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

Germany is to host a new national trade show in 2009 – as the territory’s trade body BIU switches allegiances from Leipzig’s Game Convention to a new expo in Cologne. The news comes after a strong rumour of the move arose in the German national press last month. Game Convention …

In a year that has so far served up a number of different number ones, Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has started to take control of the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 by capturing the top spot for a third time. Whereas it was the title’s DS …

Nintendo has revealed at GDC that its online service Nintendo WiFi Connection will soon grow with a subscription and payment-based ‘Pay & Play’ extension. Nintendo’s Takashi Aoyama explained that players will use Wii points to pay for content and services online. To read the full story, head over to sister …

SCE worldwide studios boss resigns - but will announce his return to the industry shortly

Rising Star Games is about to release a fistful of Hudson Soft games based around the Bomberman and Dungeon Explorer franchises. And to mark the occasion they are offering you the chance to win every single one of them. Up for grabs are copies of Bomberman Land Wii, Bomberman Land …

Brand Atari has taken quite a beating in the last few years – but it still holds a special place in the industry’s collective mindset. Even if you have no personal experience of working with the likes of Bruno Bonnell, there’s still fond gaming memories to fall back on – …

Harrison has been immersed in the creativity, technology and business of game development for more than 20 years. In September 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment unified its regional product development operations under a global structure, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, and appointed Phil to serve as President of the new organization. …

Take Two’s pre-market stock valuation enjoyed a huge 46.9 per cent increase this morning, following news of EA’s bid for the firm . Shares of Take Two rose to $25.50, up from Friday’s Nasdaq close of $17.36. MCV broke the news of EA’s bid yesterday, which totalled $1.9 billion. Optimism …

As part of its freshly announced intentions to snap up Rockstar (and thus Grand Theft Auto) owner Take 2, EA has launched a new website dedicated exclusively to the news. The main text of the open letter from EA CEO John Riccitillo can be found here. Elsewhere on the site, …

Following Toshiba’s decision to cease development and production of HD-DVD equipment, Microsoft has now confirmed that manufacturing of its HD-DVD add-on for Xbox 360 is also to end. A statement from the firm read: ”As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to …