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

Perhaps the biggest coup (or coop?) of today’s introduction for Google+ is the fact the service boasts Angry Birds before Facebook. Earlier this year, Rovio Mobile said its iconic bird physics game would launch on Facebook with new social functions.But it quietly delayed the proposed launch from May without much …

After showing some impressive resilience over the last few months, the US games market has been brought crashing back to earth. NPD reports that for the month of July the games market was down 26 per cent year-on-year with a value if just $797.7m. That’s the worst single month since …

Today’s the day when Nintendo hopes that thousands of consumers who have until now been sitting on the fence over 3DS will finally buy the handheld. That’s because as of today the device has had a significant cut in trade price. But as is always the way with a big …

Dare to be Digital 2011 team Yummy Tummy talks exclusively to Develop about working on their entry title Lucky Ghost.

Develop's monthly dissection of a recent hit game

Mindscape Asia-Pacific (MAP) has issued a statement saying that it is unaffected by its former parent’s decision to pull out of videogames. The statement confirms that it’s still ‘business as usual’ for MAP at the Australian and New Zealand office in Sydney. Tonia Velasco, general manager of sales and marketing …

EB Games Australia has revealed a first list of confirmed EB EXPO titles, although further announcements are expected as the date draws nearer. The list doesn’t confirm which titles will be on display and which will be playable by the public, but is a good indication of building support for …

With the huge Nintendo 3DS price drop now in effect, MCV takes stock of what prices each Australian / New Zealand retailer are hitting. Australia EB Games: $248 GAME: $249 (or $254 with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time 3D) JB HiFi: $239 (or $249 with The Sims 3 …

Google has put paid to weeks of speculation by adding a games element to its Google+ social network. And it’s done it with some heavyweight developer partners in Zynga, Rovio, PopCap, EA, Wooga, Playdom, Digital Chocolate, Funzio, Kabam, and GameHouse. That means well known online games such as Dragon Age …

Rovio opts for burgeoning social network rather than dominant platform