Game industry business news

Independent retailers, the Davids of Britain’s games industry, continue to surprise in their ongoing battle with corporate Goliaths of national chains. James Batchelor and Nindie.com bring a rundown of the best indie stores around the nation… CHIPS CHIPS maintains its position as one of the UK’s largest independent games retailer, …

Industry research firm talk-up the importance of US conference in difficult market climate

It may be suffering a little cramp as it races down the closing straight, but Nintendo’s DS handheld now seems well on track to steal gaming’s most cherished sales record. Sony’s PlayStation 2 currently stands as the world’s most popular console, with total global sales estimated at around 135m units. …

Ubisoft’s long-awaited Splinter Cell: Conviction has emerged as the best selling game in April in the US market, according to numbers from NPD. Its 486.1k sales place it above the likes of Pokemon Soul Silver (242.9k), New Super Mario Bros Wii (200.3k) and Pokemon Heart Gold (192.6k). Sony’s PS3-only God …

At first glance it might seem as if Nintendo’s hardware was the star performer in the somewhat disappointing US April video games market, but a quick look back to this time last year paints a far from happy picture for the Kyoto firm. The headline figures show that Nintendo enjoyed …

Industry stalwarts join disabled gaming advocates Special Effect

SpecialEffect, the charity dedicated to helping young people with disabilities play video games, has recruited journalist Johnny Minkley and PR Kirsty Payne as its new vice presidents. The charity previously developed eye-control gaming technology, online service gamebase.info and supports hospitals, specialist schools and hospices to find the right equipment for …

NPD’s stats for the month of April made for grim reading in the U.S late Thursday. Game sales plunged 22 percent on the same period last year. Hardware sales were down 37 percent. Overall sales were down from over $1 billion a year ago, to $766 million. So far this …

A pre-E3 ‘Level Up’ event in Barcelona showcased some major new releases from Namco Bandai for Q3 this year. The third in the publisher’s popular Family Trainer series will launch for Nintendo’s Wii this autumn. Entitled Family Trainer: Treasure Island, the game features 70 missions, a party mode for up to …

A leading South African distributor has told MCV that many of the country’s major retailers refuse to stock Xbox 360 consoles due to reliability concerns and the infamous Red Ring of Death (RROD). The Xbox360 has had a rather rough time in South Africa,” Apex Interactive director Quinton Davie stated. …