Test Drive Unlimited 2 can't dislodge Black Ops and Dead Space 2 from the top of this week's UK Top Sellers Buzz chart.
Brian Farrell urges introduction of microtransaction support, saying: “consumers are going to demand it.”
Publisher THQ has called on hardware manufacturers Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft to change their business models by introducing support for microtransactions.
Publisher insists figures consistent with shift in focus as online revenue climbs.
Atari’s sales revenue for the nine months to December 31, 2010 dropped by over 55 per cent year on year to €41 million, according to its latest financial statements.
The publisher insists that the figures are in line with its outlook following a change in tack as it releases fewer, more profitable games, and increases its focus on online.
Those touting the end of packaged software “don’t share the same reality as consumers,” says Fischer.
Nintendo has said the rise of low-cost smartphone and downloadable games has not forced a shift in focus to digital sales, and dismissed the notion of increased digital revenues impacting on retail sales.
Just what can a game such as Just Dance for the Wii bring to the life of a school? How can it impact on girls attitudes to physical exercise and what can it do to encourage a whole school to be active? This post shares the experience of the teachers and pupils at Doon Academy in Scotland and how their partnership with LTS' Consolarium team helped explore this game based learning resource. Watch out for the video and audio material towards the end of the post.
But SCE president says NGP "isn't just a platform for porting PS3 titles".
Shuhei Yoshida, president of SCE worldwide studios, has told us that one of Sony’s primary aims when designing PSP successor Next Generation Portable was ensuring that porting games from PlayStation 3 was as easy as possible.
Buys out middleware developer for $36m to offer more efficient, integrated development tools.
Leading entertainment software developer Autodesk has announced that it is to acquire middleware firm Scaleform in a $36 million deal.
The straight cash acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed before the end of April.
Fan demand could see a return for much-loved Clover Studios games, says Okamiden producer.
Okamiden producer Motohide Eshiro says Capcom is open to the prospect of sequels to Okami and God Hand.
Email warning to those running custom firmware or pirated software threatening console bans from PSN.
Sony has issued PlayStation users it believes to be playing pirated PlayStation 3 software with a stark warning: change your ways or face a ban from PlayStation Network.
EA boss regrets reliance on established IP and lack of digital strategy during last hardware transition.
EA CEO John Riccitiello has admitted that the company “dropped the ball” by overusing established IP in the transition to the current generation of consoles.
Standard 70-30 split for subscriptions sold through the App Store; no commission on those sold externally.
Apple has announced that the subscription service that debuted in News Corp’s The Daily app is to be rolled out across the App Store.
App publishers can set prices and lengths of subscription and, if purchased through the App Store, users can set up their subscription using the same one-click system used to download normal apps.
BioWare, DreamWorks and 5th Cell offer their perspectives on modern game development at the 2011 DICE Summit.
The DICE Summit largely provides the opportunity for high-level gaming executives to meet, play golf and poker and relax, but for those interested the schedule of sessions offered a variety of fascinating insight into the development process — some from the most unlikely of places.
Microsoft video demonstrates what might be possible using the devices in the future.
Yesterday, at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Microsoft showed a short trailer (see below) which demonstrates the potential for integration between Windows Phone 7 and Kinect.
At the Consolarium we have a long history in trying out games built for entertainment in the educational setting. This has been particularly true of games such as Nintendogs and Eyepet. These games were most definitely built for entertainment but the educational potential within these superb digital experiences is fantastic. As always, we continue to look to see what else can be explored in the games world in terms of its appropriate use in teaching and learning contexts…
The Kinect system for Microsoft’s Xbox360 games console was something that we greatly anticipated, particularity when we saw how the game Kinectimals might allow us to continue the theme of caring and nurturing for a digital creature/pet that was central to the experience in using Nintendogs and the Eyepet. If you haven’t seen Kinectimals then have a quick look:
As you can see we have the most wonderful participative world that has no controller but the player/players themselves! Just what, we wondered, could such a resource bring to the classroom and how it could support opportunities to develop rich learning experiences within Curriculum for Excellence.
Having shared this idea and proposed pilot project with the delegates at the LTS Early Years conference in November 2010 we were approached by Judi Regan from Menzieshill Nursery School in Dundee who said that she’d be more than willing to try out the resource in her setting. This agreed and after a discussion about its possible use we loaned the kit out to the school and let them get on with it. Alas, as is often the case with educational technology in schools, some technical issues presented some small hurdles that had to be cleared before any teaching and learning could be addressed! Issues related to linking up the audio to a pair of old PC speakers were eventually rectified and it was all systems go (apart from a scratched disc that had to be replaced)!
The resource was introduced to the staff by Judi and Louise Reid at last week’s in-service day and this was followed up today by me when I spent all morning working with various groups of children and their workers in order to set up profiles and start them on their journey with Kinectimals. It must be said that initial reactions to the resource from the children varied from bemusement to excitement but with very many of them wanting to know when it would be their turn!
Lousie Reid (Acting Head) and Judi Regan will be sharing their experiences via guest blogposts on our site over the next few weeks as well as through their seminar at the Game To Learn: Take 2! GBL Conference in Dundee on Saturday 19 March. Come along to hear their story and in the meantime have a listen to our chat with Judi about the early beginnings of their Kinectimals project.
Judi Regan discussion transcript
If you are also using Kinectimals in your seting we’d love to hear from you. Watch out for the developing story from the team and children at Menzieshill Nursery School.
Project Gotham developer to close its doors on February 18, after 16 years of making games.
Ngmoco owner’s mobile social network given English logo ahead of western expansion.
Japanese mobile firm DeNA has announced a rebranding of its mobile social network Mobage-town, giving it an English logo and renaming it Mobage.
Open app store eyes further expansion after quadrupling download volumes in past year.
Cross-platform app store GetJar has announced that it has secured $25 million in funding as it seeks to continue its rapid expansion.
Union optimising platform and API for Xperia Play games which Sony Ericsson will actively promote.
Unity Technologies has announced that it has entered into a partnership with Sony Ericsson that will see Unity-developed games released for the gaming handset Xperia Play through its Union business unit.
ARG pioneer Jane McGonigal argues “games are the most productive thing we can do with our time.”
As the DICE Summit’s closing keynote game designer and researcher, Jane McGonigal, asked the small audience that remained if the “three billion hours” that the world spends playing video games is worth it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she answered with a yes — but only as long as the industry works harder on creating real life positive impact from play.
Cevat Yerli thanks community for support and reassures fans that PC “will always be important”.
Crysis 2 developer Crytek has insisted that it still considers the PC to be an important platform despite the potential impact on sales of its upcoming sequel leaking over the weekend.
Strong sales of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and range of dance titles see Q3 sales climb to €600m.
Ubisoft’s sales revenue for the third quarter of the fiscal year rose 21.2 per cent to €600 million, according to its latest financial results.
Sales for the three months ending December 31 saw the publisher comfortably exceed its forecast sales total of €520 million, leading it to forecast that sales revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31 will be €1.02 billion, a year on year increase of 17 per cent.
EA stopped development on sequel to firstperson parkour title after original’s poor sales, says developer.
Development on a sequel to Mirror’s Edge was “stopped” by publisher EA in the light of lukewarm sales of the original game.
Players of free, ad-supported iPhone games each worth $4 a month in ad revenue.
Free iPhone games generate an average of $4 per user per month in advertising revenue, according to mobile advertising optimisation firm Mobclix.
World’s most successful console passes milestone in less than 11 years; 1.57 billion games sold.
Worldwide sales of the PlayStation 2 have passed the 150 million mark, according to manufacturer Sony.
The system passes the milestone 10 years and 11 months after its initial release in Japan in March 2000.
A staggering 1.52 billion games have been sold worldwide for the system since launch, and its software library currently boasts 10,828 titles.
Facebook gaming king seeking $250 million in capital that values firm at $7-9 billion.
Social gaming developer Zynga has embarked on a $250 million round of funding that values the company at between $7 billion and $9 billion.