Game industry business news

Upon seeing both the size and power of Sony’s new Next Generation portable, it’s inevitable that the first question many people asked was how long the battery would last – but Sony has assured that it will put up a decent display. "We’ll have a good, solid battery life because …

Almost 70m PlayStation Network accounts have been registered worldwide since the service launched. Speaking at the PSP2 reveal press conference this morning, SCE president and CEO Kaz Hirai said that over 69m accounts had been opened before January 25th. He also revealed that over 80 per cent of all PS3s …

2K Play has announced it will release Carnival Games: In Action for Xbox 360 in April. The game will be the first in the best-selling mini-game series – best known for its hugely popular Wii entries –that will use Microsoft’s Kinect motion controller. it will be known as Carnvial Games: …

It may have lost many men in the battle of 2010, but General Wii still stands tall on the battlefield that is taking place under the world’s TVs. From the West, swelled by year-on-year gains in American followers, the Xbox 360 continues to wear down Wii’s lead. From the East, …

With the games industry currently soaking up every bit of information that it can about Sony’s new Next Generation portable this morning, it’s easy to forget about the PlayStation Phone – which last night was fully exposed by tech blog Engadget. The device, which leads with the Xperia Play branding …

Sega Europe will up the ante of its licensing program this year, securing new merchandising deals for its hottest properties, such as Sonic The Hedgehog. To drive this renewed effort, the publisher has hired Sissel Henno as head of licensing. She will head up the department, working with current partners …

Sony’s Next Generation Portable will use location-based services to bring players together both geographically and virtually. A system called ‘Near’, which will be pre-loaded onto all NGP handhelds, will allow owners to see what friends are in their area. They will then be able to see what they’ve been playing …

Nintendo has reported a 46 per cent drop in profits since its previous financial quarter. Total profits from October to December 2010 stand at 104.6bn (794m), down from 192.3bn (1.46bn) made during the same period last year. This represents a change of 87.7bn (667m). Profits for the entire nine months …

Rising Star Games is a publisher with a very clear mission. It is, as its slogan proudly declares, the home of Japanese games: a haven for properties that might have otherwise struggled to secure a publisher. The latest immigrant to take up lodgings with Rising Star is Pucca, a Korean …

It’s a premium device, and that fact immediately asks two questions of the NGP – how much will it cost and how long will the battery last? Analysts are already throwing around figures of between $299 and $349. As a direct translation this would mean between 188 and 220 in …