13th Skull arrives in stores tomorrow and Focus Multimedia is confident it’ll be the biggest casual game of 2011. It’s the seventh instalment in the publisher’s Mystery Case Files franchise which is the best-selling hidden object series of all time. Players must search for clues and interview locals to progress …

The media furore surrounding HMV has been overwhelming. You can certainly understand why. A number of stores are to be closed, Christmas takings were lower than expected and credit limits are being reviewed. The last big music specialist is fighting for its life and for the national press it makes …

Boxed product is far from dead – it’s the key to driving sales among the mass market. That’s according to Nintendo of Europe’s MD of marketing and PR Laurent Fischer, who believes the industry’s shift towards digital distribution and mobile gaming has been nowhere near as severe as some have …

Sony’s Next Generation Portable must be priced lower than 300 to compete with Nintendo’s 3DS, say UK retailers. Specialists have told MCV that they predict the NGP – previously known as the PSP2 – will cost around 300 when it goes on sale later this year. Any higher and retailers …

The Performing Rights Society has bamboozled retailers this week by saying indies must pay to cover music licence fees for game pods. PRS polices the use of copyrighted music in public places and now thinks demo pods running games that play licensed music will also come under its remit. Several …

More retailers have cut the price of the Nintendo 3DS ahead of its March launch. Sainsbury’s has listed the handheld console at 199.99 on its website – which comes with 1,000 nectar points – while Dixons is selling it for 199. The latter is charging buyers a 10 deposit. Last …

Sony will release games for its NGP handheld simultaneously at both retail and on PSN. That’s one of many claims to emerge from a developer’s day held at Sony’s London office yesterday. It had previously been confirmed that NGP will support physical retail by shipping games on high-capacity custom flash …

A Microsoft exec has claimed the only solution to piracy in the PC market is to embrace free-to-play downloadable games. Microsoft Games Studios’ general manager Dave Luehmann told MCV he is confident his current project – Age of Empires Online – will suffer from less piracy than it would have at …

The UK’s only growing games chain is on the hunt for senior retail experts to cement itself as the second-largest specialist. Grainger Games opened its 49th store yesterday (Thursday, January 27th). If you include its website it now operates out of 50 outlets. Its growth is being led by retail …

Some of PopCap’s most popular casual games are making their way to UK retailers thanks to Mastertronic. The titles will arrive as boxed releases on Xbox 360 and DS for the first time in Europe, with Mastertronic responsible for publishing and distributing the titles. PopCap Hits – which includes Bejeweled …