via Computer and Video Games


This year the PC gaming market is worth over $20 billion, that figure will rise to $34 billion before 2012, and since 2005 there has been more gaming PCs shipped than the Wii, PS3 and 360 combined.

This is the conclusion of a study from research group JPR. In the group's latest report - called The PC Gaming Market - JPR calculates that there are three classes of PC gaming machines and together, from Q3 2005 until Q3 2008, 196 million of these units were shipped. The study also estimated by comparison that 74.7m PS3s, Wiis and 360s have been shipped worldwide.

The research, however, does not include sales of Nintendo DS units nor PSPs, which together have sold around 125m units worldwide. Nevertheless, due in part to the mushrooming Asian market, the study believes that "the PC gaming market is bigger, worth more money, growing faster, and has better technology than the console market."

The study can be found in the latest edition of JPR's subscription-based newsletter, Techwatch. ...

via Games Industry


PEGI, the Pan European Games Information system, is to introduce its traffic light system to games packaging in mainland Europe this spring.

While age rating symbols have not yet been finalised, the current imagery depicting a spider, fist, syringe and other artwork, will be expanded upon to include descriptive text.

Age ratings will be coloured rather than the current black and white, but the mock-up image first unveiled last month will be tweaked to avoid copyright issues with PEGI's UK rival, the British Board of Film Classification.

"PEGI has agreed those changes and they will be implemented as part of the PEGI system in the new year, probably in the spring by the time the information has been transmitted to all publishers and incorporated as part of the approvals process for the format holders," detailed Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, to GamesIndustry.biz.

However, whether the new traffic light system will be used in the UK is still up in the air and will not become clear until the government finishes reviewing information submitted following the end of the consultation on age ratings, first initiated as part of the Byron review.


Copyright is a sticky issue for the age ratings system. The BBFC, which specifically rates games in the UK, uses colour-coded symbols already, and is currently watching PEGI for violation of its established imagery.


Over the past four months, ELSPA and PEGI have publicly attacked the BBFC as incapable of rating videogames, as all three organisations prepared evidence and research for the government's consultation period, which ends today.

However, the government hasn't given a time frame for any conclusions on who will manage the future of games ratings in the UK, with a decision expected in the first quarter of next year. ...

via Games Industry


PEGI, the Pan European Games Information system, is to introduce its traffic light system to games packaging in mainland Europe this spring.

While age rating symbols have not yet been finalised, the current imagery depicting a spider, fist, syringe and other artwork, will be expanded upon to include descriptive text.

Age ratings will be coloured rather than the current black and white, but the mock-up image first unveiled last month will be tweaked to avoid copyright issues with PEGI's UK rival, the British Board of Film Classification.

"PEGI has agreed those changes and they will be implemented as part of the PEGI system in the new year, probably in the spring by the time the information has been transmitted to all publishers and incorporated as part of the approvals process for the format holders," detailed Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, to GamesIndustry.biz.

However, whether the new traffic light system will be used in the UK is still up in the air and will not become clear until the government finishes reviewing information submitted following the end of the consultation on age ratings, first initiated as part of the Byron review.


Copyright is a sticky issue for the age ratings system. The BBFC, which specifically rates games in the UK, uses colour-coded symbols already, and is currently watching PEGI for violation of its established imagery.


Over the past four months, ELSPA and PEGI have publicly attacked the BBFC as incapable of rating videogames, as all three organisations prepared evidence and research for the government's consultation period, which ends today.

However, the government hasn't given a time frame for any conclusions on who will manage the future of games ratings in the UK, with a decision expected in the first quarter of next year. ...

via Computer and Video Games


The ball is well and truly rolling on weekly LittleBigPlanet updates, with this week's new costumes detailed and priced.

First up is the 'Sack-in-the-box' costume, which puts Sackboy's head in a TV, designed by the winner of the US Official in-game SackBoy Costume Contest. That one's free.

And for $2.99 (or around the £2 mark over here), Media Molecule is putting out five LocoRoco-themed costumes in honour of the release of LocoRoco 2 next month.

The PS Blog also details a new super-rare Sackboy Prize Crown, which be given away as an in-game reward to winner of US-only LittleBigChallenges, starting with a challenge to create a level that celebrates the second anniversary of PS3.

Check out the new costumes to the right, here. ...

via Eurogamer


Epic has made fixing Gears of War 2's skill-based matchmaking its top priority, and hopes to have a solution soon.


Until then, he suggested a few workarounds. Trying different playlists can reduce delays, as can having at least two people in the party before matchmaking; a full team of five, incidentally, is the fastest way.

Re-inviting the nine other people in the game immediately after one finishes is also a top tip from Fergusson, although this will turn the match into a private affair. There's benefits to this, such as being able to pick maps and modes, although the outcome will not be recorded or ranked.

He suggests double-checking the NAT settings with your router, too.

Still, little of this seems to have put people off playing Gears of War 2, which continues to attract the most unique users on Xbox Live according to Major Nelson's charts.

Fergusson added that there have been 3 million ranked multiplayer matches played and over 1 million screenshots uploaded to the official website.

And from those stats he has worked out that Horde is the most popular multiplayer mode, River is the map of choice, and the Gnasher weapon has notched-up the most kills. ...

via Joystiq


Well, we extended the courtesy to the PS3 on its special day, so it seems only fair that Nintendo's little guy should get his own day in the sun. Two years ago today you either discovered that you really could have fun flailing around looking like a dork or, if you're a senior citizen, discovered that video games had been invented.

In those two years the Wii has carved its own niche, bridging gaps between different gaming audiences and (occasionally) leaving some feeling left out of the fun. What do you think of the first 24 months and what are you looking for in the Wii's next 12? ...

via Eurogamer


EA has refused to comment on "rumour and speculation" that a sequel to brilliant Wii puzzle game Boom Blox is in the works.

That's according to US website Variety, which claims returning developer EA Los Angeles has already begun fleshing out the project.

There's no word on whether Boom Blox 2 will be a Wii-only game, nor whether Steven Spielberg will once again be involved.

The source of all this, interestingly, is a former employee of "Blueprint" - a supposedly top secret EA studio tasked with dreaming up new IP.

The developer has apparently been shut down, although no one will acknowledge the existence of "Blueprint" or issue an official announcement. Sounds like the X-Files.

Boom Blox was released on Wii back in May, and fell under Ellie's uncompromising eye for appraisal. But, much to our surprise, the game made such an impression that Ellie was soon championing its cause. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Home version 1.0 - the version that'll be released to the public - will be made available to closed beta testers tomorrow, according to supposed leaked info.

In what looks like a message intended only for closed beta testers themselves are the release plans for Home in the coming weeks.


Unfortunately though, it says: "Open Beta will be here when it's here." We don't like the sound of that.

There's a whole bunch of details and features in the document over on Tawkn which, if fake, does remarkably well to seem pretty real. Sony, however, has issued CVG with a "no comment" on the matter. ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime has said that there will not be enough supply of the Wii Fit peripheral to meet demand this Christmas.


He also said that he doesn't think a number of third-party Nintendo developers fully understand the potential of the Wii, leaving them unable to find success with their products.


Fils-Aime also reiterated that while competitors have made price cuts to their home systems, Nintendo has no plans to reduce the price of the market-leading console in the immediate future.

"At some point, it will be time to adjust the [price]," he said, "but we're nowhere near that point now." ...