Game industry business news

Plans to complete with Wii using Rare-developed games and by introducing new casual titles

IT’S BEEN an eventful few months for Microsoft, to say the least. After cutting the price of the Premium 360 to 250, the platform holder launched its killer app, Halo 3, and a few short weeks later introduced 360 Arcade – a new SKU indicative of Microsoft’s desire to widen …

Time is running out to secure your spot for one of the year’s most important events for games marketeers. Organised by Tandem Events, the Games Marketing Forum in London promises to offer both the opportunity to learn from established marketing experts and to network with the cream of the UK …

Retail is preparing for two of the busiest Fridays of the year – as over 15 serious Christmas contenders fight for space on their shelves. Both today and next Friday see the release of a host of Triple-A titles gunning for the festive number one spot, with publishers keen to …

Next Friday sees the release of Need For Speed ProStreet – the latest in the world-beating racing series – and publisher EA is confident the title will be first to cross the finishing line in the race for Christmas number one. A Need for Speed game has been Christmas number …

Euro Xbox boss Chris Lewis has revealed that Microsoft has looked ‘very closely’ at Wii-style controller-based gaming – and that a karaoke title could be introduced ‘at the right time’. As Microsoft gears up for Xbox 360’s second Christmas, it is increasingly looking to widen the console’s appeal out to …

Media behemoth Warner will snap up more top studios as it homes in on its target of becoming a billion dollar publisher within five years. After the appointment of Chris Meredith as the European boss of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (as revealed by MCV in September), the new publishing powerhouse …

After yesterday’s claims from Sony CEO Howard Stringer that the recent PS3 price drop has seen sales of the machine rocket in North America, the latest sales data from Media Create show that Sony’s machine outsold even the mighty Wii in Japan for the week ending Novemeber 11th. It’s sales …

Nintendo’s motion sensing technology has brought flapping your arms around in the name of fun out of the shadows and into the mainstream. But it’s not just the Japanese giant targeting this style of gaming. For years, In2Games has dabbled in this field with its GameTrak technology. Now the UK …

The firm has bought out Paris-based Banque Magnetique – which enjoys sales of €245m (170m) – for an undisclosed sum. Banque Magnetique customers include top French IT and electrical retailers, dot-com companies and supermarkets. The company boasts a product range consisting of many brands Gem already handles, including Logitech, Creative, …