MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
With the huge Nintendo 3DS price drop now in effect, MCV takes stock of what prices each Australian / New Zealand retailer are hitting. Australia EB Games: $248 GAME: $249 (or $254 with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time 3D) JB HiFi: $239 (or $249 with The Sims 3 …
Read More »Gaming added to Google+
Google has put paid to weeks of speculation by adding a games element to its Google+ social network. And it’s done it with some heavyweight developer partners in Zynga, Rovio, PopCap, EA, Wooga, Playdom, Digital Chocolate, Funzio, Kabam, and GameHouse. That means well known online games such as Dragon Age …
Read More »Australian Game Informer sales up 42%
Citrus Media, publisher of the Australian Game Informer, has released the ABC audit figures for the first half of 2011, showing a marked increase in sales. Game Informer is now selling an average of 39,196 copies per month in Australia and 2,128 in New Zealand, based on January to June …
Read More »Sharkey set for LGC address
Influential music industry figure Feargal Sharkey has joined the London Games Conference speaker roster. The former Undertones lead vocalist and current head of record industry trade body UK Music, will deliver an address on lessons that the music industry has learnt during the digital transition. He will talk about the …
Read More »Publisher Mindscape abandons video games
Mindscape has, after thirty years in the games business, decided to work in other technology sectors. While recent release U-Singsold well at retail, sister site Develop understands the music license costs had a stark impact on profits.Mindscape bet big again on the studio with the PC title Crasher, yet the …
Read More »Skyrim pre-order offers announced
Pre-order incentives for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have been detailed for Australian and New Zealand stores. EB Games is carrying a Skyrim Steelbook, a 100 page Skyrim debossed notebook, premium physical map and 4 collectible art cards for AUD$108 or NZD$128. JB HiFi has a combo strategy guide and …
Read More »JB HiFi in-store magazine reaches new heights
Scribal Custom, publishers of JB HiFi’s in-store publication STACK Magazine, has confirmed its current distribution and newsletter subsribers. The printed version of the magazine now sends 140’000 copies to the nearly 150 JB HiFi stores throughout Australia and New Zealand, while the monthly newsletter now has 144’000 subscribers. Nic Short, …
Read More »Karp "quits" EA Play for Zynga
Jeff Karp, an executive at the centre of EA’s social games output, is in the process of leaving the company to join Zynga, Develop understands. A US source, who engages with EA at senior levels, said Karp has signalled his intention to leave and will imminently join the San Francisco …
Read More »NSW backs introduction of an R18+ rating
New South Wales Attorney-General Greg Smith has announced today that he supports an in-principle move to introduce an R18+ rating in Australia. ABC has reported the news, confirming that after the in-principle agreement was reached at the SCAG meeting in Adelaide last month to introduce the rating at a national …
Read More »Halfbrick talk to MCV about Fruit Ninja Kinect
Fruit Ninja, the highly successful iOS game from Brisbane developers Halfbrick, is out today for Kinect, and is the first ever downloadable Kinect title. Phil Larsen, chief marketing officer at Halfbrick, told MCV: "We want to make sure that Fruit Ninja games are simple, fun to play and have intuitive …
Read More »