Gamasutra runs down the Top Five Disappointments of 2010 in a new feature that is part of its Best of 2010 series of articles. So what were the biggest disappointments of 2010, according to Gamasutra?

The list includes the on-going vagueness of digital sales figures (we're still dealing with estimates and not actual sales numbers); the failure of Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix recently reshuffled the development team); EA backing down over criticism of "Taliban" in multiplayer and renaming the faction to an "Opposing Force"; the UK government ditching tax breaks for the video game industry; and the collapse of APB maker Realtime Worlds.

It was widely reported that the trapped Chilean miners received PSP systems to keep them occupied while they waited to be rescued. It turns out that that story is not true. According to a Washington Post report, a request by miners to receive music players and portable game systems was denied by rescuers.

The miners do get TV, three hot meals a day, ice cream, personal letters from loved ones, and their clothes laundered on a regular basis - all part of a well crafted routine to keep the miners productive and working as a team. Instead of keeping busy with games and music, the miners are engaging in therapy sessions, and regular daily work clearing the debris.

The rescue plan is being aided by lead psychiatrist, Alberto Iturra Benavides, who wants to leave them with "no possible alternative but to survive" until drillers finish rescue holes, which the government predicts will be done by early November

"With earphones, if they're listening to music and someone calls them, asking for help or to warn them about something, they're not available," Iturra said. "What they need is to be together."

Dutch-based publisher Playlogic has filed for bankruptcy, according to documents from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Yesterday the company told the press, who had caught wind of its financial straits, that it was not going bankrupt. But late yesterday the board of directors confirmed it had voluntarily entered into "surseance van betaling," – apparently the Dutch equivalent to Chapter 11, for both Playlogic International and its development studio Playlogic Game Factory.

The company blamed a combination of "Tough market conditions, late payments by large customers and delays in projects" as the cause for the filings. One of the big companies that Playlogic alluded to was distribution partner Koch Media, which Playlogic is suing for unpaid bills totaling €1.7 million. Add to that a first quarter loss of $2.2 million, and a $20 million loss for the full 2009 financial year, and it is easy to see why Playlogic is struggling to stay alive.

Source: GI.biz

Only the Daily Star could make the New York Post look like the New York Times.

We’re a little late to this one, but last week that bastion of accurate reporting, the UK’s Daily Star, ran an article insinuating that Rockstar was making a Grand Theft Auto game based on the criminal actions committed earlier this month by ex-con Raoul Moat, who killed one and injured three across a six-day spree throughout the NorthEast UK. 

GTA Rothbury, as the game was called by Star writer Jerry Lawton, contained a series of animated quotes from relatives of the victims, outraged by the thought of a game, book or movie based on the criminal’s exploits, as reported up by CVG.

The story was eventually taken off the Star’s website entirely (since it was made up) and the newspaper issued an apology (thanks again CVG) stating: