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

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 …

An image of an early prototype of the controller for the PlayStation 4 has leaked online, sporting the rumoured touchpad/touchscreen. The image has surfaced courtesy Destructoid, which has also been told by its sources that the controller in the image is real, but it’s an early prototype. With Sony’s track …

Sources claim photo showing touchscreen control is genuine

Results from an Ohio University study reveal females are much more likely to deal with negative, aggressive chatter than their male counterparts. Research published on Gamasutra shows players identified as women during Halo 3 multiplayer matches received three unfriendly reactions for every standard interaction, compared to male or unidentified players. …

Valve has announced the release of its Steam for Linux client, celebrating the launch with over 50 Linux titles on discount. While the initial catalog is primarily made up of indie games, Valve believes AAA developers will have the platform in mind in addition to PC when planning a Steam …

An image reportedly showing a prototype controller for Sony’s next-gen console has leaked onto the net. Originally posted on Destructoid, the shot shows a controller designed similarly to Sony’s DualShock line – with influences clearly taken from the Vita handheld as well. The controller includes some major alterations, carrying what …