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

Throughout the month of November the Nintendo Wii was the most searched for product by UK internet shoppers, far outstripping the demand for the most searched for mobile phone (Apple’s iPhone), competitive intelligence company Hitwise claims. In total, 13 times as many searches were made for ‘Nintendo Wii’ as there …

LEADING CASUAL games specialist Popcap is to bring its hit titles to the High Street, having signed a significant new agreement with UK value specialist Focus Multimedia. PopCap enters the retail market with a range of well-known titles including Bejeweled 2, Chuzzle and Zuma, which are set to hit shelves …

Leading distributor Just has showcased its full range of games-related gift ideas, all of which are set to hit retail in time for Christmas. Just’s range of toys is based on some of Nintendo’s most popular franchises, including the likes of Mario Kart, Nintendogs and Pokmon. The Gacha Capsule Toy …

AI middleware sees performance and memory optimisations

Yoichi Wada, the CEO of Japanese games giant Square Enix, has claimed that Microsoft is the only current platform holder who remains dedicated to selling in the games market, that the Wii is being bought as a toy and that Sony is unsure about what its machine really is. In …

10th annual competition sees 173 entrants

Despite the tremendous success of recent Hollywood flick Transformers on HD-DVD, the film’s director Michael Bay has lashed out at the format, claiming that the Xbox 360 platform holder wants both Toshiba’s HD-DVD and Sony’s Blu-Ray to fail so it can grow its own digital distribution plans, Kotaku reports that …

Casual games firm to become Playrix Entertainment

Along with all the shiny bells and whistles, and if MCV’s experience is anything to go by the far smoother UI operation, that arrived with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Autumn Update yesterday, it has also been confirmed that from now on those who are only registered for the free version of …

New version of software configuration management tool boasts improved project management and automation