Having done several research projects that would have benefited it, we’re very aware of how scarce data is for digital downloads. Usually, this is because sale figures for digital titles are often only released for runaway successes, and also because publishers guard their data in a way retailers don’t feel the need to.
Develop today are [...]

Interesting tidbit on the PSP Go: Some retailers are getting arsey about stocking a device aimed exclusively at digital distribution, because they can’t sell games for it.
It smacks of King Canute. As things turn to digital distribution, refusing to stock platforms will surely send business elsewhere and hasten the ebb of bricks and mortar?
(CC image [...]

There’s a lot of talk of Quake Live “failing” at the moment, since it’s been revealed that ad revenues from the free to play game just aren’t covering its costs. However, it’s important to see that iD are experimenting with something new; some degree of failure is to be expected, and iD have announced that [...]

Microsoft have just announced a deal with Sky, to bring TV to the Xbox 360 in the UK. There was grumbling over here when they started streaming netflix in the US, and it seems they’ve been quietly building the capacity to plug the XBox into various TV networks via the net.
It’s been pretty obvious that [...]

Steve Gaynor from 2K Boston coins a new term: Single-A Games; projects that have a higher risk and lower budget than typical triple-A titles (In the words of Tom Armitage, nice coinage).
Triple-A is, of course, yet another coincidental, convenient and rather subjective piece of games industry terminology, and I’m pleased to see the lexicon expanding. [...]

I’ve just had a hectic month, with GDC, research projects, X48 and Get In The Game all falling within the same few weeks. Things should be back to normal soon, our apologies for the lack of posting this month.
While out at GDC, there was a massive amount of hype about OnLive, a newly announced startup [...]

It’s been a fairly slow news week for the games industry, but there are rumblings about pre-owned game sales, with Toys ‘R’ Us now trialling pre-owned game sales in New York.
Somewhat surprisingly given the kind of statements that grab headlines, games industry dialogue on the subject seems to be moving away from whining about [...]

Duncan Gough is one of the minds behind PMOG, and certainly on the interesting fringe of MMO design rather than the flabby, World of Warcraft copying centre. Here, he talks about seasonal pricing models and free content, citing in particular an interesting comment from Valve:
“we’ve learned that we’re no longer making stand-alone games but creating [...]

Flower (trailer here) has just been released on PSN. It looks beautiful, but not everyone is happy. Much like the “hardcore” cussing out Nintendo at E3 last year because they felt neglected by a publishing roster largely aimed at a casual audience, the PS3 is provoking some tempers. This Eurogamer review highlights one of the [...]

I read on Gamasutra today that the classic, harsh text adventure Zork is returning as a browser based MMO. Similar things have already bee attempted, such as the bot running classic text adventures at the Idle Thumbs Forums, and they’re a good place to go if you want a quick look at just how obtuse [...]