GE Global Research announced earlier today that it has managed to cram up to 500GB worth of data on a standard DVD-size disc, an increase in storage density of roughly 100x. What's more, the tech arm of conglomerate General Electric Company says that the storage solution will record data at the same speed as Blu-ray discs while increasing storage capacity by 25 times. The Blu-ray Disk Association says that the commonly available 12x speed Blu-ray writers have a maximum writing speed of up to 400Mbps (or 50MBps) which means that in theory, it would take just over three hours to fill that new holographic hard disk. GE has confirmed that its R&D and licensing team will be sampling the media to qualified partners that may be interested in licensing the technology.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/1...ize-Discs-Soon ...

The UK games industry is in danger of being reduced to four-man iPhone development studios.

That's according to Bodycount game director Andy Wilson, who blames a tough economic climate and the way in which hopes for tax breaks were "torpedoed".

The Codemasters Guildford dev told Gamerzines it's "painfully obvious" why so many UK studios are closing "when you look at the level of support in North America".

"The UK is primarily tough, in my opinion, because the bright, shining hope of tax breaks for the games industry got torpedoed," he said.

"It's a tough economy for sure, but we need to start supporting the industry properly or the whole thing is going to melt into iPhone developers - and there's only so many four-man teams who are going to find success.

"When you look at the level of support in North America it becomes painfully obvious why so many developers here are closing their doors, including my former home Black Rock. I'm still sitting in disbelief at that one."

He added: "Codemasters already has a studio in Malaysia for production of art assets, but I would think it unlikely we'll move full scale development overseas any time soon. We're still flying the flag as the last British publisher, after all."

Head of the new UK Codemasters studio, Ian Johnson, touched on the same subject last week when he said that UK developers need to work together to counter foreign tax incentives with domestic efficiency.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...s-codemasters/ ...

Two factors are dovetailing to create growth in the pre-teen gaming market.Firstly, there is the traditional migration down the demographic that comes about as a generation of hardware enters its second, third and fourth years.

Secondly, the popularity of the Wii plus the Move and Kinect peripherals mean that games can now be simpler – and more instinctive than ever – to control. Simplicity, in fact, is a virtue like never before.

A third background factor, of course, is the long-term and ongoing mainstream adoption of gaming as all-pervasive popular culture. The audience is broader than ever – younger as well as older. This isn’t just a window opening up in this generation’s cycle – it’s a permanent shift and a major opportunity.

Rachael Grant, brand manager at Ubisoft, says: “I think the market for younger consumers has been consistently growing for a couple of years now, and this has very much been a focus for Ubisoft.

“The Imagine range led the trend for a variety of games designed specifically with the younger consumer in mind. Now, more than ever, this audience is a very important part of our business and the industry in general – and this will continue for us into 2012.”

She acknowledges the influence of Kinect and Move, saying that “they are making gaming more accessible to wider groups of consumers” and adding that “they are expanding on the experience that Nintendo has created with Wii”.

One of Activision’s senior brand managers also pays tribute to Nintendo, saying that the motion controllers from Microsoft and Sony both “provide greater opportunities on top of the revolution that Nintendo Wii started”.

Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment’s UK sales and marketing director Spencer Crossley agrees, arguing that the Wii taught a family audience to expect motion control ahead of fiddly buttons.Warner, as a group, is packed with properties that are perfect for pre-teens, but the publisher also thinks creatively and forges external alliances to boost its presence in the sector. Crossley says: “Games for younger players have always been a staple part of WBIE’s portfolio and none more so than our hugely popular range of LEGO video games, developed by the legendary TT Games. These are the gold standard in the kids games sector.

“We also launched the critically acclaimed Scribblenauts series for DS, Game Party: In Motion as our first Kinect title and The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest as our first Move title. “We’ll also be publishing Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster for Kinect late in the year, which our retail partners are tremendously excited about already.“Our release schedule shows that whilst quality games linked to quality entertainment franchises will always do well, there is still room for the launch of new IP in this sector.”

HAPPY MEAL

Interestingly, at Disney, UK country director Matt Carroll believes that whilst the audience of younger gamers is growing, it is not being driven by traditional consoles: “My sense is that today the number of games for young consumers has reduced on traditional gaming platforms as we know them, but there is an increase in the number and variety of games on different and emerging platforms such as apps on mobile or sites like Facebook.

“Parents by and large are now much more comfortable providing controlled access to gaming via the web for a broad arrangement of interactive entertainment and games such as Club Penguin, whilst mobile phones and social media networks are increasingly providing access to games for the younger teenage audiences. This has resulted in increased popularity and prevalence of both types of games.”

He adds that whilst Disney was delighted with the success of Toy Story 3 last year, and has high hopes for Cars 2 and the recently announced Disney Universe, “gaming on next-gen consoles still appeals mainly to the hardcore”. Carroll continues: “For younger demographics, I feel that both the pricing and the poor economy has had a major impact in delaying the adoption of these platforms to a more mass market audience, an audience that was seen earlier in previous cycles.

“Functionality improvements such as Kinect and Move are welcome innovations, but they do not replace lower prices to drive penetration. The danger for the ‘traditional games industry’ is that younger consumers turn to new formats, above all mobile, as they feel these next-gen consoles remain out of reach.”

So, is that Disney calling for price cuts? Do we have our headline? Maybe not.

“The first parties have a very tricky balancing act to maximise the business from their consoles – so to that end they need to do what is right for the long term sustainability of the industry – and third-party publishers benefit hugely from the long term view.

“Any price move would generate huge interest and attract new audiences, but I would say they should choose the timing that matches when consumers will have the intention to buy, such as during the Christmas period.”

...

Nintendo has registered trademarks for a range of Wii U video games and peripherals, continuing some of the original Wii's biggest brands.

While none of the trademarks may come as a surprise, it does suggest that Nintendo will offer a similar line-up to that of its current console. It is also important to note that none of these trademarks confirm that these products are in development, but we'd be very surprised if Wii Sports U wasn't on shelves at launch.

The trademarks were found by Siliconera, and surprisingly include variations of Wii U Music, suggesting a successor to the disappointing Wii Music. The addition of WiiWare U lends itself to more downloadable games on the console.

It also mentions new versions of the Wii Zapper, Wii Balance Board and Wii Wheel. As Nintendo has announced before, all Wii peripherals will be compatible with Wii U.

The full list of trademarks is as follows:
Wii U + logo
Mii U
Wii Fit U
Wii Sports U
Wii Music U
Wii Party U
Wii Play U
WiiWare U
Wii Balance Board U
Balance Wii Board U
Wii Wheel U
Wii Zapper U
Wii U Fit
Wii U Music
Wii U Party
Wii U Sports
Wii U Play
Wii U Ware
Wii U Balance Board
Balance Wii U Board
Wii U Wheel
Wii U Zapper
Wii Speak U
Wii U Speak
Shield Pose

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/first...emarked/082404 ...

Ubisoft's detailed UK pricing plans for its newly announced online pass, Uplay Passport, which is set to launch later this year with Driver: San Francisco.

Copies of the publisher's "popular core games" will ship with a one-time code required to access "bonus content, exclusive offers, and online multiplayer play", but second-hand buyers who want to get in on the action will have to pay 800 MS Points (about £6.85) on Xbox 360 and £7.99/$9.99 on PS3.

Ubisoft is the latest publisher to jump on the online pass bandwagon, following similar initiatives introduced by the likes of EA, THQ and most recently Sony.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...cost-pound799/ ...

Industry analyst Michael Pachter doesn't expect Wii U to cost over $399.99 when it launches this year.

He told IndustryGamers that $249.99 would be a more competitive price if Nintendo wants to go toe-to-toe with PS3 and Xbox 360.

"It would surprise me a lot if the Wii U cost more than $399.99, and I think that the sweet spot is $249.99," Pachter said. "Pricing really depends upon where the other console bundles (PS3 with Move and 360 with Kinect) are priced at the time the Wii U launches, because people who don't yet have a console are likely going to choose among the three offerings, and the biggest driver in the purchase decision is usually price.

Pachter also reiterated his belief that Nintendo's leaving it too late to launch its Wii successor.

"I have repeatedly said I thought the next generation Wii should come out in 2009, then 2010, and when it was clear that it wasn't happening, have repeatedly said that a later launch was too late, as it will come too close to next generation launches from the other console manufacturers."

Nintendo isn't ready to open up much about its Wii U pricing strategy yet, but president Satoru Iwata has said "this is not going to be cheap," also hinting that the console will likely cost more than 20,000 yen ($250) in Japan upon release.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...prise-analyst/ ...

Online retail behemoth Amazon will launch its PC game download store in the UK this October, MCV can reveal.

A US download store has existed since early 2009 but it only started selling downloadable versions of triple-A PC games in November last year. It’s been a much-delayed process for the retailer as the UK service was originally scheduled to launch in April, MCV understands.

The service is currently in its test phase, but everything is in place for a full roll-out this autumn.

“We welcome this news, as should all digital distributors, as it is good for this sector of industry,” one rival distributor told MCV. “Amazon can use its retail muscle to draw attention to PC digital downloads and even upset the established order, where Valve sits at the head of the table.”

The US Amazon website currently has a section dedicated to PC downloads. Consumers who search for certain PC games will be given the option to either buy the boxed or digital versions.The retailer’s service is seen as a significant threat to Steam’s business.Steam’s Jason Holtman acknowledged the retailer’s plans in an interview with MCV in May.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/amazo...-launch/082384 ...

SCEE presents tech and tools groups supporting new handheld
Sony’s next generation handheld has at least 16 middleware and tools companies supporting the system, the platform holder has said.
Kish Hirani, head of developer services at SCEE Research and Development, took stage at the Develop Conference this week to present all the companies throwing their tech behind PS Vita.
According to Hirani, the middleware firms on board include:
AiLive
Audiokinetic
Autodesk (including Scaleform)
Blitz Games Studios
CRI
Epic Games
Gamespy Technology
NVIDIA
Premium Agency
RAD Game Tools
RakNet
SpeedTree
Terminal Reality
Umbra
Vicious Cycle
Web Technology
Hirani said the list was only of middleware firms ready to publicly announce their support – a suggestion that more are optimising their tech behind the scenes.
Elsewhere in the presentation, Hirani said PSP successor boasts four times higher resolution, and 600 times increased contrast, in comparison to PSP 3000.
The platform features an 4ARM Cortex A9 processor, Hirani said.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...ifbh+(Develop) ...

inneractive says ad requests start to slip on Apple devices at three months; for Android it's five months.

The Israel-based 'ad mediation platform' for developers has unveiled a new infographic that examines the differences between the two main smartphone OSs.

It shows that ad requests on iOS peak between two and four months, whereas Android ad requests are at their maximum between three and seven months.

Elsewhere, Abdroid is he winner in terms of fill rates (85 per cent v 78 per cent), while iOS scores better in CTR and eCPM.

inneractive provides access to close to 100 networks and agencies in around 200 countries.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...-of-ios/014962 ...