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

Leading global games publisher EA has reportedly closed down its mysterious Blueprint division, an area of the business that was supposedly working on casual-orientated gaming across a range of media. The news comes not long after the departure of EA’s Casual boss Kathy Vrabeck and the merging of the EA …

Nintendo US boss Reggie Fils-Aime has asserted that the majority of third-party publishers don’t get” Wii – and aren’t taking full advantage of the console. And in a frank discussion with Forbes, Fils-Aime also said that Nintendo was nowhere near” the point of cutting the Wii’s price. "I will be …

The director of technology at the soon to be closed Microsoft developer Ensemble Studios has admitted his surprise at the decision to shut the studio down. Ensemble is currently hard at work at the massively anticipated Halo Wars on Xbox 360, though its solid reputation was built on the back …

Studioâ??s director of technology Dave Pottinger admits to staffâ??s surprise at Microsoftâ??s decision

$35 million purchase now a done deal

The games side of Namco Bandai’s business reported a fall in profits, dropping 92.4 per cent over the firm’s second quarter. The fall saw profits slip to $3.4 million from $45.5 million. Games revenue also dipped to $319 million from $385 million. Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit, Super Robot Wars …

It has emerged that North American firm Netflix, which operates Microsoft’s movie rental and streaming service in the territory, has withdrawn all of its Sony Pictures titles from the service. Those using Netflix via their PC or TV, however, are still able to access the content – a fact that …

Magazine publisher Imagine is about to launch its new gaming ‘supersite’, NowGamer.com . The site is to use Imagine’s back catalogue of content, from magazines including GamesTM, X360, 360, PowerStation, Total PC Gaming, Play and Retro Gamer. And the firm believes the website will be a ‘true alternative’ to the …

The PSP has been a firm favourite in the homebrew and hacking community ever since it first arrived at retail – and now it appears that the recently released PSP 3000 model has also been cracked wide open. MaxConsole reports that a new device called the Datel Lite Blue Tool …

Accessories specialist Mad Catz has announced a $1.24 million loss for the second quarter of its fiscal year – compared to a $872,000 profit from the previous year. However, company revenues grew year-on-year by 52.8 per cent to $25.8 million – up on the $16.9 million posted in Q2 2007. …