Telling Modern Warfare's story
We meet Spov, the CGI specialist behind the cutscenes in Activision's bombastic series.
1We meet Spov, the CGI specialist behind the cutscenes in Activision's bombastic series.
1Studio seeks to "raise the bar" of videogame storytelling.
The US videogame market shrank by 21 per cent in December, according to market research firm NPD Group. Total videogame sales at retail in December were $3.99 billion (£2.6 billion), down from $5.07 billion (£3.3 billion) in December 2010. That's largely down to hardware sales, which fell 28 per cent, and accessories, sales of which were down 27 per cent. Software sales fell 14 per cent year on year. More >
Our February issue, featuring The Last Of Us, is out tomorrow.
Binary Domain, the tactical squad shooter from Toshihiro Nagoshi's Yakuza Studio, has been delayed by a week in Europe and a fortnight in North America, publisher Sega has announced. More >
1Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game of last year in the UK. The 2011 chart released by UKIE contains few surprises, with Activision's shooter beating FIFA 12 to top spot, ahead of Battlefield 3 and Zumba Fitness. This is the third successive year that a Call Of Duty game has outsold the competition in the UK. More >
2Kaz Hirai has poured cold water on claims that Sony is to unveil a new home console at this year's E3. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal Hirai, president of Sony's Consumer Products And Services Group, said that recent reports claiming the PlayStation 3 successor would be unveiled at the Los Angeles trade show in June were wide of the mark. More >
4Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that long-awaited PC action-RPG Diablo III will also be coming to consoles. The company's community manager responded to a fan query on Twitter with the words: "Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project." More >
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier will be released in the UK for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, publisher Ubisoft has announced. The news means a further delay to a game that was originally intended for release in late 2010. In October, Ubisoft pinned down a release date of March 6; a beta planned for January will now launch in April. The delays aren't over yet, though - the PC version will follow "at a later date." More >
PSP successor PlayStation Vita has sold 500,000 units since its launch in Japan on December 17, Sony has announced. The figure comes from a media briefing at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Sony's Kaz Hirai - president of Sony's of Consumer Products And Services division and reportedly set to replace Howard Stringer as company president in April - also shared sales data for PS3 and PSP during the holiday season. More >
1The delayed Call Of Duty: Elite app has finally been released for iPhone, Activision has announced. The stat-tracking, social service launched alongside Modern Warfare 3 on November 8, but after it buckled under the weight of demand Activision delayed both the PC and iPhone launches. More >
Lovefilm has responded to the launch of rival service Netflix by reducing its subscription costs. As we reported this morning, Netflix is now available on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, as well as tablets, smartphones, PCs and smart TVs - in the UK and Ireland for £5.99 a month, the same Lovefilm charges. More >
1US video streaming service Netflix has launched in the UK and Ireland. The service, to be available on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii as well as tablets, smartphones, PCs and smart TVs, offers movies and TV shows for £5.99 a month to UK customers, and €6.99 to those in Ireland. A free, one-month trial is also available. More >
Sid Meier's Firaxis Games has announced XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a strategy game in the mould of the Julian Gollop classics to be released this autumn for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. The announcement comes from Game Informer magazine, and is billed as a "full-on strategy game" in stark contrast to the FPS reboot in development at 2K Marin, whose president Christoph Hartmann memorably said last year: "Strategy games are just not contemporary … times are changing." More >
2HD remakes of arcade shooters The House Of The Dead 3 and 4 are headed exclusively to PlayStation Network, Sega has announced. The House Of The Dead 3 will be released on February 7, to be followed by The House Of The Dead 4 in the spring. Both games have been updated with HD graphics, with Trophies and support for PS3 motion controller PlayStation Move. More >
2Japan's game industry made 8 per cent less revenue in 2011 than the year before, according to Famitsu publisher Enterbrain. More >
Zynga's success and Team Fortress 2's switch prompted an industry-wide shift to freemium in 2011, but has it paid off?
Ubisoft and Capcom get it wrong, GOG and Avalanche get it right and Serious Sam's scorpion shows the way.
2The year of the shooter.
The year ended well with Vita's release, but Sony's 2011 was defined by the PS3 and PSN hacks.