Games industry (149 articles)

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EA and Hasbro to launch games channel on Xbox Live
Play family favourites like Scrabble online 7 January 2009 14:10 GMT
EA is set to launch its own gaming channel on Xbox Live, in association with Hasbro.

Family board game favourites such as Scrabble, Boggle, Battleship, Yahtzee, Connect Four and Sorry! will be available to play on the channel under the Hasbro Family Game Night...
Gen2Media launches independent music content on Xbox Live
Will host content from all music genres 7 January 2009 13:04 GMT
Gen2Media Corporation has announced it is to showcase independent music content on Xbox Live.

e360live.com on Xbox Live will feature the "best classic original programming" from all music genres, from both independent and up and coming artists. There will also...
Microsoft lay-off rumours "grossly exaggerated"
Company has other cost-cutting measures in mind 7 January 2009 12:05 GMT
A new report has challenged reports that Microsoft is preparing to make significant redundancies across its workforce, instead claiming that the Xbox manufacturer has other cost-cutting measures in mind.

Rather than the rumoured 15,000 redundancies, CNBC claims...
Sony and Microsoft announce new Japanese-exclusive bundles
For Yazuka 3 and Star Ocean: The Last Hope 6 January 2009 20:07 GMT
Both Sony and Microsoft have announced special edition consoles in Japan, for third party titles Yazuka 3 and Star Ocean: The Last Hope respectively.

The Ceramic White Yazuka 3 PS3 console is set for release on 26 February and features a silver print of the...
"Major" update for Gears 2 coming in January
Bug fixes galore 6 January 2009 19:18 GMT
Epic Games has announced that a new "major" bug fixing patch for Gears of War 2 will be coming sometime in January.

In a post on the official Gears of War forum, Epic vice president Mark Rein promised the second patch for the game would be delivered before the...
EA announces sixth Littlest Pet Shop title
Coming to DS in March 6 January 2009 18:06 GMT
EA has announced it is to launch the sixth addition to the Littlest Pet Shop gaming line-up in March 2009.

Aimed at girls between 6-10 years old, Littlest Pet Shop Spring will be the fourth DS release in the series. The game features a spring environment for...
PlayStation 2 most played console in America in 2008
And PS3 beaten by original Xbox 5 January 2009 19:47 GMT
The Nielsen Company has found that American gamers played Sony's PlayStation 2 console more than any other last year.

While the company is probably best known for tracking television viewing figures, it also looks into how people spend their time elsewhere,...
Microsoft to axe up to 15,000 jobs - report
Between 10-17% could go if rumours are right 5 January 2009 19:25 GMT
Reports from the US suggest that Microsoft is preparing to make as many as 15,000 employees of its 90,000 strong workforce redundant.

It is thought that between 10 and 17% of both the company's full-time and contracted employees are to be axed, with rumours...
Xbox 360 sees record Christmas sales in Europe
Eight million consoles sold to date 5 January 2009 16:35 GMT
European sales data has shown that Xbox 360 had its strongest Christmas to date in 2008, with sales in Europe almost double those of Christmas 2007.

Eight million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in its six-year history...
Wii Sports becomes best-selling game of all time
All Nintendo line-up in the top 10 5 January 2009 15:42 GMT
Wii Sports has pipped retro favourite Super Mario Bros. as the best-selling game of all time.

In a list of worldwide sales put together by VGChartz, Wii Sports has apparently sold 40.52 million units (including bundle sales), while Super Mario Bros. sits at...
2K boss thinks UK retail is too impatient
Slash prices too quickly 31 December 2008 14:35 GMT
2K Game's global president Christoph Hartmann has both praised and criticised UK gaming retail, saying it's the best at creating a buzz around a product, but also the first to move it to the bargain bin when sales drop.

Hartmann believes this impatience is putting...
Buff characters give gamers negative body image
Study finds they make us feel bad about ourselves 31 December 2008 14:03 GMT
Research from Kansas State University has found that computer games can have a negative impact on players' feelings about their bodies.

Apparently playing a game that features exceptionally muscular men, or very thin women (thanks Lara) for a mere 15 minutes...
Sony cuts PS3 costs by 35%
Losses per machine drop from $290 to $48 30 December 2008 13:15 GMT
Sony has managed to cut the cost of making a PS3 by 35%, and in the process cut the loss it incurs with every machine sold from $290 to $48.

Market research firm iSuppli has reported that based on October component prices, the PS3 console now costs $448.73,...
GTA: Chinatown Wars "much bigger" than PSP GTAs
In fact, the biggest portable game Rockstar has ever made 30 December 2008 12:56 GMT
Rockstar has said that the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be the biggest portable game the company has ever made.

The president of Rockstar Leeds, Gordon Hall said: "Chinatown Wars is much bigger than anything we have ever done before [in...
New range of DS educational titles set for release in 2009
Learn a new language on your DS 30 December 2008 11:26 GMT
PlayV has announced a range of educational titles set to be released for Nintendo DS in February 2009.

The series, called Mind Your Language, will teach users a variety of foreign languages including Spanish, French, German and Japanese, and is fully accredited...
Waterstone's introduces Wii range
Hopes to mirror successful DS trial 29 December 2008 19:41 GMT
Waterstone's has introduced a new line of Wii titles to one of its stores, following a successful trial of DS games.

The book retailer began selling DS Touch Generation titles in a few of its stores last year, with over 100 branches now stocking a number of...
Nintendo helps Amazon towards best Christmas on record
Tops all "Best of 2008" video game and hardware categories 29 December 2008 19:03 GMT
Nintendo has helped Amazon have its best Christmas on record this year, topping all of its video game "Best of 2008" lists and selling big numbers of both its games and consoles during the festive period.

The Amazon "Best of 2008" lists were released today,...
Rock Band gets a trio of festive tracks
Plus Foo Fighters for all you bah humbugs 22 December 2008 19:12 GMT
Rock Band is chipping in to help your festive mood with a special Rock Band 2 Christmas song pack, as well as a couple of Foo Fighter tracks as well.

The Christmas song pack is made up of "Hanukkah Blessings" by Barenaked Ladies (also seen in the Lips festive...
New Batman: Arkham Asylum screens released
Plus Batman voice veterans return for the game 22 December 2008 18:32 GMT
Eidos has released ten new screenshots from its new Batman game, Arkham Asylum, due to be released in 2009.

Being developed for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, players will take on the role of Batman delivering The Joker to the Arkham Asylum.

As you might...
Sonic 2 in double WiiWare update
Coming Boxing Day 22 December 2008 17:46 GMT
If you start feeling the post-Christmas blues come Boxing Day, get yourself onto Virtual Console and you will find two new games for you to spend your Wii Points on.

Firstly, for 800 Wii Points you can get the classic Secret of Mana, originally developed for...
New screens released for OutRun Online Arcade
Set for release in early 2009 22 December 2008 15:53 GMT
New screenshots have been released from the OutRun Online Arcade which has been causing a bit of a buzz since it was announced last week.

OutRun has always been a popular racer series, but has now been remade by Sumo Digital for a release onto Xbox Live Arcade...
Free Radical Design closure confirmed
Administrators called in on Haze developers 22 December 2008 14:24 GMT
Independent UK studio Free Radical Design has gone into administration, it has been confirmed.

The Haze developer, also thought to be developing the Star Wars Battlefront III game for LucasArts, had been plagued with rumours about its demise for a few months...
Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix sells 250,000
In just three weeks... 19 December 2008 17:59 GMT
Capcom's Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has sold a massive 250,000 copies in just over three weeks.

Those sales are just from Xbox gamers as well, the game is currently only available on XBLA, with no sight of it on PSN and no word as to when we can...
EA job losses rise to 1000
Now 10% of workforce to be cut 19 December 2008 17:43 GMT
Electronic Arts has announced that it is to cut its worldwide workforce by 10%, which equates to around 1000 jobs.

The company revealed in October that there would be job cuts due to heavy losses, but only predicted there would be around 600, or 6% of its work...
WiiWare update completes Art Style series trio
Plus three more games up for grabs 19 December 2008 17:24 GMT
This week's WiiWare update sees the final installment of the Art Style game series, Orbient, as well as three other titles for you to have a go at over the Christmas week.

In Orbient you begin as a tiny star and have to use gravitational forces to propel yourself...