I sure felt like an ass earlier this year.

It happens – me feeling like an ass – more often than you might suspect, and I would like. This time it had to do with some poor predicting on my part.

Last fall I wrote that a number of big games being developed in Vancouver were an indication that the hard times suffered by the industry were coming to an end.

Fast-forward to January, when Propaganda Games is closed. Then True Crime: Hong Kong, in development at United Front Games, was cancelled by Activision, forcing UFG to lay off dozens.

So what’s really going on? In this week’s edition of the Straight, I try to figure it all out.

Last September, the Georgia Straight reported that some of the year’s biggest and best video games were being made by Vancouver studios. It was evidence, we suggested, that the local industry, which had been in decline partly due to the economic slowdown, was rebounding. It’s clear now, however, the industry is still hurting.

Also this week, details about Square Enix’s planned Canadian development studio. Apparently Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are all in the running to be the studio’s home.

Japanese video-game publisher Square Enix is planning to open a new development studio in Canada in 2012. The studio would employ at least 100 staff in the development of games for the new consoles expected in the coming years from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.