(via Game Industry) - The PS3 was the biggest-selling console in Japan for the week ending August 26, according to figures from Media Create. Sony's console sold just under 30,000 units, with the Wii managing just over 18,000 and the Xbox 360 just 3,842.
(via Game Industry) - Quailty Assurance company Testronic Laboratories has opened a new 3D games testing facility at its Pinewood office and has already begun work on a major 3D project for a client. The company began working in the 3D movie field in January, and already provides services for the QA of Move and Kinect titles, alongside support for traditionally controlled games.
(via Game Industry) - Xbox Live Studios Soho general manager Jerry Johnson has equated the uptake of Sky Player for the Xbox 360 to that of a top-five retail game. "If Sky was a title in the UK market, it would be one of the top played titles on an evergreen basis.
(via Game Industry) - Two keynote speakers have been confirmed for the Montreal International Games Summit - original project Xbox co-founder Ed Fries and 2D Boy's Ron Carmel. Fries will speak on the eclectic subjects of beauty, constraints and the Atari 2600, whilst Ron Carmel will be giving a keynote on the business of independent game development.
(via Game Industry) - Microsoft will once again be hosting the keynote at this year's Tokyo Game Show, with Home and Entertainment head Takashi Sensui and Game Studio vice president Phil Spencer taking the stage on the morning of the show's opening day, September 16. Currently, the keynote has a working title of "Xbox 360's Vision and 2010's Strategy", although this is subject to confirmation.
(via Game Industry) - Ubisoft, Europe's number two publishing company, has said that it doesn't expect either Move or Kinect will be able to extend the life-cycle of the current generation of home consoles. European MD Alain Corre told GamesIndustry.
(via Game Industry) - Microsoft intends to spend more on marketing for upcoming shooter Halo: Reach than for any previous effort. While figures are undisclosed, its media spend alone will top the $6.5 million laid out for Halo 3. Xbox global product manager Michael Stout told Advertising Age that the campaign would be Microsoft's biggest ever, and followed a beta trial for the game which attracted 2.
(via Game Industry) - Microsoft has revealed that its Windows Phone developer kit - currently running in beta until the final toolset launches on September 16 - has now been downloaded "north of 300,000" times. The news, in the official blog written by Windows Phone 7 director Brandon Watson, comes six months after the software giant's plans for the platform were unveiled - with the community "busy stretching the capabilities of the application platform and developer tools" in that time.
(via Game Industry) - Online retailer Amazon has decided to stop selling Xbox Live Arcade games via its website, ending a partnership which began only 16 months ago in April, 2009. Previously, the site had offered redeemable codes for purchase, allowing customers to pay for XBLA titles in national currency rather than with the publisher's proprietary Microsoft Points.
(via Game Industry) - Square Enix's shooter sequel Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days has taken the top spot on the UK's all-format charts, becoming the publisher's third number one title of 2010 after Just Cause 2 and Final Fantasy XIII. The original Kane & Lynch experienced nothing like as much success, managing only 14th during its highest-charting week, week 48 of 2007.
(via Game Industry) - Upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Halo: Reach has been leaked, arriving on public filesharing sites almost a month ahead of its official release date. Microsoft admitted that a "security exploit" had enabled hackers to obtain all 7 GB of the game's code from Xbox Live Marketplace, where it was hosted for reviewers.
(via Game Industry) - Dates for the finals of the next Games Fleadh student event have been released by the Tipperary Institute in Ireland as March 9-10, 2011. The event will take place at the Institute and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the Frogger arcade game, students will be tasked with preparing their own interpretations of the title.
(via Game Industry) - UK developer Rare has confirmed that the Xbox 360 Avatars are to be redesigned, after users reported problems coordinating the original style with Kinect-enabled games. In a brief comment to the UK edition of The Official Xbox Magazine, senior programmer Nick Burton described the new look as "more realistic" and categorised them as Avatar 2.
(via Game Industry) - No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture has announced a partnership with Digital Reality to co-develop a range of new games, beginning with side-scrolling shooter Sine Mora. The announcement was made at the ongoing Gamescom event in Germany and will see Sine Mora released on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.
(via Game Industry) - Introversion Software, the independent UK developer behind Defcon, Darwinia and Multiwinia, nearly went out of business earlier this year following disappointing sales of its XBLA conversion Darwinia+ - and could have done so if not for an injection of revenue from a Steam sale.
(via Game Industry) - The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that Square Enix misled customers with adverts for Final Fantasy XIII, which used images from the PlayStation 3 version of the game rather than the Xbox 360. Although the game is multi-format, the advert featured no mention of the PlayStation 3 version and ended with a prominent image of the Xbox 360 console and logo.
(via Game Industry) - The next project from Super Scribblenauts developer 5TH Cell will make use of Valve's Source Engine, according to comments made by creative director and CEO Jeremiah Slaczka. Speaking to website Joystiq Slaczka simply indicated, "We're not ready to reveal our next original game just yet, but I can say we're using the Source Engine for it.
(via Game Industry) - THQ has revealed the identity of the developer taking on the PC version of Homefront as Canada-based Digital Extremes. The team will work with Kaos Studios - the developer working on the console versions - and the publisher is hoping that a specific PC developer will send a strong positive message to gamers on that platform after a string of high profile shooters in the past year that have considered it secondary to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
(via Game Industry) - Microsoft UK boss Neil Thompson has confirmed the 4Gb Xbox 360 will be the "primary SKU" for Kinect at launch, with no plans in place to sell the motion-control device together with a 250Gb system at a discount. The 4GB system, which has replaced the old Arcade model and comes with a dedicated Kinect power port, was ideal "for the type of consumer that will come to that," Thompson told GamesIndustry.
(via Game Industry) - The PlayStation 3 has now sold 38 million units globally since its launch in 2006/7, with 16 million of those coming in Europe. Those were the latest numbers revealed by Sony at this year's Gamescom press conference, with SCEE president Andrew House claiming last year's release of the PS3 Slim was the moment the console "sprang to life".
(via Game Industry) - After a brief period of confusion, where conflicting dates were communicated in the same press release, Microsoft this morning confirmed the European launch date for Kinect - and UK boss Neil Thompson has told GamesIndustry.biz he expects the device to "sell out" before Christmas.
(via Game Industry) - Playlogic Entertainment's international subsidiary will be launching Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title Fairytale Fights in Asia, despite having been declared bankrupt on 3rd August, 2010. The move is an attempt to restart Playlogic International NV, something which the company's trustee believes will be successful, claiming that interest in the title is high.
(via Game Industry) - Microsoft has unveiled the launch line-up of games for Windows Phone 7, including first party titles such as Halo and Crackdown - as well as major third party franchises including Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Castlevania and Guitar Hero. First announced in February of this year, the Xbox Live service on Windows Phone 7 will include many of the most popular features of the home console service, including support for Achievements, Avatars, demos, leaderboards, and turn-based multi-player.
(via Game Industry) - The Kinect motion control system for the Xbox 360 will launch on November 10 in the UK and Europe, as Microsoft demonstrates its Christmas line-up at the gamescom event in Germany. Although widely rumoured to be November, the European release date was the final detail to be announced for Microsoft's Kinect, which was previously announced to have a retail price of $149.
(via Game Industry) - Chinese internet giant Tencent has said that Sony and Microsoft are moving too slowly in the online space and working with a product business that's missing multiple revenue-generating opportunities. Speaking at GDC Europe today, Bo Wang, vice president of Tencent Games, said that while online console gaming is growing, the basic business of selling discs and some additional content online is too expensive and misses opportunities to take smaller amounts of money from willing customers.
(via Game Industry) - Disney and Toy Story 3 have enjoyed a second consecutive week at the top of the UK weekly sales chart, with Madden NFL 11 the only other new release. It is actually the third non-consecutive number one for Toy Story 3, with the game's initial run at the top interrupted by the release of StarCraft II.
(via Game Industry) - Lazard Capital Market analyst Colin Sebastian has claimed Kinect could "exceed our original expectations." Believing that Microsoft's marketing efforts will skew towards the "better value" $299 bundle of the motion controller plus an Xbox 360 rather than the $129 standalone unit, he has increased Lazard's sales forecast.
(via Game Industry) - Activision Blizzard's StarCraft II and Microsoft's Xbox 360 have shown success at US retail during July, although overall market sales were down 1 per cent and software sales down 8 per cent compared to last year. Revenues for combined hardware, software and accessories in July were $846.
(via Game Industry) - One of the most popular pastimes of any group of games business types gathered together is to speculate and swap rumours about the pending entry of some giant corporation into the industry. A volatile combination of paranoia and anticipation, it's a topic of discussion which assumes that the world's top media and technology firms will eventually notice the explosive growth of gaming and step in to take their slice of the pie, show us all how it's done, or put everyone else out of business - depending on who you listen to.