Gamasutra News:
Starting this weekend and in the days ahead, Microsoft will offer free Xbox Live Gold services to Silver members on the weekends, giving them a chance to try out recently-launched features. New social networking features like Twitter and Facebook just launched on Xbox Live on November 17, and Silver members will be able to (Read More)
Gamasutra News:
The National Institute on Media and the Family -- the non-profit group behind the sometimes controversial MediaWise Video Game Report Card -- is shutting down after 14 years of operation. The group, a frequent critic of the games industry, said it made the decision to close down in conjunction with Fairview Health Services, (Read More)
Gamasutra News:
Microsoft this week said the latest technology and design details for its upcoming 3D camera solution Project Natal will emerge at Microsoft's annual Gamefest on February 10 and 11, 2010 in Seattle. The Gamefest conference is targeted at video game industry professionals and media interested in learning more are developing (Read More)
Gamasutra News:
Sony pulled off a two-pronged victory in Japan this week, as the PSP and PlayStation 3 captured the one and two sales spots, respectively, topping the typical weekly dominator, Nintendo DSi. Sony's PSP handheld sold 38,770 units for the week ended November 15, Japanese tracking firm Media Create said Friday. Its home consol (Read More)
Gamasutra News:
Veteran video game writer Susan O'Connor (Far Cry 2, BioShock, Gears Of War) has been involved in many games that, in both commercial success and narrative, have become some of the industry's top projects. In our latest Gamasutra feature, she shares her perspective on how writing in games can be improved, and how developers (Read More)
Gamasutra News:
[In an editorial originally published in Game Developer magazine's November 2009 issue, editor-in-chief Brandon Sheffield considers whether traditional player death conventions have worn out their welcome, asking "why is death even part of the equation?" for games if meaningful consequences aren't built in.] Arcades have br (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
The UK government intelligence agency in charge of signals analysis and information for the country's armed forces, GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), is to promote various career opportunities within the organisation on Microsoft's Xbox Live service. The cam (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Law firm AbingtonIP is encouraging users who have had their Xbox 360s banned from Xbox Live to contact them in anticipation of a class lawsuit. As discovered by website IncGamers the firm, which specialises in consumer class actions, has set up a form on its website for (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Xbox 360 owners with Xbox Live Silver membership will be granted free access to all Gold member features from November 25 to November 30 in Europe, as Microsoft continues to promote the service's new features. A similar promotion is planned for all other Xbox Live region (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Buoyed by news of Xbox 360 hitting 10 million in Europe, Microsoft earlier this week released its autumn update for Live users, introducing Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm and a Zune-branded video marketplace to the service. With Christmas approaching and Sony launching its own video service for PlayStation users this week, the (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment, together with the Indian-owned Reliance BIG Entertainment, have acquired the film right to Capcom title Dark Void. The film adaptation is already being touted as a possible starring vehicle for Pitt himself, although n (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Sony Computer Entertainment has denied suggestions that it is ready to start charging an Xbox Live-like subscription for the use of the PlayStation Network, underlining that multiplayer functionality, Home and other features currently free would remain so. But it is look (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
The PSP has retained its lead at the top of the weekly Japanese hardware sales charts, although sales were down over 2,500 units from the previous week to 45,197 (including 6,427 for the PSPgo). Mirroring a slow week of software sales, all hardware formats saw a drop exc (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Microsoft's Neil Thompson has told GamesIndustry.biz that retailers must choose for themselves the price points they're going to set for the sale of videogames - but has issued a warning about the sustainability of some of the aggressive discounting seen recently for games such as FIFA 10 and - particularly - Mode (Read More)
GamesIndustry.biz - News:
Brazil, an emerging market for the videogames industry, has finally seen the official launch of Sony's PlayStation 2 in the country. However, with a price point of BRL 799 (USD 462) it's not clear quite how much impact the console will be able to have on a market that's (Read More)