Publishing

Ubisoft: Impact of piracy measures will be "limited"

The contentious copy-protection method that will require all Ubisoft PC titles to be constantly connected to the web is crucial for fighting piracy, the publisher says. The new ‘online platform’, as the publisher describes it, will be introduced with the release of Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 on …

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Goodbye to WHSmith

Too right – the chain has sold games for as long as I remember, from before a heyday of Spectrum and C64 titles and onwards. It helped solidify games’ legitimacy on the High Street, and its buying decisions kept some of developers in the Britsoft Hall of Fame in business. …

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Cut-price Natal predicted

Echoing previous predictions by MCV, US games analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that Microsoft’s Natal will retail for between $50-$80 when it goes on sale worldwide this Christmas. MCV revealed last November that Microsoft is intending to sell Natal for under 50 in the UK, with some sources predicted that …

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Xbox Factor blamed for action film decline

The rising popularity of chick-flicks at the cinema has been blamed on what movie execs have dubbed the ‘Xbox Factor’. An increasing number of men and boys are shunning a night out at the movies for in favour of a night at home in front of the console, The Telegraph …

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EA offers guide to better times

Electronic Arts’ troubles – fiscal losses, massive job cuts, a thinning roster, waning market confidence – serve as an illustration of the whole industry’s troubles. The firm’s second-in-command, COO John Schappert used his DICE presentation in Las Vegas to show the industry a way out. He said EA and the …

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Activision linked to GoGos Crazy Bones IP

Reports are claiming that Activision has signed a deal that will see popular kids brand GoGo’s Crazy Bones coming to consoles in an effort to create a Pokemon-rivalling games franchise. That’s according to CVG, which claims that the publisher has already signed a contract with IP holder Magic Box International …

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"Sometimes I sounded like a dick"

In a high-profile confessional at the DICE summit earlier this week, Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick took the chance to clarify his infamous boast that he wanted to take the fun out of game development”. He explained that he’d been trying to convince institutional investors – generally burdened by the …

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Kotick wanted Commodore console

Speaking of his regrets in a fascinating speech at last week’s DICE summit, Activision boss Bobby Kotick has admitted that he rues missing out on the chance to buy Amiga during the late 1980s. A keyboard-less Amiga, he believed, could have triumphed in the console war of the time. It …

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