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

Games businesses seized by shock quake; buildings evacuated as trading falls

Across digital and retail, a raft of quality, fresh games have emerged since Christmas, including my current favourites Ilomilo and Bulletstorm. THQ has also been pumping new ideas into the market. And I don’t mean its odd new optical-illusion-esque logo. It has championed the new in clever products, small bets …

Sony’s plans to shake up the smartphone market are taking shape ahead of the UK launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. The device will launch on Thursday, March 31st, with six games pre-installed. Sony Ericsson says it is being backed by its biggest UK marketing campaign ever, and is being …

The current iPhone and Android app models are not good enough for gaming, says SCEE chief Andrew House. His comments come ahead of the launch of PlayStation Suite, a cross-platform system for PlayStation games that run on both mobiles and NGP. House says Suite can become a ‘destination for games’ …

Microsoft has taken steps to identify users who used an exploit to duplicate Xbox Live points codes and illegally download content with them. Yesterday it was reported that some Xbox 360 owners had used the technique to stockpile points for free instead of paying for them legitimately. Microsoft has said …

Following its chart-topping performance in February, US sales tracker NPD has confirmed that Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops has become the best-selling game ever in the region. In does so after just four months on the market, overtaking Nintendo’s former record holder Wii Play. Capcom’s Marvel vs Capcom 3 …

The US video games market managed to reverse a run of losses in February by posting year-on-year growth of three per cent. In total the sector was worth $1.36bn in the period thanks mainly to a ten per cent jump in hardware sales that NPD says was driven by strong …

The remarkable strength of Xbox 360 in the US video games market shows no sings abating with news of a record performance for the console in February. Microsoft says that NPD numbers show hardware unit sales of 535,000 for the month, making it the best selling console for the second …

Both Sony and Nintendo have hit back with new platforms to take on iOS, but what does 3DS and NGP mean for game developers?

The patent disagreement between LG and Sony has been lifted – freeing 300,000 stranded PS3s in Holland. Last month LG was granted a preliminary injunction against Sony for an infringement on Blu-ray technology, but now InsideGamer is reporting this has been lifted. The injunction resulted in 300,000 PS3s being held …