WoW Card Shopped to China

JUNE 14, 2008 • Having already marketed a World of Warcraft-themed credit card in the United States, Blizzard Entertainment is working with its Chinese partner The9, and China Merchants Bank, to do the same in China. Consumers using the card will own points toward free playing time in WoW. .....

PSP Games Get Price Hike

JUNE 12, 2008 • Premium PSP titles republished via the online PlayStation Store are seeing anywhere from a $1 to $11 increase in price. Games seeing the increase included: Ape Escape, Gangs of London, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee, Kingdom of Paradise, LocoRoco, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo, Twisted Metal: Head-On, and WipeOut Pure. Impact: Digital distribution may be a convenience feature to satisfy immediate demand, but it currently does not offer a great savi.....

GTA IV Sells 1.3M

JUNE 12, 2008 • According to NPD Funworld data, more than 1.3 million units of Grand Theft Auto IV have been sold in the U.S. during its two months in release. Indications are, however, is that the game is not fueling a significant increase in console hardware sales. .....

Microsoft Tests Social Network

JUNE 11, 2008 • Microsoft’s Office Labs division is testing an internal social network. Called TownSquare, the Facebook-like prototype has been used by 8,000 Microsoft employees thanks to word-of-mouth after only 100 staffers were informed of the social network.  Although TownSquare offers primarily enterprise options for project networking, the underlying technology might prove useful for consumer application. Impact:  A strong consumer soci.....

Take-Two In Talks With Ubisoft

JUNE 10, 2008 • While Take-Two Interactive’s board of directors holds out for a better cash offer from Electronic Arts, Forbes magazine speculated that the former is negotiating with another takeover suitor: Ubisoft. During a June 5 financial conference call, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick admitted he had held discussions with other interested parties. Ubisoft declined to comment. Impact: Ubisoft has a better reputation for working with acqu.....

New RPGs For 360 In Japan

JUNE 10, 2008 • In an effort to spur Japanese interest in the Xbox 360, Microsoft unveiled a number of new RPGs for the platform from Japanese studios. Included in the Tokyo presentation were three titles from Square Enix: Star Ocean 4, Infinite Undiscovery, and Last Remnant. The developer has not released it franchises on the Xbox 360 previously. Also shown was Tales of Vesperia from Namco Bandai. Impact:  The Xbox 360 has been far stronger in the .....

MSFT Says XBLA Needed Trim

JUNE 5, 2008 • Microsoft Entertainment product management director Aaron Greenberg told MTV that the division was not happy with the difficulty in finding titles available via Xbox Live Arcade, which led to a recently imposed de-listing policy.  “I think a lot of that is we built Xbox Live Market.....

Sony Closes London Studio

JUNE 4, 2008 • Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has permanently ceased development on two PS3 games from its London studio: The Getaway 3 and Eight Days. Personnel and resources that were freed up will be directed to other projects nearing completion. Impact: The Getaway was a big hit in Europe for the PlayStation 2 and SCEE acquired its developer Team Soho in 2002.  However the 2004 follow-up, The Getaway: Black Monday was a di.....