Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that he is working on a new original title along with his already revealed Wii U Pikmin 3 and 3DS Luigi's Mansion 2 projects.
"People have come to expect a lot from me," he said during an interview with Zoomin Games (below).
"This certainly makes me feel some pressure. But if you ask me, 'Is it too much pressure to try to come out with something new?' I have to say no, I'm enjoying myself.
"When I make something I always try to do my best."
During the interview, Miyamoto also expressed surprise and flattery at the public reaction to comments made during a Wired interview that suggested he intended to retire.

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/miyamot...iginal-project ...

London-based Icon Games has claimed that Nintendo asked it to remove WiiWare sales figures published on the developer's blog.
Icon had listed figures across all the formats it develops for, including Nintendo's console, but was forced to take down digital Wii transactions.
"Yesterday Nintendo got in touch to ask us to remove the figures for the WiiWare titles from the blog," reads an explanatory post on the same blog. "Apparently they don't allow developers to publish the sales numbers of their self-published titles.
"As to why, I can't really be sure - are they scared to reveal how their online services perform or do they just dislike developers being able to run effective businesses? It is a tricky one - and incredibly unfair and damaging to indie developers publishing on Nintendo stores.
"I don't believe Nintendo are necessary alone in this policy, but I believe they are by far the most draconian in enforcing it. I have seen many different reports from developers for games on XBLA, PSN, Steam and so on with details of sales figures, but never anything for a Nintendo store."
Icon's Richard Hill-Whittall then goes on to explain why he feels such a policy is potentially damaging for Wii Ware developers, pointing to the difficulty of maintaining effective business and financial planning, pitching to investors and lenders, and assuring staff of their job security.

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/nintend...ing-sales-data ...

Steam sales increased by more than 100 per cent year-over-year in 2011 for the seventh year running, according to Valve.
The developer and publisher has released an official statement which, along with highlighting the previously reported record number of concurrent users on Steam, also reveals the continued remarkable growth of its platform.
Steam's catalogue grew to include over 1,800 games and 40 million user sign-ups (what percentage of these accounts remain active was not disclosed, however).
Steam also doubled the amount of content it delivered in 2011 compared to the prior year, serving more than 780 Petabytes of data worldwide.
"Steam and Steamworks continues to evolve to keep up with customer and developer demands for new services and content," says Valve president Gabe Newell.
"Support for in-game item trading prompted the exchange of over 19 million items. Support for Free to Play (FTP) games, launched in June, has spurred the launch of 18 FTP titles on Steam, with more coming in 2012.
"Looking forward, we are preparing for the launch of the Big Picture UI mode, which will allow gamers to experience Steam on large displays and in more rooms of the house."

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/steam-s...t-seventh-year ...

Could a rental or hire-purchase model help secure a future for dedicated gaming handhelds like the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS?
It's an idea floated by Frontier Developments' David Braben, Codemasters' Jamie MacDonald, Boss Alien's Jason Avent, and Simon Oliver of Hand Circus in a roundtable discussion withGamesIndustry.biz.
One of the challenges the Vita faces is that, beyond the lower prices of smartphone games, mobile hardware is generally acquired through a hire-purchase model, effectively making it free to the consumer.
However, this approach - a common retail strategy for numerous consumer electronics devices - hasn't been attempted with game consoles.
"Maybe that's an idea," Avent said. "You get your PS Vita and pay a subscription for it and you get usage of one or two games that you can swap in and swap out.
"You join a club for £15 a month and you get really top games for that. And you get hire of the hardware. And then it's much more like an app store where you have to get your games through Sony."
In Braben's view, this could be a "workable business model" for handheld consoles, not least because it would open up new shelf-space with high-street mobile phone retailers.
"It would be a bit like a Sky subscription with telephone, internet and TV in one," Avent continued, "but you could have a small mobile phone with a contract, and then it's packaged up with the Vita and a subscription to games"
This view is consistent with comments made by industry analyst Nick Parker at the London Games Conference last month, in which he outlined the possibility of retailers like GAME eventually selling contracts and not hardware.
"I sat down with Ian Shepherd a couple of weeks ago and his vision is seeing GAME like Carphone Warehouse, whereby Carphone Warehouse doesn't actually sell anything at all, no product, no hardware, it just sells contracts," Parker said.
"And they see themselves doing the same thing - selling contracts for OnLive or any other technology provider or source of games and then hardware can eventually be offered for free."
The notion that the market for handheld consoles has been fatally disrupted by the growth of mobile gaming has been widely discussed over the last 12 months.
Slow sales of the 3DS only improved after Nintendo slashed the price by as much as 40 per cent, whilethe PlayStation Vita's performance has declined sharply since it launched in Japan before Christmas - it is currently 4th in the hardware charts, one place behind its own predecessor, the PSP.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ground-running ...

Media streaming service LoveFilm has signed new deals with both BBC Worldwide and ITV to bring new programmes to its subscribers.
"We are thrilled to be bringing together great British TV content with Europe's leading film subscription service," said CEO Simon Calver.
"This gives Lovefilm an even more powerful, unique offering of instant programming for our members to view across a growing number of platforms, for one low monthly price."
ITV will offer shows like Cold Feet, Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, and Prime Suspect, while BBC programming will include Spooks, Life On Mars and Planet Earth.
"We've had a content partnership with Lovefilm for several years now and it's great to see this evolve digitally," added Lisa Rousseau of BBC Worldwide.
"We're delighted to give Lovefilm's subscribers the opportunity to instantly watch their favourite British shows, wherever and whenever they wish, alongside a diverse range of great programmes and films."
LoveFilm subscribers can currently receive Blu-rays, DVDs and games by mail, as well as streaming content to computers, iPad, PS3 and 360. It already has content deals with Entertainment One, Disney, Lionsgate, Momentum, Studio Canal andWarner Bros.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-and-itv-deals ...

The experiences of a young woman in Texas have highlighted security issues for Microsoft's Xbox Live service, after her account was hacked and points purchased on it sold to the highest bidder.
Susan T shared her story on a blog which documented her correspondence with both Microsoft and someone who had bought the points fraudulently purchased with her account.
She became aware of the problem on January 2 when she received purchase confirmations from Microsoft for 10,000 points and the Family Gold Pack, as well as an email to say the points had been successfully transferred. She had been charged $214.97, and immediately contacted Microsoft's Xbox Phone Support Team, who blocked her account.
On January 4, despite being told her account was blocked, she was charged another $124.98 for another 10,000 points, which were transferred to the user RipplyCorgi16. She contacted Microsoft again, who told her they had been unable to block her account.
72 hours after her initial contact with Microsoft, the account was still not blocked and she was able to contact RipplyCorgi16, the user who had received the latest batch of stolen points.
He told her he was based in Poland and he had purchased the Xbox Live account from a site called TradeTang, a Chinese wholesale site where 10,000 Microsoft Points are currently available for around $30.
He had been directed there by the seller via a Polish trading site called Allegro, and handed over the seller's Allegro username and email address. She has also been in touch with Microsoft again.
"I have spoken to Microsoft again and the rep I chatted to was appalled that no one else had actually managed to get my account blocked since the moment I first reported the issue on Monday."
"He said he is going to pass my case onto the Tier 3 team who will phone me once my account has been blocked and the investigation began."
GamesIndustry.biz has contacted Susan T for an update on the situation.
Late last year Microsoft denied that Xbox Live had been hacked blaming phishing scams.
"Xbox Live has not been hacked. Microsoft can confirm that there has been no breach to the security of our Xbox Live service."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ounts-for-sale ...

Apple has patented a power charger that also serves as a password recovery backup. If a user forgets his Macbook's password, for instance, he simply plugs in the cord, and it would provide a unique ID number stored in a memory chip in the adapter that acts as a decryption key, unscrambling an encrypted copy of the password stored on the machine. The technique, according to the patent, incentivizes better password use by avoiding traditional password recovery techniques that annoy users and lead to disabled or easily-guessed passwords. The new technique is only secure, the patent admits, in cases where the user leaves a mobile device's charger at home. So the idea may make the most sense for long-battery-life devices like iPods, iPads and iPhones rather than laptops, at least until laptop batteries last long enough that users don't take their power adapters with them and expose them to theft."

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/0...lost-passwords ...

New report claims that all three next gen systems will take stage at LA extravaganza

Sony is planning to rock the industry by announcing PlayStation 4 plans in just a matter of months, a new report has revealed.
In a highly unexpected move, Sony executives will head to Los Angeles in June to discuss their next home console at E3, within days of Microsoft doing the same.

This week’s MCV magazine has splashed on its front page “Biggest E3 ever will reveal new consoles”, claiming that Microsoft too will unveil its next generation system at the industry event.
In October last year, Develop revealed that several Sony studios had begun prototyping early PlayStation 4 projects. One month later, PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryanadmitted it would be “undesirable” for the PlayStation 4 to launch later than its rivals.
MCV now claims that Sony has sent the message to third-parties that it will not be left behind this time.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...uncement-at-E3 ...

WikiLeaks cables show Spain has been called to act since 2008

The Spanish government was subjected to ambassadorial pressure from the US to introduce a tough new anti-piracy law, according to diplomatic cables and leaked correspondence.
Alan Solomont, the US ambassador in Madrid, is believed to have threatened Spain’s president with “retaliation” unless action was taken to curb illicit online file sharing in the country.

In a letter dated December 12th, Solomont (pictured) reminded Spanish officials that the nation was already placed on the so-called ‘Special 301’ – a US list of countries that are deemed ineffective in protecting copyright holders from online piracy.
Spain was under risk of having its position "degraded" further, and could have joined a blacklist of "the worst violators of global intellectual property rights" if action wasn’t taken, the correspondence suggested.
Joining the blacklist could have, in turn, resulted in "retaliation actions", Solomont was quoted as saying, including the elimination of tariff agreements and a referral to the World Trade Organisation.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...SOPA-style-law ...