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

Media ratings company Nielsen has revealed results of a survey to discover what upcoming titles are on gamers’ most wanted list this year. All three console lists were covered head to toe in franchise sequels, prequels, reboots, spinoffs, etc.—with The Last Story on Wii being the lone exception. Halo 4 …

The PS Vita version of Beatshapers’ arcade action title StarDrone Extreme will arrive this Tuesday in North America. The game (originally slated to be a Vita launch title) landed for Vita owners in Europe earlier this month. The title is to feature crossplay with the PS3 version, so players can …

Sports highlights have arrived on the 3DS via the Nintendo Zone. Owners who connect to a Nintendo Zone location will be able to access football, basketball, and baseball videos through Fox Soccer, NBA Digital, and MLB.com. Offerings will be updated weekly with new video packages, top 10 plays, and weekly …

OpCapita’s new-look, slimmed-down GAME is back in bed with EA. Like most other publishers, EA had cut ties with GAME prior to administration after failing to agree to a reduced payment proposal put forward by the then troubled retailer. SSX was the last EA title to hit GAME shelves, meaning …

New NPD data has spilt out since their initial March 2012 report came in just yesterday. Several new bits and figures have been passed on to Joystiq by an NPD source—specifically numbers on units sold for a handful of titles released during the sales period. Total Mass Effect 3 sales …

SDK update features enhanced tessellation, AI improvements, and improved skin rendering

Reported sighting gives rise to major speculation

Publisher Tecmo Koei has flown in an exec from its Japan HQ to run the UK office. Yasutomo Watanabe is Tecmo Koei Europe’s general manager. He takes over from Will Curley, who left the company last year to join Reef Entertainment. Watanabe has been with the firm for over ten …

Another investment vehicle backed by OpCapita has acquired GAME’s Iberian stores in Spain and Portugal, MCV can reveal. The buyer is Cherrilux Investments, which like GAME’s UK buyer Baker Acquisitions is a company established by OpCapita for the purpose of the deal. Furthermore, Cherrilux is described as a sister company” …

Square Enix has announced a European release date of August 17th for gritty crime shooter Sleeping Dogs. Pre-order goodies for the game have also been announced. Those who commit to buying it will get two packs – the George St. Pierre Pack and the Police Protection Pack. These offers special …