Game industry business news

SCEE earlier this morning announced the launch of a new value ‘Start Pack’, comprising a PS3, two first party games and two Sixaxis controllers. Available with immediate effect, priced at Euro 599 (425), the two titles available in the pack will vary from country to country, but are likely to …

What’s the motivation behind the Wii Software platform? As Mr Iwata has said for a long time, in order to make a video game it is now very difficult without getting into a huge financial investment. Cost and budget and time leads are absolutely tremendous. Our thinking with the DS …

Microsoft’s Japanese division has announced that Xbox 360 Elite will launch in the region on October 11th. Tom Ivan at next-gen.biz reports that the revamped console will retail for 47,800 Yen (190/$390). When the system was launched in the US at the end of April, it went on sale for …

I find myself in a rather unique position as I’ve played Manhunt 2 and I really don’t like it that much. However, having mulled over this now for a while, I vehemently disagree with the BBFC’s decision to refuse certification. The reason I don’t like the game so much is …

Britsoft publisher and developer Codemasters has announced that its recently released next-gen racer Colin McRae: DiRT sold a hefty 500,000 units worldwide in its first week at retail. And more impressively for the publisher, the majority of sales came from North America – a territory in which the rejuvenated firm …

Fans of Sony’s mythical warrior Kratos will be delighted to learn that developer Ready at Dawn will be taking advantage of the extra 20 per cent of processing power that was unlocked in the PSP’s CPU in a firmware update last month. Previously the CPU was capped at 266Mhz, presumably …

Britsoft publisher Eidos has claimed that its decision to release a download-only version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary on 360 has broken down barriers” for other publishers – and predicted that the move may actually benefit retailers on the High Street. The firm announced its unorthodox release plan for the title …

MCV sister site Develop reports that Bioware has forged a deal with Sega that will see it produce a Nintendo DS title based on its iconic Sonic The Hedgehog character. It’s one of the first games to come from Bioware’s newly-formed handheld team, which was founded in September 2006. We’re …

A major shake-up of Take 2’s European business will be announced on Monday – with senior management across all territory offices being made redundant. The news comes following the restructuring of the Board, plus the ousting of CEO Paul Eibeler and other directors – which took place after shareholders earlier …

And I think the anlysts out there will realise it’s faster than our brothers and sisters in the competitive world as well. In terms of breakdown by Euro territories, the UK did very well. They are probably up to 25 per cent of business, so have made a great star. …