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

Rockstar’s next-gen opus Grand Theft Auto IV is getting the budget treatment in Japan with news that the Capcom published title is to be ushered in to the PlayStation Best discount range. Kotaku reports that that the new version will be released on August 27th and will cost YEN 3,900 …

The green light has been given to Warner Bros’ proposed buyout of troubled publisher Midway, with the closure of the deal expected within the next 10 days. Kotaku reports that the acquisition includes Midway’s sports and arcade brands as well as top IP Mortal Kombat and the not yet released …

Newcastle and San Diego studios given deadlines to be bought out

Revolutionary social networking tool Twitter is to get in-game support in two of MMO’s biggest names – Activision Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and Cryptic’s upcoming Champions Online. Offworld reports that new add-on TweetCraft will allow WoW players to send and receive Tweets in-game and upload screenshots using Twitpic. It will …

Nintendo is determined to shatter the sales records set by Wii Fit with the release of Wii Sports Resort. Wii Fit topped the UK All Formats chart 16 times in total – including a string of seven weeks in a row at No.1. Wii Sports Resort is tthe biggest launch on …

Carphone Warehouse has told MCV that there are no plans to bring the trade-in ‘vending machines’ seen in Best Buy US stores to the UK. The kiosks are currently being trialled in Best Buy outlets in Dallas and Austin, and are similar to machines that appeared in Wal-Mart in May. …

Seems a long time ago, right? In just a few years, we’ve become pretty blas about Xbox 360 and Nintendo marketing dominating the Christmas TV ad schedule – and Sony spunking over 4 million on getting PS3 noticed during an economic slowdown. This week, the latest fillip in games’ outgrowing …

SCEE has backed Tecmo Koei Europe to become a significant player in the European video games market. The newly-formed publisher was officially revealed last week, and has pledged to grow its presence in the West by developing new IP and making its established franchises, including Dynasty Warriors, more accessible to …

This year’s Games Media Awards will take place on the evening of Thursday, October 15th at Jongleurs comedy club in Camden, London. The event, now in its third year, will again hail the best brands and individuals from the specialist and mainstream sectors, in print and online. Full details of …

Widespread naivety on the true value of social network integration, says Mika