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

UK video games companies have thrown cash in the face of the economic slowdown – spending an incredible 139 million on Q4 marketing as other trades tighten their belts. The huge figure has funded a deluge of above-the-line advertising in the past three months, dominating newspapers and TV ad breaks …

SCEE president David Reeves has told MCV that Sony currently has no plans for a ‘PSP2′. The exec moved to debunk web reports which earlier this month claimed the firm had signed a memory chip deal for the device. No, there are currently no plans for a PSP2. I go …

As Woolworths’ closing down sale gets underway today, leading platform holder Nintendo has spoken exclusively to MCV regarding claims in UK newspaper The Sun about the amount of debt owed to platform holders by the Woolworths-owned EUK. The tabloid yesterday claimed that EUK is expected to go into liquidation within …

Tesco will tomorrow launch a half-price sale that will last throughout Christmas – but has told MCV that the promotion is not in reaction to Woolworths’ ‘fire sale’ . The firm will cut prices on around 1,000 products from now until Christmas – including non-food. The focus is firmly on …

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has disputed consumer demand for Home, dubbing the technology as outdated and pointed to Live as a premium experience” by comparison. In an interview with Kotaku, the group product manager for Xbox 360 said: What Home to me feels like is Second Life for hardcore gamers. It …

Brighton event opens submission process for session presenters

What title will be the 2008 Christmas No.1?Call of Duty 56%FIFA 09 13%Need For Speed 8%Professor Layton 7%Gears of War 2 5%Wii Fit 4% Well over half the retailers surveyed backed Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: World at War as the game likely to grab the title of 2008’s Christmas …

MCV has conducted its annual nationwide survey of games retail – and the results are in. The following is based on in-depth research, featuring responses from a wide variety of UK retail store managers from the likes of GAME, Blockbuster, HMV, Gamestation and a range of independent stores…. What has …

Microsoft’s Major Nelson has revealed the NXE has provided a significant boost to Xbox Live Arcade sales. Posting on his blog, the Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb revealed several statistics from the aftermath of the New Xbox Experience’s launch. In the first week following the redesigned interface’s debut, …

EA, Lionhead, Rockstar and Epic among those confirmed to host sessions