Tag: Industry - Page 45
News EA Ships Over 10 Million Copies Of Battlefield 3
Well, it's not Call Of Duty numbers
But bloody nora, Battlefield 3's early sales figures are still mightily impressive all the same. EA has announced at the company's Q2 sales briefing that it has shipped 10 million copies of Battlefield 3 (which launched this week in North America and Europe). The company as a whole was bolstered by strong sales in...
News Sony Buys Out Ericsson For A Tremendous Wad Of Cash
As previously rumoured, Sony has purchased Ericsson's 50 percent stake in Sony Ericsson, giving the PlayStation platform holder full control over the mobile unit
Sony swooped in with a deal worth 1.05 billion (or $1.45 billion). So a real hunk of change, then. "We can more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets...
News Ubisoft To Open Video Game Studio In Abu Dhabi
Ubisoft has announced plans to open a brand new "major" video game studio in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates
The studio will initially focus its attention on online games in collaboration with other Ubisoft studios, but will eventually branch out into creating original titles targeted at local and international audiences. Ubisoft...
Rumour Bethesda Temporarily Postpones Development Of Doom 4
Oh wow
Rumours are flying that Bethesda has temporarily postponed development of Doom 4 after the recently released RAGE didn't meet expectations. Apparently parent company Zenimax has "a serious lack of confidence in the project management at id," following the technical issues and luke-warm reviews surrounding RAGE. We thought the game...
News CCP Scales Back To Focus Development On EVE Online And Dust 514
The developer of upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive DUST 514 has admitted to making "mistakes" and taking on more than it can handle, prompting a major shake-up within the company and resulting in the redundancies of around 20 percent of its current workforce
"We have come to the conclusion that we are attempting too many things for a company...
Feature Gamers Are Far Too Influenced By Sales Figures -- 'Twiggy' The Push Square Opinionator
A game is only as good as its sales figures
At least, that appears to be the mentality of some forum posters, unevenly illustrating their opinion in forums across the Internet. The NPD group released sales figures for the North American market this week, ranking Resistance 3 in seventh position for the month of September. "Reasonable," I...
News September NPD: Madden Tops, FIFA Shocks, Industry Drops
Madden NFL 12 was the top-selling video game in North America for the month of September
But proving that those living overseas do have some semblance of taste, FIFA 12 wasn't too far behind it, finishing up in fourth. Dead Island did ridiculously well, propping up the charts in third position of the back of that trailer and, well, zombies we...
News Limited Beta Of PlayStation Suite SDK To Launch Next Month
We're a little bit concerned at the time it's taking Sony to get its PlayStation Suite strategy up and running
Make no mistake, we think the philosophy of the platform is a strong one, but with the program only set to go into "limited beta" next month, it's taking a long time to get off the ground. SCE's Shigeru Sugimoto outlined the...
News Prices Attached To A Number Of PlayStation Vita's Launch Titles
Up until today only one publisher had announced the price of their PlayStation Vita software; Square Enix attached a price to Army Corps Of Hell late last month
But the latest issue of Famitsu magazine has published the prices for a variety of PlayStation Vita's most-wanted, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Ridge Racer. Nathan Drake's latest...
News Tomb Raider, LittleBigPlanet & Grand Theft Auto To Feature In British Design Gallery
A number of Britain's greatest video game exports -- including Tomb Raider, LittleBigPlanet, Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto -- will all feature in a British design showcase, conceived to exhibit 64 years of British innovation
Entitled British Design 1948-2012: Innovation In The Modern Age, the event will contain 350 British works designed to span the...
News Team Bondi Owed Lots Of Money To Lots Of People
L
A. Noire</a> developer Team Bondi owed debts to the tune of AU$1,425,156 ($1.4 million USD / £900k) before it was closed. EDGE reports that more than a million dollars were owed to staff, with executives claiming up to $100k a pop. Unbelievably, Team Bondi closed owing $150k to Depth Analysis, the company that created the MotionScan facial...
Rumour Sony Readying Ericsson Buyout?
Not strictly gaming related this one, but interesting none-the-less
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Sony is planning to buyout Ericsson from its joint mobile venture. The move — which would cost between $1.3 and $1.7 billion — would see Sony take sole control of the business, allowing the company to better integrate its smartphone...
News Sony Highlights The Importance Of Physical Media For PlayStation Vita
The PSPgo was an experiment
It came about at a time when players clamoured for digital media on their handheld platform. Such enthusiasm quickly vanished, and the PSPgo concluded a failed experiment. But Sony's learned from that experience, and subsequently its not shunning packaged media for its new handheld platform. We believe, for some...
News UK Developers Investing More Heavily In PlayStation Network
The PlayStation Network is two-times more popular than XBOX Live Arcade for UK developers, concludes a report published by Develop
The figure comes from new data collected by Tiga in a survey of 100 British studios. The numbers showed that while approximately 30 developers are working on new PlayStation Network content, only 16 are developing for...
Sony drummed up the hype last week
A mysterious teaser appeared on the platform holder's YouTube channel, laced with fan service and tempting us to "look beyond the door on October 5th". The video went on to spark massive conversation within the gaming community, with more than two million fans speculating about the imminent announcement...
News FIFA 12 Scores Killer Debut Week
FIFA 12 has enjoyed the largest first-week sales than any other sports video game to date
Electronic Arts estimates that the soccer sim scored an impressive 3.2 million sales between September 27th and October 2nd. The company added that sales are up 23 percent over last year, and that October 1st was the busiest day for online gaming in EA Sports...
News Sony Confirms PS2 Titles For European PlayStation Store
Do you want the good news or the bad news? We'll start with the bad
SCEE's decided not to promote its PSN exclusive titles as heavily in Europe as in North America. "'The Only On PlayStation Network programme is for the SCEA region only," a Sony spokesperson revealed when asked by Eurogamer. Silly idea? We think so. We don't really...
News Sorry Battlefield: Modern Warfare 3 Tops Nielsen's Christmas Video Games Wishlist
Strike one to Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Nielsen's published its "top twenty" Chistmas video games wishlist, with Modern Warfare 3 the most coveted by 5,000 active North American gamers. Modern Warfare 3 was on the list of 27% of participants, while Battlefield 3 was on the list of just 12%. PlayStation 3 exclusives Uncharted 3:...
News Shuhei Yoshida Surprised By 3DS Circle-Pad Extension
Sony Worldwide Studios gaffer Shuhei Yoshida has said he was surprised by Nintendo's decision to include an additional circle-pad on the Nintendo 3DS
In an interview with GameInformer, the boss speculated that the peripheral was probably produced at the request of Capcom in order to support the controls of the system's upcoming Monster Hunter title...
News TGS 11: SCEJ Gaffer Not Concerned About 3DS Nor Smartphones
SCEJ president Hiroshi Kawano has told Reuters that he doesn't believe the Nintendo 3DS nor burgeoning gaming compatible smartphones are a threat to the PlayStation Vita
Kawano considers that the devices are different. Kawano believes that the Nintendo 3DS has a different look, target audience and price-point. All true. Moreover Kawano believes that...
News Updated PlayStation Network Terms And Conditions Protect Against Class Action Lawsuits
Sony's updated the PlayStation Network's Terms & Conditions to protect itself from class action lawsuits similar to those that emerged earlier in the year after the PlayStation Network outage
A new section in the terms — discovered by Eurogamer — includes a "Class Action Waiver", which in non-lawyer language means that no class...
News Sony: Ask Capcom About Monster Hunter 4 On PS Vita
The shock announcement of Monster Hunter 4 as a 3DS title took the wind out of many sails this week
Capcom's curiously popular franchise transformed the PlayStation Portable into the system to beat in Japan — and while Capcom has frequently maintained the series multiplatform status, many expected the next Monster Hunter to be announced for...
News Worldwide PlayStation 3 Sales Hit 51.8 Million Units, PSP At 71.4 Million
Sony's updated its sell-through numbers for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable
The platform holder has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 now has an install base of 51.8 million units worldwide, while the PSP has an impressive 71.4 million. Sony revealed the numbers during its Tokyo Game Show press event this morning, which saw...
News Online Pass Justified: Quantic Dream Lost Nearly ?10 Million From Used Sales Of Heavy Rain
Quantic Dream's CEO, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, has revealed that his company lost an estimated 10 million from used sales of Heavy Rain
But the executive didn't blame the consumer, more the recent recession which he believes has lessened spending in the video game sector: I would say that the impact that the recession had, especially on AAA...
News August NPD: US Sales Dip Again, While Deus Ex Tops Charts
The North American video game industry has shrunk by 23 percent year-over-year during the month of August, according to data released by the NPD group
Analyst Anita Frazier explained, "the bulk of the decline can be attributed to the shift of the annual Madden release from August to September". Gaming hardware actually saw an increase...
News Sony Steps Up Security, Hires Former US Homeland Security Official
During the frenzy of this year's PlayStation Network outage, Sony said it was looking to hire a 'Chief Information Security Officer' in order to further bolster the protection of its user's information
That post has now been fulfilled by former US Homeland Security official Philip Reitinger. In addition to the 'Chief Information Security Officer'...
News Sony Points The Gun At Microsoft's Content Policy
Last week, Microsoft admitted that it reserved the right to decline the release of XBOX Live Arcade titles if they release on the PlayStation Network first
In an interview with IndustryGamers, Sony's VP of public relations, Rob Dyer, pointed a loaded gun at the policy, accusing Microsoft of "protecting inferior technology". Meow. Dyer went...
News Split/Second Developer Black Rock Studio Closes Its Doors
Black Rock Studio is no more
The developer behind ambitious racing titles such as Split/Second and Pure confirmed the sad news on Twitter yesterday. Disney Interactive made the decision to close down the studio earlier in the year. Very best of luck to the unemployed.
News More Than 40 Staffers Dropped From 2K Czech
Two studios under the 2K Czech banner have been hit by a redundancy initiative, according to information obtained by Develop Online
According to the website more than 40 of the developer's staff has been cut from its studio at Brno, with "less than ten" cut from its Prague studio too. Before the redundancies, 2K Czech had a work force of...
Sony's Worldwide Studios' gaffer (and general down-to-earth exec) Shuhei Yoshida has told Eurogamer that the platform holder is committed to supplying the PlayStation Vita with a "continuous" stream of content
Many feel that the PlayStation Portable didn't reach its maximum potential because Sony shifted its attention to PS3 development. But Yoshida...
News Sony: Motion Control Is Still In Its Infancy
Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida believes that motion controls will grow out of their "many limitations" as time progresses
Yoshida likened the current crop of motion controls — including PlayStation Move and Micrsoft's Kinect — to the very first generation of video game consoles. As far as Im concerned, the motion control of...
Report PlayStation 3 Sales Up 65% Post-Price Cut
The effects of last week's PlayStation 3 price-cut have already had an impact on UK retail according to a report by MCV
The website notes that sales of Sony's premier home system jumped by as much as 65 percent week-on-week following the decision to reposition the system's base model at an RRP of £199.99. It's promising news, especially seeing as...
News PS Vita's Development Kit Is Very Affordable
Alert to all independent developers
Gamescom 2011 has been crucial for Vita, with new game announcements and info on some of the games we already knew about. While most of this news has been aimed at the consumers, a segment of news we’ve come across is just as great for independent developers as it is for consumers. SCEE’s George Bain spoke...
News Sony Prices PlayStation Vita Development Kits Surprisingly Low
If you didn't think Sony was serious about making development on the PlayStation Vita as straight-forward as possible, then perhaps this will change your mind
The platform holder's announced that Vita development kits will be available for as low as 1,900 — a staggeringly low price considering PlayStation Portable kits cost 15,000. The PS...
News Updated PlayStation Vita Specifications Discredit RAM Rumours
Earlier in the year the Internet went mad with stories that Sony had cut the PlayStation Vita's on-board RAM in order to meet a more approachable price-point
But according to new system specifications released this evening, those rumours were wrong. The updated specification sheet [posted on NeoGAF], denotes that the PlayStation Vita includes 512MB...
GamesCom 2011 Sony Confirms Dedicated Facebook, Twitter & FourSquare Apps For PlayStation Vita
In addition to the PlayStation Vita's own catalogue of unique social functions, the device will also ship with dedicated applications for Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and Skype
GamesCom 2011 Sony Cuts PlayStation 3 Hardware To $249
Sony closed out its GamesCom press conference earlier this evening with a price-drop, revealing that the 160GB PlayStation 3 will now be available globally for $249
99 / 249.99 / ¥24,980. The price-drop is effective immediately. As in right now. Sony last cut the price of the PlayStation 3 at GamesCom in 2009, dropping the price of the then...
News PushSquare Service Announcement: Sony & EA GamesCom 2011 Press Conferences Today
Despite the anticipation being nowhere near E3, we always enjoy the muted build-up to the GamesCom press conferences
You're never going to see a megaton announcement at GamesCom, but because the anticipation is lower, those muted surprises are all the more impactful. The PlayStation 3 Slim announcement in 2009 was huge, and we'll never forget the...
News SCEE Confirms February/March Release Date For PlayStation Vita In Europe
It's not the most impressive news of the year: we already knew that the PlayStation Vita was scheduled to release 'early 2012' in Europe
But a paragraph of text on the Swedish PlayStati
News Sony Starts Selling Digital Content In GAME & GameStation
As of today you'll be able to purchase digital download versions of first-party PlayStation content from British stores GAME and GameStation
The brick-and-mortar video games retail institution recently started selling digital PC content in store, and will now stock downloadable versions of PlayStation content such as the God Of War Collection and...
News UK Sales Charts: Yup. Zumba Fitness.
We're starting to wonder if any game will ever dethrone Zumba Fitness
Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Maybe. Resistance 3? Possibly. Dead Island? We hope so. It has to happen at some point, right? This is Zumba Fitness' ninth week at the top of the UK sales charts. It's outrageous. Catch the full top-ten after the hop. There's nothing to talk about,...
News Analysts Predict PlayStation Vita To Shift 2.5 Million Units By March 2012
Nikko Securities analyst Kazuharu Miura has predicted that the PlayStation Vita will sell about 2
5 million units by the end of March 2012, adding that software sales are likely to hit around 7 million units. The PlayStation Vita is due to release in Japan later this year, with a Western release due before the end of the fiscal year. In a report...
News Sony And LG Are No Longer At Loggerheads Over Patents
Cast your minds back to March and you might remember that Sony and LG were not getting along
In fact, LG even halted a shipment of PlayStation 3 consoles, claiming a patent dispute in Sony's Blu-ray technology. According to a report on Reuters, the two companies have now kissed and made up, signing a cross-licensing deal. Hopefully this puts a stop...
News THQ Dumps MX vs ATV Franchise
Clearly not content with ditching the Red Faction franchise, THQ has also announced that its dropped the MX vs ATV franchise
The studio had lofty expectations for budget release MX vs ATV Alive, but the title failed to set the sales charts alight leading the publisher to drop the series. The publisher's shut down three internal development teams as...
We always knew it was a likely scenario, but we chose to believe otherwise
Sony never officially said the PlayStation Vita would get a worldwide launch this year, only ever really committing to a Japanese launch. "Phased global rollout" was the textbook buzzword Sony used. But we believed because it made sense. How could Sony not put the...
Breaking PlayStation Vita Not Launching In US Or Europe Until 2012
Sony Computer Entertainment gaffer Kaz Hirai has just confirmed that PlayStation Vita will not launch until 2012 in the US or Europe
Japan will get the device before the year is out. The news comes via an Associated Press report on MSN Money, which states that the anticipated device "won't be going on sale in the US or Europe in time for...
News PlayStation Vita Clears FCC Testing
Well, at least you guys in the US have something to be pleased about
After this morning's rumours that PlayStation Vita might be delayed in Europe, Engadget's reporting that the device has passed FCC clearance in North America. Engadget explains that this "is widely regarded as the final step before a consumer electronics device is shipped to...
Rumour PlayStation Vita Not Releasing Before 2012 In Europe
It's the news we've all been dreading, especially after we've had so many indications pointing towards a 2011 release, but NowGamer's citing retail sources that state the PlayStation Vita will not launch in Europe before 2011 is out
Only last week we got a retail flier indicating that Vita could launch on October 28th, but we stated at the time that...
News Sucker Punch: Sony Purchase Won't Change Daily Operations
Sony may have bought inFamous developer Sucker Punch, but it's unlikely to have much of a change on the daily operations at the studio
Having worked closely with the PlayStation platform holder for over ten years, it's back to business as usual for Sucker Punch now that the deal has been made public. I dont think it will have much of an effect...
News Sony: PlayStation Vita Can Be Used As A PlayStation 3 Controller
Sony's revealed that the PlayStation Vita can work as a controller for the PlayStation 3, potentially matching the capabilities showcased in Nintendo's new Wii-U system
Sony explained the potential to Eurogamer at last month's Develop conference. "What could you do with all of this?" Sony R&D boffin Phil Rogers questioned a room...
