Publishing

President Capps says studioâ??s future â??must be a mix of our start-up past and blockbuster presentâ?

You only have to look at the headlines streaming through MCV in recent months to know why this is being described as the games industry’s age of consolidation. If it’s not 92 per cent of Activision’s shareholders voting for a merger with Vivendi, it’s the gripping – and titillating – …

Rumour has it that Nintendo approached Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the SNES-CD. However, on closer inspection former Nintendo Chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi decided the contract was unacceptable and secretly cancelled all plans. Sony decided to use what they had developed so far and make a standalone console …

The 74 million acquisition of the second biggest specialist retailer in the UK by the biggest was a mighty shock for the entire British industry – not least the MCV team, who had to deal with the breaking news on our magazine’s deadline day. The total investment included 300,000 set …

The closest the video games industry has ever come to a real David-and-Goliath humdinger, Jane Cavanagh’s Britsoft baby SCi amazingly beat out the might of U2 loudmouth Bono’s cash when it bought fellow UK firm Eidos. Elevation Partners, run on Bono’s money and headed up by success-hungry John Riccitiello, had …

The US markets woke up with a bump on Monday, December 20th, when EA announced it has snaffled a 20 per cent stake in Gallic rival Ubisoft on the French exchange. The only block of voting shares still greater than EA’s was that held by the Guillemot family, who at …

Infogrames must still be kicking itself for this one. The French publisher let DMA go due to a complication with former GTA publisher BMG – and Take Two’s recently-formed Rockstar label was ready to pounce. The firm got in just in time to release Grand Theft Auto II, a well-received …

GAMEFEST 08: Epic's engine scrutinised by Gearbox, Chair Entertainment and Midway

But Traveller's Tales, Codemasters and Sora put up a fight

Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai has called into question Don Mattrick’s claim that Xbox 360 will sell more than PS3 in this generation – predicting that Microsoft’s console will struggle to match the longevity of Sony’s flagship machine. When asked what he made of Xbox boss Mattrick’s claim, Hirai …