MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
By 2016 all forms of entertainment will be interactive, says Xbox Live’s Robin Burrowes. The Xbox Live product chief backed up his statement with stats from recent Xbox surveys, which showed that 42 per cent of people use social networks while watching a TV programme. He says: "All forms of …
Read More »PopCap reveals how to fail at mobile gaming
At London Games Conference today, PopCap senior designer David Bishop listed ten ways to fail at mobile gaming. 1: Blank Android. "Don’t publish on Android. It is a complete waste of time," he said. "And absolutely don’t bother with Kindle Fire. Nobody will buy it." 2: Ignore Facebook.Nobody does anything …
Read More »Sega: Digital could overtake retail by 2015
Sega’s UK and digital boss John Clark predicts that the digital games market will match or even surpass boxed games in terms of revenue by 2015. Speaking at London Games Conference today, Clark says that although we are seeing a shift from the packaged goods business to digital business, digital …
Read More »‘Handheld games consoles are doomed’
Gamesbrief analyst Nicholas Lovell believes dedicated handhelds are doomed and that PlayStation Home is the games sector’s ‘unsung hero’ in an entertaining and at times controversial speech at London Games Conference. In his talk he attempted to persuade the audience which company’s were going to survive the digital transition (or …
Read More »GameStop: Digital sales will hit $35bn by 2014
Global retail giant GameStop predicts the digital games market will hit $35bn by 2014. The firm says the current value is around $20bn, so will grow by 75 per cent over the next two years. It also expects points card sales to double by 2014, rising by 110 per cent. …
Read More »HMV turns on its Christmas Lights
Entertainment specialist HMV will launch its Christmas campaign next week. Based on the Christmas Lights theme and boasting the ‘Love Christmas’ strapline, the seven-figure campaign features iconic artists and characters, including Adele, Lady GaGa, Kung Fu Panda and, for games, Super Mario, Link (from Zelda) and Sonic. It kicks off …
Read More »Channel Island VAT loophole closed
Low Value Consignment Relief will no longer apply to goods sent to the UK from the Channel Islands, the Government has announced. The controversial tax loophole is used by many of the biggest UK online retailers – most famously Play.com, The Hut Group, Asda and Amazon – to dodge millions …
Read More »Celebrate 25 years of Zelda with MCV
The Legend of Zelda, one of the games industry’s most acclaimed video games, is 25 years old, and MCV has put together a special edition magazine to celebrate. MCV subscribers received their copies of Zelda MCV today, but if you’re not a subscriber don’t fret, because you can read the …
Read More »Microsoft renews Cartoon Network deal
Xbox has signed a six-figure sponsorship deal with Cartoon Network. Much like last year, the partnership will see Kinect for Xbox 360 featured across Cartoon Network’s platforms between now and April 2012, showcasing upcoming titles including Kinect Sports: Season Two, Kinect Disneyland Adventures and Kinect Star Wars. As part of …
Read More »INTERVIEW: John Lewis
It may be one of Britain’s oldest and most reputable department stores, but John Lewis has been a poor games retailer. Our Mystery Shopper has reviewed John Lewis three times in the past 12 months, awarding scores of 1/10, 2/10 and N/A. The latter happened just last month in Stratford, …
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