MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Following on from yesterday, Jeff Brand’s Freeplay 2011 speech is concluded with a call to action from gamers. In 2005, 88% of Australians supported an R18+ rating. What happened? JB: Elizabeth Hansley, who is in charge of the Australian Council on Children and Media, and former South-Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, …
Read More »Tropico 4 gets Australian / New Zealand release date
Fans of El Presidente and his immense power will be able to play Tropico 4 from 8th September in Australia and New Zealand. Tropico 4 sees players take on the role of a Central American dictator charged with running an island along the same vein as Sim City, but with …
Read More »Jeff Brand PART 1: ‘Ditch the classification scheme’ in Australia
Dr Jeff Brand has been an advocate of gamers being treated like adults since the 1990s. He spoke at Freeplay 2011 about the politics of achieving it in Australia. JB: The adjective ‘political’ really means to form a party around some issue and barrack for it. In fact, by meeting …
Read More »Firemint releases SPY Mouse for iPhone, builds on Flight Control
SPY Mouse has released onto the app store today, a new line-drawing game from Firemint Studios, the creators of Flight Control. Playing as a mouse who fancies himself a secret agent, players must take on fantastical feline creatures with an assortment of power-ups and gadgets in 72 levels. Rob Murray, …
Read More »GAME Australia drops price on Batman: Arkham City
GAME Australia has announced an online-only pre-order special on Batman: Arkham City for AUD$88 on PS3 and 360, or AUD$78 on PC. The move leaves GAME as the cheapest of the big three, with JB HiFi at AUD$94 and EB Games at AUD$98. GAME is sporting the Batman Beyond in-game …
Read More »Rugby Challenge gets release date right next to Rugby World Cup
Tru Blu Entertainment has given Rugby Challenge a release date of 2nd September today, pitting it head-to-head with Rugby World Cup 2011. Tru Blu spoke to MCV about their expectations for the title, which is known internationally as Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge, in Australia as Wallabies Rugby Challenge and in …
Read More »House of the Dead: Overkill – Extended Cut too violent for Australia
SEGA Australia has confirmed that House of the Dead: Overkill – Extended Cuthas been refused classification in Australia. The PS3 game was set to launch on 27th October for the Playstation Move, and featured all seven scenarios from the original House of the Dead: Overkill game as well as two …
Read More »Editor of Official Playstation Mag moves to IGN AU
Luke Reilly, editor and mainstay of Australian Official Playstation Magazine for 8 years, jumped ship to yesterday become the games editor at IGN Australia. Reilly told MCV: "It’s with much sadness I leave a magazine I’ve been some part of since late 2003. It’s actually over 90 issues, from freelancer …
Read More »Rugby World Cup releases early
Rugby World Cup 2011 is now being sold at all major retailers in Australia and New Zealand, before its official release date. Tuff Kat Entertainment, local distributors of the game, have confirmed to MCV that the official release date is still Thursday 25th August. Regardless, EB Games, GAME and JB …
Read More »Halfbrick was ‘teetering on the edge’ before Fruit Ninja
Speaking at Freeplay 2011, Luke Muscat, lead designer and executive producer at Halfbrick, talked about the lessons learned which led to Fruit Ninja’s creation. The team at Halfbrick looked at Rocket Racing, their previous and unsuccessful title, and other casual games achieving big success. Muscat comments: "Fruit Ninja was a …
Read More »