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

Argos has posted a 4.9 per cent like-for-like drop in sales to 1,861m from August 29th, 2010 to January 1, 2011. The catalogue retailer’s parent Home Retail Group again cited video games as the most challenging category, echoing its financial statement made last September. A statement read: In difficult markets, …

Gaming charity SpecialEffect needs your games. The organisation is calling out to publishers and platform holders alike for their support, requesting that it be added to any promotional mail-out lists. This will aid SpecialEffect’s ongoing effects to vet as many games as possible. The charity can then advise people with …

505 will release Grease for PS3 Move and Xbox 360 Kinect later this year – but it will be a very different game to the one that hit Wii and DS last year. The firm admits that the market shifted significantly during the development of the first version – and …

Triple-A RPG sequel Mass Effect 2 is to break with traditional retail models by releasing both at retail and online simultaneously next week. Speaking on the US PlayStation blog, BioWare’s community coordinator Chris Priestly confirmed that the game will be available to download on PSN on the same day boxed …

GAME Group chairman Peter Lewis is remaining positive despite a year and Christmas of decline at the retailer. "Against the backdrop of a difficult year for the PC and video games market in 20101, we saw encouraging signs that customers are still looking for exciting products at reasonable prices," he …

The GAME Group has reported a total sales decline of 12.3 per cent for the 49 weeks ending January 8th in the UK and Ireland. On a like-for-like basis the UK drops hit 9.7 per cent. The Christmas period was more successful for the chain, however, with UK and Ireland …

MCV understands that the next-gen PSP will be on sale by the end of the year. It has been shown to some third parties and is winning fans already. Retail and third party licensees will welcome news of a new PSP for Christmas – especially an impressive console that offers …

Sony isn’t going to take Nintendo’s 3DS challenge lying down. The format-holder is preparing a swift reveal for the true PlayStation Portable successor, due at Christmas. As was reported yesterday, the first announcement is pencilled in for January 27th. Most importantly: the format-holder is pitching the device as a high-end …

A very exciting event is happening in Amsterdam next Wednesday, as Nintendo rolls out its European plans for the stunning 3DS handheld. Our money is on a retail launch before the end of March, and the High Street will devour every last detail on marketing, price and software for the …

More staff employed as Mojang continues expansion