Nintendo is to publish a localised version of Ubisoft's Wii dance game, which together with its sequel has sold more than 14 million units worldwide. But this is no straight translation: instead Nintendo has licensed a host of J-pop songs ahead of its release on October 13. Follow the source link below for a list of artists and songs that have been confirmed so far.
The localisation specialist is reviewing the future of its UK operation, Develop reports, with some 30 staff in the midst of a redundancy consultation as the firm moves the bulk of its operations to Canada. CEO Richard Leinfellner said: "Market demands have dictated our move. It is a market reality that we have to follow trends. There is a brain drain in the UK while Canada is thriving, and benefiting from tax breaks that can save local studios 30 to 40 per cent on production costs." Affected staff have been asked if they would be prepared to move to Canada, with senior management already making the move. Babel is expected to retain a UK presence, albeit in significantly smaller premises.
1Following the announcement last week that it is to publish Cave's Xbox 360 shooter Dodonpachi Resurrection in the UK later this year, Rising Star Games has told MCV that it hopes to bring more of Cave's games to these shores in future. "Deathsmiles performed well for such a niche game and met expectations," product manager Yen Hau said. "It certainly performed well enough for us to return with another game from Cave. Dodonpachi is Cave's flagship series, and carries a bigger reputation among the community...As such we expect it to outperform Deathsmiles. I am confident this will lead to other Cave games in our library."
Cave's bullet-hell shooter was released in the west on iOS devices, but the Xbox 360 version, released in Japan last November, was not expected to follow. Rising Star Games has now announced plans to localise and release the game in Europe this autumn, but there's no word on a North American release.
Developer CCP has announced a strategic partnership with Nexon, which is to localise Eve Online's client and services for Japan by the autumn. CCP CEO Hilmar Pétursson said: "Japanese players have always been an essential part of the Eve Online community. Having considered Nexon's excellent reputation as Asia's leading game developer and publisher, they were the obvious choice in who the best possible partner would be to help us make the game more accessible to our growing fanbase in Japan."
London developer conference featuring a wide variety of talks on Kinect, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 7.
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New category for Sony’s PS3 download service dedicated to localised western titles.
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