Game industry business news

The head of digital at Nickelodeon, Steve Youngwood, has told CasualGaming.biz that, to his firm: What video is to TV, games is to online.” Youngwood was speaking as part of a wider interview on Nickelodeon’s ambitions in the casual games space, to which it has pledged $100m. The goal is …

The president of Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, Hirokazu Hamamura, believes that PS3’s slow penetration” in Japan is improving – but that it could still use a price cut before year end. Speaking exclusively to Famitsu media partner MCV, Hamamura said: The PS3’s penetration pace has been slower than I expected. Its …

The last time we spoke the Japanese market was in decline – has there been a recovery? Nintendo’s DS and Wii attracted a huge amount of new users into gaming. As a result, Japan’s gaming market has actually greatly expanded. How is the Japanese market performing in general, and what …

Play.com is selling the Xbox 360 Premium console for just 169.99 in the UK – 30 less than the console’s SRP. However, Microsoft has distanced itself from the price drop, telling VG247 that it wasn’t a first-party directive. That must be their own deal,” said a Microsoft rep. It’s nothing …

EA CEO John Riccitiello has said that, as far as game content goes, his investors don’t give a shit about quality”. Riccitiello was speaking in an E3 interview with Venture Beat, in which he also asserted that Metcritic scores were a good way to judge the quality of EA’s games …

Eidos parent SCi expects to post a 100 million loss for the 2007/2008 financial year – which it calls a period of ‘restructuring and transition’. The news came in the firm’s trading update this morning, in which it also revealed that it is to sell off its Spanish distribution business, …

Nintendo boss Saturo Iwata has admitted that there are flaws with Wii’s online Friend system – but reassured consumers the company is working hard to improve the service. Speaking to GameDaily, Iwata admitted that Wii’s system of Friend Codes was not perfect” – but that it gave parents of new …

In a trading update released ahead of its fiscal 2008 financial results release on September 15th, SCi chief executive Phil Rogers has stated that the UK publisher is in good shape following a number of recent structural changes. Revenues are expected to hit 134 million, with losses of no more …

Though it’s not been out of the top three since its release seven weeks ago, LucasArts’ LEGO Indiana Jones: Original Adventures has returned to the top of the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 this week for the first time in four weeks. It replaces Nintendo’s ever-popular Wii Fit, which slips …

Sony boss Kaz Hirai has moved to reassure European consumers who recently purchased a 40GB PS3 – telling them they still have a very powerful”, high capacity machine. Talking in the wake of SCEE’s announcement that it would be phasing the 40GB model out in Europe to make room for …