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

Rick Gibson turns his eye to the social network games specialist

Nintendo UK is banking on its biggest ever Christmas campaign to see off the threat from a freshly-discounted Xbox 360 and PS3 this Q4. The platform holder has signed family TV favourites Ant and Dec to head up its Christmas campaign and future marketing endeavours, MCV can reveal. Sources close …

Following yesterday’s Modern Warfare 2 bundle announcement, Microsoft has revealed a second 250GB special edition console – this time for its highly anticipated racer, Forza 3. This Forza Motorsport 3 Super Elite Bundle will be racing to all UK stores on October 23rd, and comes with the aforementioned 250GB hard …

Bite-sized PSP games get feature cuts to allow â??3-5 day QA processâ?

Microsoft has told MCV it believes that an exclusive beta key for Halo Reach will entice 360 owners to purchase Halo: ODST next week. The FPS title is released on September 22nd in Europe, and offers players a chance to experience Halo: Reach – which isn’t released until next year …

Microsoft has confirmed its plans to release downloadable apps and games for its new Zune HD device, but only a few titles have been announced, and they won’t be available until November. The Zune HD went on sale in the US yesterday, alongside new Zune software. The relevant section of …

Microsoft’s flagship series returns next month with Halo 3: ODST. But can it be a global smash like its predecessor? James Batchelor grills Xbox boss Stephen McGill… How important is Halo 3: ODST to Microsoft and to your Q4 plans? Halo 3: ODST is an absolutely key title for us. As …

And new studio has already launched first title via casual games giant Big Fish

A new format is heading to shelves this Christmas that merges the likes of plug-and-play TV games, iPod functionality and motion sensitive gameplay. The iGame Family, a TV games dock from UK IT service providers Elonex, will be available to retailers from September 21st and works as both an iPod …

Koch Media believes its upcoming RPG Risen can become an on-going series. The original IP is due for release under the distributor’s Deep Silver publishing label for PC and 360 on October 2nd. It has been developed by German developer Piranha Bytes, which is best known for its Gothic RPG …