MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry

Touchscreen need not play second fiddle to physical controls in the first person shooter sector, DeNA’s Ben Cousins argues. And the former exec intends to prove it with upcoming release The Drowning. The game will shun virtual joystick controls in favour of a gesture-based affair. Shooting is handled by the …

Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider to discuss sexism and sexuality in games

Sega returns to the hardware market”. We very nearly went with that headline on this one. Because it’s kind of true. No, the company isn’t launching a new console. Nor it is reissuing the Dreamcast or Saturn. What it is doing, however, is releasing four PC laptops with retro console …

Consultation for draft guidelines ends on March 1st

In times of uncertainty on the High Street, it’s reassuring to feel some of that old-fashioned friction that only the games market can provide. Yep, the Format Wars are back. With Sony offering a ‘glimpse at the future of PlayStation’ (aka the PS4 announcement) next week, the reinvigorated UK Xbox …

The UK games trade is concerned over the latest round of redundanciesat beleaguered retail giant HMV. The firm has cut down the group of ten games buyers and merchandisers down to just two. Amongst the redundancies were head of technology and games Ewan Pinder and games category manager Andy Pinder. …

UK games retailers want Nintendo to revitalise Wii U sales with a fresh marketing push and a price drop. Console sales have slowed since its December launch. Last week, it lost exclusive rights to Rayman Legends and Ninja Gaiden 3, and Activision boss Bobby Kotick said the publisher is disappointed” …

Long-dead developer Studio Gigante was at one stage working on a Street Fighter II style Star Wars game – and you can see the video here. The video was posted online by Gigante co-founder Josh Tsui, who is currently president of developer Robomodo. What you’re seeing is described as an …

Average prices in Australia have been falling significantly in 2012, now representing an all-time highest drop for the industry. NPD Group first started tracking market data in 2000, and this year’s average price is the lowest on its records. The average price in 2012 for the total market (not just …

The Xbox 360 has started 2013 in much the same way as it ended 2012 in the US. And sadly, so did the Wii U. NPD’s numbers for January 13 actually show a rare thing for the US games market – year-on-year gains. Nine per cent, in fact. However, as …