Another awards night, another prize for Media Molecule, which last night collected the BAFTA for Best Videogame at the 2009 Children’s Awards, having picked up the Artistic Achievement prize at the gaming ceremony earlier this year. Clutching the weighty award, presented by The Gadget Show’s Jason Bradbury, studio boss Mark Healey told GamesIndustry.biz: “It means a lot. It was always an early ambition to make something that appeals to adults and kids, specifically that adults and kids could play together and have fun and I suppose winning this some way confirms that maybe we did that. “We’ve won so many awards for it, it’s like, how do we ever top this? I don’t think I’ll appreciate how really cool it is until I’m old!” Read more…

Read the original:
News:
Media Molecule hails BAFTA success

The Wii not only regained its position in October as the best-selling console, it has also seen weekly sales increase 85 per cent following its USD 50 price reduction according to Nintendo’s Cammie Dunaway. The executive VP of sales and marketing told the San Francisco Chronicle the console’s global price cut has increased sales significantly, adding that the Wii still has plenty of momentum left. “I think that going into the holidays, the Wii is in a very good position,” said Dunaway. “It has an unbeatable combination of games, experience and unbeatable value, and that continues to put it to the top of people’s wish list.” Read more…

More:
News:
Dunaway: Wii sales up 85% week-on-week since price reduction

Entertainment retailer HMV has dropped the price of the PSPgo to GBP 148.99 in the UK. The handheld hardware was first launched at the start of October with an RRP of GBP 224.99, but retail quickly slashed the price to below GBP 200 after less than a week on sale. While larger retailers were happy to initially sell the console, smaller stores were more vocal about the machine, with Chips MD Don McCabe going so far as to predict the hardware would”fail miserably” without traditional boxed software support at retail. Read more…

See more here:
News:
HMV drops PSPgo price to £149

ELSPA has awarded Modern Warfare 2 its highest accolade in the form of a diamond sales award. The Xbox 360 version of the game has become just the 16th to receive the award, which is given to games selling over one million in the UK. Modern Warfare 2 remained at the top of the all-formats chart for a third week this week, and its first week sales totalled over 1.7 million units. Read more…

Go here to see the original:
News:
MW2 given ELSPA diamond sales award

The launch of iPlayer on Xbox 360 has been indefinitely delayed after Microsoft has refused to budge on its policy of only allowing paying XBL subscribers to access additional content. According to a source within the BBC’s Future Media and Technology department talking to the Telegraph, Microsoft wants to ensure that only those paying for Xbox Live Gold accounts can access extra content, including the recently launched Sky Player, for which users need a Gold subscription as well as a Sky subscription. “This does not fit with the BBC’s model and Microsoft will not budge at the moment. It is really frustrating for those involved on the BBC side who want to make sure iPlayer is rolled out on as many popular entertainment platforms as possible,” said the source. Read more…

Go here to read the rest:
News:
iPlayer launch delayed indefinitely on 360

Codemasters Online has partnered with online payments company PlaySpan to offer customers over 50 new ways to pay for services, without using a credit card. By using PlaySpan’s UltimatePay service Codemasters Online customers will be able to purchase digital goods and services using more than 56 different payment methods, from CertaPay to Wallie Card. “I am delighted to launch this new scheme and think it is fantastic that we can now provide yet another route for users without credit cards to enjoy our games and services. We are working hard to constantly improve our customer experience and this is another step in that direction,” said David Solari, vice president and general manager of Codemasters Online. Read more…

Visit link:
News:
Codemasters partners with PlaySpan

Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz has said the Wii bubble could be deflating as consumers plan to buy fewer Wii titles over the coming months than they did a year ago. Using the results of a survey that quizzed console owners on their purchase intentions, reported by Gamasutra, Creutz noted that while PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners planned to buy more games this year, Wii owners were cutting back. This is partly because of the economic climate and the fact core gamers – the group least likely to curb their spending on games – are unlikely to own just a Wii, said Creutz. Over half of Wii owners also own an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3, and of those who own more than one console only 23 per cent considered Wii as their main platform, he added. Read more…

Read the original here:
News:
Creutz: "The Wii bubble could be deflating"

Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that Mario’s ability to jump was introduced only because of a chance hardware configuration, in the latest in the ongoing series of “Iwata Asks” interviews conducted by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Newly translated into English, the multi-part interview discusses the origins of Mario, beginning with the creation of the Donkey Kong coin-op. Miyamoto reveals that originally the main character, which would later become known as the iconic Mario, could not jump and the ability was only added because of a spare button on the arcade board being used for the game. “I also recall that the cabinet we were making the game for had one joystick and one button, but initially I intended it to be controlled using only the joystick,” says Miyamoto. Read more…

Read the original here:
News:
Iwata: Mario Wii is a true "game for everyone"

Major development studio EA Montreal is to focus on “action titles and HD-quality products” for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, rather than more Wii exclusive games, according to new comments from general manager Alain Tascan. Speaking to website Edge Online, Tascan described the Wii market as “a little bit unpredictable these days”. In recent years the studio has produced a number of Wii exclusive titles such as Boogie and Skate It, but to relatively little commercial or critical success. “We’re going to see how Christmas is going to do and while with the Wii we have had very successful titles, we are going to focus on big, blockbuster-type titles. It doesn’t mean that we are going to abandon the Wii, but as a studio we want to be ready for new challenges,” said Tascan. Read more…

See the rest here:
News:
EA Montreal refocuses on HD consoles

New York state officials are to use Xbox Live to transmit public alerts of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and nuclear catastrophe. According to website InformationWeek the New York state Emergency Management Office plans to issue alerts over gaming networks as well as television, radio and the Web. New York state deputy chief information officer Rico Singleton said that the decision had been made, “considering the amount of time our youth spend on video games.” Read more…

Visit link:
News:
New York tests public alert system on Xbox Live