EDGE News
GameON Finance: Yannis Mallat
Introduced to the audience of the GameOn Finance conference in the Toronto Stock Exchange building as “the new kid on the block”, Yannis Mallat may be a new member of the game development community in Ontario as the head of the newly formed Ubisoft Toronto, but he brings with him a long history of success leading Ubisoft Montreal.
Square Enix Slashes Profit Forecast On Severance Payments
Square Enix has slashed its net income forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, from 15 billion yen to ten billion yen ($109.5m/£66m).
The firm said that its revised forecast was the result of “special factors” that arose in the first quarter. The company cited “an extraordinary loss caused by premium severance payments associated with career change support programmes” in Square Enix and subsidiary Taito, as well as acquisition and APA expenses of approximately two billion yen.
Realtime Worlds Calls For Government Support
Colin Macdonald, studio manager at Crackdown and APB developer Realtime Worlds, has called on the government to back the Scottish games industry in the face of “intense international competition”.
"Tiga has been working hard to raise the profile of the industry in the UK and this is the first time we as an industry in Scotland have joined forces to approach government in this way,” he said at the Tiga/NESTA Scotland In Focus event.
Analyst Cuts 2009 Software Sales Forecast
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects annual US and European game sales to decline by four per cent this year.
Having forecast in May that combined US and European software sales would grow four per cent in 2009, Pachter attributed his downward revision to lower than expected Wii hardware and game sales.
Unity Indie Engine Goes Free
Unity Technologies has dropped the $200 fee for its Unity Indie platform and replaced it with a free license named Unity.
“Unity Technologies has always believed that the best technology and products should be made available to all developers. We want to accelerate the availability of high quality interactive content,” said CEO David Helgason.
Xbox 360 Sky Problems Caused By “Unprecedented” Demand
Microsoft has again apologised for pulling Sky Player on Xbox 360, blaming “unprecedented levels of simultaneous demand” for the service’s suspension.
Nintendo Cuts Full Year Profit Forecast
Nintendo has reduced its profit forecast from 300 billion yen to 230 billion yen ($2.54b/£1.54b) for the business year ending March 2010.
The annual drop in profits would mark the company’s first in six years and comes on the back of a disappointing first half of fiscal 2009.
Net income fell 52 per cent to 69.5 billion yen ($766.4m/£466.6m) in the six months ended September 30, while sales declined 34.5 per cent to 548 billion yen ($6b/£3.7b).
Nintendo Announces DSi LL
Nintendo of Japan has revealed the Nintendo DSi LL, a DSi sporting larger 4.2 inch screens.
Designed to meet requests from older consumers wanting a larger screen and pen, the company said that the new model will offer no improvement in terms of resolution.
The DS LL measures 161 x 91.4 x 21.1mm and weights 314g. In comparison, the DSi measures 137 x 74.9 x 18.9mm and weighs 214g.
Analysts: New PSP With UMD A Strong Possibility
Analysts Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities and Jesse Divnich of EEDAR wouldn’t be at all surprised if Sony’s next handheld supported the platform holder's proprietary UMD format.
PSP-4000 To Support UMD?
Update: Analysts: New PSP With UMD A Strong Possibility
Sony may surprise industry watchers and consumers when it eventually comes to making an announcement about the PSP’s next major evolution.
Xbox Advertising Gets The X Factor
Microsoft will take over an entire TV commercial break for the first time next month as part of its biggest Xbox 360 advertising blitz.
Social Game Studio Gravity Bear Comes Out Of Hiding
Diablo 2 art director and Flagship Studios co-founder Phil Shenk has officially announced his new social game-focused studio, Gravity Bear.
“We finally officially came out of hiding,” CEO Shenk said in a blog post on the independent developer’s site. “Gravity Bear is a new breed of social games company formed in 2008 with the goal of blending the best in online social platforms with the latest in modern game design.”
PlayStation Home Not A Business Priority
Despite users spending extended time and money in Home, Sony isn't currently aiming to develop it as a marketplace.
During the London Games Conference last night, Pete Edwards, director of PlayStation Home, said that Home users are spending money on items through microtransactions in Sony's virtual world.
Microsoft: Not Scared Of OnLive
General manager of Xbox Live Europe Jerry Johnson says that streaming platforms will not enforce change in the foreseeable future.
Speaking during a panel session on digital distribution at last night's London Games Conference, Johnson said that the market and current broadband infrastructure will not support streaming services like OnLive, Gaikai or OTOY.
Game Crazy: DSi, PS3 And Wii Kids’ Most Wanted
A North American survey of more than 1,000 eight–17 year-olds has found that 66 per cent of respondents plan to ask for a new videogame system this holiday season.
Conducted by Weekly Reader Research on behalf of US retailer Game Crazy, the holiday gift tracker survey found that the most wanted system is the DSi (24 per cent), followed by the PS3 and Wii (both at 21 per cent).
In addition, 86 per cent of respondents said that they expect to ask for at least one game this year, with action and music titles the most in demand.
Playfish: “Physical Media Doesn’t Have A Chance”
Speaking at the London Games Conference last night, co-founder and CEO of Facebook game specialist Playfish Kristian Segerstrale told panel chairman Phil Harrison that “physical media doesn’t have a chance in the future”.
It was a sentiment that Runescape maker Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard agreed with, reminding Harrison that he had claimed while head of worldwide studios for SCE that PS4 would have no drive. “I said a lot of stupid things back then,” Harrison joked.
Another iPhone Developer Stung By Piracy
Fishlabs CEO Michael Schade has revealed that the iPhone version of Rally Master Pro was hit by a 95 per cent piracy rate on its first day of availability.
The alarming piracy rate, along with complaints about the title’s price from consumers, has already led the developer to reduce the cost of the game.
Gfk Chart-Track To Compile UK PC Digital Download Charts
Service to begin from the beginning of next year and will prove that the PC games market isn’t facing as heavy a decline as retail sales suggest.
Speaking at the London Games Conference, Gfk Chart-Track head Dorian Bloch revealed that the organisation, which currently provides official sales chart data for the UK, will begin offering charts for downloaded PC games from the beginning of next year.
Tories Slam Government Support For UK Games Industry
Shadow Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has slammed the UK Labour government for its lack of support for the domestic games industry.
“NESTA’s research suggests the UK videogames sector could shrink by 16.5 per cent over five years, resulting in the loss of more than £180m in external investment and nearly 1,700 jobs. As in so many other areas, Labour ministers simply do not seem to care that we are falling behind our competitors in a critically important economic growth area,” he told attendees at the London Games Conference.
Xbox 360 Sky Player Pulled
Sky Player has been pulled from Xbox 360 shortly after launch “due to an unforeseen technical issue”.
The online TV service launched earlier today with 24 channels available to watch via Microsoft’s console.
“The Sky Player on Xbox 360 service did successfully launch early this morning, it has subsequently been suspended due to an unforeseen technical issue," Microsoft said in a statement.