence that is a pleasure to see in such a collaborative endeavor."

Trion World Network announced recently that it has brought on Peter Matiss as vice president of marketing and sales, and Won Seok Chung as senior director of business development. Matiss will look over market conditions and build programs to achieve maximum profitability for services and products and guide the direction of brand development for the company's products by leveraging his publishing background as part of the company's executive force. Chung will be tasked with carrying out and identifying alliances globally, and will help bring Trion's connected entertainment experiences to new audiences by leveraging his expertise in the Asian market and worldwide.

"Matiss and Chung are critical hires for us," stated Dr. Lars Buttler, CEO and co-founder. "Trion is a new type of publisher, uniquely positioned to be the go-to partner for premier IP created for the connected world."

Matiss has helped launch over 50 products across several platforms and has carried licenses across media and products, into OEM, mobile, and clothing. He began his career in gaming at Atari where he worked on franchises like Sid Meier's Civilization, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Monopoly, Risk, and Dungeons & Dragons. After that he joined Webzen America as vice president of marketing and sales, where he worked on marketing and branding the company's flagship online games and developing a distribution strategy for North America.

"Trion is poised to build premier brands with lasting value, with its resources, technology and world-caliber expertise," Matiss said. "The worldwide potential and opportunity is what attracted me to Trion."

Chung has over twelve years of experience in marketing, business development and strategic planning. His first large break in the industry was at NCsoft where he brought in major partnership deals with companies like Sina, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Intel and Nvidia. After that, Chung spent several years as director and department head of business development at Cyworld where he made strategic partnership deals for product feature enhancement and negotiated numerous contracts with major music labels.

"Trion has already made immense progress attracting huge media companies to the mission," commented Chung. "I am excited to be a part of a company that has so much momentum in carving out a leading role in the publishing world."

Streamline Studios announced this past week that David C. Lee was hired as VP of Development and Marketing. Lee will manage the studio's game marketing, PR and development functions, while serving as the company's Chairman for the Board of Directors.

"Bringing David Lee onboard adds a wealth of IP development and marketing experience to our core management team," said Alexander L. Fernandez, CEO of Streamline Studios. "He will help us create and identify winning franchises, both for properties we develop through our IP Farming system and titles that partners bring to us."

Lee brings nearly two decades worth of experience in the entertainment and high tech fields to the table. In particular, he worked for over ten years at Electronic Arts as a PR director, senior marketing manager, and managing editor while helping to build and launch franchises which include Harry Potter, NASCAR, and NBA Live. Lee later became a consultant working with publishers like EA, Activision, Sega, LucasArts and he has consulted with Streamline since 2006.

"Streamline Studios is well positioned to become a driving force in the gaming industry as we partner our skill in engineering art and content creation with experience in distributed development and IP building," said Lee. "After helping the studio focus its marketing and branding efforts I have turned my attention to launching our HoopWorld IP and making our next moves in game development."

In other news, the company's CFO Harpreet Seble, is now President of the studio, making him responsible for the company operations. Also, Hector Fernandez, previously the company's CCO, has been made VP of Business Development and will be responsible for evangelizing the studio's technical expertise and creative elements while leading the studio's business development unit.

This past week, Ultizen Games announced it appointed Michael Devine as Vice President of North American Business Development. Additionally, he will be head of the game development and outsourcing company's North American Office in Los Angeles.

"Michael brings 20 years of gaming background to Ultizen and gives us the next evolutionary step in providing service and support for our North American customers," said Ultizen Games CEO Mr. Lan Haiwen. "His background and passion for the gaming industry is a perfect match for Ultizen's commitment to quality and our business philosophy."

Devine has decades worth of sales and marketing experience. He's been an executive with The 3DO Co., TDK Mediactive and Imagination Entertainment.

"Ultizen is a dynamic software company at the forefront of the gaming industry in China," commented Devine. "Their drive to provide to high quality, on-time content for their clients has been a roadmap for their success. They already have a great track record with U.S. publishers and they are prepared to do significantly more in the years ahead."

Competitive Games International announced this past Friday that Lawrence Barrett has joined as the company's Vice President of Marketing and Sales. Barrett will be responsible for executing and implementing marketing and communications strategies to help gain momentum for the new casual game company's various products.

"Competitive Games' management team and board of directors are pleased to welcome Mr. Barrett to our team," stated Julio Collado, CEO of Competitive Games International. "With more than forty years of management experience in marketing, sales and communications, he has a proven track record of accomplishments and successful leadership within the public and private sectors. Assembling a team of industry innovators and experienced sales managers is an important part of our strategy to develop a centralized infrastructure for the commercialization of our packages of casual games. I am confident that Mr. Barrett's abilities will help guide Competitive Games and contribute to the fulfillment of our growth objectives."

Barrett has an impressive forty-year career in marketing, sales and communications. He headed up the Healing Hand Network, a non-profit global therapeutic network working to combat various illnesses. Barrett held senior positions at Total Link, ABC, Waves International and International World Network. He went on to become Vice President of Business Development for Goldlinx International, helping to design the company's computer sales software and systems and build the company's sales force. Barrett later became Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Rose Marie Collection, where he reengineered the company's marketing, sales and training programs, which helped increase sales by 30% a month. He was most recently a management consultant to JFF Entertainment focusing on marketing and sales strategies.