MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
It will come as a surprise to absolutely no-one that the UK games retail market has suffered one of its worst six months in history. Sales of video games reached 13.7m for the first half of the year, that’s almost 7m fewer games than compared with this point in 2011. …
Read More »UK games store count plummets
There are 300 fewer games specialists on the High Street in 2012. MCV?research has shown the combined number of GAME, HMV and Blockbuster outlets has plummeted from 1,465 to just 1,144. GAME took the biggest hit, with hundreds of branches closed when the chain went into administration in March. Conversely, …
Read More »European Court validates pre-owned, gives nod to digital resale
Publisher’s hopes of illegalising the sale of pre-owned software have been dashed after the European Court of Justice ruled that the practice is legitimate. It has also ruled that consumers have the right to re-sell their digital purchases, The ruling is not binding but is designed to be used for …
Read More »PS2 games to arrive on PS3 in Japan this month
Sony is to introduce a number of PS2 games for PS3 in Japan later this month. The PlayStation 2 Archives service will arrive on PSN on July 25th. Its debut titles are Resident Evil: Code Veronica (Capcom), Kessen (Tecmo Koei), Siren (Sony), Dragon Force (Sega) and Shin Contra (Konami). Prices …
Read More »Sony confirms Gaikai acquisition
Confirming MCV’s exclusive report last month, Sony has acquired cloud gaming firm Gaikai for $380m. At the end of May, MCV revealed that Sony’s rumoured interested in cloud gaming tech went beyond what many had suspected and would lead to an acquisition. Gaikai soon emerged as the front-runner, only for …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Can we really keep kids safe?
Earlier this month, kids social network Habbo grabbed the headlines when Channel 4 reported on the sexual predators that allegedly stalk the site’s 265m users. Within two minutes I was being asked ‘do you have a webcam?’, ‘can we chat on MSN or Skype?’,” said Channel 4 News producer Rachel …
Read More »699 games kick started by Kickstarter
A total of 699 games projects have been successfully bankrolled by creative funding project Kickstarter. The site allows creative types to pitch ideas to the public who are then able to make a monetary donation. Of these, three potential games have raised in excess of $1m. 31 have raised between …
Read More »Now MS kicks off digital discount sale
Microsoft has slashed a number of full” Games On Demand titles from $20 to just $5 on Xbox Live. The discounts are universal, meaning that if any title on the list below is available on Xbox Live in your region it will have had its price cut. Here’s the complete …
Read More »Wii U won’t block pre-owned games
Nintendo has seemingly confirmed that the Wii U will not block pre-owned software. I don’t know if we have a formal position on used game sales,” Nintendo of America marketing exec Scot Moffitt told GameSpot. It is a reality in the marketplace. We haven’t incorporated any features that will discourage …
Read More »SmartGlass support planned for all first party Microsoft games
Microsoft has said that consumers can expect its new SmartGlass technology to be incorporated into every first party title following its autumn release. "It just makes so much sense for a developer who wants to supply, maybe not time-critical information, like ‘that enemy is getting ready to shoot you,’ but …
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