With just five weeks to go, the Finalists of the MCV Industry Excellence Awards have been revealed . Retailers, publishers, distributors and developers are doing battle. Over 40 companies are still in with a shout of winning something on the night. Apart from our Advisory Board Award, voted for exclusively …

This morning, we reveal the deserving nominees for the MCV Excellence Awards 2008. To discover who has made the shortlist in the Retail category, click here. To see who has been nominated in the People & Industry category, click here. And to find out who is up for an Award …

PR Team There’s no doubting that the standard of PR in the UK games industry has stepped up a gear over the past couple of years, with the market’s key communications execs not only having to promote their latest products, but also dealing with often unfair swipes from the national …

Sales Team Whether they’re having too cope with a rogue, unfair review score or they have a massively hyped new next-gen franchise, this award praises the team which has the hard task of selling . But it’s not all about sales, it’s about after-sales service, customer care as well as …

Independent Retailer This award is for the independent games retailer judged to offer the strongest customer service, product knowledge, range, plus window and in-store merchandising. A solus store can win, but the retailer must not have more than 50 outlets in total. Last year’s winner was ePlay, beating off competition …

In the first of a new monthly series of articles profiling, celebrating and analysing some of the best and biggest British-made IPs, we examine the megahit that is Grand Theft Autoâ?¦

Following the launch last year of the Games Media Awards, Intent Media has hired its first in-house events manager. Shelley Dowsett joins from leading conference and exhibitions company Forum Events. She will be responsible for the Games Media Awards 2008, plus a growing portfolio which already includes the MCV Industry …

MCV has it on very good authority that Microsoft is planning an Xbox 360 price cut later this month, which will allow its lower-spec Arcade model to compete with Nintendo’s Wii on price. In what is being seen as a significant move to attract the family market, that would mean …

Dave Perry-founded site leaves beta phase

We’ve talked about the emergence of major media companies entering the market an awful lot of late. Warner, Viacom, Fox, Hasbro and Marvel have all either made moves already or are thinking about it. And it has given the likes of EA and Activision Blizzard something to think about. But …