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

Sony’s LittleBigPlanet is storming Metacritic, averaging an astounding 9.5/10 from the Western world’s major press. The score (correct at the time of posting) makes the game the second highest-ever scoring game on PS3, behind GTA IV. It beats lauded releases such as COD4 (9.4/10), MGS4 (9.4/10) and Rock Band (9.2/10). …

Blaze has launched its MegaDrive handheld console, which contains games such as Sonic and Knuckles, Golden Axe, Shinobi and Ecco the Dolphin. For the full story, visit MCV sister site CasualGaming.biz.

Macdonald and Livingstone to join Conservative and Lib Dem shadow ministers

Barack Obama’s campaign team has bought ‘Obama For President’ billboards in Burnout Paradise. I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout,” Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, told Gigaom. Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible …

Casual games firm lands in Canada and will eventually employ some 50 staff

Audiokinetic's sound solution to be used 'across the board' on future titles

EA’s FIFA 09 holds onto the No.1 position in this week’s ELSPA/Chart-Track’s official UK All Formats Top 40 – despite sales being down 47 per cent. The football title – which has been garnering exceptional reviews – holds off the stern challenge of Lego Batman, which takes second spot in …

XBLA's worldwide porfolio planner co-writes book on how games can be used by businesses

British developers earn over a fifth over the UK average of £25,000 says latest industry data

EA is enjoying an unprecedented series of review scores for FIFA 09 and Dead Space , according to official ratings aggregator Metacritic. The Xbox 360 version of FIFA 09 is currently averaging out at 9/10, with top scores from titles such as GamesMaster, Official Xbox Magazine and X360. The PS3 …