MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Rising Star Games has tied a strategic alliance with new Euro publisher Gamebridge, taking titles to retail from spring. Gamebridge is a joint venture between Interchannel, a Tokyo based developer and publisher of video games, and the official Nordic region Nintendo distributor Bergsala. As a new European video games publisher, …
Read More »Amazon introduces trade-ins
Just days after it emerged that the North American arm of Toys R Us is dipping its toes in the pre-owned waters , Amazon.com has announced a new scheme that allows gamers to trade in their old titles. The system works by proving a quote for any given title via …
Read More »94% of parents take responsibility for their kids gaming
A new study entitled Play Safe, Play Smart from Microsoft has claimed that 94 per cent of UK parents feel personally responsible” for checking the age ratings on the games played by their kids. In addition, the report says that 73 per cent of UK parents are aware of parental …
Read More »Vaz cites game violence at PMQs
MP Keith Vaz, an outspoken critic of mature video games, has once again raised the issue in parliament, pressing deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman in yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. In a survey published last week, 74 per cent of parents said that they were very concerned about the increasing level …
Read More »Toys R Us trialling pre-owned
US retail giant Toys R Us has become the latest High Street retailer to test out the pre-owned game waters with the news that it is trialling a second hand scheme in some of its North American stores. A spokesperson for the company confirmed to Joystiq that it’s testing the …
Read More »Lost Planet 2 announced
Having teased a brand new title reveal last week, Capcom has confirmed that Lost Planet 2 is in the works. The announcement came via a movie download on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace service. The video suggests that the game will, unlike its predecessor, not be limited to snowy terrain and …
Read More »NPD: January market sees 13% growth
The latest results from stats firm NPD show that the North American video game market grew 13 per cent in January compared to the same month the year before to reach a total value of $1.33bn. The results are hugely impressive not only due to the darkening global economic situation, …
Read More »ELSPA applauds ASA findings
ELSPA has praised its members after the Advertising Standards Authority found that 99 per cent of commercials created for video games were done so responsibly”. Following a report launched on the back of the Byron Review, UK regularity body the ASA assessed broadcast and non-broadcast ads for video games that …
Read More »WH Smith to ditch games… but will anyone notice?
The ghost of EUK is still haunting the High Street – with WH Smith this week telling MCV that it is to ditch entertainment products – but it seems there have never been more opportunities for games companies to take advantage of new routes to market. WH Smith, one of …
Read More »Sega confirms Winter Olympics deal
Japanese publisher Sega has confirmed that it is to remain the International Olympic Committee’s exclusive video game publishing partner for the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – though it has stopped short of announcing its believed-to-be-in-development Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics. A press release from the firm stated …
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