Publishing

The Walt Disney Company has acquired kids online virtual world Club Penguin. Club Penguin launched in October 2005, and now has over 700,000 paying subscribers and 12 million activated users – mainly in the US and Canada. The site is based on animated penguin avatars on a snow covered virtual …

The shortlist for Future Publishing’s Golden Joystick awards has been revealed, along with the announcement of a new host – David Mitchell, best known for his role as Mark in Channel 4 comedy Peep Show. The event will be held at London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel on Friday October 26th, …

Unreal Tournament, Assassin’s Creed and BioShock are also set to feature at The Edinburgh Interactive Games Screenings on Tuesday August 14th at the Odeon Cinema on Lothian Road. Alongside the games line-up, students will be able to sample the action and get advice on how to get into the games …

Sony Computer Entertainment’s head of marketing for New Zealand has confirmed that the company is looking to launch a digital tuner for the PS3 next year – effectively transforming it into a fully-functioning TV recorder. Warwick Light told NZ’s The Press newspaper: "We’re hoping next year – about the same …

Nominations for the first ever Games Media Awrds close today, so now’s the time to make sure your favourite representative of our beloved fourth estate is in the running – or, to hell with it, why not put your own name forward? The GMAs take place at London’s Soho Revue …

Psychonauts creator deliver IGDA event talk

HMV has sold its Japanese business arm – made up of 62 stores and its website hmv.co.jp – for 70 million. The retailer says that the deal with DSM Investment Catorce will allow it to concentrate on countries in which it was a market leader. Chief executive Simon Fox added …

Nintendo must be toasting yet another storming week in this week’s UK all formats, all prices chart as the platform holder once again dominates the top ten, publishing six out of the top ten best selling titles this week. Only Activision and EA manage to break the monopoly, while the …

Rare’s Viva Pinata is to be released for the Nintendo DS, according to reports emerging from this past weekend’s Comic-Con. Microsoft-owned Rare will be using the original concept for the game – not the upcoming party version made by Australia’s Kaos – for the Nintendo machine. It’s not the first …

LucasArts has revealed details of a new Lego game based on the Indiana Jones franchise. Joining the ranks of Lego Star Wars I and II and the recently announced Lego Batman, the title will be developed by Travellers Tales. Next-gen.biz reports that the game will be based on the lasso-sporting …