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

The British Board Of Film Classification told MCV that it would back any move to make it responsible for rating every game – and that it recognises flaws in PEGI’s system. However, the body told MCV that it had received no official confirmation from the Government that the widely-speculated news …

Microsoft has announced that it has struck a deal with major US movie studio Paramount that will see a number of new films available to download via Xbox Live. The Xbox Live Video Store, which finally launched in Europe just before Christmas, allows users to download movies that are accessible …

Infogrames Entertainment has announced the launch of a reverse stock split, under which each new share with a value of €1 will be exchanged for 100 existing shares with a par value of €0.01. The exchange of shares will start at the opening of trading on March 4, 2008, when …

Online shopping giant Amazon.com has hinted at its plans to develop a mechanism for electronic game distribution in an online job advertisment. The ad states that the company is looking for a full-time software development engineer to join the ‘Software and Video Games Digital Technology team’. To read the story …

Eidos has teamed up with Trialpay to make it easier for customers to play the latest Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider Anniversary. TrialPay is a leader in alternative payments, and players will get a free subscription to Tomb Raider: Anniversary by trying or buying an offer from blue-chip advertisers. I …

Though the final official confirmation is not expected to arrive until tomorrow , it seems that the world has accepted that the long-fought hi-def format war is at and end – and US retailers are reacting quickly to the news. Reuters reports that many leading North American retailers, such as …

Toshiba has refused to officially confirm that its HD-DVD format is dead following reports over the weekend that it is to scrap the technology – though confirmation is still expected to arrive shortly. A statement from the firm read: "The media reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. …

Japanese software sales were down 21.1 per cent compared to last year, while hardware fell 0.9 per cent, according to Famistu publisher, market analyst and MCV media partner Enterbrain. The decline is blamed on the delay of Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii, which fell outside the data collection preiod …

Development veterans Bob Rafei and E. Daniel Arey, former employees of Naughty Dog, have launched Big Red Button. Big Red Button is set up to create original character-based IP for cross platform and cross media developments. Six of these projects are said to be in development. "Games are now the …

The Interactive Software Federation of Europe has fired out a worrying warning to Gordon Brown – labelling any move to drop its PEGI ratings in the wake of Dr. Tanya Byron’s inquiry a ‘mistake’ and a ‘backwards step’ for the UK. ISFE director general Patrice Chazerand told MCV that the …