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

GAME Group has reported that its pre-owned sales have jumped to 177 million for the six months ending July 31st. It is a 12.3 per cent increase over 2008’s figure of 157.8 million, and means that pre-owned sales accounted for 25.7 per cent of the company’s first half sales. Last …

The much-debated SingStar SKU of Beatles: Rock Band has been officially touted by EA and is already available at UK retail with an RRP of 49.99. Dubbed The Beatles: Rock Band – Two Microphone Pack, the disc comes with the same 45 tracks featured in release already on the market, …

THQ shares rocket as acquisition rumours intensify

GAME Group’s profits have fallen from 35.5 million to 14.5 million for the six months ending July 31st, a drop of 60 per cent. The fall is in line with company expectations, while sales have dipped seven per cent to 690.8 million and like-for-like sales were down 16.3 per cent. …

National report reveals healthy turnover and workforce gains for 2008

In a surprise move, Microsoft has effectively cut another $50 off the price of its high-end Xbox 360 Elite – though the deal is only set to run for two weeks. Any consumers who buy Microsoft’s 120GB machine by October 5th will be able to send off for a $50 …

NCsoft expects new title Aion can join Warcraft in dominating the MMO genre after its release this week. Speaking to MCV, European publishing MD Vronique Lallier revealed the game has already attractred over 300,000 pre-orders in the West. Aion is going to be a real success – it adds new content …

Mindscape is banking on major pop star power for its new Wii singing game U-Sing. While Rock Band might not have been able to ride Beatlemania to the top of the charts, Universal Music-backed U-Sing features the likes of The Saturdays, Just Jack, Mika and Duffy in its bid to …

Some of the industry’s most recognised PR execs have moved into new roles this week. At Microsoft, UK PR manager for Xbox & Games for Windows Andy Irving has taken a job in the firm’s marketing team. MCV understands that this will involve looking after a number of first party …

Developer performs technical feat using XNA Game Studio 3.1