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

Publisher Ubisoft has revealed details of its massive marketing campaign for Wii game Academy of Champions – and claimed its unique appeal to younger gamers can help it become a ‘serious player’ in the soccer genre. The title is aimed at six to nine year-old kids, with promotional activity planned …

THQ has signed up ex-Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq to head up its ‘Your Hero’ marketing campaign for upcoming title Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter. The game is the sequel to the 2007 hit Drawn To Life, which allowed DS owners to create their own protagonist. The new iteration …

Bethesda and Konami have become the latest publishers to back the Games Media Awards. The GMAs will take place at Jongleurs in Camden on the evening of Thursday, October 15th. They will reward the very best from the specialist and mainstream games media in print and online. Bethesda has signed …

Shadow Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has recommended that industry trade bodies TIGA and ELSPA merge – to form ‘The Video Games Association’. Both organisations have met together with Government in recent months as part of video games roundtables, discussing issues that affect both publishers and developers. These subjects have included …

The UK High Street has expressed reservations over Sony’s PSPgo, but the platform holder has moved to reassure retailers that they still matter to its handheld business. Play, HMV, ShopTo, CHIPS and Asda have all admitted to MCV that the machine’s digital-only model is a concern for them, and that …

Ed Vaizey recommends ELSPA and TIGA merge to become â??The Video Game Associationâ??

The story behind Fable IIâ??s much-celebrated musical score

Microsoft has released the newest edition of its online PC service, Games for Windows Live.

 The most significant addition to Microsoft’s new platform is how users can access the Marketplace in the middle of a game. 

 The Xbox 360 manufacturer says that when players buy an item from the …

MCV’s Recommended Extra dedicated to Bethesda’s Wet – and the rest of its Christmas line-up – is now available to read online. You can click through the pages or download the whole thing as a PDF (you boys can sort out the different links). As well as everything you need …

Activision-Blizzard has joined sector rival EA and industry analysts in admitting yesterday that the music game genre is facing tough times. Last night during its earnings call Activision Blizzard admitted that the music game genre is down significantly”. One explanation for the rapid decline in music game revenues might be …