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April 14, 2011

Tesco: We Can Grow UK Market

Tesco: We Can Grow UK Market

“We are better positioned than any other retailer to keep adding value to the market,” supermarket insists.

UK supermarket chain Tesco insists it is not simply seeking an increased share of the nation’s videogame market, arguing that it is better positioned to grow the size of the market than specialist retailers like Game and HMV.

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UKIE Calls For Computer Science In UK Education

UKIE Calls For Computer Science In UK Education

“The narrowness of how we teach children risks creating a generation of digital illiterates,” trade body says.

UK trade association UKIE has renewed calls for the government to make the study of computer science part of the national curriculum.

UKIE has stated its case to government as part of its response to the national curriculum review, launched in January by secretary of state for education Michael Gove.

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Activision: We’re No “Monolithic Empire”

Activision: We’re No “Monolithic Empire”

Publisher’s reputation a natural consequence of being number one, argues head of developer relations.

Dan Winters, head of developer relations at Activision, believes the public perception of publishing giant Activision is wide of the mark, stressing the firm is not a “monolithic empire” and that its reputation is solely the result of it being the biggest publisher in the world.

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EDF Tops Japanese Chart

EDF Tops Japanese Chart

Earth Defence Force 2 Portable goes straight in at the top as PSP outsells 3DS once again.

D3 publisher’s Earth Defence Force 2 Portable is the new number one in the Japanese all-formats chart.

In a relatively slow week for sales, the earnestly lo-fi insect shooter goes straight in at the top with just shy of 64,000 units sold, according to Media Create data, translated by Andriasang.

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Microsoft Details Kinect Windows SDK

Microsoft Details Kinect Windows SDK

Includes two-person skeletal tracking, four-way microphone and speech recognition API; rumoured May release.

Microsoft has posted some new information about its official Kinect Windows SDK, and it appears the official PC development kit will contain features not present in existing open-source drivers.

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April 13, 2011

Rare: Voice Control Is Kinect’s Future

Rare: Voice Control Is Kinect’s Future

“’Xbox pause’ is just the beginning...it should be just like having a conversation moving forward.”

Kinect Sports
developer Rare says that the future of Kinect will be a far more advanced form of voice control than the peripheral currently offers, saying that vocal commands will be “like having a conversation.”

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Stardock: Steam Is Holding Back Valve

Stardock: Steam Is Holding Back Valve

Enforced focus on maintenance of Steam distracts from actual game development, says Stardock CEO.

Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock, believes that the upkeep of PC distribution platform Steam has distracted Valve from game development.

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UK Supermarkets Increase Market Share

UK Supermarkets Increase Market Share

Grocers account for over a quarter of UK game sales; continued growth of online means more bad news for retail.

UK supermarkets are reaping the benefits of their often aggressive game pricing strategy, increasing their share of the nation’s game market by 3.3 per cent to account for over a quarter of total sales.

Online retailers have increased their share of the market too, with its volume share of the market growing 5.3 per cent year on year to 24.1 per cent, according to Gfk Chart-Track data reported by MCV.

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3DS Sets Australian Sales Record

3DS Sets Australian Sales Record

Enjoys best-ever handheld launch with 31,000 sales in first four days on shelves.

Nintendo’s new 3DS handheld has set a new sales record in Australia, with 31,000 units sold in its first week to make it the country’s best-ever handheld launch.

While it narrowly missed out on the chance to top Wii’s 32,000 launch-week sales, 3DS had only been on shelves for four days by the time figures were tallied up, according to VG247.

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World’s Biggest Pac-Man Launched

World’s Biggest Pac-Man Launched

HTML5 showcase stitches user-created mazes into one continuous whole, playable in any compatible browser.

Microsoft and Namco Bandai have partnered to launch The World’s Biggest Pac-Man, which allows players to create and share their own mazes, all of which are stitched together into one enormous whole.

The project, developed by Australian studio Soap Creative, was unveiled at the MIX11 event in Las Vegas, and is intended as a showcase for Internet Explorer 9 and its support of HTML5, on which the game runs.

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Glitch Enters Beta Next Week

Glitch Enters Beta Next Week

Tiny Speck, developer of browser MMOG, announces belated beta release and calls for testers.

Browser-based MMOG Glitch is to finally enter beta next week, developer Tiny Speck has announced.

The aptly named game was originally intended to enter beta last year, but Tiny Speck was forced to keep the game in alpha while it ironed out problems, adding, tweaking and removing features along the way.

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Chime Super Deluxe Review

Chime Super Deluxe Review

Format: PS3
Release: Out now
Publisher: Zoë Mode
Developer: Zoë Mode

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Capcom’s Ono: Leaks "Kind Of Make Me Happy"

Capcom’s Ono: Leaks "Kind Of Make Me Happy"

“It’s not cool to disrespect our very carefully laid plans...[but] it just shows that people are interested.”

Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono says that the constant leaks that interfere with Capcom’s carefully laid marketing plans are a “disappointment”, but also admits that “it kind of makes me happy...it shows people are interested.”

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Garry’s Mod Sets Pirate Trap

Garry’s Mod Sets Pirate Trap

Creator inserts error message into Source engine mod that only appears in pirated copies.

The eponymous creator of Garry’s Mod inserted an error message into his commercial Source engine mod that only appeared in pirated copies of the game.

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Sega Responds To Streets Of Rage Takedown

Sega Responds To Streets Of Rage Takedown

Developers of fan remake remove download links after Sega intervenes: “We need to protect our IP.”

Sega has shed light on its shutdown of the fan remake of Streets Of Rage, saying: “We need to protect our intellectual property rights.”

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April 12, 2011

Might And Magic: Clash Of Heroes Goes HD

Might And Magic: Clash Of Heroes Goes HD

Critter Crunch developer Capybara Games gives its puzzle-battler a high-definition makeover.

Capybara Games has followed up its Critter Crunch high-definition make over with Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes HD, which launched on PSN and XBLA today.

The game features completely redrawn graphics and a host of new spell animations to take advantage of its more powerful hosts. In addition, Capybara has tweaked some of the game mechanics to make for an improved experience and has added online multiplayer.

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Capcom Announces Dragon's Dogma And Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

Capcom Announces Dragon's Dogma And Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

Also shows Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City, Street Fighter X Tekken and Asura's Wrath at Captivate event.

Capcom has announced two new titles and demonstrated several other in-development games at its private media event, Captivate, which took place in Miami last week.

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Inventor Of The Cartridge-Based Console Dies At 70

Inventor Of The Cartridge-Based Console Dies At 70

Inventor of the cartridge-based console and early coin-op arcade pioneer passes away over the weekend.

Gerald A. "Jerry" Lawson, the creator of the first cartridge-based game console, has died at the age of 70. Lawson designed the electronics for the Video Entertainment System, later renamed the Channel F, while working as an engineer at South Portland-based Fairchild Semiconductor in 1976. He died of unspecified causes.

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Balancing Brink

Balancing Brink
Spash Damage on how to ensure every part of a game works perfectly.

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Turner Broadcasting Invests In TeePee Games

Turner Broadcasting Invests In TeePee Games

Cable broadcaster backs TeePee’s new social game discovery platform, set to launch this month.

Turner Broadcasting Europe has entered into a strategic partnership with TeePee Games, backing the studio’s new social game discovery platform.

The broadcaster, which operates cable networks and is home to brands like Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, as well as the likes of CNN and Bloomberg, said it was giving its backing to TeePee’s platform to “strengthen its already robust digital gaming distribution.”

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Chinese Online Game Market “Will Be Worth $8 Billion”

Chinese Online Game Market “Will Be Worth $8 Billion”

After growing by 25 per cent to reach $5 billion last year, China’s rapid rise set to continue.

The rapidly growing online gaming market in China will exceed $8 billion in 2014, according to a study by consulting firm Pearl Research.

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Abertay Announces First Prototype Fund Successes

Abertay Announces First Prototype Fund Successes

Six projects awarded £25,000 and business development support.

Dundee’s Abertay University has announced the first six projects that have been selected to benefit from its Prototype Fund.

The selection panel whittled down 57 applications to six winners, who will each receive £25,000 and business development support and access to the fund’s “talent pool” of skilled students and alumni.

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Humble Frozenbyte Bundle To Be Released Today

Humble Frozenbyte Bundle To Be Released Today
Finnish Trine developer contributes five games to the third Humble Indie Bundle charity promotion.

The third Humble Indie Bundle, titled Humble Frozenbyte Bundle. will launch later today at 17:30 GMT (9:30 PST), and consists entirely of games from Helsinki-based Trine developer, Frozenbyte.

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Free-To-Play On Xbox Live?

Free-To-Play On Xbox Live?

Microsoft reportedly relaxing its stance on free-to-play games funded by microtransactions.

Free-to-play games will soon be available through Xbox 360 download service Xbox Live, according to reports.

IGN has been told by a “trusted source” that Microsoft is to change its policy regarding free-to-play, which sees games made available as free downloads, funded by the sale of virtual items and other microtransactions.

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World Of Goo Coming To iPhone This Week

World Of Goo Coming To iPhone This Week

Arrives this Thursday, reduced to 99¢ for the first 24 hours; iPad version updated to universal app.

Much-loved indie game World Of Goo will be released for iPhone later this week, developer 2D Boy has announced.

The studio revealed the news in a post on its website. Launching this Thursday, April 14, the iPhone version will be priced at $2.99, but will be reduced to 99¢ for its first 24 hours on sale.

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