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January 2nd, 2012, 21:37 Posted By: wraggster
Zynga's success and Team Fortress 2's switch prompted an industry-wide shift to freemium in 2011, but has it paid off?
Social
The year began with Zynga's CityVille being named the biggest Facebook game of all time, breaking the record set by another Zynga game, FarmVille, by amassing 88.4 million monthly active users in the space of a month. Just ten days later, that would hit 100 million. Despite the introduction of Facebook Credits - a compulsory virtual currency from which the social network takes a 30 per cent cut - affecting Zynga's revenue, and slew of acquisitions hitting profits, speculation was rife that the company would take to the stock market valued at up to $20 billion. In early July, Zynga announced its intent to file an initial public offering, seeking to raise a billion dollars from investors. The IPO finally went through in December, with Zynga valued at £10 billion despite a turbulent few months behind the scenes.
Zynga's success naturally fuelled interest in free-to-play social gaming from elsewhere, with one report claiming the sector would be worth $5 billion by 2015. In February, EA promised greater focus on Facebook, buoyed by data showing the social network boasted 290 million gamers playing an average of three and a half hours per month. It would later launch The Sims Social and amass 30 million monthly active users in the space of a month. Capcom set up a social studio, Beeline Interactive, and so seriously is it taking the shift that a company-wide initiative is being spearheaded by Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono. Buzz developer Relentless switched entirely to digital development, boss Andrew Eades telling us free-to-play was "exactly the way to go."
It wasn't just Facebook: games hit Google+ in August, with EA, PopCap and Zynga on board. Japanese mobile social network Mobage arrived in the west in July, with the Super Creators programme seeing high-profile developers including Keiji Inafune, Suda51 and Yuji Naka developing games for the service. Namco Bandai partnered with DeNA Co; Gree announced a new, global mobile social network. In June, freemium overtook paid apps on the Apple App Store, accounting for 65 per cent of revenue during the month.
PC
After a relatively quite start to the year, with just Ghost Recon and Arma 2 switching to free-to-play, the floodgates opened in June when Valve introduced F2P games to its Steam platform. The modest initial lineup - five games including Champions Online and Spiral Knights - would be given a huge boost when, later that month, Valve made its hugely popular multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 free-to-play.
With Valve showing the way, both with one of its own games and allowing freemium titles on a distribution platform which one report claimed controlled 70 per cent of the PC gaming market, what followed was, perhaps, not too surprising. The likes of City Of Heroes, Lego Universe, Tribes: Ascend, Heroes Of Newerth, Star Trek Online and Aion would all go free-to-play before the end of the year. League Of Legends developer Riot Games boasted of 1.4 million daily players; German browser game developer Bigpoint has 220 million registered users. With paid-for MMOGs on the decline - World Of Warcraft has shed two million users in the last 12 months - free-to-play is fast becoming the rule, rather than the exception, on PC.
Console
Nintendo spent much of 2011 dismissing mobile and social games, and in June company president Satoru Iwata emphatically ruled out free-to-play games on Nintendo platforms. "Nintendo is a company which is trying to maintain the overall value of videogames," he said. "When we look at the entire system of freemium ... there's only a limited number of people who are willing to pay and many others who are not paying for game titles at all. Nintendo is not interested."
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/2011-round-free-play
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January 2nd, 2012, 21:27 Posted By: wraggster
Alec Liu of Fox News reports that Amazon, Facebook and Google are considering a coordinated blackout of the internet to protest SOPA, the Stop Online Privacy Act being debated in Congress. From the article: 'Such a move is drastic. And though the details of exactly how it would work are unclear, it's already under consideration, according to Markham Erickson, the executive director of NetCoalition, a trade association that includes the likes of Google, PayPal, Yahoo, and Twitter. With the Senate debating the SOPA legislation at the end of January, it looks as if the tech industry's top dogs are finally adding bite to their bark, something CNET called "the nuclear option." "When the home pages of Google.com, Amazon.com, Facebook.com, and their Internet allies simultaneously turn black with anti-censorship warnings that ask users to contact politicians about a vote in the U.S. Congress the next day on SOPA," Declan McCullagh wrote, "you'll know they're finally serious."
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/...to-combat-sopa
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January 1st, 2012, 01:30 Posted By: wraggster
via MCV
There’s no end to the list of adversities the games industry had to fend off in the last 12 months to ensure a prosperous 2011.
The global economic meltdown has provided a horrific backdrop for the country, and none have been affected worse than retail. And as a response retail has at times been its worst enemy – the sort of savage price-dropping that has characterised games retail this year is good for the consumer, but is it good for the wider business?
On top of that we have a console cycle in flux, with ancient (in tech terms) consoles trying to fight for consumer spend, and a handheld sector that has been left in disarray thanks to the rise of the app model.
But, you know what? 2011 was a brilliant year for games. Why? Just look at some of the releases we’ve seen in the last 12 months.
I’ve been a gamer for effectively as long as I can remember. I’ve been employed in gaming since 2002. But, hand on heart, I can honestly say that I don’t think we’ve ever had a stronger year in terms of quality of games.
As we saw on MCV earlier this week, my top three games of the year were all of remarkable quality. Just look at the list – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Portal 2. Three of the best games ever made (though, notably, I love none of them as much as my pick of 2010 – Heavy Rain).
But picking just three titles for the upcoming feature was a nightmare. It felt like a crime leaving out FIFA 12, which in my opinion is not only the best football game ever released (yes, it’s better than Sensible World of Soccer 96-97 and Winning Eleven 7 International) but also the sports game. Ever. I’ll also quickly mention Fight Night Champion and Top Spin 4 here, if you’ll indulge me.
Then there’s Killzone 3. Oh, my beloved Killzone 3. If any of you reading this were the ones responsible for not loving this game more in the press then curses on you.
In fact, we’ve been spoilt for choice in the FPS genre. Forget the bickering and the sales numbers – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the best single player COD to date and Battlefield 3 is simply tremendous online. And the first single player level is good, too.
Crysis 2 was, despite having the nerve to stray from its PC predecessor, a simply awesome shooter that I cannot believe I’ve not finished yet. And the console re-release of Crysis was excellent too. I also enjoyed the shooting in Rage, once the textures had loaded in.
Let’s not forget Bulletstorm. Yes, a new IP! And with FEAR 3 Warner did exactly what I wanted – ditched most of the scary stuff that made me tense and focus on the already rock-solid gunplay. And, y’know, even Homefront was pretty good online. Though “PRESS X TO JUMP INTO MASS GRAVE” thing still makes me cringe.
I’ll be shot if I don’t mention Batman: Arkham City (even if I confess to not loving as mush as the rest of the world) but I’d rather highlight the majesty of Child of Eden. I booked a day off work to play that, incidentally. That was a good day.
I’ve even enjoyed some platform games this year. Rayman Origins caught me completely off guard, and Sonic Generations managed to become the first Sonic game I’ve enjoyed since Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Ah yes – there was the tiny matter of Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS, too.
It would be remiss not to give special mention to LA Noire. I grew tired of its formula around two thirds through but at times it felt like the best game ever made. And whilst certainly not the best game ever made, Dead Island managed to carve out an odd little niche for itself in a lot of gamers’ hearts. Uncharted 3 wasn't 'alf bad either.
Though I struggled to stop playing the mighty Gran Turismo 5, there were plenty of good new driving titles this year too. F1 2011 was fantastic, despite the annoying bugs, and who even considered the possibility that Ubisoft’s obscure body-shifting mechanic would actually translate into an awesome game in the shape of Driver: San Francisco?
While I stand relatively alone on the subject, I’ll once again put in a mention of Shift 2. When it comes to visceral driving simulators, EA has nailed it right there. I’ll also admit something here that I’ve not been keen to advertise until now – I actually forked out real money to buy some cars in Forza 4. Which makes me lame, but the game very, very awesome.
Even the age-old shooter has had a cracking year. Two classic Cave shooters were brought to market courtesy of the really quite wonderful Rising Star Games – Deathsmiles and DoDonPachi: Resurrection, and both were incredible. And we even had Radiant Silvergun released on XBLA!
And don’t forget PC shooter Jamestown, either. It was made in the West! A 2D shooter. Made in the US. And it was really, really good.
The list of fabulous iOS games is too long to contemplate, but off the top of my head I’ll happily put the Parfitt Badge of Approval on Where’s My Water, Tiny Wings, Flick Home Run, Flick Soccer, Hardlines, KungFu, Bike Baron, DrawRace 2 and Danmaku.
And finally, by token of it being unlike anything else I’ve ever played, I’ll spare a final word for Universe Sandbox. Not heard of it? Then open Steam and download it right now.
Yes, you can mark 2011 down for lack of originality and you can mark me down for still remaining largely ignorant of the wonderful indie sector that continues to go from strength to strength.
But in terms of raw craft and the ability of developers to continue to better themselves, 2011 was for a me a demonstration of a maturing industry that is beginning to finely hone its potential.
Roll on 2012. And Happy New Year.
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January 1st, 2012, 01:29 Posted By: wraggster
A glut of Q4 blockbusters rescued the UK games market from the ten-year low it hit over the summer.
Smash hits like Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 12, Battlefield 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and more kept retailers busy, while consumer events GAMEfest and Eurogamer Expo drew in thousands of gaming fans and families.
Meanwhile, trailers teasing the future delights of Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us and Fortnite prepared the industry for what is shaping up to be a busy 2012.
SEPTEMBER
NOTABLE RELEASE
FIFA 12 – EA’s venerable footy franchise hit its 19th iteration, but showed no sign of age, introducing new tackling and animations which transformed the game.
IN THE NEWS
Intent Media launches MCV Pacific
Game-streaming service OnLive arrives in the UK
Asda relaunches its entertainment site with plans for game downloads
Nintendo releases Metallic Red 3DS
GAMEfest attracts 30,000 visitors, Eurogamer Expo draws in 35,000
GAME and HMV open new concept stores in Westfield Stratford City at the Olympic Village
Star Wars: The Old Republic is finally confirmed for a 2011 release, due in December
Big Brother moves to Channel 5. We still don’t watch it.
OCTOBER
NOTABLE RELEASE
Battlefield 3 – EA’s major bid to reclaim the FPS market may not have toppled Activision’s Call of Duty, but significantly grew its publisher’s market share.
IN THE NEWS
Colin Campbell is named Games Media Legend at 2012 GMAs; Edge, Eurogamer, IGN and VideoGamer also take home prizes
Warner Bros adopts Online Pass system by locking second-hand users out of Batman: Arkham City’s Catwoman content
iPhone 4S lands on shelves ten days after its unveiling
Research shows that half of the UK’s population plays video games
EA Sports smashes its own records, with FIFA 12 selling 1m copies in the UK in one week
MCV reveals publishers are spending £165m on Christmas marketing
Apple founder Steve Jobs passes away
NOVEMBER
NOTABLE RELEASE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Activision once again rewrote entertainment retail records. The game generated $1bn worldwide in just 16 days.
IN THE NEWS
Modern Warfare 3 and Skyrim contribute to the UK games market’s biggest week ever, with retailers taking £121m in seven days
The Government announces it will close the Channel Islands’ VAT loophole in April 2012
Microsoft’s Xbox brand turns ten years old
Angry Birds makes its retail debut as downloads reach half a billion
Best Buy pulls out of the UK market
Rockstar releases the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto V
Kennedy Space Center launches Mars rover Curiosity, the most elaborate Martian exploration vehicle to date
DECEMBER
NOTABLE RELEASE
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – While the game actually debuted in November, its sales have soared this month – thanks in no small part to its recent (and arguably premature) price cut*.
IN THE NEWS
MCV’s Annual Retail Survey reveals that 80 per cent of retailers are confident about their business in 2012
First details emerge of MCV Industry Excellence Awards 2012
Minecraft creator Notch steps away from the hit indie game
Spike TV Video Game Awards reveal trailers for new IPs The Last of Us from Naughty Dog and Epic Games’ Fortnite
Shigeru Miyamoto suggests he is stepping back from his current role but Nintendo reassures the industry that he is not retiring
GAME prepares digital gifts this Christmas
Girl band Little Mix wins The X Factor 2011
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2011-...ecember/089042
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January 1st, 2012, 01:27 Posted By: wraggster
'Hack' appeared in the headlines so often during the summer of 2011, the word almost lost all meaning.
Not only was there the much-publicised phone hacking scandal that saw the News of the World closed and someone smash a custard pie in Rupert Murdoch's face, there were also several attacks made against video games companies.
In lighter news, we gained a glimpse at the future through E3 and Gamescom, with Wii U and PlayStation Vita taking the industry by storm. Also, Duke Nukem Forever finally decided to make an appearance, and Zumba Fitness enjoyed a ten-week run at the top of the charts.
MAY
NOTABLE RELEASE
L.A. Noire – The year’s top new IP was a detective drama set in 1940s Los Angeles. Despite a developer calamity – creator Team Bondi was accused of horrible working conditions and months later went bust – Rockstar’s internal teams have since released it for PC and OnLive with touch controls.
IN THE NEWS
HMV sells off its Waterstone’s chain for £53m
Wii price lowered to £129
Activision announces Call of Duty social network COD Elite
THQ announces plans to take uDraw multiplatform
Daily Mail declares outrage over a MW3 trailer that shows scenes of violence in London
Sega announces UK studio Creative Assembly is working on a new Alien title
Development on Duke Nukem is finally finished
Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is killed during an American military operation in Pakistan
JUNE
NOTABLE RELEASE
Duke Nukem Forever – It made it to No.1, and was the result of a painfully long 13 years’ gestation, development and redevelopment. But it was hideous, and really only notable for the very fact it even managed to come out.
IN THE NEWS
Nintendo unveils Wii U
PSP successor named PlayStation Vita
Microsoft reveals core line-up for Kinect, including Mass Effect, Ghost Recon and new Fable
Hackers attack EA, Sega, Bethesda, Nintendo, Codemasters and Epic Games
Paramount announces new Star Trek game to tie-in with 2012 movie
Ocarina of Time 3D boosts 3DS sales
Online retailer Bee.com opens first High Street stores
Jai McDowall wins Britain’s Got Talent. Anyone heard from him since?
JULY
NOTABLE RELEASE
Zumba Fitness – Although over six months old by this point, Zumba started to really fly over the summer months, as casual gamers flocked in. It topped the charts 13 times this year.
IN THE NEWS
New MCV website launches
GameStop closes its two UK stores and launches a .co.uk e-store
Activision details first Call of Duty consumer event, COD XP
EMI Music signs up with new publisher Tubby Games for a Now That’s What I Call Music title
Valve-owned digital distributor Steam refuses to sell Battlefield 3 because only EA’s Origin will sell DLC
The Guardian exposes that News of the World journalists have hacked into the mobile phones of celebrities, politicians and high profile crime victims. As a result, News of the World is closed
AUGUST
NOTABLE RELEASE
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – The third game in the Eidos franchise arrived at the tail end of the summer. It was critically acclaimed and ended Zumba’s run at the top of the charts.
IN THE NEWS
New streamlined Wii console and bundle unveiled for Christmas release
Sony cuts PS3’s price to £199.99, announces new PSP model
EA details new Season Ticket scheme that lets gamers play FIFA 12 before launch
Nintendo lowers trade price of 3DS by one third, retail drops price tag to as low as £115
Browser games are added to new social network Google+
UK games market reaches ten-year low in terms of weekly sales value
A peaceful protest march in London erupts into four days of rioting, looting and arso
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2011-...-august/088982
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January 1st, 2012, 01:21 Posted By: wraggster
Ubisoft and Capcom get it wrong, GOG and Avalanche get it right and Serious Sam's scorpion shows the way.
The year began on a hopeful note, with Ubisoft seemingly relaxing its DRM policy. Eagle-eyed Redditors noticed that older Ubisoft PC titles, including Assassin's Creed II and Splinter Cell: Conviction, were suddenly playable without a connection to the internet. The publisher subsequently confirmed that it had patched out its DRM from some older titles, with its future implementation to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Had it turned a corner?
Of course not. In July, it confirmed that Driver: San Francisco would require a constant internet connection, something Martin Edmonson, founder of developer Ubisoft Reflections, said was justfied because "PC piracy is just at the most incredible rates. This game cost a huge amount of money to develop, and it has to be, quite rightly, quite morally correctly, protected." In a bizarre attempt to deflect the impending fan backlash Ubisoft said: "Bear in mind, though, that the PC version of Driver San Francisco is released simultaneously to consoles." We still don't trust you, but hey, at least we'll start not trusting you a little earlier than usual.
Ubisoft, in other words, still doesn't get it, and neither does Capcom. In February it implemented DRM in the PSN release of Bionic Commando Rearmed, just as it had done with 2010's Final Fight: Double Impact. Both games were unplayable while Sony's network was offline after its security was breached by hackers.
Apparently unsatisfied by having angered PS3 players, in May Capcom announced that the PC port of Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition would use Games For Windows Live, giving offline players just 15 of 39 playable characters and no way to save their progress. After the inevitable furore and climbdown, Capcom's Christian Svensson revealed the DRM would be patched out soon after launch, saying: "We had it wrong … The argument that legitimate users would have a worse experience than pirates was the loudest and most convincing."
That argument is raised every single time a publisher opts to use DRM in its PC games, so why is the same mistake made time and time again? Ubisoft and Capcom are understandably motivated by the fear of piracy hurting their margins, but the latter admits its DRM has had little impact on piracy or sales. Does DRM really hinder pirates, whose first order of business is to crack and remove it? Or the legitimate customers who have to deal with it every time they launch a game?
It's something Guillaume Rambourg, managing director of digital download service Good Old Games, understands. "Pirates succeed to perform in areas where digital distribution fails to perform," he told us in a recent interview. "When you get a pirated game it's very simple: you download, you install, you play. Three steps. When you buy a game, you have to download, install, patch, pay, have a launcher bundled in the game … piracy is competition, because it forces us to simplify our methods to reach customers faster and win over piracy."
Christofer Sundberg, founder of Just Cause 2 developer Avalanche, is another noted critic. "If a DRM system constantly needs to be defended, something must be wrong," he told us in September. "As a developer you will never win over any fans if you constantly let everyone know how much it costs to develop a game and how much money you lose. I don't like always-on DRM solutions at all, since they offer nothing to the consumer … [they] say: 'Thank you for buying our game, we trust you as far as we can throw you.' I know people who go and buy the game, but get the bootleg version just to get rid of the always-on requirement."
There appears to be a divide in thinking between the old guard - traditional publishers like Ubisoft and Capcom - and younger companies like Avalanche, who understand the value in loyal, engaged communities. It's perhaps best expressed by Marcin Iwinski, CEO and co-founder of GOG sister company CD Projekt, developer of The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings.
"[Big publishers] are not asking themselves the question:' What is the experience of a gamer?', or: 'Is this proposition fair?'," he said. "Rather, they just look to see if the column in Excel adds up well or not, and if they can have a good explanation for their bosses. DRM is the best explanation, the best 'I will cover my ass' thing. I strongly believe that this is the main reason the industry has not abandoned it until today, and to be frank this annoys me a hell of a lot.
"You are asking: 'So why is it taking them so long to listen?' The answer is very simple: they do not listen, as most of them do not care. As long as the numbers in Excel will add up they will not change anything."
The industry needs a third way, a means to protect against pirates without affecting legitimate consumers. Croatian developer Croteam showed us all how it should be done with its Serious Sam 3: BFE DRM - a giant, super-fast, immortal pink scorpion that only appears in pirated copies of the game.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/2011-round-drm
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December 29th, 2011, 23:45 Posted By: wraggster
The demise of LA Noire dev Team Bondi was emblematic of a year filled with closures and complaints of crunch.
Closures
The year saw the unwelcome end of a host of developers, kicked off with the demise of much-loved Liverpool studio Bizarre Creations. Parent company Activision recommended it be closed after the commercial failure of Blur left it unable to find a buyer for the studio, and it closed its doors for good in February. It was a busy month for Activision: it also closed its Guitar Hero business unit, causing a rush of job losses and spelling the end for 7 Studios.
Disney was busily swinging the axe too, closing Tron: Evolution developer Propaganda Games and Split/Second studio Black Rock. THQ, meanwhile, closed New York-based Kaos Studios following the lukewarm reception given to Homefront, then did the same to its UK wing Digital Warrington, a Phoenix, Arizona-based developer and two Australian studios, Blue Tongue and THQ Studio Australia.
2011 also meant the end for Hudson Entertainment, MTV Games, three Sony Online Entertainment studios, Game Republic, Fat Princess developer Titan Studios, Bedlam Games and EA's Visceral Studios, with recent reports claiming STALKER dev GSC Game World is also on the brink.
Team Bondi
The Sydney-based developer of the Rockstar-published LA Noire endured a protracted demise. The month after its release in May, former staff painted a picture of excessive, unpaid overtime and questionable leadership from studio head Brendan McNamara, with more than 100 staff who left before the end of the project omitted from the game's credits.
The IGDA said it would investigate the reports, and shortly afterwards it was claimed Rockstar had grown so weary of the studio's lack of direction under McNamara's controversial stewardship that it had washed its hands of the developer, leaving it without a publisher for its LA Noire follow-up. Gameplay lead David Heironymus moved to defend McNamara, writing an open letter to the IGDA in which he insisted that claims of regular 100-hour weeks were wide of the mark and said: "It was not any one person's fault that we weren't making progress."
News that the studio was in acquisition talks with film production company KMM were followed by claims that it had sold its assets and IP to KMM, helmed by Mad Max director George Miller. In early September, it was put into administration: the following month it emerged it was to be closed at the behest of unpaid creditors. Our trawl through documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed that the bulk of those creditors were its own staff, with unpaid wages and bonuses accounting for over 75 per cent of the debt - more than a million Australian dollars - that brought the studio to its knees.
McNamara would later blame inexperience for Team Bondi's woes, saying "we literally took people fresh out of school who had never made a game before." Only those within Team Bondi truly know how much his management style contributed to the studio's untimely demise, but the closure sparked an industry-wide debate on the perils of asking staff to work long hours without guaranteed recompense to ensure a project ships to deadline.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/2011-round-development
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December 29th, 2011, 23:43 Posted By: wraggster
Minecraft's stunning success, bundle overload and other highlights from the year in independent development.
Minecraft
It may have been our 2010 indie game of the year, but last year was merely the beginning for Minecraft. In January, developer Mojang confirmed the game had been bought one million times, just eight months after launch and while still in beta. It was still very much in active development, even though Mojang announced its new project, Scrolls, at GDC in March. At the same event, Minecraft won both the Grand Prize and Audience Award at the IGF Awards.
Peter Molyneux hailed it as "a complete work of genius ... the best thing I've played in the last ten years," and the audience agreed: in April, it hit 1.8 million sales. By this point it had grossed £20 million for Mojang, with charismatic studio head Markus Persson saying: "I try not to look at it ... but there's a big pile somewhere." To celebrate, he announced the game's final release date: November 11. By the end of the month, sales had passed two million.
Its unprecedented success on PC meant that the spread of Minecraft to other platforms was inevitable, and so it proved, with the announcements of releases on iOS, Android - a timed exclusive on Xperia Play - and Xbox Live Arcade, Kinect support included, the port handled by Dundee developer 4J Studios. By the middle of June, sales stood at 2.5 million, total revenue amounting to almost £30 million. A few weeks later it hit 10 million users. It was still in beta.
Mojang then announced Minecon, a Las Vegas convention set for November where Persson would launch the final version of Minecraft on stage. It didn't quite go off without a hitch: there was a brief but very public fallout with Yogscast, the YouTube sensation whose creators told us they deserved some of the credit for Minecraft's success. With Minecraft finally at version 1.0, Persson stood down as lead developer, passing the torch to Jens Bergensten while he moved on to other projects.
It's a true indie success story: four million sales while still in beta, users not only funding but assisting in development of the final product by giving feedback and suggesting new features. It's created a new business model, one that Mojang is following in publishing Cobalt, a side-scrolling action game developed by fellow Swedes Oxeye Game Studio.
Humble Ennui Bundle?
While the first two Humble Indie Bundles were released last year, 2011 saw the pay-what-you-want indie promotion become one of the most immediately lucrative business models available to independent developers. All games in the promotions are DRM-free and compatible with Mac, Windows and Linux, with buyers able to stipulate how they would like their payment to be split between the developers involved, the bundle's organisers and charities EFF and Child's Play.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/2011-round-indies
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December 29th, 2011, 00:30 Posted By: wraggster
The PlayStation Vita appears to be struggling to build an audience in Japan. In its second week on the market, the system sold 72,479 units, according to the Media Create numbers -- outsold by the 3DS, PSP, Wii, and PS3. The software top 20 shows why the 3DS is doing so well right now (it sold 482,200 units): three of the top five games are 3DS releases, including Mario Kart 7 (#1), Super Mario 3D Land (#3), and Monster Hunter Tri-G (#4).
In fact, no Vita games at all appear in the top 20 -- though that makes sense, given the relatively lacking hardware sales and the availability of all retail games on PSN at lower prices.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/28/vi...-psp-in-japan/
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December 28th, 2011, 23:31 Posted By: wraggster
Handheld announcements, the launch of 3DS and the first of many hack attacks made for an eventful start to the year.
The early months of 2011 gave the world its first glimpse at what would become the PlayStation Vita, its first chance to take 3DS home, the launch of a new Apple tablet and even the end to those long-running rumours of a PlayStation Phone.
Elsewhere, Activision called an end to the struggling Guitar Hero franchise and GAME called out to consumers everywhere with the announcement of GAMEfest.
JANUARY
NOTABLE RELEASE
Dead Space 2 – The sequel managed to top the charts on release, and was just another notch in a long year of success for EA.
IN THE NEWS
VAT rises from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent
HMV plans to close 60 stores before Christmas
Sony seeks legal action against PS3 hacker George ‘geohot’ Hotz
Football Manager boss Miles Jacobson awarded OBE
3DS given March 25th date for the UK, retailers price it at up to £230
Sony announces PSP successor, tipped for Christmas release
Activision closes Bizarre Creations
Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray is sacked after making off-camera remarks about female referees
FEBRUARY
NOTABLE RELEASE
Killzone 3 – The acclaimed sequel was the second of Sony’s two No.1s this year – following LittleBigPlanet 2 the previous month. It was part of a breakthrough period for PS3.
IN THE NEWS
Livingstone-Hope Review calls for academic change
Sony announces the long-rumoured PlayStation Phone, Xperia Play
Blockbuster US and its international assets are put up for auction
The Dead Island teaser trailer takes the internet by storm
Guitar Hero franchise is canned, later said to be ‘on hiatus’
3DS debuts in Japan, sells 400,000 in first two days
Reports suggest Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut will buy HMV? Group – keeping Waterstone’s and selling HMV’s stores and live division
The ban on product placement in British TV shows is lifted
MARCH
NOTABLE RELEASE
Homefront – Controversial, hyped and the target of a critical drubbing but nevertheless this new IP was still a huge statement of intent for THQ.
IN THE NEWS
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata claims industry is ‘drowning’ in a sea of apps
Apple unveils and releases iPad 2
Nintendo 3DS launches in UK and US
Xperia Play, aka the PlayStation Phone, is released
GAME announces GAMEfest
Angry Birds tops 100m downloads
Popular games blog UKResistance closes down
A tsunami devastates the East coast of Japan
APRIL
NOTABLE RELEASE
Portal 2 – The critically acclaimed sequel to Valve’s highly innovative first-person puzzler once again won over consumers and critics alike.
IN THE NEWS
PSN is shut down as Sony suffers from the first of many hack attacks
Michael Rawlinson steps down as UKIE’s director general
UK PlayStation boss Ray Maguire departs after 17 years
Tabloids report 3DS causes dizziness
Sony discontinues the download-only PSPgo
Nintendo confirms its new home console will be unveiled at E3
Microsoft, Ubisoft and EA win big at the MCV Awards
Prince William marries Kate Middleton
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2011-...y-april/088914
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December 28th, 2011, 23:30 Posted By: wraggster
Our look back on a year in which EA aggressively expanded into digital while Activision went all-in on Call Of Duty.
Electronic Arts
EA spent much of 2011 aggressively expanding into digital as it sought to meet its target of a billion dollars in annual digital revenue. In February it promised greater focus on Facebook, and it would follow through on that promise with the release of The Sims Social. Its successful launch - it reached 30 million users in a month - meant EA became the first bona fide challenger to the platform's leading developer. Zynga would welcome the challenge - general manager Erik Bethke saying "Its success shows how much opportunity there is in social games" - and an increasingly bullish EA said it was confident The Sims Social could overtake Facebook's most popular game, CityVille.
The publisher criticised NPD Group, the market research firm that collates US retail sales data, for only reporting digital sales every three months. As a result NPD said it would increase the frequency of its reports, revealing digital sales data on a monthly basis instead. EA's experiment with a day-and-date PSN release for the PS3 version of Mass Effect 3 met with success, accounting for more than ten per cent of sales despite its high price. It ditched paper manuals in its boxed games. It bought Firemint, Australian developer of Flight Control and Real Racing, stepped up its efforts on iOS and spread to Google+. There was the launch of Origin, too - something we've already looked at in our review of the year in PC - but there was no greater signal of EA's increased focus on digital than its acquisition of PopCap.
Announced in July, the deal cost EA an initial $750 million, though the final price could rise to $1.3 billion if earnings targets are met in the next couple of years. EA's investors might have raised an eyebrow, having not expected EA's drive towards a billion dollars in digital revenue to involve a billion-dollar acquisition, but the publisher made several canny moves to ensure the deal didn't hit its bottom line too hard. CEO John Riccitiello said "EA and PopCap are a compelling combination," hailing the Plants Vs Zombies developer's "great studio talent and powerful IP." PopCap CEO David Roberts praised EA for having "recast [its] culture around making great digital games."
While Origin's launch upset many, and with EA having cut a bullish, aggressive figure throughout the year - we'll get to that shortly - they've come in for no little amount of criticism, but as Guillaume Rambourg, managing director of Good Old Games, told us recently, that's largely down to the publisher having made the move first. "I think it's very easy to talk negatively about them," he said, "but publisher-wise they are one step beyond. I think EA, regardless of the amount of negative comments it generates, is a brave publisher for trying to make a change in the industry and that ambition deserves respect." It's a sentiment Peter Moore, promoted to COO in August, agreed with earler this month. "Transitions are hard," he said. "Companies that continue to rely on the old model as the model changes before our eyes, unless they change and invest in the future those companies eventually will die off. No two ways about it."
Activision
By contrast, Activision's year typified the sort of struggle Moore referred to, as the publisher paid the price for poor decisions and annual iterations to tired franchises. In January, it recommended the closure of Liverpool studio Bizarre Creations after it had been unable to find a buyer for the studio after Blur failed to perform to expectations. The following month, it posted a loss of $233 million for the final three months of 2010 despite the quarter having seen the launch of Call Of Duty: Black Ops and World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm, both of which set new sales records.
While its full-year figures painted a far rosier picture - digital revenues up 20 per cent to $1.5 billion, profit up 370 per cent to $418 million - the fallout was significant. Activision said it would cut 500 staff, some seven per cent of its workforce, and in an unfortunate choice of words - nothing sweetens the pill like a good pun, after all - "disbanded" its Guitar Hero business unit, cancelling development of a planned 2011 release after sales had slowed. Little wonder: Activision had released 14 Guitar Hero games across consoles, handhelds and mobiles since the series' 2005 debut on PlayStation 2.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/2011-ro...and-activision
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December 27th, 2011, 23:26 Posted By: wraggster
Hacking has been one of the hottest stories of the year. From Wikileaks uncovering Government documents, to News of the World journalists breaking into the phones of celebrities, the story of security breaches has dominated the headlines.
But A-listers and political bodies weren’t the only victims – the games world was rocked by hackers throughout 2011.
In April hackers retrieved the login data and passwords of 77m users of Sony’s PlayStation Network. It was the most high profile hacking, but there were multiple security breaches that hurt the industry this year.
Anonymous hacking group LulzSec took responsibility for a host of security-breaching distributed denial-of-service attacks, which besieged notable platform holders and publishers, including Nintendo, Bethesda, Epic Games and BioWare.
Websites, forums and even video games themselves were affected. Popular online titles such as Minecraft and EVE Online were taken down in an instant, and millions of usernames and passwords were snatched at the click of a keyboard button.
But LulzSec insisted it was hacking some systems with good intentions. It highlighted security gaps in the NHS’ online infrastructure and handed the stolen details of 200,000 Brink players back to Bethesda.
Still, try telling that to Codemasters, whose website is still down. Or Valve, who just last month confirmed that its Steam network was hacked and a database of personal user information was obtained.
Eventually, the police moved in and LulzSec ended its activities. But this was a warning to the global games industry. And it was all too easy for hackers.
The games industry is moving towards digital and online business models. COD Elite and EA’s Origin service the latest to join the fray.
It’s now down to games publishers and companies to act to ensure their online infrastructures and the security systems that protect them are watertight. Because today, the safety of user information is more important than ever before.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2011-...ked-off/088829
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December 27th, 2011, 23:22 Posted By: wraggster
We all know which games you liked the most this year – we only have to look at the charts to figure that out. But what about the people that make up the games industry?
MCV asks a number of recognisable games from publishing and journalism what their top picks were over the last 12 months?
SIMON BYRON - Director of Games, Premier PR
Skyrim (Bethesda)
I really didn’t like Oblivion. Having enemies level up as you did was the oddest game decision of all time. It seemed needlessly fussy in places, and is the only game to unintentionally have ever encouraged me to skip through fields with no trousers on – a feature, I note, which was absent from the Game of the Year edition box. I think I did about three Oblivion Gates before I decided I wasn’t having much fun and moved on – putting my trousers on first, of course.
I thought Fallout was pretty bad too. Yeah, brilliant, it’s all non-linear and that – but I prefer my games more focussed. I don’t want to walk to the horizon just because I can, only to find myself attacked by a mutant dog who wasn’t expecting me until I was 100 levels up or something. Plus, you know, almost by definition, a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland isn’t exactly an escapist’s dream, unless you’re sick of pretty things and people with faces.
I once had a debate with Warren Spector about linearity over non, which concluded when I forgot to respond to him again, proving conclusively that I won. I had to stop playing Demon’s Souls because I couldn’t decide which areas to level up in. I am a man who can get paralysed by choice.
So on paper – particularly if that paper contained the words above, maybe concluding with “Skyrim is not for me” – Skyrim was not for me. Well what do you know, paper? No wonder print is dead.
Skyrim is, I think, the first game I have actually fallen in love with. I think about it a lot. I have had dreamt about it. I would absolutely get off with it. It’s the first game to where I’ve been happy to spend hours literally doing nothing. The main quest? Yeah, I’ll get round to it. But I’ll just pop in here to see – OH HELLO, YOU WANT ME TO DO ANOTHER FETCH QUEST? TOTALLY FINE BY ME SEE YOU AT HOME LYDIA. Its bugs – and there are many – don’t matter. I genuinely think it’s the best game ever made (soz, Ocarina). And the thought of what Bethesda does next actually terrifies me.
Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros)
This is true: I went to school with Christian Bale (well, he was a couple of years below me). Also true is this: when my careers advisor asked me what I wanted to be, my first answer was “a super hero”. So if anyone should have grown up to be Batman, it should have been me. I knew I should have taken Latin.
So Arkham Asylum was the game I waited 37 years to play. Sure, it benefitted from a low level of expectation (the last licensed game to be actually any good was Robocop 3), but it was an absolute triumph, bettering at-the-time-best Batman game (The Adventures of Batman And Robin, SNES, Konami). Given the frequency of good super hero games, Arkham Asylum would, I believed, remain the best superhero game ever for longer than three years.
I was wrong. Arkham City literally expanded every aspect of Asylum. Far from diluting (it was a concern of mine, I can tell you now), it presented a world in which, finally, I am Batman. A brilliant main mission peppered with stacks of stuff to do around it, Arkham City is the first game I have gone back to after I have completed it. It seems now I finally am Batman, I clearly can’t stop.
Just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, so you shouldn’t judge a game by its Metacritic score – unless it is one you agree with. Anyone who dragged its average down to 96 per cent should be hounded from the games industry.
Pullblox (Intelligent Systems)
If you’re tired of the 3DS, you’re tired of life. That’s what I used to say. Now I say: if you’re tired of the 3DS, you haven’t played Pullblox, and you’re also an idiot.
It’s an odd one. The game was released without much fanfare – plus it’s digital only, so no-one cares. But it’s probably the most inventive block-based puzzle game since Tetris.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know 3DS games shouldn’t actually rely on three dimensions, because that would discriminate against people with the average number of eyes (average, not mode) but Pullblox is unquestionably the best use of the gimmick. The mechanic is so simple – pull a two dimensional shape into a three-dimensional one to create a route to the goal – that any actual game designers reading this should be utterly ashamed they didn’t come up with it. And that, of course, is its beauty – loads of levels, no time pressures or achievements, just enjoy the ride. Add a level editor – which they did – and you’ve got probably the most accomplished 3DS title to date.
JIM STERLING - Reviews Editor, Destructoid.com
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
It's terribly predictable to name a game that nobody can shut up about, but I cannot deny the truth. Skyrim is just that damn good, and is easily my most played game of 2011. From the numerous improvements found in the game engine, to the limitless gameplay opportunities and beautifully engaging world, Skyrim has become the Western RPGs for others to try and beat. I think it'll be quite some time before it's knocked off its throne, too.
What really sets Skyrim apart is that you can have two players with identical character builds, start them in the same place on the world map, and get two wildly different stories from them an hour later. I've seen this in effect during previews, and the volumes of stories and videos online further confirms that, no matter who you are, your Skyrim will not be somebody else's Skyrim. It's a game where even half the bugs are at least entertaining, and that's more than can be said of most.
Kirby's Mass Attack (NIntendo)
Despite 2011 being the year of the 3DS, the DS was not content to slouch. A few really good DS games came out this year, and the pick of the crop was undoubtedly Kirby's Mass Attack. The game splits Kirby into ten identical little puffs, and the player can command them as a swarming legion, pummeling larger creatures into dust and grabbing hold of objects to weigh them down.
The all-touch input is simple, but an admirable amount of work has been done to ensure a variety of gameplay and some increasingly interesting boss encounters. On top of a sizable main game, unlockable minigames include a fully-fledged pinball game, a roleplaying game, and even a top-down shooter. The wealth of content on offer is ridiculous, and it's easily one of the best DS games ever made.
Dead Space 2 (EA)
The Dead Space series is one of my favorites, but as a longtime fan of Aliens and Event Horizon, it's hardly surprising. The game's foreboding atmosphere, twisting plot, and deceptively deep gameplay ensured Dead Space 2 would be one of 2011's early hits, and it's a game I still fondly remember. What I love most about Dead Space games are how they employ a fantastic New Game Plus system, which has always encouraged me to play multiple times.
One would be wrong to ignore, however, some of the truly scary moments found within Dead Space 2. From an encounter with speedy, charging creatures that evoked memories of tactical raptors in Jurassic Park, to that obscenely frantic sequence involving Isaac hanging upside down by his ankle while Necromorphs close in, Visceral's commitment to hurtling the player from one intense moment to the next is worthy of the highest applause. A beautiful evolution of horror gaming.
Honorable Mentions: Portal 2, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/best-...y-picks/088652
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December 26th, 2011, 21:43 Posted By: wraggster
Worried that an OTA update will put a crimp in your Nook Tablet modding activities? Then you may want to follow the lead of xda-developers member Indirect, who has managed to tweak the tablet to block all OTA updates and kindly provided the means for you to do the same. That involves installing a few files on your device (another method is also available that involve tweaking some files), but Indirect says that the process "holds no risk," and that it won't prevent you from buying books from Barnes & Noble. Complete details can be found at the source link below.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/25/x...t-ota-updates/
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December 26th, 2011, 21:37 Posted By: wraggster
It was supposed to be the fight that would define the year. Call of Duty had met its match. For the first time ever, the game was to go up against EA’s long-running Battlefield series.
Although both have had similar lifespans, they had until this Q4 never launched head-to-head.
EA entered the fight with typical over-confident swagger. It kickstarted the PR battle with an early March reveal and snipes from all execs – Riccitiello even said he wanted Call of Duty’ to ‘rot from the core’.
Keen to loosen Activision’s yearly claim of having the world’s most revenue-generative game, EA aimed to halve CoD’s share of the market. It claimed to have retail and media on its side, it cosied up with PlayStation to match the CoD-360 alliance, it even decided to launch two week’s before MW3.
Then Battlefield came out. Critics said they weren’t as keen as they’d hoped, the game briefly topped the charts before nestling in a low Top Ten slot… then Activision turned up with the now typical lavish launch and claimed the title of ‘fastest selling game of all time’.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
What really happened was that both games won. But they also both lost.
Battlefield 3 showed that you can take on Call of Duty. It shipped out 12m units. The PR storm alone helped raise the profile of the game, franchise and publisher. It truly questioned whether CoD can conquer forever.
At the same time Modern Warfare 3 wowed fans, retailers and non-gamers. The juggernaut crashed through sales targets and estimates to just about top 2010’s Black Ops.
Yet here’s the other side of the argument. Although Activision broke the $1bn barrier faster than ever (just 16 days), it’s still just the ultimate retail game. The franchise is built on a foundation of hype, pre-orders and day one sales. Elite’s additions, although exciting, have yet to be proven. So right now, Call of Duty remains a video game in the very traditional sense.
That’s fine for Activision today. It has always focused on safer bets and quickly cuts its losses (it ditched Guitar Hero earlier this year). But not necessarily fine for Activision tomorrow. No doubt its best minds are working on how it will survive in a world where the console might not exist or where a game has to deploy across browser, mobile and console all at once. If they aren’t, they really should be.
Battlefield has done well but never lived up to the promise – nay, threats – that it would upset Call of Duty. Activision’s title didn’t even blink. Momentum for Battlefleld 3 dropped off early on, retailers and other industry nose-tappers tell us. If you want to judge it on market status right now, Battlefield has been resurging, but only thanks to a price cut and bundling. MW3 has – and will, as all CoD’s do – held its price at around £45. EA’s missile made the ground rumble, but didn’t shake Activision’s foundations.
The bigger lesson is that it’s tough even at the top. Activision and EA had similar games locked up in a pointless battle to gain or protect market share. And in the end, little changed. If that’s all the big boys could manage, think how punishing it would have been if lower-tier publishers were caught in the same battle.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2011-...-market/088828
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December 25th, 2011, 00:07 Posted By: wraggster
It's probably a little late to start your holiday shopping, but GameStop is there for you if you're late to the consumer party. Starting today, the retailer is offering a buy two, get one free special on all pre-owned products. That includes both hardware and software, so there's plenty to choose from. The sale runs through December 28. By the way, if you start your Christmas shopping after Christmas, you're really doing it wrong.
GameStop is also offering an in-store sale on the Skyrim Collector's Edition, knocking the usual $150 price down to a (slightly?) more palatable $100. Finally, you can snag Rage for$30, though we'd be remiss in our duties if we didn't mention it's currently available forjust under $20 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Rage-Xbox-360/...4655731&sr=8-1
http://www.gamestop.com/INTL/choose_site_all.html
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December 22nd, 2011, 23:56 Posted By: wraggster
We don’t really need to say how difficult 2011 has been for UK games retail.
Year-to-date, 44,243,352 games have been sold generating£1.14bn in revenue. That’s 12.7 per cent down in units and seven per cent down in value compared to 2010.
But for all the bleak figures, there was a number of success stories worth shouting about. In fact there have been 23 different No.1s in the UK this year, most notable of which is 505 Games’ Zumba Fitness, which topped the charts an impressive 13 times. In terms of the most-ever No.1s, Zumba is only beaten by Wii Fit, which has notched up 16 No.1s, and record-holder Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which managed 18 No.1s in 2000.
Amongst the chart toppers there were four new IPs, namely Homefront, Brink, L.A. Noire and Dead Island – the latter being Koch Media’s first ever No.1. L.A. Noire shifted some 4m units globally in its first few months, while MCV estimated that the game generated £10m in revenue in its first week on sale in the UK.
And there were six No.1s this year that had the number 2 in their titles, including Dead Space 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Test Drive Unlimited 2, Dragon Age II, Portal 2 and Crysis 2.
But the real sellers of 2012 were the big 3s: Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Saints Row 3, Just Dance 3 and Uncharted 3. All six of these games beat the launch week sales of their predecessors. Yet, as was the trend this year, they all suffered quite severe week two sales drops, as more consumers flocked to stores on day one.
Modern Warfare 3 was, of course, the biggest release of the year. It set a five-day entertainment record by grossing $775m worldwide. In its first 24 hours, 6.5m copies of the game were sold across the UK and US – that’s 75 games a second. Battlefield 3 was its big competitor. EA claims it has sold 8m units of the game, having shipped in 12m to retailers.
Another big 3 was Nintendo’s 3DS. It reached UK shelves on March 25th and sold 113,000 units over its launch weekend. Not too shabby. Yet sales proved hard to come by after that and as a response to the falling demand, Nintendo slashed the cost price of the machine by around 33 per cent. And in a bid to appease consumers that had already splashed out on the device, Nintendo offered them 20 free games – 10 NES classics and 10 GBA classics.
But it wasn’t until the arrival of two new Mario games before the 3DS started to gain traction again, with Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. In fact, the console’s Christmas sales are ahead of all other gaming formats in the UK.
MAKING THE CUT
3DS wasn’t the only machine to drop in price. Wii fell to just £129 in May, and some retailers are now selling the console for as little as £79.
PS3 also had a price cut, dropping to £199.99 in August following a Gamescom announcement (as predicted by MCV almost a month before). And it had an instant impact at retail: the console’s UK sales rose 65 per cent week-on-week.
Sony continued to push hard in the UK with a string of multi-million pound marketing campaigns. It splashed£5m on Uncharted 3 and £2m on PlayStation Move to give the console a pre-Christmas lift. And that’s on-top of a wider brand campaign for the platform.
Sony UK has been able to give PS3 all of its focus this year, with Vita – which has received much fanfare at Gamescom and E3 – not reaching European shores until February 22nd, 2012.
The digital market reached new heights. Mobile hit Angry Birds flew past 500m downloads, Minecraft has 16mregistered users, while EA?Facebook game The Sims Social challenged Zynga with 65m users in October.
But digital isn’t proving to be a total death nail for traditional retail. GAME’s digital sales were up 40 per cent in its last financials, while GameStop reported digital growth of 59 per cent – mostly driven by digital card sales.
The growth of digital will certainly have an impact on UK games retail in 2012 – for good or for ill. But store managers are confident, with 80 per cent bullish about their prospects according to last week’s MCV Retail Survey. And with Wii U and PlayStation Vita the two headline acts for next year, who can blame them?
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2011-...numbers/088724
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December 22nd, 2011, 22:29 Posted By: wraggster
Tonight Sky TV will launch 3D Games Review, a programme focused purely on 3D games.
"We are delighted to announce the premier of 3D Games Review, a show which is a first for both Sky 3D and Challenge," said John Cassy, director of Sky 3D, the channel on which the show will air.
"The show offers consumers the opportunity to review some of the top 3D games hitting the market via the Sky 3D channel, resulting in a rich gaming experience for the whole family to enjoy."
The show was produced by Sky and written by Johnny Minkley and Paolo Sedazzari.
"Gamers are early adopters of new technology so it's no surprise to see that video games play a big part in driving interest in stereoscopic 3D in home entertainment, just as they did with HD," added Minkley.
"Sky 3D is the perfect platform for showcasing 3D gaming where it belongs: shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in TV and film. To my knowledge, Sky is the first major broadcaster to highlight it in this way, capturing 3D footage directly from consoles to show games as they're meant to be seen. It's still early days for the technology in gaming, so this is a timely opportunity to give people a taste of what 3D can bring to interactive entertainment."
The programme will show December 22, 24, 27 and in January.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...d-games-review
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