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

High Street insiders say the new Wii trade price could spark a wave of sub-100 offers. Retailers may launch the new SKUs at that price on May 20th or wait until the bank holiday at the end of May. Sainsbury’s for one experimented with super-low Wii hardware prices in Q4 …

Following last week’s global Wii price cut, some retailers are now hopeful that Microsoft and Sony will consider cutting the price of their consoles, too. On May 20th the new Mario Kart Wii pack will arrive in with an estimated retail price of 129 – a big drop on the …

IGN has confirmed its acquisition of Hearst’s UGO Entertainment. And the move has big consequences for the IGN UK team, which can now claim to reach 5m in the UK. UGO’s properties include a range of men’s lifestyle and gaming sites, such as 1up. A statement from IGN says: "According …

BioWare, Crytek and Splash Damage add to a growing lectures list

The next major Assassin’s Creed release is due this November on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Assassin’s Creed Revelations will be the final chapter in the ‘Ezio Trilogy,’ the series of games that began with 2009’s Assassin’s Creed 2 and continued with last year’s Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. The Assassin’s Creed …

Iain McCaig keynote to discuss the tricks and demands of world class art design

Activist group Anonymous has once again denied any involvement in the much publicised PSN hack, despite accusations from Sony to the contrary. As part of its explanation of the event surrounding PSN, Sony says that the intruders left a file on its SOE servers entitled ‘Anonymous’ containing the words ‘We …

Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford – the man in charge of the upcoming, long-delayed Duke Nukem Forever – will be taking questions at a special event next week. The Q/A session will be hosted by GameSpot’s Johnny Chiodini on Wednesday, May 11th at the BAFTA HQ. The session will focus …

The accessories market is arguably more crowded and competitive than any other sector in the games industry, making it much harder for newcomers to stand out. But Gioteck is proof that this can still be achieved. The firm doubled its market share in January, accounting for almost 20 per cent …

If you want further proof of how mainstream video games have become, you need look no further than the advertising that appears outside of people’s homes. No London commuter can escape the bus side ads, phone box posters and massive Underground banners, all selling the latest major games releases – …