Game industry business news

MCV has been lucky enough to be given a ‘guided tour’ of Nintendo’s new DSi – and we’ve kindly printed it on MCVuk.com for your reading pleasure. Retail can look forward to showing customers a model with better sound, improved internet functions and motion-sensing abilities – as well as that …

Just days after it emerged that the North American arm of Toys R Us is dipping its toes in the pre-owned waters , Amazon.com has announced a new scheme that allows gamers to trade in their old titles. The system works by proving a quote for any given title via …

A new study entitled Play Safe, Play Smart from Microsoft has claimed that 94 per cent of UK parents feel personally responsible” for checking the age ratings on the games played by their kids. In addition, the report says that 73 per cent of UK parents are aware of parental …

Gamespot reckons it is the UK’s biggest games site – and has ABCe figures to back up the claim. An ABC Electronic audit from December 2008 has shown a significant increase in monthly unique users, the site’s parent CBS Interactive has revealed to MCV. GameSpot’s readership has risen from 3.5 …

MP Keith Vaz, an outspoken critic of mature video games, has once again raised the issue in parliament, pressing deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman in yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. In a survey published last week, 74 per cent of parents said that they were very concerned about the increasing level …

Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has cut the price of Gold membership to its Xbox Live service in both Europe and North America in what it is describing as a limited time” deal The North American price has dropped from $49.99 to $39.99 whilst the UK price has fallen 5 …

Nintendo has told MCV that it will "let the market decide" whether or not to phase out the DS Lite following DSi’s launch. In an exclusive guide to the new system, we asked Nintendo’s UK general manager David Yarnton if the company was looking to end DS Lite’s presence in …

BETTER SOUNDThe device has enhanced sound and volume quality for those using either headphones or playing with audio for all to hear. Users can also use the DSi as a music playback device – although it supports AAC files rather than MP3s. The DSi Sound software (for more details see …

INCLUDING THE Game Boy and its various iterations, from the 1989 Game Boy through the GBA right up to the DS Lite, the Nintendo DSi is the tenth upgrade for the format-holder’s line of domineering games handhelds. But that doesn’t mean this latest version, which hits the UK in April, …

While the firm is enjoying its first UK number one for two years, MCV can reveal that Sony’s PSP and PS3 formats have passed key sales milestones in the territory as well. The PlayStation 3 has now sold over two million units in the country with PSP now at three …