What the Pre-Budget Report Really Said – Alex Chapman The initial reaction to last week’s Pre-Budget Report (PBR) was that there was nothing in it for the games sector (unless you wanted to trade in your old boiler). However while there was no overt tax break announced for “culturally British” games, as the industry had been campaigning for, the Chancellor has provided a much needed tax benefit. Indeed the change to the tax system is one that benefits all developers – not just those that produce “culturally British” games. That change is to the Research and Development Tax Credit System and means that all developers can now benefit from the scheme in a way that they couldn’t before. Read more…

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A Clean Break

Atari has announced that Jeff Lapin is to become the new CEO at the publisher, replacing David Gardner as head of global operations. Gardner was the first of a number of high-profile appointments which began in 2008, as the struggling company, then still carrying the Infogrames name, sought to reboot as an online and digital publisher. Such plans have been slow to take off, even with former Sony worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison joining the company – he was sidelined from president in just over a year, although like Gardner he remains on the board of directors. Read more…

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Lapin takes Gardner’s CEO role at Atari

Labour MP for West Bromwich East and founder of videogames pressure group Gamers’ Voice, Tom Watson, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he would like to see the BBC look at ways to use its market presence to help small games developers. The corporation, which is funded in the UK by the public license fee – currently GBP 142.50 for every household using its services on TV, radio or online – could allow developers to showcase applications or games on the BBC website, with the studio then able to look at commercial routes as well. “I’d like it reflected in their output and in the way they procure games and digital content,” said Watson on the subject of cultural equality between film, TV and videogames. “The BBC have spent GBP 1 billion on their website since 1994 – they could have breathed life into a lot of gaming companies if they’d got their contracts right and been generous with their licensing. Read more…

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Watson: BBC could "really help" small developers

In the first part of the exclusive GamesIndustry.biz interview with Labour MP Tom Watson – the founder of Facebook support group Gamers’ Voice – he talked about what such a movement might be able to achieve, as well as the progress made on getting PEGI ratings into law. Here, in part two, he talks about the role of games in education, how the BBC might play a part in the industry moving forwards, and how parents should approach the subject of their kids playing games. Read more…

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Games and the Govt – Part Two

Around 30 fulltime jobs are to go at Sony Computer Entertainment America’s quality assurance group in Foster City, California, according to SCEA spokesman Patrick Seybold. Speaking to U.S. website Gamasutra, Seybold stated that the move was made in order to reduce costs and streamline the group. Remaining staff from Foster City will move to the company’s second QA department in San Diego, California. The story first emerged at blog site Kotaku, which also indicated that 100 contract positions would go at the same time – although SCEA has not confirmed this directly. Read more…

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SCEA consolidates QA group

The Australian government has begun a period of public consultation concerning the possible implementation of a mature 18+ age rating for video games, with citizens being asked to submit their views on the subject. The Attorney-General’s Department has issued a submission paper featuring a short questionnaire, whose statements participants are able to agree or disagree with on a five point scale. A sample statement reads: “Computer games should be treated differently from films given the specific, negative effects of interactivity on players, particularly their participation in violent and aggressive content”. Read more…

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Australia consults public over 18+ rating

The ELAN Awards will take place in San Diego, USA, next year – moving south from their original home in Canada for the first time. Now in its fourth year the event – previously hosted by William Shatner, Seth MacFarlane and Tom Kenny – will feature two nights of parties before the ceremony itself, which will take place on Monday July 19. “The best show producers in Los Angeles and San Diego will be involved in the staging of the 2010 ELAN Awards, promising an entertaining and technically advanced show,” said the event’s founder Holly Carinci. “The thirty awards given out on the evening will include new convergent categories never before awarded and game clips never before seen in North America all of which will combine to create the crowning touch for audience members of the 2010 ELAN Awards.” Read more…

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ELANS to move to US for 2010

The games business grows and evolves because of persistent fads, which entice new consumers and bring new money into the industry, while a loyal core base of players can be relied on to buy and support more traditional blockbuster games. That’s the view of EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich, who sees Microsoft’s Project Natal as the next in a line of fads during the current generation that have included Nintendo’s Wii, fitness games, casual gaming and the music genre. “Our industry works off persistent fads. I say the word ‘fad’, and some publishers hate it, but fad shouldn’t have this negative connotation. It’s a good thing,” said Divnich, in an exclusive interview published today. Read more…

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Games business grows with "persistent fads"

At the Montreal International Game Summit last month, Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research presented a session that looked at the the correlation between review scores, game quality and marketing – with data that proved both insightful and controversial. In this follow up interview, Divnich discusses some of the trends of the current generation and how they are coming to an end, what will replace the most recent ‘fads’, and how the William Goldman quote – “Nobody knows anything” – applies to the games business. Read more…

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EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich

id Software parent company ZeniMedia has called for the removal of several non-official versions of id games from the Android Market. A Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint has been filed with Google, according to Android and Me, requesting that 11 applications in total are removed from the marketplace. The applications are all unofficial versions of Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein. One developer affected by the cease and desist order stated that, “Although the Doom source code was open sourced, and the application was based on a port of the PrBoom engine, the application is still suspended. My mistake was allowing the download of the Plutonia and TNT WADs. At least that is what I suspect.” Read more…

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id calls for removal of unofficial games from Android