MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has outlined the improvements coming to Xbox Live as part of its next major update to the service due out at the end of the summer. Though it lacks the headline changes that accompanied last year’s ‘New Xbox Experience’ revamp there’s plenty for users to …
Read More »NPD: Has digital stolen retails missing sales?
The notion that games are recession proof is now well and truly forgotten – but perhaps the rise of both digital downloads and free-to-play online gaming is as big a culprit as global banking greed. NPD figures show that the North American video game market declined by 31 per cent …
Read More »NPD: Prototype keeps Nintendo from the top
Over-the-top free roaming action title Prototype topped the June software charts in the US, with the 419,900 sales enjoyed by the Xbox 360 SKU bettering both high-profile new arrivals and perennial sellers. The PS3 SKU shifted around 181,100 units. Much like the wider games market in North America, there were …
Read More »NPD: DS dominates hardware market
Amidst the gloom of yet more annual falls in the US video games market, hardware sales for June were better than expected hitting $1.7m – NPD had expected that number to be around $1.55m. As always, Nintendo’s machines were the star performers with DS shifting 766,500 units and the Wii …
Read More »NPD: US market suffers further decline
Gaming’s recession-proof credentials took a further knock overnight with news that the North American video games market suffered its fourth successive month of decline in June, falling 31 per cent to $1.17bn. It’s the worst year-on-year fall since September 2000, a month that saw annual declines of 41 per cent. …
Read More »Natal attraction
Some say Microsoft ‘won’ E3 with Natal. When did work on the new device begin? We started looking at controller-less gaming about four years ago. So it’s been quite a while. The great thing about Microsoft is that we are a big software company – and almost everything in Natal …
Read More »Aguilera suffers Wii Sports injury
Mirroring the incident that saw a staff writer inflict pain upon a colleague when Nintendo’s Wii first arrived at the Intent office, American pop star Christina Aguilera has reportedly suffered an injury whilst playing popular multiplayer romp Wii Sports. GameDaily reports that a source stated: Christina loves her Wii as …
Read More »Fans choose badass moniker for Atlus fighter
It’s hard to say whether Atlus would have called its upcoming PSP fighting title Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble were it not for the naming competition thrown open to fans – though the answer is probably not. Nonetheless, the Atlus Faithful fan community has spoken and that’s exactly what the game …
Read More »Natal will relaunch 360 on release
Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer has told MCV that the new Project Natal controller will effectively relaunch the 360 when it is released. Speaking to MCV in an exclusive interview, Spencer likened the arrival of the camera-based kit – which senses player movements and requires no physical games controller …
Read More »Nokia and Sony Ericsson report grim results
Two of the biggest mobile phone firms foolish enough not to have invented the iPhone have delivered very bad news this morning, with both Nokia and Sony Ericsson suffering declines in sales and revenues. Nokia has posted revenues of €9.9 billion for Q2’09, down 25 per cent year-on-year, but up …
Read More »