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

In our monthly look behind the scenes on the audio production of a recently released or upcoming game, John Broomhall speaks to Ninja Theory's Tom Colvin and SCEE's Garry Taylor about the making of music and sound FX in Heavenly Swordâ?¦

In an interview in the latest issue of Famitsu, Shigeru Miyamoto has spoken about how he intends to balance difficulty and accessibility in Super Mario Galaxy. At last June’s E3 conference, Miyamoto said that Nintendo intended to break down the wall separating hardcore and casual games. When asked by Famitsu …

Founder and current boss of Rockstar Leeds Gordon Hall has warned other video games firms that they should rally behind the developer against the BBFC’s decision to ban Manhunt 2 – or face similar prohibition in the future. Hall told MCV sister magazine Develop that the outlawing of the title …

Owners of Microsoft’s basic Core Xbox 360 may soon find themselves unable to play the latest titles following Microsoft’s announcement that developers of online MMO games will be allowed to design their titles for use on hard drive-enabled machines only. Devs will be able to create a single ‘Master Storage …

As Sony continues to build the hype for its potentially revolutionary PS3 online social network Home, Sony’s Peter Edward has told an audience at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival that anyone caught abusing fellow users online could face the prospect of their machines being banned from accessing any of Sony’s online …

Warner Bros has revealed the first of several new titles to hit retail in the UK, having set up its London office last month, as previously revealed by MCV. Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment plans to release Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal on 360, Wii and PS2 this Autumn, with Looney Tunes: …

Audio middleware now available for XBLA, PSN, WiiWare games

The format holder has announced that there are currently over 7.1 million Xbox Live users, reported Games Industry . Chris Satchell, the company’s game developer group general manager, also said that more than 25 million downloads have been recorded on the Xbox 360. The firm claims that the attach rate …

After announcing the 2.0 version of XNA Game Studio during Gamefest’s keynote, XNA general manager Chris Satchell also revealed that the company had made an "unprecedented" move to allow consumers direct, legal access to game content from a number of Microsoft-owned IPs. Effectively immediately, Microsoft has granted consumers "a personal, …

Artist and programmer outsourcing operation Nikitova LLC has launched its own games initiative, reported Games Industry. The newly formed Nikitova Games will initially concentrate on developing Wii and DS titles, and will possibly move onto other consoles next year. The first title to emerge will be a licensed tie-in with …