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

The Daily Telegraph has published a new opinion piece that criticises recommendations contained in the Byron Review – entitled: ‘There is a majority against video games, and it is moral’ . The article, written by Jenny McCartney, suggests there is a problem with the sort of games that are being …

A study by Middlesex University has found that gamers that indulge in violence in MMO titles like World Of Warcraft [pictured] are more likely to feel relaxed and less angry after they have played. Jane Barnett and her colleagues will present their results presented at the British Psychological Society’s Annual …

Ubisoft will release a new free-roaming driving game in June – especially designed for a six – ten-year old male audience. Emergency Heroes lets gamers team up with policemen, firemen and resuce drivers, characters which Ubisoft calls ‘the heroes of young boys’ dreams’. Players hold the Wii Remote like a …

Ubisoft has signed a deal with Valve to bring over 40 of its titles to North America through the online Steam platform. Assassin’s Creed is the first title to be made available for pre-purchase, and will be able to be downloaded from April 9th. Tom Clancy titles, the IL-2 Sturmovik …

Publisher THQ has grown its casual games label ValuSoft by confirming the acquisition of online games creator Elephant Entertainment and a deal with developer Oberon media to release the firm’s games at retail. Develop has the full story – head over there for more.

Publisher buys US firm Elephant Entertainment, signs Oberon retail deal and plans to launch 20 casual and online games in '08

It’s quick and easy to criticise but far harder to give credit where credit is due. And that old adage is just the right way of describing some of the thoughts I’ve heard from inside the industry about Play.com Live. Boring”, Empty”, Waste of time” were just some of the …

EA’s UK VP and general manager Keith Ramsdale has revealed his disappointment over the Byron Review’s scaling back of PEGI’s powers – and vowed to convince the Government of the body’s importance. With the Review published and backed by PM Gordon Brown, the Government now moves into a period of …

After a successful debut on DS and a remake/sequel on Wii, Atlus’ imaginative Trauma Centre franchise is heading back to Nintendo’s handheld, DSfanboy reports. The game, currently dubbed Under the Knife 2, will pick up where the first title left off, and will once again feature the likes of Dr. …

Codemasters is to expand its casual gaming portfolio with Bella Sara, an interactive world of fantasy horses for Nintendo DS and PC. The game is based around the award-winning trading cards and online websites, which has seen over 40 million cards sold between 5-12 year old girls since the series …