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by Published on February 26th, 2012 21:23- Categories:
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THQ’s UFC Undisputed 3 helped the UK games retail market rise 10.2 per cent to generate £14m last week. There was also retail price activity on many boxed games.
This caused a 14.8 per cent increase in overall unit sales which reached 615,298 during the week ending February 18th. EA’s FIFA 12 was the second best-selling title of the week ahead of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Several recent releases tumbled down the charts, with Final Fantasy XIII-2 falling to No.6, The Darkness II sliding to No.8, Kingdoms of Amalur dropping to No.12 and Metal Gear Solid HD Collection dipping to No.13. Grand Slam Tennis 2 fell to No.38 after its second week on sale.
With PlayStation Vita on sale now, retailers can expect the market value to jump next week. Furthermore, a range of other titles hit shelves today (Friday, February 24th), including EA shooter Syndicate and Zumba Fitness Rush from 505 Games and Majesco.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/softw...-to-14m/091776 ...by Published on February 23rd, 2012 23:40- Categories:
- DCEmu
Sales of videogames at UK retail are down 25 per cent on last year, leading one publisher to describe the situation as "an absolute nightmare."
MCV reports that this year's major new releases are selling between 10,000 and 48,000 in their first week on shelves; last year they were selling between 35,000 and 80,000 units.
"We are trying to understand it," one publisher said, "but everything is selling well below what it should. It is an absolute nightmare. I'm not making half the money back I'm spending on marketing."
Even those at the top of the charts are feeling the effects of the decline. Launch sales of current all-formats number one UFC Undisputed 3 are a third of those enjoyed by the first game in the series.
The well-publicised struggles of Game Group, the nation's largest specialist retailer, raise the question of whether its ability to source new stock following the loss of its credit insurance could be the driving factor in declining sales. However, the head of one Japanese publisher's UK division poured cold water on that theory.
"There are some stock shortages at retail, but I don't think that's what's causing these figures," the source said. "The big games of last year are available cheaply. But also, consumers don't want to spend money, and we as an industry are not giving them any reason to change their minds. I will be watching Mass Effect 3 andSyndicate very closely."
http://www.edge-online.com/news/uk-r...lute-nightmare ...by Published on February 23rd, 2012 02:56- Categories:
- DCEmu
Are you prepared to take pre-orders on this year’s biggest blockbusters? James Batchelor takes a look at the hottest games that retailers can expect throughout 2012
Q1 2012: HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
January may have been quiet but there’s no denying the supply of new titles into retail is picking up in 2012’s opening months.
We’ve already had new entries in high-profile franchises such as Resident Evil and Final Fantasy, and that continues in the next few months with a slew of big ‘3’ titles. Arguably the biggest is Mass Effect 3, the climax of EA and BioWare’s critically acclaimed sci-fi trilogy.
There’s also stealth action with Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D and Ninja Gaiden 3. And Kinect fans can dance along to the third Zumba game with Zumba Fitness Rush.
Nintendo 3DS will mark its one year anniversary with a strong offering that ranges from flagship titles Kid Icarus to casual hits like Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns.
And survival horror fans are in for a treat this spring with new Resident Evil and Silent Hill titles.
Zumba Fitness Rush (505 Games) – February 24th
Mario Party 9 (Nintendo) – March 2nd
Mass Effect 3 (EA) – March 9th
Asura’s Wrath (Capcom) – March 9th
FIFA Street (EA) – March 16th
Kinect Rush: Disney (Microsoft) – March 23rd
Ninja Gaiden 3 (Tecmo Koei) – March 23rd
Resi: Operation Raccoon City (Capcom) – March 23rd
We Sing Pop! (Nordic Games) – March 23rd
Ridge Racer Unbounded (Namco Bandai) – March 30th
Kid Icarus: Uprising (Nintendo) – March
Metal Gear Solid 3D (Nintendo/Konami) – March
Silent Hill: Downpour (Konami) – March
Harvest Moon: Two Towns (Rising Star) – Q1
Rune Factory Oceans (Rising Star) – Q1
Q2 2012: BRINGING THE PAYNE
May has always been a time for blockbuster titles, dominated in the past few years by Rockstar Games offerings such as L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption and THQ’s UFC Undisputed.
Rockstar hopes to maintain its reputation for May blockbusters with Max Payne 3, the long awaited homecoming for gaming’s original Bullet Time action hero.
But the GTA firm faces competition this year from Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
Q2 will also host the battle of the snipers. City Interactive aims to follow up its 2010 surprise hit with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 but 505 Games has the title in its sights as it mobilises Sniper Elite V2.
Kinect Star Wars (Microsoft) – April 3rd
Prototype 2 (Activision) – April 24th
Risen 2: Dark Waters (Deep Silver) – April 27th
Battleship (Activision) – April
Dirt Showdown (Codemasters) – May
Sniper Elite V2 (505 Games) – May 4th
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (Ubisoft) – May 25th
Max Payne 3 (Rockstar) – May 25th
Darksiders II (THQ) – June 29th
Spec Ops The Line (2K Games) - June 29th
Pandora’s Tower (Nintendo) – Q2
Akai Katana (Rising Star) – Q2
Diablo III (Blizzard) Q2
Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 (City Interactive) – Q2
The Amazing Spider-Man (Activision) – Q2
Q3 2012: THE SUMMER DROUGHT
It’s looking like another quiet summer again this year. But that’s not to say there are no potential hits heading to shelves. Far from it.
Instead, retailers can look forward to the arrival of Warner Bros’ LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Not only is this the sequel to the biggest-selling LEGO game of all time, it also coincides rather conveniently with the silver screen debut of hotly anticipated Caped Crusader flick The Dark Knight Rises.
Speaking of which, there is a stellar line-up of summer movie blockbusters that will almost certainly have video game adaptations, including Marvel’s The Avengers, Pixar’s Brave and Dreamworks’ Madagascar 3. Expect these to tempt movie buffs into stores throughout the summer.
Plus, there’s the not insignificant event of the London 2012 Olympics. As well as a new Olympics title from Sega, last year’s Mario & Sonic title stands to benefit from a second wave of sales.
As September arrives, the High Street can depend on unannounced but inevitable follow-ups to some of the industry’s annual surefire hits, such as EA’s FIFA 13.
Other safe bets include Codemasters’ F1 2012 – until then racing fans can enjoy next week’s F1 2011 on Vita.
LEGO Batman 2 (Warner Bros) – Summer
London 2012 Olympics (Sega) – Summer
Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft) – September 6th
Borderlands 2 (2K Games) – September 21st
FIFA 13 (EA) – September
Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix) – Q3
Anarchy Reins (Sega) – Q3
End of Nations (Trion Worlds) – Q3
F1 2012 (Codemasters) – Q3
Q4 2012: THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR
Christmas 2012 is sure to bring with it plenty of massive blockbusters and guaranteed best-sellers.
It’s only February and the line-up is already looking like a winner – who knows what other surprises lie in store at E3, Gamescom and other trade shows.
Firstly, you can always rely on the annual smash hits. A new Call of Duty is confirmed and perhaps we’ll even see the Vita entry teased at last year.
Naturally, EA will fight back with its own shooter, with Medal of Honour II on the cards – plus a Need For Speed for racing fans.
New iterations of Pro Evolution Soccer, Skylanders and WWE are also due, along with new chapters in some of gaming’s ...by Published on February 23rd, 2012 02:54- Categories:
- DCEmu
GAME will close Gameplay.co.uk next week, MCV can reveal.
All that website's customers will now be served via Gamestation.co.uk as of March 1st.
The move makes sense for GAME. It acquired Gameplay back in 2004 but since then it has become a forgotten brand at the retail specialist. The site was also not updated when GAME and Gamestation relaunched its websites last year.
Meanwhile, GAME has also informed a further 35 stores that they will be closed. It is part of the store closures already announced by the firm. There are currently 610 GAME and GameStation High Street stores and this will be reduced to 550 outlets by Christmas 2013.
The company says it has a 'detailed plan to help customers move to another local store or online' and says it will do its best to redeploy its staff if possible.
"So that all of our customers can enjoy the benefits of the new online platform that we launched last year, Gameplay customers will be served through Gamestation.co.uk from March 1st 2012, including customer support for their purchases," said a GAME spokesperson
"All new orders will be directed through gamestation.co.uk from that date. We’re talking to our customers who access our online community through Gameplay about this today, and look forward to welcoming them to the growing community at gamestation.co.uk."
But it's not all bad news for GAME Group. The firm will finally upgrade its in-store IT systems next month. The new system fully connects their online platform with the stores. That means click and collect should be on the way. More information will be available next month.
The news comes a year after the firm announced its 'Dedicated to Gaming' strategy. The company's strategy is to grow its multi-channel and digital offerings, whilst reduce its store count.
The news follows troubled times at GAME Group, which has suffered severe credit issues following a disappointing Christmas. The Group has secured a reduced banking facility to help it trade through the coming weeks. However, some games are still absent from store shelves.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/game-...-stores/091608 ...by Published on February 23rd, 2012 02:53- Categories:
- DCEmu
Specialist retailer GAME has said that it's unable to stock all new releases, in part due to shelf space in stores.
Yesterday it was revealed that the retailer would not be stocking any of Ubisoft's PlayStation Vita games at launch, and it also cancelled pre-orders for the Special Edition of Wii game The Last Story days before release.
The company is negotiation releases on a case-by-case basis with games publishers, following a troubled year in which it expects to make an £18 million loss.
But GAME's marketing director Anna-Marie Mason told our sister site Eurogamer.net that "there's no one specific catch-all reason" why the retailer isn't able to offer new releases to customers.
"With regards to the Ubisoft titles, that is one moment in time. It doesn't mean to say we won't have that title or that part of our proposition on an on-going basis.
"We can't stock absolutely everything. That's just not possible."
"The same applies in a rational way to our online business," she added. "There isn't a definitive reason why we haven't been able to stock those two things most recently. But that may well change."
Last week the store did not have copies of Namco's Tekken 3D Prime Edition, meaning it was not available on sale at over 350 UK stores. The game did not chart in the official UK sales charts as a result.
Mason also said that consumers who place pre-orders shouldn't lose faith in the retailer, as recent situations are exceptions and not an indication of forthcoming problems with other titles.
"We know our customers really well. Most of them have a really long history with us, and they know as a business we are absolutely committed to giving the best possible range as much of the time as we possibly can.
"The instances we've had in the last couple of weeks are absolutely the exception, not the rule."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...y-everything_8 ...by Published on February 22nd, 2012 22:19- Categories:
- DCEmu
While one-third use the devices at dinner, presumably for texting and not talking.
Research from Lloyds TSB shows the handbook of phone manners has been thrown out of the window. Over half of UK phone users talk on the device when in bed, while 34 per cent use their phones at dinner.
Mobiles even seem too irresistible during calls of nature with 24 per cent admitting they've used their phone in a public toilet.
Additionally, three-quarters use their phone in the street, 63 per cent use them on public transport, while 12 per cent have used their phone in a meeting or during a presentation.
Results also show 11 per cent have used their phone at a theatre, cinema or concert, which rises to 29 per cent for under-25 year olds. Nine per cent have even used their phone during a wedding or christening.
However, all isn't lost as 70 per cent still consider it unacceptable to use a phone at the theatre, cinema or concert hall. Worryingly, that figure falls to 51 per cent for people considering it inappropriate during dinner at a restaurant, falling further still to 21 per cent against use in a public toilet.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...-in-bed/017121 ...by Published on February 21st, 2012 23:51- Categories:
- DCEmu
Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard believes that the decline and eventual closure of high-street retailer The Game Group is now inevitable.
Speaking as part of an expert panel at the BAFTA Question Time event, sponsored by GamesIndustry.biz, Gerhard stated that the efficiency with which the internet serves the modern consumer's needs - easy access to a wide range of content at lower prices - has started a process that will eventually eradicate physical retail for games.
"I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece," he said. "I don't think there's much there that would give it a second life."
Physical retail, Gerhard explained, is part of a system that takes "huge chunks of margin" from developers, facilitating the decline of the independent development sector.
"That all erodes the economics for developers being able to make money," he continued. "They take a chunk - say 20 or 30 per cent - the publishers take a bit, and after inflation it's no wonder that the independent games industry isn't alive and vibrant, because they're not making any money."
I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece
Mark Gerhard, Jagex
"[Developers'] response is almost desperation. 'We're going to go straight to the customer. We're going to go online. We're going to bypass the sequence that's taking so much from us...' I recognise that it's sad, but I think it's a fait accompli."
"It's sad to see an institution decline, but the writing has been on the wall for quite some time - the internet didn't happen yesterday... People are still playing games. They're still doing business; they're just doing it in a different place... If you don't adapt you die. It's as simple as that."
Jason Kingsley, owner of the UK studio Rebellion, compared watching the rapid decline of companies like HMV and Game to studying a mass extinction on the fossil record. He admitted to always being puzzled that the games industry sold data, "on bits of plastic wrapped in cardboard and the cellophane and put on the back of lorries."
"I always thought data should go down wires and fibre optic cables," he said. "It's a reforming of an industry, and a refocusing away from selling data - which is more easily distributed in other ways - to offer a very different kind of service."
UKIE's Jo Twist warned the other panelists not to "undersell" the importance of a one-to-one retail experience with engaged sales staff. To those unfamiliar with gaming or shopping for somebody else it can be the only way to make an informed purchase.
However, Kingsley disagreed, arguing that personal recommendations through social networks already provide the same service in a more meaningful way.
Frontier Developments' David Braben went further, saying that major chains like Game and HMV never offered the level of service Twist described, and were instrumental in the decline of the independent retailers that once did.
"In a sense, they're just getting a taste of that medicine," he said. However, Braben also added that internet speeds in the UK weren't yet capable of supporting a full scale shift to digital retail for "the next year or two."
This will give physical retailers some time to find an effective way of serving the needs of consumers, and potentially allow a more passionate independent retail sector to regain some of the market.
Nevertheless, Braben echoed Gerhard's belief that, in 10 year's time, it would be "hard to imagine" any games being sold in "shrink-wrapped retail."
"Whilst I am tremendously sympathetic to all of those that work in the shops, the fundamental problem is that they've got to look at their business to reposition it anyway - that's irrespective of whether it's a good or bad thing."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rom-extinction ...by Published on February 21st, 2012 22:41- Categories:
- DCEmu
Extraordinary numbers, but that's what the research says.
Antenna Software's Mobile Business Forecast 2012 polled 1,000 CIOs and business unit leaders in the UK and US.
It revealed that 43 per cent of them are currently working on a mobile app for their customers – while 42 per cent are making one for their employees and 45 per cent are building a mobile website.
Amazing stats, which you have to assume reflect a pretty tech-centric sample.
Anyhow, for all their industriousness, there appears to be much frustration with mobile development.
Antenna found that 45 per cent of IT and business decision makers are dissatisfied with the speed at which the mobile projects they commission get to market.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...ile-app/017107 ...by Published on February 20th, 2012 20:06- Categories:
- DCEmu
THQ has taken the number one spot in the UK all format software chart, providing a glimmer of hope for the troubled publisher after a testing period.
It's the first top slot for the company since the launch of Homefront last year, despite not selling as well in its opening week as its predecessor, which only managed second place.
Undisputed is the only new entry in the week's top 40, but there has been plenty of movement with existing titles. Kingdoms of Amalur, which was last week's number one, has slipped out of the top ten to 12, after dropping 63 per cent of its sales. FIFA 12 is back to second from fifth, whilst Modern Warfare 3 is in third.
Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games sees the combined benefit of a 3DS release and a Wii discount, jumping from 10th to fourth in the chart.
All data is courtesy of GFK Chart-Track.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...c-undisputed-3
...by Published on February 20th, 2012 20:04- Categories:
- DCEmu
Activision has denied reports of blacklisting a European blog, and argued the situation was simply a misunderstanding.
"Activision doesn't blacklist journalists" a PR agency toldGamesBeat on behalf of the company.
"We believe this was a misunderstanding and are working towards a resolution."
The Call Of Duty publisher faced the accusations of blacklisting last week, after French site Gameblog.fr reported on sightings of a Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 listing on Amazon.
The game, while hardly a surprise to anyone with even a basic knowledge of triple-A franchises, has not yet been formally announced, and the news story sent the Activision PR machine into a frenzy. A representative for the company contacted Gameblog editor Grégory Szriftgiser a number of times, asking him to pull the story. He refused, at which point the company uninvited the site from a press event they had been supposed to attend.
"They also made clear that the relationship was to be severed, all advertisement plans cancelled, games not sent, and invitations to later events cancelled as well," Szriftgiser told Kotaku.
"I explained that if this was their decision indeed, we had to inform our readers of it, and would do so later in the day."
The practice of public relations blacklisting by game publishers is one that is often suspected by media outlets, but rarely admitted to by the PR representatives themselves.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...st-journalists
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