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

With whispers of imminent console price cuts rife, a US analyst has predicted these will be insufficient to drive hardware sales. Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowan and Company, attributed this to economic pressures, believing consumers will still be reluctant to purchase a new console if the format holders lower …

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter told VG247 that Japanese retailers are unable to order in new PS3 hardware after August 8th. This follows news that UK stores are unable to re-stock on PlayStation3 consoles, suggesting a price cut and new model is imminent. We heard Japanese retail a few weeks …

The Xbox 360 has now sold over nine million consoles across Europe, Microsoft has revealed to MCV. In an exclusive interview, EMEA VP Chris Lewis claimed that 360 was the only format to see positive sales growth during 2009 – as both Sony’s PS3 and Nintendo’s market-leader Wii saw hardware …

Asda’s market share has risen over the last three months, thanks to price cuts attracting more customers. Data from TNS Till Roll shows that the supermarket’s market share rose from 16.7 per cent to 17 per cent in the 12 weeks ending July 12th, according to The Retail Bulletin. Like-for-like …

Gabe Newell insists the developer is not trying to break the ice with Sonyâ??s powerhouse

Artificial Technologyâ??s latest EKI tech adds online game functionality

Despite the 26 per cent year-on-year drop suffered by video games software sales at North American retail in July, Nintendo’s dominance continues with the platform holder (and Nintendo exclusive titles) accounting for seven of the month’s top ten best sellers, according to NPD. Newly released Wii Sports Resort was the …

New version adds 3D geometry projection to ground shapes; Monolith new licensee

Uncooked Media’s single games magazine, 360 Gamer, has seen its year-on-year readership rise 3.2 per cent to 16,527 for the six months ending June 30th 2009. However, the magazine’s performance dropped compared to the six-month period ending December 2008, falling 8.6 per cent. However, magazine sales are typically higher in …

The North American video games hardware market continued its value freefall in July, but Microsoft’s Xbox 360 managed to mirror its ongoing success in the UK to post year-on-year sales increases. The overall hardware market declined by 37 per cent year-on-year according to NPD’s latest numbers, but Xbox 360 saw …