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

E3 2011: Microsoft reveals its five promotional XBLA titles for this summer

The latest instalment in Ubisoft’s Your Shape franchise will be released for Kinect in November. Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 follows on from the best-selling Kinect launch title from last year, which Ubisoft proudly claims is the No.1 fitness game available for Microsoft’s motion controller. For the 2012 edition, the …

When Nintendo lifts the lid on the still mysterious Project Cafe at its E3 press conference in two hours it will mark the end of the longest wait for new hardware the industry has seen in nearly two decades. Yet despite the barren period, the market has remained resilient. Here …

When Nintendo revealed that it is to unveil the Wii’s successor at E3, it was the first indication that the longest ever wait for a new static console in the history of the modern games market is coming to an end. Between the introduction of the Sega Mega Drive in …

Ubisoft’s popular Rabbids franchise will make its Kinect debut this Christmas with Raving Rabbids Alive and Kicking. The new mini-game collection features augmented reality challenges that show the Rabbids invading players’ living rooms. Players will have to swim, jump, dance, roll and more to fend them off. Kinect users will …

Back to the Future studio to expand company after private investor funding round

THIS FEATURE WAS WRITTEN BEFORE TODAY’S NEWS THAT HMV HAS SIGNED A REFINANCING DEAL WITH RBS AND LLOYDS TSB. I remember the last time we spoke to HMV chief Simon Fox. He was in buoyant mood. The firm’s transformation plan – a bold ambition to move from being an entertainment …

HMV’s short-term future has been secured thanks to a 220m refinancing package with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB that will see the state-owned banks take a five per cent stake in the chain. The deal comes at a potentially high price, however, with punitive interest rates (up to …

UK developer Relentless has announced a new partnership with Microsoft that will see the studio work on a new title called Music in Motion for the new Kinect Fun Labs suite. The company recently penned a deal with EA-owned digital games publisher Chillingo. There has also been a re-job at …

As they open proceedings these days with their increasingly lengthy, increasingly hyped and increasingly pivotal press conferences, that’s not unfair. But the more defining stories these days aren’t what the specialist press is obsessed with, but what’s going on amongst the third-party publishers. The increasingly platform agnostic publishers, that is. …