via Games Industry


Europe will be backing Play.com Live, the consumer event to be held at Wembley this March, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal.

The event already has the backing of Activision, Ubisoft, Microsoft and THQ, and offers the chance for consumers to play games before release, as well as take part in events – including two chances to win GBP 50,000.

VIP tickets for the event, which takes place March 15 and 16, are on sale now for GBP 16.

Sony has yet to give full details of its involvement with the event, and it's expected more developers and publishers will be signing up for the Wembley show in the coming months.

"Play.com Live provides a great platform for all games publishers to showcase their games for 2008 and Wembley provides a fantastic venue for an entertainment show," said Gian Luzio, head of games at Play.com, announcing the event last year.

The retailer hopes to attract around 40,000 consumers to the show. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Everyone knows that Square Enix can produce some incredible CG images, but will the PS3 Final Fantasy games be the first to look nearly as good in-game?

Square has sworn to use the "full specifications" of the PS3 with the RPG sequels, and Japanese Famistu magazine has unleashed the first glimpse of its latest work - Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Although the slightly grainy images on FinalfantasyXIII.net probably don't do the game justice, the character models look nice, and they show off some of the game's flashy magic effects.

It's not much, but it's a start, and we expect a flood of proper in-game screens within the next week or two. Come on Square!


Screenshots here ...

via Computer and Video Games


The game, developed by Free Radical Design, was previously scheduled for a fiscal Q4 release, which would've been sometime in the January-March quarter.

Ubisoft said in an earnings release Wednesday it would raise 2008-2009 sales forecasts to €1 billion because of the game's delay, up from previous guidance of €975 million.

Ubisoft recently delayed upcoming war games Tom Clancy's End War, Brothers in Arms and Far Cry 2 into next fiscal year. ...

via Eurogamer


Electronic Arts has written a letter to Fox News Channel asking the media company to correct alleged inaccuracies that appeared during a recent segment on Bioware's Mass Effect game.

The letter, obtained by Kotaku, was written by Jeff Brown, EA's VP of communications.

"As the parent company of BioWare, the studio which created the game, EA would like you to set the record straight on a number of errors and misstatements which incorrectly characterise the story and character interactions in Mass Effect," Brown wrote.

The headline for Fox's televised story indicated that Mass Effect showed full digital nudity, with a reporter indicating that the game allowed players to engage in graphic sex and was being marketed to kids and teenagers.

EA's letter described the game's content - comparing the sexual content to that of network television - and made it clear that the game was rated Mature.

Mass Effect was initially banned in Singapore due to the inclusion of a sex scene between a human woman and a female alien, but that ban was later overturned and the game was released under an M18 rating.

The scene gained media attention and attracted some criticism, leading up to Monday's segment on Fox News television.

"As videogames continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment," Brown's letter continued.

"But this represents a new level of recklessness."

Fox has not yet responded to the letter at the time of writing. ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo Europe has revealed sales of the Wii and DS in the region have reached over six million and 20 million units, respectively.

First-party software sales in the region have also reached impressive figures, with four Wii titles sailing past one million units sold.

Wii Play has sold 2.3 million units, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 1.3 million units, Mario Party 8 one million units and Super Mario Galaxy 1.3 million units.

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training; How Old is Your Brain? has now sold over 5 million units in Europe, while its sequel More Brain Training has clocked up 2.8 million units. However, the top-seller is the Nintendogs series, which has sold over 8 million units in the region.

New titles for Europe in 2008 include Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, and Professor Kageyama's Maths Training: The Hundred Cell Calculation Method for the DS.

Earlier today, Nintendo announced nine month profits to December 31 of JPY 258.93 billion (USD 2.43bn/EUR 1.66bn), almost double that of the year previously. ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo Europe has revealed sales of the Wii and DS in the region have reached over six million and 20 million units, respectively.

First-party software sales in the region have also reached impressive figures, with four Wii titles sailing past one million units sold.

Wii Play has sold 2.3 million units, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 1.3 million units, Mario Party 8 one million units and Super Mario Galaxy 1.3 million units.

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training; How Old is Your Brain? has now sold over 5 million units in Europe, while its sequel More Brain Training has clocked up 2.8 million units. However, the top-seller is the Nintendogs series, which has sold over 8 million units in the region.

New titles for Europe in 2008 include Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, and Professor Kageyama's Maths Training: The Hundred Cell Calculation Method for the DS.

Earlier today, Nintendo announced nine month profits to December 31 of JPY 258.93 billion (USD 2.43bn/EUR 1.66bn), almost double that of the year previously. ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo Europe has revealed sales of the Wii and DS in the region have reached over six million and 20 million units, respectively.

First-party software sales in the region have also reached impressive figures, with four Wii titles sailing past one million units sold.

Wii Play has sold 2.3 million units, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 1.3 million units, Mario Party 8 one million units and Super Mario Galaxy 1.3 million units.

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training; How Old is Your Brain? has now sold over 5 million units in Europe, while its sequel More Brain Training has clocked up 2.8 million units. However, the top-seller is the Nintendogs series, which has sold over 8 million units in the region.

New titles for Europe in 2008 include Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, and Professor Kageyama's Maths Training: The Hundred Cell Calculation Method for the DS.

Earlier today, Nintendo announced nine month profits to December 31 of JPY 258.93 billion (USD 2.43bn/EUR 1.66bn), almost double that of the year previously. ...

Source: GameIndustry


Rockstar Games has finally set a date for the release of one of the year's most anticipated software releases.

Grand Theft Auto IV will be released worldwide on April 29 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

"We are so excited to be releasing Grand Theft Auto IV," commented Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games.

"We've pushed ourselves very hard to make something incredible and hope the game sets a new benchmark for interactive entertainment."

The date is later than some internet sites had speculated, and comes just within parent company Take-Two's end of financial year.

It also misses the crucial easter sales, considered one of the first big retail periods of the year.


With that being said, all we need now is to wait. Let's just hope that they release a Demo earlier. It could help us kill the time meanwhile.

Discuss Via Comments ...

via IGN

As part of its recently-announced effort to trim the fat from its production pipeline, THQ has announced that it will cancel some upcoming games, kill two of its franchises and close a studio.

As part of an updated financial outlook the company released today, THQ said it has canceled the PlayStation 3 version of Frontlines: Fuel of War and the PlayStation 2 version of Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed. The PC and Xbox 360 versions of the former game and the PlayStation Portable version of the latter appear to still be alive.

Despite recording a killer fiscal third quarter, fueled by hot sales of SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 and MX vs. ATV Untamed, THQ said games like Ratatouille, Conan, Stuntman: Ignition underperformed and two unannounced games were costing more than expected.

The two unannounced games, under development for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, were scheduled for release in 2010. THQ has pulled the plug on at least one of those titles and closed the studio behind it - Concrete Games.

In today's financial report, THQ also said it no longer plans to "pursue its Juiced and Stuntman" franchises. The company did not say if it plans to sell off the intellectual properties or hold them for future use.

"In October, we announced certain product quality initiatives, including personnel and structural changes in product development and a more rigorous internal and external product evaluation and feedback process," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ. "Consistent with these initiatives, we have taken actions to strengthen our pipeline and position ourselves to compete aggressively with compelling, high quality games." ...