MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Redbox is rolling out its video games rental service to its retail kiosks around the US. Having tested this offer for a few years on select kiosks, the company is now expanding the service to thousands” of its 24,000 machines, according to Joystiq. Similar to its DVD program, Redbox’s video …
Read More »ANALYSIS: GAME’s new plan
They say it’s the first 90 days of any new business or job that really tests its leader. Coincidentally, when GAME detailed its interim financials last week, it was 90 days exactly since new CEO Ian Shepherd stepped in to replace Lisa Morgan, who left in April. So talk about …
Read More »OPINION: What FIFA tells us about retail
FIFA had its largest launch ever this week, and the third largest of any game in the UK. Well done EA, pats on the backs for everyone, yes yes. But as night follows day, No.1s follow FIFA. What’s most interesting is the context around the game’s arrival at UK retail …
Read More »RSG and Namco strike Harvest Moon deal
Publisher Rising Star Games has announced a fresh deal with Namco Bandai that will see that firm handle distribution duties for both Harvest Moon: Animal Parade on Wii and Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands on DS next month. The deal applies to EMEA regions. The Harvest Moon series has a very …
Read More »Gamestation Elite loyalty card revealed
UK retail group GAME has lifted the lid on a very targeted new loyalty scheme that it has launched in its Gamestation stores today. Called Gamestation Elite, the offer includes what GAME is calling Accolades, which are very similar in design to Xbox Achievement points. Varying amounts of XP (a …
Read More »GAME to open Comet concessions
Electricals chain Comet has announced that it is to open a number of GAME concessions in its stores, taking the video games specialist back to out-of-town retail parks. The first, due to open in mid-October, will be in Comet’s Croydon outlet. A further five concessions will be launched before the …
Read More »GAME: Pre-owned charges havent hurt us
The wide-spread efforts by publishers to earn extra money from pre-owned games hasn’t dented GAME’s second-hand game business. This year EA, Sony and THQ have introduced new measures that mean owners of games like Mass Effect 2, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 and UFC Undisputed 2010 must pay for an extra …
Read More »Asda rolling out pre-owned nationwide
A total of 234 Asda supermarkets in the UK will accept video games trade-ins from next week, MCV can reveal. That number represents two-thirds of the supermarket giant’s total store count, and is a significant factor in the massive growth pre-owned games are now enjoying on the High Street. MCV …
Read More »Rock Band downloads hit 75m
Looking at Rock band’s boxed retail sales really is only half the story – Harmonix owner MTV has confirmed that over 75m purchases have been made through the game’s in-game digital portal. Each download on Xbox Live costs between 80 Microsoft Points (around 69p) and 240 MSP (2.06), with a …
Read More »Tesco UK’s non-food profits up 2.5%
Tesco’s non-food sales for H1 2010 have increased 2.5 per cent year-on-year in the UK. The supermarket giant made 4.4bn in non-food for the 26 weeks ending August 28th, 2010. The firm says the growth in non-food is slowing because the ‘important’ electrical and entertainment categories struggled during the second …
Read More »