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

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 …

The Impulse digital distribution service has made significant additions to its catalogue, by signing up publishers Ubisoft and Activision. The PC download service, which was set up by Sins of a Solar Empire publisher Stardock, has now added Activision titles Prototype and Call of Duty 4 to its catalogue, while …

Over 9,000 game developers from across the globe have declared Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto as their game developer hero. The international survey, commissioned by the Develop Conference, saw the Mario and Zelda creator take nearly 30 per cent of the total vote, at around 3,000 developer votes. It’s no surprise that …

Shadow Culture Secretary keen to setup Video Games Council to communicate with Government

The answer is usually clear, based on the buzz around each company’s announcements, which of the three format holders made the biggest and best impression.This year I don’t think the decision is that simple… ‘SOFTLY ‘SOFTLYMicrosoft relied on wow factor to open the show. Nothing wrong with that; celebrity appearances, …

UK RETAIL HAS hailed E3 2009 a triumph, following a string of key announcements at last week’s show. Many major UK games retailers sent personnel to the LA event, and the trade was thrilled by the new products including Sony’s PSPgo, Microsoft’s Project Natal and Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus. It …

After a long period of dominance from Nintendo’s Wii Fit, EA’s PC hit The Sims 3 has stamped its chart credentials on the ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 by claiming top spot for the second week in a row. It finishes ahead of Activision Blizzard’s debutant Prototype, which enters …