PEGI announces new content descriptor for in-game purchases on physical products

January 16th, 2019, 17:42 Posted By: wraggster

Content rating system PEGI today announced it will label physical releases that include in-game spending.
A content descriptor for in-game spending in digital-only games is already in use, but this is the first time the new icon will appear on packaging of physical products.
Simon Little, managing director of PEGI said that making parents aware of optional in-game purchases was an "important first step" in helping them make informed purchasing decisions.
"While we know that parents use different methods to control spending, parental control tools are a very helpful next step in making sure that the overall online experience of the child is safe, including the possibility to control spending," he added.
"Entering into a dialogue with the child about the games they enjoy is certainly a must for all parents. It will provide them with the necessary context to create a gaming environment both the children and the parents are comfortable with."
The new in-game purchases descriptor will begin appearing on physical retail releases towards the end of this year, and will be applied to all titles that feature in-game spending.

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Frontier's Jurassic World Evolution and Planet Coaster both cross 2m sales milestone

January 15th, 2019, 18:19 Posted By: wraggster

Frontier Developments has hit new sales milestones with its three self-published titles.
Planet Coaster has hit two million sales, as has Jurassic World Evolution. The latter game was released just seven months ago, making it the most successful game launch for Frontier to-date.
Meanwhile the long-serving Elite Dangerous has now exceeded three million unit sales.

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Media Create: Nintendo begins 2019 strong in Japan

January 14th, 2019, 16:04 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo's comfortable spot on Japan's sales charts wasn't going to be threatened by anything anytime soon, much less coming off a strong holiday for the company and a major release like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
That's reflected in the latest Media Create sales charts, where Super Smash Bros quite handily smashes every other software release and. Alongside its fellow first-party Nintendo brethren as well as Pokemon and Dragon Quest Builders 2, the title and its bundles helped net Nintendo nearly 200,000 unit sales of Switch hardware.
Aside from the absolute Nintendo dominance at the top of the chart, it's worth taking a look at GO VACATION, which launched in the country on December 27 and seems to be doing well enough as an effective remake of a 2011 Wii game.
In addition, it's interesting to see Dragon Quest Builders 2 garnering nearly as much popularity on the PS4 as it has on the Switch. Combined sales on both platforms would put Dragon Quest Builders 2 above Pokemon Let's Go! on the charts, though not quite at the level of Super Mario Party.
Finally, we see Sega's Yakuza spin-off Judgement, which launched in Japan on the 13th and is still sitting steadily at #10 on PS4.
The top 10 software sellers for the week of December 31, 2018 - January 6, 2019 are shown below, along with hardware sales. The remainder of the chart can be viewed through Media Create.

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Verizon reportedly also testing cloud game streaming service

January 14th, 2019, 16:04 Posted By: wraggster

Following Microsoft, Google, and now apparently Amazon, Verizon may be the latest to jump on the recent trend of experiments in cloud game streaming technology.
According to a report from The Verge, Verizon is currently in the alpha testing phase of Verizon Gaming, a cloud gaming service that will allow players to stream gameplay directly to their devices without the need for large downloads. Verizon Gaming is apparently already functional via the Nvidia Shield set-top box, and will also be usable on Android phones in the near future. In both cases, games would be playable with and Xbox One controller.

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UK Charts: New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe takes No.1 in quiet week

January 14th, 2019, 16:03 Posted By: wraggster

Nintendo's latest Switch release took the (super) crown in the UK Charts this week, with New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe debuting at No.1.
The game -- a port of both the Wii U launch title and it's Luigi-centric expansion -- is only the fourth Switch title to top the charts, following Super Smash Bros Ultimate just before Christmas, Mario Tennis Aces last summer and a two-week stint at No.1 for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe back in April 2017.
NSMBU Deluxe far outperformed its original release, shifting 24.8% more copies than the Wii U version did at launch -- and, as always, that's excluding digital.
Mario's return, plus a 52% sales drop week-on-week, knocks last week's No.1 -- FIFA 19 -- down to No.2. Red Dead Redemption 2 also suffered a similar drop in sales, down 53%, slipping to No.3.
Beyond that, there is little movement in the Top 10. Nintendo holds three positions, with Smash Bros and Mario Kart at No.5 and No.6 respectively.
There is one re-entry this week: Grand Theft Auto V returns to the Top 10, up eight places to No.8.
Naturally, the early weeks of January are often quiet in terms of chart moment due to a lack of new release. The slate of upcoming titles begins to fill out in the second half of the month, with Ace Combat 7 releasing this Friday.

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Amazon reportedly developing its own game streaming service

January 11th, 2019, 16:10 Posted By: wraggster

Amazon may have joined Google and Microsoft in development of a game streaming service that would purportedly allow users to ditch physical discs and downloads and simply play games by streaming them over the internet, according to a recent report.
Two people in the know spoke to The Information about Amazon's ambitions to begin its own service for streaming gameplay online, which reportedly wouldn't be available until 2020 at the earliest. However, Amazon is already apparently in talks with publishers about possible titles that would be distributed as a part of the service.

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God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man lead nominations for 22nd annual DICE Awards

January 11th, 2019, 16:09 Posted By: wraggster

With 12 nominations, God of War has overwhelmingly dominated the roster of honorees at the 22nd annual DICE Awards ahead of the show in February.
God of War is closely followed by Marvel's Spider-Man with 11 nominations, while Red Dead Redemption 2 and Return of the Obra Dinn also saw several mentions at eight and six, respectively. Other games that saw four nominations total include Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Detroit: Become Human, Florence, and Into the Breach.
The winners will be awarded on February 13, 2019 at the 2019 DICE Summit, with the ceremony co-hosted by Kinda Funny's Greg Miller and Nerdist News' Jessica Chobot. Microsoft Corporate VP Bonnie Ross and head of 343 Industries Bonnie Ross will also be honored at this time as this year's Hall of Fame recipient.
The full list of nominations are as follows:
Game of the Year

• God of War
• Into the Breach
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Return of the Obra Dinn

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The UK Games Industry in 2018: Winners and Losers

January 11th, 2019, 16:08 Posted By: wraggster

Last year was a mixed 12 months for the UK boxed games market.
Revenue from boxed software fell 2.8 per cent year-on-year, which is a modest fall and primarily driven by underperforming AAA games. The actual number of physical games dropped 7.1 per cent.
However, console sales rose slightly, and there were three games released that sold over one million units in physical form.
Now with all the data to hand, courtesy of GfK and UKIE, we can take a closer look at how 2018 was for individual businesses operating in the UK.
PLAYSTATION DOMINATES AS NINTENDO GROWS
This was another year of dominance for Sony. 48% of all boxed games sold last year in the UK were for PS4 (slightly down over 2017), and PS4 console sales topped over 1m (GI sources). The number of consoles sold is on par with 2017, which means PS4 in the UK outperformed the rest of the world, as global PS4 sales dipped slightly year-on-year.
It was also a good year for PlayStation as a publisher. The success of God of War and (in particular) Spider-Man, saw Sony claim 9.6% of the market as a games publisher - 1.7 per cent higher than in 2017. Spider-Man alone sold 676,621, making it the fourth best-selling physical game of the year, while God of War was at No.8 with 399,395 copies sold.
Another big winner of the year was Nintendo. The second year of Switch continued where the first left off, and 16.8% of all games sold last year were for Nintendo's latest console - that's more than double 2017's market share.
Nintendo's was the UK's second biggest games publisher last year as 14.1 per cent of all games sold were published by the company. It meant Nintendo was No.2 in the publisher rankings, just 0.6 per cent behind EA.
Mario Kart 8: Deluxe was the No.1 Nintendo game of the year, with 458,675 units sold. Meanwhile, Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu/Eevee sold over 338,270 copies, Super Smash Bros Ultimate shifted 284,155 copies, and Super Mario Odyssey managed 240,710 sales.

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World Health Organization and ESA meet to discuss gaming disorder diagnosis

January 11th, 2019, 16:07 Posted By: wraggster

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the World Health Organziation (WHO) have revealed today that the two groups came together back in December of last year to discuss the WHO's inclusion last year of "gaming disorder" as an official addictive disorder.
The WHO made this official last June in its section of addictive disorders in the 11th International Classification of Diseases. The inclusion was met with criticism from across the gaming industry, with the ESA at the time saying it "recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder."
According to Reuters, the two groups met in Geneva last month to discuss the issue, exchange information, and share views on upcoming WHO activities related the industry and how gaming will play a role in those.
The ESA called "more conversation and education" before WHO classifications were finalized and took effect.
"It's our hope that through continued dialogue we can help the WHO avoid rushed action and mistakes that could take years to correct," said ESA CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis. "The billions of video game players around the world who will be affected by an ICD-11 classification error deserve action based on meticulous research.
"As an industry we are committed to collaborating with stakeholders, researchers, policymakers, and parents to ensure best-in-class ratings, parental controls, and other tools help video game players and parents understand and manage healthy video game play."
The WHO has said another future meeting with the ESA was tentatively in the works.
UPDATE: British trade body UKIE has issued its own statement to GamesIndustry.biz about the industry dialogue it attended with the World Health Organisation back in December.
The group said: "In the UK, over 30 million people play games; with over 2 billion people worldwide enjoying games safely and sensibly. Leading mental health experts have cautioned repeatedly that classifying 'Gaming Disorder' creates a risk of misdiagnosis for those who most need help and any decision about including gaming disorder must therefore be based on robust and unequivocal evidence.
"We hope that through continued dialogue, with us and the wider scientific community, the WHO will reconsider the mounting evidence put before them before the final version of ICD-11 is endorsed next year. We also hope that they can demonstrate a transparent and due process as this decision will have implications on national health systems across the world.

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Exhibition on LGBTQ gaming history opens in Berlin

January 10th, 2019, 20:17 Posted By: wraggster

The Schwules Museum in Berlin has opened a new exhibition exploring the game industry's queer history.
Co-curated by museum curator Jan Schnorrenberg, German game journalist Sarah Rudolph, and Dr Adrienne Shaw from Temple University, the Rainbow Arcade is the first exhibition of its kind and shows a wide range of exhibits from the last 30 years.
The exhibition includes art, merchandise, video interviews with developers, and playable games such as Caper in Castro - one of the first openly queer games.
It is also accompanied by a supporting program from international developers, artists, and scientists.
With the Rainbow Arcade, the Schwules Museum intends to highlight the industry's extensive, but overlooked, LGBTIQ history.
"The thread of the exhibition is the remarkable fact that video games have become a natural part of our contemporary culture, but any new title that does not negatively represent LGBTIQ and its realities in life is quickly celebrated as groundbreaking or defamed as ideological politicisation," said the musuem in a statement.
"And this despite the fact that sensitive coming-out storylines and open marriages can already be found in mainstream titles of the 1990s.

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Chinese government approves another 84 games for release

January 10th, 2019, 20:15 Posted By: wraggster

The Chinese government has approved another wave of new games, taking the total approved since last year's freeze to 164.
A list released by China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television showed 84 new approvals for video games. However, according to Reuters, both Tencent and NetEase were absent from the group.

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Streamlabs: Twitch growth slows as streamers turn to YouTube and Facebook

January 10th, 2019, 20:13 Posted By: wraggster

Streamers are increasingly turning to YouTube and Facebook as growth on Twitch slowed to its lowest rate all year in Q4 2018.
That's according to the latest quarterly report from livestream tools developer Streamlabs, which found the number of active streamers grew 8% for the period.
YouTube Live meanwhile saw a 21% increase in active streamers up to 756,0000, with a 75% increase in 2018.
It was a similar story for Facebook Live, which saw a 23% increase in active streamers quarter-over-quarter to 87,000, with a 91% increase overall in 2018.
Microsoft's Mixer platform is struggling however. Not only has the concurrent streamer number fallen by 2,000 since Q2, but the active streamer growth has stagnated. Despite this however, concurrent viewership is up 27% quarter-over-quarter to 28,000, having increased 195% in 2018.

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Sony acquires Audiokinetic

January 8th, 2019, 20:42 Posted By: wraggster

Sony Interactive Entertainment is acquiring Audiokinetic, the company announced today. The two have struck a deal expected to close by the end of January that will see the Montreal-based maker of Wwise and other cross-platform audio middleware join the PlayStation family.
"A rich and all-encompassing audio experience is increasingly critical to the overall gameplay experience, further enhancing immersion and emotion for the player," SIE president and CEO John Kodera said. "Audiokinetic is a preeminent provider of audio solutions for the gaming industry, and we are confident that this acquisition will allow us to further grow the PlayStation platform and contribute to the broader gaming industry. It's our goal to support Audiokinetic's efforts to advance its audio technology while maintaining independence and platform neutrality."

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FIFA 19 returns to No.1 in UK physical charts

January 7th, 2019, 16:53 Posted By: wraggster

As we await the arrival of the first combined digital/physical UK chart, UKIE/GfK has revealed that FIFA 19 was the top-selling physical game last week.
It's the first chart of the year and with no new games released physically, so therefore the Top Ten is almost exactly the same.
The most noticeable difference is at the top with FIFA 19 and Red Dead Redemption 2 swapping positions. Red Dead 2 sales fell 64 per cent week-on-week, while FIFA 19's sales fell 62 per cent. That's how close it is at the top.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 retains No.3 with a 71 per cent sales fall, while Super Smash Bros Ultimate is still at No.4 with a 56 per cent sales drop. Battlefield V rounds of the Top Five, just like it did last week.
The sales drops are all due to the end of the Christmas selling period. Overall boxed sales fell 59 per cent week-on-week, but they are broadly in-line with the sales generated during the first week of 2017 (slightly down in units and up in revenue).

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Lego: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit pulled from digital storefronts

January 4th, 2019, 21:24 Posted By: wraggster

• <article>
  Two more video games have been lost to the digital abyss of expired contracts. Warner Bros.' Lego: The Lord of the Rings and Lego: The Hobbit have both been delisted from their once available digital storefronts. According to the publisher, neither game is scheduled to be available in the future, so you'll have to get a hold of a physical copy on console, or already own the game digitally if you plan on playing it. Luckily, Lego: The Hobbit was given away for free through the Humble Store last month, allowing for many people to claim it before its delisting. Lego: The Lord of the Rings was developed by Traveller's Tales, and initially released in 2012, for PC. Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. There were also handheld versions of the game on mobile, DS, and 3DS. Both titles boast user reviews that are positive, with the first having an 82% on Metacritic, and the second having a 72% average score.
  
  Source
  </article>
  
  
  

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Star Control creators defend DMCA takedown notice against Stardock

January 4th, 2019, 14:46 Posted By: wraggster

Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche have defended their decision to use a DMCA takedown notice against developer Stardock and its upcoming game, Star Control: Origins.
The notice was ultimately successful in blocking the game's release, a decision upheld by the Northern District Court of California.
Stardock CEO Brad Wardell objected to the use of DMCA take notice in this context.
"To my knowledge, never in the history of our industry has anyone attempted to use the DMCA system to take down a shipping game before," he said.
"For example, when PUBG sued Fortnite for copyright infringement, they didn't try to take Fortnite down with a DMCA notice."
In the statement, Wardell also noted that Stardock made several changes to "appease Reiche and Ford", adding: "To date, no specific demands have been made to us."
However, Ford and Reiche have now defended their decision, and clarified what Stardock actually acquired when it purchased the Star Control franchise following Atari's bankruptcy auction in 2013.
According to Ford and Reiche, Stardock's acquisition of the franchise included only the Star Control trademark, and the original parts of Star Control 3, and that anything not listed was excluded.

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"Not enough evidence" that screen time is harmful to children

January 4th, 2019, 12:56 Posted By: wraggster

A new report has contested the notion that time spent in front of screens inherently has a 'toxic' effect on young people.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has published the UK's first screen time guidance report to address concerns that too much time playing video games, using smart devices or engaged in other screen-based activities can be harmful.
The institution reports there is "not enough evidence to confirm that screen time is in itself harmful to child health at any age."
As a result, it is "impossible" to recommend age appropriate time limits, instead urging parents to "approach screen time based on the child's development age [and] individual need."
Families are encouraged to monitor whether screen time is displacing socialising, physical exercise and sleep -- and if so, to negotiate it between parent and child.
The report also reminds parents that: "Both video content and games have certification systems, designed to protect children from inappropriate content.
"It is important that parents are aware of these systems, and mindful of them, especially when older siblings may be playing violent or explicit games."
Two more specific recommendations worth noting include avoiding screen time for at least an hour before bed, and to control snacking while engaged in screen-based activities.
In the study on which the report is based, 88% of children said screen time had a negative impact on their sleep, with kids spending an average of 1.5 hours on screens before falling asleep.
Meanwhile, the RCPCH's officer for health promotion Dr Max Davie said watching screens can "distract children from feeling full" so parents need to monitor how much they are eating while in front of a screen.
The study was based on 109 children and young people between 11 and 24 years old, who said they spend an average of 2.5 hours on a computer, laptop or tablet, two hours on their phone, and two hours watching TV per day.
Davie continued: "Technology is an integral part of the lives of children and young people. They use it for communication, entertainment, and increasingly in education.

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Super Smash Bros and PlayStation gift cards dominate Amazon 2018 chart

January 4th, 2019, 12:55 Posted By: wraggster

The US arm of Amazon has revealed that Super Smash Bros Ultimate was the best-selling game at the retailer last year.
The game, which sold three million copies in just 11 days in the US, beat competition from PlayStation Store gift cards and a screen protector for Nintendo Switch.


It was a strong showing for Switch throughout the chart, with the console itself coming in at No.6. The next highest charting console was the NES Classic at No.17 and then the SNES Classic at No.26.
The chart highlights how Amazon has proven to be a popular destination for Switch customers, and it also shows the role traditional retailers can play in the digital space.

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UK boxed software sales slip in 2018, but hardware is up

January 3rd, 2019, 17:04 Posted By: wraggster

Updated: £770 million was generated by UK boxed video game sales in 2018.
The latest data from GfK/UKIE shows that the revenue generated from physical video games declined 2.8 per cent.
The actual number of boxed games sold last year was 22 million, a bigger drop of 7.1 per cent.
The reason the revenue drop was smaller than the physical drop was due to the sale of more higher priced products, particularly Nintendo Switch games. Indeed, Nintendo Switch is the only platform which increased its software sales year-on-year (unsurprising for a console in its second year, and considering the machine was only on sale for ten months of 2017). Switch game sales increased 90.1 per cent over 2017 (and revenue increased 73.4 per cent).
It's a disappointing result for games retailers, who might have expected a small improvement in sales with the number of major titles released in the latter half of the year. However, key titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Fallout 76, FIFA 19 and Battlefield V sold fewer units than previous titles.
PS4 accounted for 42.2 per cent of all the games sold at retail last year, followed by Xbox One (30.5 per cent) and then Nintendo Switch (24 per cent). The rest was made up of 3DS (2.1 per cent), PC (0.7 per cent), Nintendo Wii (0.2 per cent) and Xbox 360 (0.2 per cent).
Compared to 2017, PS4 games sales dropped 9.7% and Xbox One game sales fell 12.7 per cent.
Note: This is just physical games, digital is not included.
The official hardware numbers have yet to come in, although GamesIndustry.biz understands that more consoles were sold in 2018 than 2017. PS4 remarkably saw an increase in console sales and shifted over one million units, while Nintendo Switch was the big growth area, with a sales increase of more than 20 per cent year-on-year. PS4 remained the No.1 console for the year. In total, just shy of 2.5 million games machines were sold last year in the UK.

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Slightly Mad developing standalone, VR-supportive console

January 3rd, 2019, 17:02 Posted By: wraggster

Project CARS 2 studio Slightly Mad appears to be working on its own standalone home console system, currently called The Mad Box.
This morning, company CEO Ian Bell tweeted "The Mad Box is coming," followed by a handful of replies offering details as to the current plans for the machine.
"What is the Mad Box?" one tweet read. "It's the most powerful console ever built...It's literally 'Mad'...You want 4k, you want VR at 60FPS? You want a full engine for free to develop your games on it? You have it."
Other tweets from Bell said the console was planned to work with VR headsets and offer VR at 60 FPS "per eye" or 120 FPS for the console as a whole. He also said it would be compatible with existing PC peripherals including both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, as well as unspecified racing wheels and fight sticks.
In a follow-up conversation with Variety, Bell said that the Mad Box was planned to ship in about three years, would be available worldwide, and would be its own, standalone console like the Xbox or PlayStation but would also be compatible with most VR headsets on the market. Cost will be "competitive with upcoming console prices," said Bell.
"It will support most major VR headsets and those upcoming and the specs will be equivalent to a very fast PC 2 years from now," he said. "We're in early talks with manufacturers of components so we can't say much more right now other than we have the designs specced out in detail."

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