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

After what’s been a long wait Sony’s PlayStation Network video delivery service is now live in the UK, Germany Spain and France. In excess of 800 movies are now available with rental prices starting at 2.49. Prices start at 6.99 for those looking to purchase content outright. Films on the …

Animation tech group opens new offices in Seoul

PSP owners can now download the Digital Comics reader, thanks to the latest firmware update. Today’s version 6.2 update enables players to download the comics application, announced at this year’s Gamescom, ahead of the Digital Comics store’s December launch, according to the European PlayStation Blog. The reader is currently available …

Toys R Us in North America had added video game consoles to its pre-owned offer. Consumers can now trade-in hardware at the service desk, and will receive a Toys R Us gift card that can be used at Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, as well as on …

The world exclusive premiere of Halo: Reach will take place during this year’s Video Game Awards. The announcement was made on Spike TV journalist Geoff Keighley’s Twitter feed, which also hints that further exclusive premieres will be revealed in the near future. The world premiere of Halo: Reach happens only …

In news that may well mark the moment that PS3 finally turned the corner, Sony has announced that North American sales of the console for October are up 70 per cent compared to the same month in 2008. Also significantly up year-on-year are downloads from PSN, with October seeing more …

A lengthy feature in The Los Angeles Times yesterday covered Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s astounding commercial success, once again framing the game’s $550 million five-day revenues against Hollywood blockbusters. But there was also talk from internal sources of intensified activity on the franchise. Reporter Ben Fritz wrote, "One …

Today’s Gamers MMO Focus Report says gamers in the U.S. and Europe spend over five hours a week playing MMOs – or 15% of total play time. The report includes hardcore fantasy epics such as World of Warcraft as well as children’s favourites like Club Penguin. 40% of MMO players …

A retail campaign entitled ‘We know fit….we know fun’ will be launched today in selected outlets, with a full roll-out planned for the spring. Staff have been trained in the art of Wii Fit games. But getting Nintendo on board has been a long slog for the Colorado-based company, which …

Third team set to work on new game in franchise while word leaks of MMO version