Ed Vaizey among speakers at this week’s Investing In Videogames in bid to improve access to development funding.
The National Endowment For Science, Technology And The Arts (Nesta) has responded to calls for improved links between game developers and investors with a series of what it describes as “speed-date” meetings, beginning in London this week.
Admits loss may pass ¥14 billion estimate should evidence of credit card fraud emerge or class action suits succeed.
Sony estimates that the fallout from the recent attack on its online service, PlayStation Network, will cost it ¥14 billion (£105.6 million) – and warns that figure may yet grow.
Dead Or Alive Dimensions pulled due to potential breach of Swedish child pornography legislation.
The release of Dead Or Alive Dimensions in Sweden, Norway and Denmark has been cancelled due to a potential violation of Swedish law.
Publisher Codemasters
Developer In-house
Format 360, PS3 (version tested), PC
Release May 24
Rockstar's title becomes the UK's fastest ever selling new IP; The Witcher 2 debuts at five.
LA Noire has shot to the top of this week's all format chart for the week ended May 21. In doing so, it has become the UK's fastest ever selling new game IP.
Across its respective formats, Rockstar's crime adventure became the 13th fastest-selling game on Xbox 360 (which saw 58 per cent of sales, compared to Red Dead Redemption's 65 per cent) and 11th fastest on PS3.
Monster Hunter Portable HD to kick off PSP Remaster series, with HD visuals, 3D support, shared game saves and more.
Sony has announced plans to bring PlayStation Portable titles, in HD with exclusive content and 3D support, to the PlayStation 3.
The promotion, dubbed PSP Remaster, will also allow game saves to be shared between the two systems, allowing for progress to be saved on one format and resumed on the other.
Two new vulnerabilities exposed, hackers "putting their fingers in [security] holes faster than Sony can fill them."
In two fresh hacking attacks, a Sony website in Thailand has been attacked while virtual points have been stolen in Japan. While PSN remains unaffected, a link was added to the Sony website which directed users to a fake site purporting to be an Italian credit card company.
The return of PSN, overheating consoles and more security flaws - the key stories from a week in the game industry.
Monday
Google's OS beats outpaces iOS and Symbian for the first three months of the year.
According to a new report published by IT research and advisory company Gartner, Google's Android platform became the world's dominant mobile operating system during the first three months of 2011.
The report claims that Android's market share was 36 per cent in Q1, and increase of 9.6 per cent year on year, representing a total installed userbase of around 36.3 million handsets.
Three senior figures at Bizarre Creations help us pick through the issues surrounding the studio’s demise.
Oregon Trail developer The Learning Company claims damages for upcoming FrontierVille expansion.
Educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is suing Zynga in an attempt to prevent the social game studio from using the name Oregon Trail. The suit alleges that original Oregon Trail developer and HMH subsidiary The Learning Company approached Zynga in 2008 to discuss the creation of a Facebook version of its game.
Developer: Vincent Morisset
Format: Flash
Bla Bla is a “film for computer” by Vincent Morisset. It’s a piece of interactive animation spread across six chapters, each part concerned with examining the possibilities – and limitations – of human communication.
Star Defense developer brought on board to help bolster Mobage first-party releases.
We Rule developer and publisher Ngmoco has acquired Dutch studio and long-time collaborator Rough Cookie. The studio is responsible for the award-winning iOS title Star Defense, along with Touch Pets and Pulse: The Game - all of which were published by Ngmoco. Rough Cookie also lent a hand on Ngmoco's We Rule and We Farm games.
N'Gai Croal warns that the increasing conservatism of the game industry is in danger of suffocating it.
When we think of the first and fourth quarters of the year from a gaming perspective, we think of a period when many of the year’s most successful or most acclaimed games are released. But for the past several years, it’s also been a time of course correction, where publishers shed employees and close studios – and the most recent sixmonth period has proven no exception.
Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies and Doodle Jump to grace WP7 handsets over the next two months.
The promotion, announced earlier this year, will see mobile hits including Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies and Doodle Jump migrating to Windows Phone 7 handsets over the next two months.
Studios reaction mixed at Sony's intention to offer multiple updates per week once service is restored.
Both companies deny responsibility for problem; Intel gaming head tells us LA Noire could indeed be overheating systems.
Leaked memo suggests stores return date but leaves room for manoeuvre.
Sony's PlayStation Network Store could be returning on May 24, according to an internal memo seen by Gamasutra. The memo also sheds more light on Sony's proposed accelerated updates schedule which will see two updates every week for a fortnight in order to catch up with the backlog of missed releases.
Customers to receive £5 off next bill.
Lovefilm has emailed customers of its PS3 service to notify them that they'll receive £5 off their next order as a good will gesture. In the email, Lovefilm thanks PS3 customers for their patience, reiterating that it has been a frustrating period for all.
Dashboard update which adds PayPal functionality and auto-standby begins roll out.
Microsoft has confirmed that the new Xbox 360 system update, reported earlier in the month, will allow Xbox Live users to make purchases on their console using PayPal. Users will need to link their PayPal and Live accounts on Xbox.com before using the service.
Plants Vs Zombies and Bejeweled the first to receive new modes and social networking elements.
The developer's horticultural defense game Plants Vs Zombies will launch on China's leading social network Renren, while its sparkling puzzler Bejeweled will launch alongside Pop Tower, a collaboration between PopCap and Taito that represents the social developer's first mobile social game service on Japan's leading mobile social network Gree.
The two announcements were made only a day apart.
Social developer snaps up Casino City and Slot City studio DNA Games.
Social game developer Zynga has made its 14th acquisition in 12 months, snapping up DNA Games. The studio, which was founded in 2009 by Jon Lee and Shaun Hasse, is behind several Facebook titles including Casino City, Slot City and Bar World.
Format: 3DS
Release: May 20 (UK), May 24 (US)
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Developer: Team Ninja
Square Enix's DS title spends second consecutive week at the top while Steel Diver debuts in third.
The Square Enix-published DS title Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 remains at the top of the Japanese charts this week, having returned to number one in the last chart.
This week's highest new entry is the PS3 version of Haruhi Suzumiya no Tsuisou at number two, the PSP version debuting at number four. Both sandwich Nintendo's Steel Diver, which debuts at number three.
Platinum Games' multiplayer online brawler to miss original Autumn release window.
The Inaba-produced Platinum Games online brawler Anarchy Reigns has been delayed until early 2012. The thir-person multiplayer game was originally scheduled for Autumn this year and is being published by Sega Sammy.