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

Sony has confirmed that it is developing an additional battery pack for PlayStation Vita. The device will add to the standard battery life, revealed earlier this week to be somewhere between three and five hours – something that has sparked concern amongst avid consumers. "If you’re flying from New York …

Valve has made its critically acclaimed first-person puzzler Portal available for free. The original game, which first debuted in 2007 Half-Life compilation The Orange Box, can be downloaded at no cost on both PC and Mac. However, Rock Paper Shotgun reports this offer is only available until September 20th. This …

Eagle-eyed gamers have spotted the arrival of advertisements for genuine, real in today’s world products in Square Enix’s seminal action title Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Joystiq reports that the game’s loading screen will now from time-to-time carry a tiny banner advertising the release of the Star Wars Trilogy on Blu-ray. …

Crunch doesn't have to be a reality of any development for any employee, says Will Luton

Webcredible user experience consultant Alistair Gray explains why the usability of motion controls will define your game's success

Games can help educate the next generation 'in amazing and unexpected ways', studio claims

The wake of this year’s PSN meltdown still continues to ripple. Sony has updated the terms of service document that users must agree to when registering with PSN. It has added a clause – called ‘Binding Individual Arbitration’ – which looks to prevent future incidents of the legal action the …

The most talked about third-party Kinect accessory is zooming into the UK. The Nyko Zoom lens – which lets users play Xbox 360 Kinect with 40 per cent less playing space – will arrive in October for 29.99. Interactive Ideas is one distributor which is supplying the product in the …

EA boasts that The Sims Social has redefined the Facebook games market. The franchise has gone from being one of the top-selling boxed games to also become one of the biggest social online titles in less than a month. Over 40m monthly active users have flocked to the new Facebook …

Over THE past few weeks we’ve reported on managerial role changes at Microsoft, Activision, HMV, Disney and Comet. But the biggest move we broke on MCVuk.com last week: the appointment of top Asda man Fergal Gara as new chief of SCE UK.He’s signed up for a closely-watched gig. Only weeks …