via Games Industry


Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has climbed back up to the number one position in the UK all formats charts, as sales across retail continue to fall following the Christmas period.

Sales for the acclaimed first-person shooter were only down 21 per cent, compared to EA's FIFA 2008 which slipped to number two with a sales drop of 50 per cent, and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed which suffered a 43 per cent fall in sales, although it managed to move up the charts to number three.

EA's The Simpsons Game drops to number four this week with a 53 per cent decline in sales, while Activision's Guitar Hero III manages it's highest chart position at number five, despite sales dropping 30 per cent.

At number six this week is Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 with sales down 42 per cent, and EA's Need for Speed: Pro Street is at seven with a fall in sales of 46 per cent.

Position's eight and nine are occupied by Dr Kawashima's Brain Training and More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima (sales down 26 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively), with Sega's The Golden Compass at ten with a drop in sales of 51 per cent.

No new releases have entered the entire top 40 this week, with the decline in sales across the board a reflection of the traditionally quiet January sales month. ...

via Games Industry


Following yesterday's report by UK tabloid The Sun, in which Prime Minister Gordon Brown was quoted talking about knife crime and associating it with videogames, the government has moved to dispel concerns that any new crackdown is imminent.

A Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) spokesperson has told GamesIndustry.biz that the report didn't highlight any change in policy, nor did it add anything to the debate.


Paul Jackson, director general of publisher association ELSPA, added:

...

via Computer and Video Games


Sony has told CVG that yesterday's images of the high-anticipated in-game XMB we're indeed fake.

And so our fears of it being the work of a sad, lonely soul with nothing better to do with their worthless lives than screw with the hearts of others have been realised.


Damn those faker makers. We hope their dirty, Photoshop-forging PC explodes and they're forced to continue their virtual social lives in internet cafes with the tourists and homeless people.

For now, you'll just have to stick with Sony's previous confirmation of the feature to come in 2008.

Also, cross your fingers, arms, legs and whatever other limbs you can that Sony adds some of the features discussed in our '10 Steps to Perfect PS3 Firmware' write up. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Duke Nukem 3D IS COMING to Xbox Live Arcade, if rumours circulating the internet are to be believed.

"Sources close to 3D Realms" have confirmed that the FPS classic will hit XBLA "within the next several months", IGN is reporting.

It goes on to add that the XBLA-ived up version features a four-player online co-op mode, and that sources have further alleged that eight-player Deathmatch is included too.

You may recall that way back in time - August 2007 to be precise - Duke Nukem dev 3D Realms revealed it wanted to get Duke Nukem 3D onto Xbox Live Arcade.

"Truth be told, we've talked to Microsoft about it and have some people that would port it... Just waiting on the good word from Microsoft to continue," 3D Realms' George Broussard said at the time.

So has the developer finally received that good word?

First-person shooter Duke Nukem 3D originally released in 1996 for PC and its combination of comedy quotes from the wise-cracking Duke and slick and inventive gameplay made it an instant classic.

More on Duke XBLA action if and when it happens. ...

via Eurogamer


Microsoft has been slapped with a legal gag which stops the sharing of Live status updates with the community.

MS Live boss Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb announced the news in the latest podcast on his blog. He apologised for continuing problems but stated we'll hear nothing until the lawsuit against the platform holder is resolved.

The legal action in question comes from a trio of Texans unhappy with Live's performance over the Christmas period, as a lot of people were.

They claim Microsoft knew it would have an influx of extra customers on the service but failed to adequately prepare, misrepresenting itself to the public and breaching its contract through negligence. USD 5 million should cover it, apparently.

MS did publicly apologise for the Christmas fiasco and promised to give all Gold subscribers a free Live Arcade title. But that was the last we heard.

The company recently announced the number of Xbox Live users has surpassed 10 million, and that it has sold more than 17 million Xbox 360s around the world. Most in Japan. Shh no don't. ...

via Eurogamer


Factor 5 has said it will mark its return to developing for Nintendo hardware with a fancy new Wii game.

President Julian Eggebrecht spilled the beans to IGN, revealing development was already underway.

Factor 5 made a name for itself with the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series that started on N64 back in 1998. No help from Wikipedia, promise.

Eventually it broke onto the GameCube in 2002 with Rogue Leader, and we jumped up and down and sang and danced and awarded it a meaty 9/10. Third game, Rebel Strike, not so much.

Recently Factor 5 also disappointed us with the good looking but monstrously shallow and repetitive PS3 outing Lair, the one where you ride around on dragons and kill things.

Details on its Wii plans are non-existent so far, although we know it will not re-use old technology and probably maybe theoretically squeeze lots of performance juice from the hardware. ...

via Computer and Video Games


2K Boston, previously known as Irrational Games (before the 2K Games merging) - the team responsible for Bioshock - is on the hunt for programmers with experience on PS3 development.

Tools programmer and senior console programmer positions note PS3 experience as "highly desirable", while PS3 experience is also mentioned for the programmer position on the dev's website.

So, PS3's on the team's menu, it seems, but what's in the pipeline? Bioshock 2 on PS3? That's what we're rooting for. ...

via IGN


Capcom has unveiled the official website for Street Fighter IV in Japan, the latest instalment in the epoch-defining series that is causing many red-blooded gamers to break into a sweat.

Spotted by the eagle-eyed folk at Destructoid, the site includes a healthy splash of new screens depicting main characters Ryu and Ken in combat. There is also a trio of character profiles, for both the main protagonists and also for C.Viper, the recently announced new addition to the Street Fighter roster. Unfortunately, the site is heavy on Japanese text, though fansite The Street Fighter blog has kindly posted translations of the profiles – and rest assured they reveal little, with standard biogs on both Ken and Ryu, and an enigmatic entry for new challenger C.Viper giving nothing away.

Hit the gallery below for more SFIV screens and check back here soon for an in-depth look at one of the year's most hotly anticipated titles.


Screenshots ...

via Eurogamer


Not content with talking to them about TF2 maps during a recent visit, Valve has gone blathering to Shacknews about Left 4 Dead's release date, which is now "late summer". Presumably on both PC and Xbox 360, for which it's been announced.

Still, Left 4 Dead will be amazing whenever it comes out. We've played it in Valve's offices and at QuakeCon, and it's one of the most enjoyable takes on co-op we've ever experienced.

In case you're not keeping up, Left 4 Dead sees four player-controlled "survivors" fighting their way through various scenarios to an extraction point, beset on all sides by zombies ("Infected") and their deadly bosses.

Thanks to AI developed by Valve's recently acquired chums at Turtle Rock, no two trips through an episode of the game are the same, as enemy resistance changes in intensity from bit to bit depending on what kind of an experience an "AI director" is trying to craft. Fortunately there will be natural periods of relief built in to stop you going mad.

Another wicked thing about Left 4 Dead is that another four players can take control of Infected bosses. These mentalists each have special powers (one lightning-fast boss has a prehensile tongue with which to lynch you from rooftops), and thanks to Predator-esque tracking vision can position themselves creatively for ambushes.

And there are lots of other wicked things - preparing defences (like petrol canisters) and fending off waves of zombies at the extraction point, saving your team-mate from a zombie death with a shotgun and then turning to him and saying "I like to keep this handy for close encounters", and of course knocking Kristan off a rooftop into chasing zombies.

Oh, it's just lovely. We hope to see some more of it soon. ...