Former Kuju business development manager Joel Benton has launched a new digital download-only publisher called Easy Tiger.
Likening the company to a record label for musicians, Benton said that Easy Tiger will reverse the traditional publisher/developer business model by offering studios a way to keep their own IP.
Format: WiiWare
Developer: Monster Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Release: Out now (US), TBC (UK)
Sony’s SingStar karaoke series has reached 20 million copies sold worldwide.
Developed by SCEE London Studios and first launched in 2004, SingStar is the platform holder’s most successful social franchise.
The series is most popular in Europe, with PAL sales topping 16 million units.
Australian developer Fuzzyeyes has cut the majority of its workforce and suspended internal development in a bid to reduce operating costs as it restructures.
Confirming earlier reports, CEO Wei-Yao Lu said in a statement that affected staff members were let go on September 30 after the company ran into a number of challenges, including the “economic downturn and some legal complications”.
Nintendo has sold over six million Wii units in the UK since the console launched almost three years ago, according to newly released data from sales tracker GfK Chart-Track.
That makes Wii “the fastest selling videogame console in UK history and the quickest ever to reach six million units sold”, Nintendo said.
THQ has appointed Germaine Gioia as senior vice president, licensing and merchandising. Gioia rejoins THQ after serving three years as senior vice president, licensing for Capcom in both the US and Europe.
“We are pleased to welcome Germaine back to THQ. She will play an integral role in both securing new intellectual properties for THQ as well as expanding the merchandising opportunities for our own brands,” said Brian Farrell, president and CEO, THQ.
GOA has said that the European servers of Warrior Epic will close as of December 21. In a statement released to the community the publisher blames lack of players as the main reason behind the move. However, European players can continue playing the title via the US server.
A statement released on the European Warrior Epic website reads:
Stock in GameStop fell 7.7 per cent to $22.01 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Bloomberg reports.
The drop is being attributed to the fact that Wal-Mart has slashed prices on the top 25 titles by as much as 20 per cent through to December 24.
EA and DICE have restructured the pricing system behind its popular free-to-play, casual PC shooter Battlefield: Heroes, much to the dismay of the game’s following.
THQ and DreamWorks have signed a multi-year, multi-property licensing deal that gives the videogame publisher and developer exclusive worldwide rights to create titles based on DreamWorks Animation’s animated feature films.
The deal immediately covers the upcoming DreamWorks pictures Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, Puss In Boots and CG animated TV show, The Penguins of Madagascar.
EA has officially announced that it is rebooting its Medal Of Honor first person shooter franchise.
For the first time in its ten year history the series will leave the theatre of WWII in favour of a modern, war-torn Afghanistan setting.
Set for release on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2010, Medal of Honor is in development at EALA, while EA DICE is working on the title’s multiplayer component.
Australian developer Fuzzyeyes Studio is said to be on the verge of closing its doors.
The Brisbane-headquartered developer has “effectively shut down”, according to Kotaku sources.
A former Fuzzyeyes developer also claimed that production of the studio’s Xbox 360, PS3 and PC action adventure title Edge Of Twilight ceased months ago.
As well as its Brisbane base, Fuzzyeyes has offices in Beijing and Singapore.
Smith & Tinker, the toy and online games firm set up by FASA Studios founder Jordan Weisman, has reportedly laid off around 30 per cent of its workforce.
VentureBeat reports that around 15 of Smith & Tinker’s 50 employees were let go.
Nintendo has slowed Wii production on the back of reduced demand, dealing a blow to the console’s Japanese component manufacturers.
Mitsumi and Hosiden could suffer 50 per cent revenue declines this fiscal year as the platform holder scales back Wii production, according to Nikkei (via Spong).
Format: DSi
Release: Out now
Publisher: WayForward Technologies
Developer: In-house
Third party peripheral firm Logitech is said to be working on a PSPgo add-on that enables users to play UMD games on the portable, reports CVG.
The site’s source didn’t offer a price or release date, only noting that the peripheral will “make the PSP a little bulky”.
Logitech's UK office said: "We're not aware of it, so it may be something the US office is working on."
Publisher Mindscape has formed a new French game studio, Punchers Impact, which will focus on the development of downloadable titles for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
The online-focused studio opened in October with around 40 members of staff, including former EA and Free Radical employees.
The end of the decade is nearly here. To mark the occasion, in the decade’s last issue of Edge we will be recognising the games, the people and the events that have defined the past ten years, and this is your opportunity to be part of it.
Specifically, we'd like you to propose the following:
1. Your game of the decade
2. Your person of the decade
3. Your moment of the decade
Sackboy beats out competition from Boom Blox Bash Party, Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise and de Blob for best videogame.
This port from Wii to Xbox 360 and PS3 might have passed almost unnoticed if it was not for its context. Producing gamer-orientated games for Wii has been a distinguishing feature of Marvelous Entertainment's recent activity, from the excellent Little King's Story to Muramasa: The Demon Blade. After all, if the company can find a way to access the vast number of Wii units on the market, it would have big hits on its hands.
Put simply, this game was absolutely unimaginable a year before its release.” So runs the comment in our 100 Most Significant Reviews special on Gran Turismo’s ten out of ten score, and that ten has always provoked debate. Those for it agree there’s no question that The Real Driving Simulator redefined the console racing game, ripping it from its arcade roots, and set a new standard for the breadth, fidelity and flexibility of game software that would – and still does – cause ripples way beyond its genre.
Activision's shooter continues to hold off Assassin's Creed II and New Super Mario Bros. Wii in latest UK sales chart.
In a week with no new entries in the top twenty, the top selling three games are identical to the previous chart, despite Modern Warfare 2's sales dropping 32 per cent on last week's figures. FIFA 10, now in fourth, swops places with Wii Sports Resort, now in sixth. The only entry which wasn't on last week's chart is Codemasters' F1 2010 for Wii and PSP, up one place to tenth.
BBC sources reveal that Microsoft's Live paid content policy clashes with BBC's free model.
According to UK newspaper Telegraph, sources close to the BBC’s Future Media and Technology department, which runs iPlayer, have said that a deal between Microsoft and the BBC has been held up because of Microsoft's policy of charging for all content on Xbox Live.
Format: C64
Realease: 1987
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Archer Maclean
