Tag: Industry - Page 52
News Japanese Games Market Declines In 2011 Despite New Hardware
The Japanese games market declined in 2011, according to reports published by Enterbrain via Famitsu
That was despite a 2.4 percent increase in hardware sales — up to ¥179,740 million ($2.3 billion) — spurred by the releases of the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. Indeed, while the hardware bump was significant, it wasn't enough to stave off...
Report The Sun Sets On EA's Bright Light Studio
EA's Bright Light studio is officially no more
The developer — which was responsible for three of the most recent Harry Potter titles — has been going through a formal consultation process since October. That period is now over, and the developer has closed. Thankfully, many of the employees from the Bright Light studio have been ushered into...
News Hideo Kojima Unsure If Japan Can Compete In Current Gaming Market
One of the saddest thing to emerge this generation has been the decline in diversity
With development budgets spiralling, pushed publishers are stuck to working with what they know in order to avoid facing commercial disaster. That's meant that outside of the emerging download platforms, there's been very little experimentation in the retail space...
News VGA 2011: We Round-Up All The Trailers, All The Awards
Phew
That was a long and exciting night, wasn't it? If you joined us overnight for the VGAs, then it was nice to have your company. But if you were out doing social things or getting a good night's sleep, we've got you covered: included within is every trailer, every award and every shock from the big American awards ceremony. The big news was...
News THQ Lays Off 30 Employees From Its uDraw Team
Following less than stellar sales for uDraw on PlayStation 3 (did you know it had even released?), THQ has announced that it has laid off 30 employees from its Play branch
THQ justified the layoffs by reiterating the "weaker than expected" sales performance of the drawing application, which launched on PS3 last month. Due to weaker than...
News November NPD: Call Of Duty & Skyrim Top The Software Charts
It was a monster month for software releases in November
Unsurprisingly, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out on top. But despite the high profile roster of software releases — and growth in unit sales across the board — NPD analyst Anita Frazier warned that "a decline in average retail price in all...
News Sony Experimenting With Unannounced 'Freemium' Concepts Internally
With social networks and smartphones being a big talking point in the industry at the moment, "freemium" is a term that's starting to emerge more and more frequently
The coining pertains to the idea of "free" and "premium" gameplay models — where players can enjoy a base experience at no cost, but can choose to enhance their...
News Sony: PlayStation 3 To Skew Towards 'Younger Demographic', Core Gamers Won't Be Neglected
The PlayStation 3 still hasn't reached a mass market price-point, but it's getting there
And with the hardcore gaming crowd already well serviced, SCEE boss Jim Ryan believes that the console's next challenge is to appeal to a younger demographic. I think youll see us taking the console more towards a slightly younger demographic. More family...
Rumour Digital PlayStation Vita Releases To Be Discounted By Up To 40% In North America
Take this one with a huge pinch of salt, because we can already sense the inevitable backlash
According to a report on Thrifty Nerd, a Sony representative at a recent PS Vita hands-on event has confirmed that digital releases for the upcoming handheld are set to get a hefty discount. The website claims that retail releases will be capped at $40,...
News Ubisoft: Digital Releases Mitigate The Risk Associated With New IP
Ubisoft believes that it is best to release new ideas through digital outlets, in order to mitigate the risk associated with launching new products at retail
Chatting with MCV, digital publishing manager Thomas Paincon indicated that retail products are more likely to fail if they're not built upon popular franchises. There is less risk releasing...
Report Scott Steinberg And Rob Dyer Leave Sony
Seems like there's some major reshuffling going on at SCEA at the moment
With Peter Dille's office barely cold after his departure earlier in the year, Sony's lost another two executives according a report published by Industry Gamers. The site claims that VP of marketing, Scott Steinberg, and senior VP of public relations, Rob Dyer, are both no...
News 3D Dot Game Heroes Developer Expands Engine For PS Vita Support
Silicon Studio's 3D Dot Game Heroes was a real gem
The Legend Of Zelda parody not only played great, but it also looked the part. So it's exciting to learn that the Japanese developer has expanded its Orochi engine to include support for the PS Vita. For those unclear, Orochi is a native Japanese language game engine originally designed as a means...
News Japanese Sales Charts: PlayStation Platforms Continue Chugging Along
Despite a smattering of new software releases, it was pretty uneventful seven days for PlayStation in Japan this week
Hardware sales were down after the enthusiasm of new colours last week, with the PlayStation 3 shifting 34k units and the PSP just behind with 33k units. After its tremendous debut last week, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 dropped to...
News Sony To Take 'More Tailored Approach' To PlayStation Vita Software Pricing
With the smartphone gaming sector still a hot point of discussion, Sony has said that it intends to offer multiple price-points for PlayStation Vita software in order to counter the burgeoning threat of mobile phones
While the company's still keeping those pricing details close to its chest, SCEE executive Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz: "I...
News Square Enix To Open New Studio In Montreal
Square Enix has announced plans to open a new studio in Montreal
According to reports, the univentively titled Square Enix Montreal will develop a new Hitman title as its first project. The game will supposedly target next generation platforms. The studio is set to open next year and will be headed up by Square Enix London's Lee Singleton, creating...
News Gareth Edmondson Leaves Ubisoft Reflections
Gareth Edmondson, studio manager at Ubisoft Reflections, has left the company after ten years
A report on Develop claims Edmondson will continue to work "in the industry in an undisclosed capacity". In the five years since Reflections has become a part of the Ubisoft team of studios, we have had the pleasure of working and creating...
News PlayStation 3 The Top Selling System In Australia
On the back of solid growth worldwide, Sony Australia has revealed that PlayStation 3 has beaten out its rivals to become the best selling system in the region for 2011 so far
Sony boasted that it has not only outsold its competitors, but it is also offering the highest value share to retailers according to NPD Australia data.
News Sony Q2 Financials: PlayStation 3 Business Continues Growth
Sony's released its financial information for the second quarter of 2011
And while declining television sales and the strong Yen gave the company a bit of a battering (incurring losses of about $346 million), the PlayStation 3 business continued its growth. It seems like so long ago since the bleak days of PS3, when Sony's system was getting...
News Worldwide Hardware Sales Put PlayStation 3 On Top
When it comes to the console wars, worldwide sales are nearly always a point of contention
Sony's PlayStation 3 often comes off second-best in regions such as North America and the UK. Conversely, the PlayStation 3 does much more spectacular numbers in parts of continental Europe and Japan. Unfortunately, we're not often privy to those numbers,...
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
Would you Adam and EVE it
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...
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...
