Rumours suggest that Microsoft could be about to announced a partnership with BSkyB for video content on the Xbox 360.

The exact nature of any deal is still unclear, but website Rapid TV News claims that the two companies have been seeking to cooperate for almost two years.

The site suggests that a full BSkyB service via a console is still some way off, but that Microsoft is still looking to make some content available in the near future.

Microsoft has a press event schedule for tomorrow entitled 'Experience the Vision', where the announcement is expected to be made. Microsoft already provides the technology for the BT Vision service, which is also due to be available via the Xbox 360.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ed-on-xbox-360 ...

Macquarie Research has suggested that Nintendo will show new Wii Fit, Mario and Zelda titles at E3 next week.

The company also repeated long-running expectations for a redesigned PSP from Sony, and Xbox 360 motion controller technology from Microsoft at the annual industry showcase.

"We understand Wii Fit Plus will be launched at E3, which will be sold separately from the board and in a bundle and will capitalise on the 17 million existing Wii Fit users," said the firm.

"We expect Nintendo to learn its lessons from last year and provide more gamer-centric announcements at E3 such as a new Zelda or Mario title for the Wii (in addition to the new Zelda for DS). We do not expect a price cut and see an outside chance that new accessories for Wii could be announced," added the company.

The research firm said that a new PSP model, also expected to be revealed next week, may be too highly priced for the market.

"We don't think this will be well received, but we are worried the pricing might be well above the existing model's USD 199 price point.

"No price cut for PS3 is expected, but we think it likely the slimmer model is announced at the same current price of USD 399 and with a price cut of USD 100 closer to the holiday season," added Macquarie.

Nintendo's E3 pres conference will take place on Tuesday June 2 and will be hosted by Nintendo US president Reggie Fils-Aime, executive VP of sales Cammie Dunaway and global president Satoru Iwata.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-at-e3-report ...

A new study by the University of Sydney claims that one in 12 videogames players are addicted.

The study used an online poll of less than 2000 gamers from around the world and questioned participants on how often they played and whether they experienced side effects such as reduced performance at school or work, interrupted sleep, weight change and carpel tunnel syndrome.

Speaking to website Television New Zealand, associate professor Vladan Starcevic suggested that a "minority" of 8 per cent fit the study's profile of a "problem gamer". Of these, 70 per cent admitted to playing for more than four hours a day.

"Their whole lives revolve around this activity and there certainly seems to be a problem there - there is an addiction," said Starcevic. "And it seems to us that these people seem to ... have other mental health issues, and it seems excessive videogame playing is a manifestation of these underlying problems."

The study found that "problem gamers" were more likely to be socially isolated, have a higher risk of depression and be prone to compulsive behaviour. The most popular style of game for this group tended to be open-ended titles such as World of WarCraft.

Starcevic also admitted that the findings showed that 92 per cent of gamers enjoyed playing games without any problems. "Most people who play video games are not problem video game players, to put it in simple terms, they're not addicted to video games," he said.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tralian-report ...

Microsoft has confirmed plans for a "next generation" of hardware for its Zune portable media player, in the form of the much rumoured Zune HD.

Available only in the US, the new player will be launched this autumn and will include a built-in HD Radio receiver, HD video output, OLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi and an Internet browser.

Microsoft has still not announced plans to release any Zune hardware in Europe, but the brand name will become the "premium partner" on the Xbox Live Video Marketplace in both North America and Europe.

Users will have the chance to stream video content or download it, as either limited time rentals or lifetime ownership. Although the US is already well served by Netflix on Xbox Live, there is no equivalent service in Europe and the selection of video content much smaller as a result.

"The Zune experience is growing beyond a music player in the US. Zune’s international expansion starts with video on Xbox Live; eventually we’ll offer the full digital entertainment experience spanning screens, devices, platforms and geographies," said Chris Stephenson, general manager of consumer marketing for Microsoft's TV, video and music business.

"Delivering on Microsoft’s connected entertainment vision; this news marks a turning point for Zune as it brings cross-platform experiences and premium video content to living rooms around the world."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...live-in-europe ...

Peter Edward, director for Sony's PlayStation Home Platform, has told GamesIndustry.biz that the PlayStation 3's virtual world platform has now been downloaded over 6.5 million times, and that after the initial interest peak the active user base has now started to rise again.

Speaking in an interview ahead of next month's GameHorizon conference in Newcastle, UK, Edward stated his belief that the service has now reached a "tipping point" which should it continue to gain momentum from here on in.

And he also revealed that he was pleased with the launch of the open beta, following a long period of hype and anticipation for the platform.

"I think it's gone very well - I'm very pleased," he said. "We went to open beta in December and since then we've had something like 6.5 million downloads. We've got a very healthy active user base, and we're finding as well that people aren't just churning, they're returning - which is obviously key for something like this.

"You start off with everybody interested in what's going on, people come along and have a look around, and that then starts to tail off - but you get to a point where people come back. There's more and more content going in, there are more things to do, and people come back to have a look around - and then they realise there's loads of content.

"We're at the point now where we're starting to see our active user base go up, and we're getting more people coming back than are leaving, so we're at the tipping point of where the platform starts to gain momentum.

"That's really nice for us, because until that happens, you're hoping that it will happen, but you need the reassurance - so in that sense it's nice."

He added that he was also pleased to see third party support for Home, and hinted that there would be announcements about new additions at E3 next week.

"We've had a couple of client updates with some new features, we've got a few more features coming along soon," he said. "But the main thing is less about what we're doing on the platform - we're keeping it up-to-date, we're adding improvements and features - but the vast majority of the impact on the platform is by the content that goes on there. That's where I've been really pleased with the uptake.

"You start off by showing publishers and third parties, and it's the sort of thing they get very excited about. Then you go through the reality check, where people start wondering whether or not they want to put content on there, do they want to take that risk? And it slows down a little bit.

"But then you get people putting content on there and it starts to gather momentum, and now there's content in a constant flow - I think once you've got third parties realising that it has a positive effect, then they put more content on there, and you're at the point where you can be fairly confident you've got something that's working.

"We're at that point now - you know what you want from the platform, you know what you believe it's capable of, but it's nice to be shown that's actually happening."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rs-on-the-rise ...

PlayStation Home's focus is firmly on producing content and growing its community, with chasing profit coming further down the list.

That's according to Peter Edward, director of the PlayStation Home Platform Group, who told GamesIndustry.biz he believed that monetisation of the PlayStation 3's virtual world environment would happen as a consequence of fulfilling the top two priorities.

"On the one hand, yes - Home is an ambitious platform and has been in development for some time, so obviously that's a lot of money," he explained, ahead of a speaking engagement at GameHorizon next month. "But it is a platform, it's not a single software product. We do have a profit and loss on Home, and obviously revenue is an important part of it, just like with anything else.

"But our belief is that if you make the community happy, and get good content on to the platform, if you get a platform that people want to keep coming back to, then the monetisation aspect of it will almost take care of itself.

"It's certainly not something that should be the driving force, not something that's the driving priority at this stage of development. We have to focus on making sure we're giving the community what they want, and making sure the platform itself is sufficiently capable and robust, and that the content is there. That's definitely our priority.

"That's not to say that we don't want to monetise the platform, and that we don't have plans to do so, but it's definitely a kind of consequence of getting all the other factors right, rather than being a driving force. We're not in it to make a quick buck from Home, and then move onto the next thing - Home is a strategic platform for PlayStation, and as such we're developing it."

But he did reveal that the micro-transaction model is proving effective, particularly for third parties who create that monetised content, with the recent release of Star Trek uniforms proving a notable attraction.

"From a third party's perspective it makes it worthwhile to produce those items in the first place," he said. "I can't give you any specific figures on how much has been sold - that's obviously a matter for our licensees - but there are plenty of items being made that are making money.

"I think there's enough content being given away for free on the Home platform that people don't feel forced into buying stuff, and the fact that they are buying things shows there's a market for it and that people like it.

"What's really interesting is that in some cases we're actually finding that the paid-for items are shifting more than the free items, and what that points to is that there's a value in the perceived exclusivity of an item - users can say they've paid for it and it gives them the opportunity to show their individuality a little more."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...home-right-now ...

Rockstar and Take-Two have announced the next Grand Theft Auto IV expansion, The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be available digitally this autumn over Xbox Live. It will also be released bundled on a disc with the game's previous expansion for release through retail.

The expansion will be available in two formats - as a downloadable expansion that requires an original Grand Theft Auto IV disc, and as part of a retail disc titled Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. This disc, according to Take-Two, will contain both The Ballad of Gay Tony and the game's previous expansion, The Lost and Damned, and will not require a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV to play.

"Liberty City is the most vibrant game world we've created yet. The episodic structure has allowed us to interweave stories, gameplay and atmosphere in a whole new way," said Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser. "The team at Rockstar North have yet again surpassed themselves, and made something that is both epic and very innovative. This episode's focus on high-end night life contrasts with the biker gangs portrayed in The Lost and Damned, whilst giving us a lot of new gameplay possibilities."

The Lost and Damned broke Xbox Live download records during its debut. In March, analyst Michael Pachter estimated that GTA IV's downloadable content will reach 2 million sales by the end of the year.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...disc-announced ...

Previously, we saw a Microsoft patent on a Wiimote-like device, and now rumors say that Sony too has a similar device in the works. This isn't surprising, given how dominant Nintendo's Wii has proved to be in this hardware generation. However, many gaming-geeks continue to lament the move away from plain old button-pressing. What is exciting is the prospect that all three companies may incorporate Johnny Lee-style head-tracking into the next console generation, which achieves a convincing 3D illusion on a regular vid-screen, leaving us just a few steps away from true positional 3D. Both the Microsoft and Sony patents incorporate a camera looking at the user, a required setup for achieving positional head-tracking

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../05/27/0511211 ...

That's right folks, the Zune HD is real, and it's coming this Fall. Microsoft officially announced the next iteration in their Zune line today, making it less of a tripped out pipe dream, and more of a totally tubular reality. The specs, which look exactly like that leak we saw, go like this: 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock -- not on-board), and... not much more right now. Microsoft is doing away with the famed squircle in favor a full multitouch device, and they seemed to indicate that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be headed our way, though they were fairly mum when it came to details. The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.

Details are also scarce concerning storage capacities, CPU performance, and other crucial numbers, but it seems like they've got more in store come E3... and that's the next big piece of news. Zune integration is coming to the Xbox and Xbox Live, as the Zune marketplace will step in to replace the current Live video resources, expanding the library and offering all kinds of new perks, like Zune's first foray into international waters. According to the company, at E3 "attendees will see first-hand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE creating a game-changing entertainment experience" -- we're not entirely sure what the means right now, but it sounds sweet. Try to contain your excitement.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/26/z...way-this-fall/ ...