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

EA-owned development studio Pandemic has confirmed that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames will be released on September 5th for PC, PS3, PS2 and Xbox 360. The developer announced the date through GameSpot, following a trailer that revealed a US launch date of August 31st. The game, which follows the misadventures …

Although reports on the web say that Nokia is still holding back on an official announcement until Monday, the Finnish phone firm has finally launched its N-Gage games service. Sister site Develop has the full story – head over there for details.

Rockstar’s GTAIV may have survived its BBFC classification unscathed in this country, but the upcoming game has been cut prior to its release in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. No details have been released about what aspects of the game were removed, though the BBFC’s recent report about the …

Official announcement is still due, but N-series phone users can now access Nokia's game service

George Lucas’s gaming arm LucasArts has confirmed that its massively hyped and much anticipated Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be released on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP and PS2 on September 19th in Europe, CVG reports. It will hit stores a few days earlier in North America on …

Sega has officially announced the long rumoured Sonic Unleashed. The game is said to seamlessly combine 2D with 3D gameplay, and is due for release on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. By combining rich and vibrant scenery with dynamic viewpoints Sonic Unleashed will provide an immersive 3D experience whilst …

Dr Tanya Byron has told the biggest names in UK video games publishing that retailers persuaded her to give more power to the BBFC over PEGI – as ELSPA members voiced their disagreement with the decision. Addressing ELSPA members in Portman Square, London at a closed meeting this morning – …

According to fresh Famitsu data – translated by Kotaku – Nintendo ruled both hardware and software slaes in Japan throughout 2007. The Nintendo DS beat out all other consoles – with PSP coming in second and Wii placed as the highest home system in third. The full annual hardware sales …

Harmonix, Bioware and NVidia to present talks at June event

Speaking to UK newspaper The Guardian , UK Xbox boss Neil Thompson has insisted that his company did not back the wrong horse when it supported Toshiba and its HD-DVD high definition disc format. "The horse that we’re fundamentally backing is the one that says the future of entertainment content …