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

In the first of our regular roundups, we look at the week’s big news in Australia and New Zealand courtesy of sister-site MCV Pacific. Somewhat inspiring speech from a conference we were the media sponsor for:http://www.mcvpacific.com/news/read/speech-paul-callaghan-asks-us-to-turn-off-our-screens-at-gcap-2011/087662 Part 2 of an interview with the Head of Retail Sales and Marketing for …

This has been a tough year for traditional games handhelds. 3DS has taken its time to find its feet, with Super Mario 3D Land last week the first game to make it a must-have. Six months after release. The new kiddie-priced PSP effectively snuck out to market as that platform …

Retail giant Sainsbury’s has been the first supermarket to go aggressive on pricing this year. But it’s not new software the grocer is discounting – the firm has instead slashed up to 25 per cent off new games hardware That means the 160GB PS3 is down to 157.99, 3DS is …

Amazon has postponed the launch of its PC download platform to 2012. MCV believes the service, live in the US since early 2009, was up-and-running in October.But publishing sources say it will now go live in the UK early next year and miss the originally planned autumn roll-out. US sister …

Activision Blizzard parent Vivendi has squashed industry chatter that it is opening a new games business. Recent rumours swirled that the entertainment firm, which last week bought record label EMI, wants to establish a digital games company separate from the Call of Duty and Warcraft publisher it has a 60 …

Xbox UK’s new retail sales and marketing boss says the 360 has a lot more mileage left in it. In fact Jonathan Grimes tells MCV in an interview this week he won’t be happy until every household has an Xbox. There’s definitely a lot more to achieve,” he offered as …

GAME Group has hit back at its detractors after issuing a profit warning last week. The retail specialist revealed that its like-for-like revenues will be lower than forecast, but said the dip is caused by a flagging games market and low consumer confidence.That didn’t stop national papers suggesting the Group …

The UK website of US giant GameStop.co.uk is kicking off a day of ‘Black Friday’ deals tomorrow, beginning with Uncharted 3 for just 22.97. MCV can reveal that the PS3 game will be lowered to that price at 8am tomorrow (Friday, November 25th) and will be available at that price …

MCV quizzes UKIE board member and Sega UK MD John Clark on the importance of including digital sales into the weekly charts… You spoke at the London Games Conference this month about the evolution of packaged and digital content. Before LGC we surveyed 1,000 industry experts and three quarters said …

Mamma Mia! Here wego again. Ubisoft has revealed the marketing plan for yet another dancing game – one it says is the ‘perfect’ family title this Christmas. ABBA You Can Dance will be promoted by TV ads this month and next, with a video-on-demand campaign running on ITV Player. The …