Publisher plans to lure advertisers to its social, mobile, online and console portfolio: “Brands want to go where gamers are.”
Dave Madden, EA’s new senior vice president of global sales, believes that there are “buckets of money” to be made from advertising real-world products in videogames.
Issues service alert cautioning of phishing messages sent to players of Modern Warfare 2.
Microsoft has issued a service alert for Xbox Live, warning users of a phishing scam targeting players of Modern Warfare 2.
In a post on the Xbox Live status page, Microsoft warns: “Users may receive potential phishing attempts via title-specific messaging while playing Modern Warfare 2.
Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal criticises “troubling lack of notification” to customers affected by PSN hack.
Richard Blumenthal, Democratic US senator for Connecticut, has written to SCEA president Jack Tretton, taking the firm to task for its failure to notify in good time the users whose personal information was taken by the hacker who breached PSN’s security.
CryEngine editor coming in “early summer” with full SDK to follow in August.
Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli has announced that mod tools for Crysis 2’s CryEngine will be released this summer, with a full, free SDK to follow in August.
Says system “has not been selling as expected since the second week” and promises revamped marketing strategy.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has admitted that its new 3DS handheld “has not been selling as expected”, and that the firm must “step up our efforts to further promote the spread” of the system.
Format: 360, PS3
Release: Out Now
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Housemarque
A heavily stylised blend of twitch platforming, exploration and combat, Outland stars an unnamed dreamer, the reincarnation of an ancient warrior responsible for restoring balance to creation by the time-honoured means of jumping, smacking things, and changing colour.
Japanese mobile gaming platform Gree has acquired US-based social gaming network OpenFeint in a deal worth $104 million.
Gree, the fastest-growing technology firm in Japan, is also to invest further capital to help OpenFeint grow. Together the two firms will reach a userbase of over 100 million people and seek to “build a global ecosystem of distribution channels for game developers.”
Chief executive says retailer is “on a journey” after sales fall 8.3 per cent and operating profit slumps 68 per cent.
UK retailer Game remains bullish despite announcing a miserable set of financial results for the year to January 31, with chief executive Ian Shepherd saying he is “encouraged by the good progress we’ve seen in the early months of this year.”
Login details, home address, date of birth and possibly credit card information taken during “external intrusion”.
Sony has revealed the extent of the attack that has seen its online service PlayStation Network (PSN) offline for almost a week, announcing that its entire userbase’s personal information, including login details, home address and possibly credit card details, have been taken by “an unauthorised person”.
Highlights from our community, featuring dwindling time for gaming and Sony's NGP.
Well-travelled COO leaves publishing giant for the second time in four years, this time for the king of Facebook games.
John Schappert, chief operating officer at Electronic Arts, has tendered his resignation and is to take up an executive position at Zynga.
Reuters reports that EA released a regulatory filing earlier today, confirming that Schappert resigned on Monday and will switch to the rapidly growing social gaming firm, though his new job title has yet to be revealed.
“One of the most influential women in gaming” to keynote business track at July conference.
Laura Fryer, vice president and general manager of WB Games in Seattle, is to give a keynote address at the Develop In Brighton conference in July.
Fryer has been named one of the most influential women in gaming by the Gamasutra, The Hollywood Reporter and Next Generation.
Summit Partners and TA Associates share 60 per cent stake in purchase which values browser game firm at $600 million.
Two investment firms have acquired a controlling stake in browser game publisher Bigpoint for $350 million, the firm has announced.
Summit Partners and TA Associates have purchased their stakes from Comcast’s investment arm Peacock Equity, GE and GMT Communications Partners, who acquired a combined 70 per cent of the company in 2008 for some $80 million.
Man who oversaw formation of SCE, birth of PlayStation and development of compact disc passes away aged 81.
Norio Ohga, former president and chairman of Sony Corporation, has died of multiple organ failure in Tokyo aged 81, the firm has announced.
Ohga, who was appointed president of Sony in 1982 and CEO in 1989, was so important to the firm that, when he collapsed while conducting the Tokyo Philarmonic Orchestra in 2001, Sony’s share price fell by six per cent.
Format: PC/Mac
Developer: Vlambeer
Super Crate Box is slick, astonishingly clever, and free. It’s ingenious and compact, a claustrophobic high-score compulsion that squeezes its points and weapons systems together so tightly that each trip into the battlefield swiftly becomes a wonderful tactical nightmare. Vlambeer, the developer, has recently created another game – a game that was built in an afternoon. It’s slight, but it’s very charming. Can you spare 30 seconds for something made in less than two hours?
Says recent lack of software due to focus on hardware; reveals hopes for eShop, Link To The Past remake.
Shigeru Miyamoto has signalled a shift in Nintendo’s focus, saying that the firm’s recent lack of software output was due to it having focused its efforts on hardware development, and that it is ready to make and release games again.
Over the holidays we look back at our games of the decade, starting with Valve's milestone in narrative design.
Combination of Galaxy and Mario 64; raccoon suit confirmed; “coming this year.”
Shigeru Miyamoto has described the upcoming Super Mario 3DS as a cross between Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64, and said that the eagerly anticipated title will be out this year.
Shigeru Miyamoto has all but confirmed rumours of a Wii successor, saying: “It’s a matter of when we announce it.”
Speaking at a behind closed doors event in London today, the Nintendo legend was inevitably quizzed about the rumoured Wii successor, which we first reported on late last week.
Jason Holtman says firm will not release data to compilers of digital sales charts: “The idea of a chart is old.”
Valve has delivered a blow to UKIE and the NPD Group today by insisting that it will not release Steam sales data to those looking to compile digital software charts.
Twenty-five redundancies as Dundee studio ceases operations because of the “declining console marketplace.”
Cohort Studios, developer of the PlayStation Move title The Shoot, has confirmed it is to cease operations, leaving 25 staff jobless.
The Dundee-based developer, formed in 2006, said it had taken the decision to close down because of the “difficulties of being a console developer in a declining console marketplace.”
Bulletproof “will help Amnesty preserve financial independence and continue its fight for human rights.”
International human rights organisation Amnesty International has released a game, Bulletproof, on the iOS App Store.
Developed by independent French studio Mobigame, the 59p/99¢ Bulletproof tasks players with preventing the execution by firing squad of a condemned man, by tapping icons on screen.
Firm sets new records for second-quarter revenue and profits as iPhone sales more than double.
Apple has announced its financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year, which ended on 26 March, in which the firm’s net profit rose by over 95 per cent year on year to $5.99 billion.
That sets a new second-quarter record for the company, and it set another with revenues of $24.67 billion, an increase of 82.7 per cent year on year.
UPDATE: Sony has posted the following statement on the PlayStation Blog:
"As you are no doubt aware, the current emergency outage is continuing this afternoon and all Sony Online Network services remain unavailable. Our support teams are investigating the cause of the problem, including the possibility of targeted behaviour by an outside party.
New Indie Showcase seeks ten projects made for less than £1 million without publisher funding.
The organisers of Develop In Brighton are calling for submissions for the event's new Indie Games Showcase, which will feature ten currently unpublished independent games chosen by a panel of experts.