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

Blockbuster is finally extending its rental range to include DS and Wii titles, MCV can reveal. The entertainment specialist has been offering Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games for rent for some time, but has now extended this to Nintendo platforms. Members of Blockbuster can expect to pay as little …

Koch Media has appointed Juliana Foley as trade marketing and purchasing manager. Foley returns to the games industry following successful stints at EUK, Eidos, The Learning Company and THE Games/Nintendo. She is part of a trio of new staff who have been recruited to help the company expand its presence …

Independent retail continues its push into the online space, as GameXchange and Gameseek reveal their new websites. GameXchange is a High Street chain with six stores nationwide, and was nominated as one of the Top 20 indies in MCV last month. The chain is owned by Richard Moggridge and Andy …

MCM Expo at Excel London will ramp up its capacity by expanding the show hall by 2,000 square metres, MCV can reveal. The event, which is scheduled to take place on October 24th to October 25th, is set to feature a large contingent of publishers, including Ubisoft, Capcom, Tecmo Koei …

Job post implies the studio is now working on a â??most prestigious AAA franchiseâ? following months of layoffs

Digital Britain: Develop cites three key issues to look for in Lord Carterâ??s final report

The global market for both Blu-ray and DVD discs dropped by 4.8 per cent to $482m in 2008, with analyst Screen Digest blaming both the worldwide recession and online piracy for the dip. Many had hoped that these threats would have been countered by the growing appetite for HD content …

The Sims 3 holds onto its number one position in the charts this week, which are viewable in full in MCV’s RETAIL BIZ section. CLICK HERE TO VISIT MCV’S COMPREHENSIVE, UP-TO-DATE MULTIFORMAT CHARTS PAGES. Covering all the major console and handheld formats, along with PC, the MCV charts have been …

Games Developers Association Australia president touts favourable exchange rate and the regionâ??s lucrative push to casual games

The Conservative Party’s Shadow Arts and Culture Minister has told MCV that he would be keen to set up a games industry equivalent of the UK Film Council should the party win power. Ed Vaizey also spoke of his desire to negotiate tax breaks for UK developers – but stopped …