MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
With Microsoft currently in the middle of a wide-scale reorganisation following a less than perfect financial posting , the future of the firm’s iPod-rivalling MP3 player Zune has been thrown into doubt, Silicon Alley Insider speculates. The firm’s financials revealed that sales of the MP3 player were down 54 per …
Read More »PSP 2 rumours are nonsense"
Clearly the rumour won’t go away until the day a new machine is finally announced, but again overnight talk has emerged of alleged details of Sony’s PSP 2 – and again, sources at Sony have completely denied them. IGN states that several credible sources” have told it that PSP 2 …
Read More »AUSTRALIA: Attorney General defends lack of R18+ certificate
South Australian attorney general Michael Atkinson has defended the Classification Board’s refusal to introduce an 18 age rating for video games released in the territory, claiming that games are potentially more harmful than movies. I don’t support the introduction of an R18+ rating for electronic games, chiefly because it will …
Read More »Philips announces 6,000 job losses
TV and electricals manufacturer Philips has become the latest tech firm to announce large-scale job cuts with news the company is to cut its global workforce by 6,000 people by the end of the year. The announcement follows Philips’ loss of 1.4bn for the final quarter of 2008 – the …
Read More »UK CHARTS: Wii Fit proves its stamina
The nation may be strapped for cash, but it also needs to get into shape – at least that’s what the ELSPA Gfk-ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 suggests, with Nintendo’s Wii Fit clinging on to top spot for the second week on the trot following a hike in sales of …
Read More »PopCap: "Nintendo hasn’t stolen our thunder"
PopCap’s creative director and co-creator of the mammoth casual gaming success Bejeweled, Jason Kapalka, has insisted that firms such as Nintendo are not ‘stealing its thunder’ despite the fact that the huge sales numbers for many casual titles continue to go unrecognised. Kapalka was responding to a recent report on …
Read More »AUSTRALIA: Konami solidifies distribution ties
Konami has told MCV of the turbulence in the Australian games distribution sector and challenging economic times” following the recent news that distributor Red Ant has been placed into administration . The publisher, one of many to enjoy partnerships with Red Ant, has reaffirmed its ties with Atari’s distribution arm. …
Read More »Intel to shed up to 6,000 jobs
CPU and PC hardware vendor Intel has announced that it is to restructure some of its manufacturing operations and capacity in an effort to consolidate and streamline the firm, leading to the potential loss of up to 6,000 employees worldwide. An Intel statement reads: The company plans to close two …
Read More »WHSmith sees like-for-like decline
UK stationer, newsagent and entertainment retailer WHSmith has said that like-for-like sales at its High Street stores fell seven per cent for the 20 weeks ending January 17th compared to the same period one year ago. Overall like-for-like sales, which include the businesses’ online arm, fell by five per cent. …
Read More »Games overtake films in global entertainment market
Statistics from market research company Media Control Gfk International suggest that gaming has overtaken DVD and Blu-ray in terms of worldwide market value, Edge Online reports. The firm claims that games accounted for 53 per cent of 2008’s global packaged media commodities market, which in total valued $61bn. Global video …
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