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

Nintendo’s Wii Sports Resort has hit top spot in the ELSPA/GfK-ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 in its debut week. The title, which comes bundled with the Wii MotionPlus accessory, clocks up the fourth-highest week one sales for a Wii game, behind Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and Mario & Sonic …

Independent developer Bungie is closing in on a publishing deal for its unannounced project; a game that marks the studio’s first major step away from the Halo universe. Bungie’s multiplayer designer Lars Bakken told Eurogamer that the group will know sometime soon” which company has secured a publishing deal with …

Cult developer Bungie has admitted that Halo: Reach, of which hardly anything is yet known, will most likely be the last Halo title it develops for Xbox 360. However, the company also hinted that platform holder Microsoft may be less willing to give up on its hugely profitable brand – …

The concern that Nintendo consoles are not a suitable platform for mature-rated games will be tested yet again later this year with the news that the BBFC has granted EA’s upcoming Wii-exclusive Dead Space: Extraction an 18 certificate. No cuts were made to the game, which is an on-rails take …

News Corp is to strengthen the video gaming offering on MySpace, in a hope to close the gap on Facebook, which currently courts more users. As reported by Reuters, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm: TECH conference in Pasadena, California, News Corp digital head Jonathan Miller has been discussing the importance …

National supermarket chain Sainsburys has lifted the lid on a brand new non-food initiative via its website that drastically increases the range of goods the retailer has to offer. The likes of kitchenware, home furnishings, home electronics and garden furniture are fronting the new selection which, for the time being …

Report suggests EA is working beyond the upcoming Wii edition of Dead Space

Acclaimed director Peter Jackson has revealed that the secretive Halo game project he was once working on has been cancelled. Little was ever known of Jackson’s collaboration with Microsoft and now it appears that the collapse of the Halo film project has dampened any hopes of the anticipated games collaboration. …

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has revealed that he will spend this summer playing video games with his children. The news featured in a Daily Mirror interview, in which Mr Brown answered questions on how he and wife Sarah Brown would fill their time during Parliament’s summer recess. The newspaper reports: …

News corp to bolster gaming offering