Retail

Gamers could face an unwelcome price hike at some stage this year as the price of procuring polycarbonate – a key material in the disc manufacturing process – continues to rise. DigiTimes reports that wholesale prices remained static throughout 2009 despite the increasing manufacturing costs, However, should the price of …

MCV’s vital weekly retail digest, RetailBiz, is available to view online and download now. Our essential six-page supplement offers an in-depth look at this week’s official Gfk-ChartTrack multiformat Top 40 – topped this week by EA’s Mass Effect 2 – as well as all of the official UK single and …

Valve’s popular digital distribution network Steam now has over 25m members, the Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead developer and thriving distribution platform owner has revealed. Member numbers surged 25 per cent in 2009. Of the registered members, 10m are described as having profiles in the Steam Community. The peak …

Russian publisher 1C made $1m in revenue from digital sales over Christmas, the firm has told MCV. The revenue was generated through December and the New Year. 1C’s key titles also proved to be big sellers digitally even when shops were closed – 14,000 copies of Kings Bounty: Armored Princess …

The creators of market rivals Guitar Hero and Rock Band have insisted that the future is bright for the music games genre, with the rising prominence of user-created content driving continued success. Throughout 2009 sales of music games fell by nearly 50 per cent to $1bn in North America. I …

As was expected, the ONS has confirmed that the recession that has dogged the UK economy for the last 18 months is officially over. The economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the final quarter of 2009. The growth comes after a record six successive quarters of decline – the …

The Christmas break may be a time to focus on family and loved ones, but it now seems that it has become the prime opportunity for online shopping – and Xmas 2009 looks to have been the most successful yet. The Retail Bulletin reports that number from the Interactive Media …

Emerging market India is on the verge of welcoming its first dedicted national chain of video games retailer with the opening of the interestingly titled ‘Games The Shop’ in Mumbai’s R-City mall. The owners plan to open an additional 15 stores over the coming year, all of which will stock …

Resurgent online UK entertainment retailer Zavvi has grabbed the exclusive rights to sell what is being called the Rapture Edition of 2K Games’ upcoming Bioshock 2 on Xbox 360 and PS3. The SKU will include the game and a hardback art book entitled Deco Devolution – The Art of Bioshock …

The web portal of global hit BBC TV show Top Gear has introduced a new games review section that, unsurprisingly, focuses on driving simulations. The section is currently headed up by Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport 3, which scores a more than respectable 9/10. Others games currently listed include Need for Speed …