mcv588 friday may 28th 2010

Friday May 21 2010 £3.25

THE INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

MCV 21-5-2010 - Front Cover 13/5/10 11:57

MCV 21-5-2010 - Inside front & back_Final 13/5/10 12:03 Page 1

04 The price is wrongNamco Bandai Partners VPOlivier Comte says the costof games must be lowered

07 MCV set for iPad launchBrand new digital edition on the way foryour weekly games industry magazine

09 Ubi’s triumphant AprilPublisher celebrates scoring No.1 slot interms of sales and market share

Issue 588 Friday May 21 2010 £3.25

11 MTV’s Euro visionScott Guthrie on MTVGames’ expansion – and whyBeatles: Rock Band failed

16 ELSPA updateMichael Rawlinson on the LibCon pact,plus details on London Games Festival

23 MCM Expo PreviewA rundown of what publishers will showoff at the key summer consumer event

THE MARKET FOR COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES

International Media Partner

Branson back in gamesRICHARD BRANSON willuse next month’s E3 in LosAngeles to unveil Virgin’s returnto the video games business.

MCV believes that a launchevent is being planned, withBranson himself in attendance.

This is a major coup for theUS trade show, but also signalsthe return of one of the mostexciting and successful brandsto have ever operated in thegames industry.

Branson was one of the firstto see the potential ofcomputer software as a globalentertainment business, settingup Virgin Games in 1984.

Under Nick Alexander, thecompany eventually acquiredMastertronic and rolled Sega’sMaster System across Europe.

As Sega Europe then built itsown operation, Virgin

Interactive Entertainmentemerged under the leadershipof Tim Chaney. It became oneof the powers on either side ofthe Atlantic before beingacquired by Blockbuster in1994 for $250m, which itselfwas then bought by Viacom.

At its height in 1997, VirginInteractive Entertainmentreached global revenues of$210 million.

From 1994 to 1998, VIEoften took turns withElectronic Arts for marketleadership in the UK and otherEuropean territories. Market

share reached a high of 16 percent at one point. Affiliatessuch as Westwood, Bethesda,Capcom, LucasArts, Disney andmore made Branson’s one ofthe most respected sales andmarketing outfits in the business.

Since 2004, one of Branson’smany businesses has been anew era Virgin Games, whichfocuses on prize-based onlinegaming websites.

The new gaming servicerumoured to launch at E3 will seek partnerships withleading publishers and contentowners, offering new andunique opportunities.

Ambitious and global, thebusiness is expected to runacross the leading consoleformats and feature the mostpopular games on the market.

MCV understands that thenew video games venture willbe online-only and again

challenge-based, possibly builton a technology acquisition.

The company itself hasrefused to comment or confirmany kind of return to themainstream games market forVirgin, but more details couldwell emerge as further plansare put in place for what willbe one of the biggest events ofthis year’s E3.

A new online launch is likelyto tap in to the huge successand growth of networks suchas Xbox Live and PlayStationNetwork, as well as multi-player PC gaming.

by Stuart Dinsey

Stunning return will be unveiled at E3 � Online-only service to offer new opportunities for publishers

INCORPORATINGEVERY BUYER � EVERY BRANCH � EVERY INDIE � EVERY WEEK

� Virgin handled somehuge developer labelsincluding LucasArts,GTi, Capcom, JVC,HudsonSoft, Westwood,Disney and Bethesda.

� Key original andbeloved properties itbrought to marketinclude Cannon Fodder,The 7th Guest andBroken Sword.

� The 7th Guestspecifically representeda significant investmentin high-end CD-ROMmultimedia gaming thatfeatured filmedsequences and CG.

� The firm alsokickstarted the careersof individual developers,including the likes ofdesigner Dave Perry andcomposer TommyTallarico.

� Best selling titles wereThe Lion King (3m), C&C:Red Alert (4m) andResident Evil (2m inEurope alone).

� And Virgin was oneof the first to be amajor acquisitiontarget, bought for$250m by Blockbusterin 1994. Blockbuster inturn was acquired byViacom for $6bn in ‘95.

VIRGIN: THE GLOBAL GIANT

PERSONNEL 26 RETAIL BIZ 31 NEW RELEASES 38 HIGH STREET 40 CHARTS 42

”Branson was one of the first to see the potential of games as a globalentertainment business.“

THEGAMESGIANT

Virgin Interactivewas a formidablegames industry forceduring the ‘90s...

Branson's Virgin Group holding company isworth £5bn and consists of over 400 firmsaround the world which he either ownsentirely or holds a stake in. Key brands are:

03 MCV588_final 18/5/10 13:30 Page 1

THE INDUSTRY must worktogether to address fallingsoftware sales by changing theway games are priced and sold.

That’s according to NamcoBandai Partners’ vice presidentand head of sales and marketingOlivier Comte.

Speaking to MCV at thepublisher’s recent Level Upshowcase in Barcelona, Comtesaid publishers are racing tofind secondary business modelsto support retail sales.

Possibilities include sellinggames at reduced prices,delivering them episodically –and even lobbying formatholders to address licensing costsfor console and handheld titles.

“I feel all the big video gamecompanies need to join togetherin a worldwide summit todiscuss the future of ourindustry. I think we have topull our thoughts together,” hetold MCV.

“If you compare [games] tomusic, music has two ways tomake money – sales of disc,which is decreasing, and concerttickets, which are increasing sothere’s another source of revenue

for the artist. Film has a similarsituation, there is the disc andthe cinema.

“Games just have onemodel, the sale of the producteither as a box or a digitaldownload. So we need to thinkabout how we can develop asecondary business model.”

DLC is the obvious routeand it can help bring down the

price of games and make themmore attractive to consumers,he added.

“I am convinced that in thefuture we must change theprice of video games – they’retoo expensive for the audience.With the cost of developmentand the retail margins, £40 is afair price [to us], but for theconsumer it is too much.

“From September toDecember there are three newblockbusters every week, andconsumers just can’t afford tobuy all that.

“A good price of a gameshould be around £20 – but forthis price we can’t make a tento 15-hour adventure. So for£20 we should offer consumersfour to five hours of gameplay,then after that we can makeadditional money with DLC.”

Comte also said formatholders such as Nintendo havea part to play in helping

publishers move on to newbusiness models.

He explained: “We need todiscuss with first parties aboutthe huge difficulties behind thecurrent retail system.

“It is impossible for apublisher to make money on aDS game, for example, thatgoes on sale for £15. We haveto sell that game to retail forlower than that, we have topay all the marketing, productionand distribution costs.

“This just isn’t a viablebusiness model.”

4 MCV 21/05/10 WWW.MCVUK.COM

[LEADER]

NEWS

‘We must changethe price of games’Namco Bandai Partners VP Comte says new business modelscan address market slump � First parties must help, he adds

PRICE COMPARISONIT WAS REFRESHING to hear a seniorpublishing figure like Namco BandaiPartners’ Olivier Comte franklybroach the issue of pricing this week.

Such talk usually makes theindustry wince. For too long pricinghas been an elephant in the room for

games – and for no good reason. Games have ‘high’ prices – which have held around

the £35-£55 mark for the last 15 years or more – foran obvious reason: making them is a gamble, andthe few winning bets pay off the many duff ones.

Not the ideal model, certainly. Arguably, it’s brokenbeyond belief. But, hey, the industry could probablymake it last another 15 years if we let it.

However Comte is right to call for foresight. In factI’d argue that the price of games is alreadychanging. At both ends of the spectrum. Games aregetting cheaper, to the point where they can begiven away. And they’re also getting more expensive.

For every no-fee MMO like Runescape, there’s aCall of Duty aiming for a £55 RRP. For every freebielike FarmVille, there’s a £40 game hoping to make abit on the side through DLC. Many full-priced gamesnow spawn cheaper £6-or-less iPhone spin-offs.

So the flexibility is already there; it’s notnecessarily in asking format holders to change theirpolicies. (Although we all know cheaper licence feeswould help – another contentious issue publishersnever really like talking about.) Instead, the industryis rejecting those systems, or obeying them whileconceding that console revenues are now just partof the story when it comes to games.

The question facing Namco Bandai Partners – andevery other ‘traditional’ publisher and retailer forthat matter – is how they maintain relevance. Andit’s in watching to find out who succeeds and whofails (and many will) that will prove most interesting.

VIRGIN TERRITORYGLOBAL ENTREPRENEUR Richard Branson is set tosurprise the industry when his Virgin brand returnsto games next month.

While the company hasn’t confirmed the newsdirect (although our source is watertight), I reckonVirgin’s move into online gaming proves two things.

Firstly, it speaks to the relative stability,attractiveness and potential of online services. Theseare now so entrenched in consumer views andbusiness expectations of video games that evennewcomers think they can devise services whichcomplement or even rival the likes of Xbox Live andPlayStation Network. Just look at OnLive, a minoritystake in which is now owned by BT, or Ubisoft’s Uplay.

Secondly, the increasingly high profile of games isattracting the attention of high profile personalitiesand investors previously uninterested in games.

How things have changed – just a year ago, formatholders were having to pay big name celebs likeMcCartney and Spielberg to rock up to LA andendorse new games at their E3 events. 12 monthslater, they’re holding their own press conferences …

[email protected]

”Olivier Comte, Namco Bandai

Unlike music and film, gameshave one source of revenue.We need to think aboutsecondary business models.“

by Michael French

PRICE CHECK: Comtebelieves gaming needsa more viable costingmodel and alternatesources of revenue

04,05 MCV588_final:4-5 MCV515 18/5/10 16:59 Page 1

THE FIFTH London GamesFestival takes place thisOctober as a month-longcelebration of games, targetedat mainstream consumers,mass media and keyWestminster figures.

Festival chairman and EAVP and UK GM KeithRamsdale has told MCV thefocus behind the three-pronged event is to ‘make acollective noise about thiswonderful industry to key audiences’.

He said: “The LGF will makeLondon a focus for interactiveentertainment and to engagewith media, consumers

and Government.” The Festival has run

since 2006 – in that timeassociated events likeIntent Media’s LondonGames Conference, theEurogamer Expo andMCM Expo havebecome key fixtureson the industry

calendar. Meanwhile publishershave run their own softwareshowcases in key Londonlocations as part of the Festival.

But Ramsdale believes theELSPA-run event still needsmore commitment from theUK trade.

“We need more participants,”he said. “We already haveevents that are confirmed andit is an open forum for anyorganisation to take part in.The more participants, themore we show ourselves as atruly significant and successfulindustry – and everyone willbenefit from the accumulationof all the media attention.

“The more there is forconsumers and the Governmentto see and take part in, themore successful an image wewill have and the amplificationof noise will be louder.

“ELSPA will work as hardas possible to garner support

from as many participants aspossible,” added Ramsdale.

“At the end of the day thisis about making a collectivenoise about this wonderfulindustry to the key audiences– and I ask everyonewho reads thisto make

themselves or an appointedperson available.”

ELSPA will provideorganisational and PR supportto anyone wanting to add theirevent to the roster or getinvolved. A mainstream PRagency will be appointed,guided by a forum of keyindustry PR and marketingpersonnel.

The reinvigorated focus forthe event has also seen thehiring of a dedicated eventmanager, Kirtsy Payne.

Anyone looking to take partcan contact her on [email protected] [email protected], or bycalling 0207 534 0580.� Read the full interviewabout London Games Festival

on page 21

0

5

10

15

20Total UK Software Sales

Source: ELSPA/ChartTrack and Intent Media

Week Ending April 30th Week Ending May 7th

£18.8m840,034

Units

Week Ending May 15th

771,104Units

£16.0m

� The UK weekly market value fell two per centto £15.8 million – a minor decrease thanks tostrong sales of the latest releases such as AlanWake. Unit sales fell by only four per cent, againboosted by strong day one sales.

� EA’s 2010 FIFA World Cup has racked up athird week as the biggest selling title, fending offa trio of big new releases. But those games –Alan Wake, Lost Planet 2 and Skate 3 –nevertheless helped to drive sales further.

� The market stands to grow from today’snewest releases, which include Rockstar’s hugelyanticipated Red Dead Redemption, Disney’sambitious racer Split/Second: Velocity andUbisoft’s Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

Your weekly guide to the UKgames software market…

[WEEKLY MARKET VALUE]

CUP GLORY: FIFA beat new hits such as Alan Wake and LP2

747,040Units

£15.8m

Week Ending May 15th 2010

£15.8m

WWW.MCVUK.COM MCV 21/05/10 5

NEWS

UK SOFTWARE SALES MONITOR

RED DEADREDEMPTION:LIMITED EDITION360, ROCKSTAR

[PRE ORDERS]

2. RED DEAD REDEMPTION360 ....................................ROCKSTAR

3. RED DEAD REDEMPTION: LIM EDPS3 ....................................ROCKSTAR

4. UNCHARTED 2 PLATINUMPS3 ..........................................SONY

5. RED DEAD REDEMPTIONPS3 ....................................ROCKSTAR

6. UFC UNDISPUTED + 1GB USBPS3 ............................................THQ

7. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS360 ....................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

8. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPSPS3 ....................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

9. MODNATION RACERSPS3 ..........................................SONY

10. SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2WII ....................................NINTENDO

Week ending: May 14thSource: SHOPTO.COM

TOP 10

� Turn to page 41 for morepre-order charts fromleading online retailers

by Dominic Sacco

Festival returns as month-long celebration in October � Priority on mass media

London Games Festival reinvigorated

”Keith Ramsdale, EA

The more participants, themore we show ourselves as a truly significant andsuccessful industry.“


FREE-TO-DOWNLOADMMO racer Need For SpeedWorld won’t be released atretail, but retailers will be ableto sell pre-paid game cards forthe franchise’s latest title.

Speaking to MCV at EA’sEuropean showcase in Londonlast week, Need For Speed’sproducer Jesse Abneyexplained the difficulties ofmaking an online-only gameattractive to retailers.

“As a free game that wewant to distribute to everyone,we have essentially had to re-evaluate how we distribute a

game with a digital client to aidour retail partners,” Abney said.

“In this case we mightintroduce a product thatcontains a Need For SpeedWorld activation code – like a

phone card – that theconsumer can buy in store.”

A micro-transaction systemwill give players access to newcars, tracks and power-ups inexchange for pre-paid credits.

EA is also confident thatNeed For Speed World’s newdistribution model can tacklepiracy and maximise exposureat the same time.

Abney added: “We’re fullycontent to have the digitalclient distributed via everychannel – as well as pirated.

“I think the majority ofcustomers still want a materialobject they can buy and thewhole eco system of the gamesbusiness is built on retail – we

can’t ignore howimportant that is.

“Sony andMicrosoft mightnot care as muchif we deliverthings digitally, but we have atremendousnumber of retail partners that might.

“So to do a wholesaletransition overnight will have adetrimental impact – it would

be like killing all the bluewhales in theocean and thenexpecting thatthere will be no knock-on effect.”

Need ForSpeed World

will be released worldwide inJuly. The franchise has been aregular sales success for EAover the past 16 years.EA: 01483 463 000


NEWS

THQ EXPECTS upcomingtitle Big Beach Sports 2 tobecome one of the best-sellingtitles on the Wii.

The game follows in thefootsteps of 2008’s Big Beach

Sports, and is the third title inTHQ’s Big franchise after lastyear’s Big Family Games.

The original Big BeachSports became one of thebiggest success stories onNintendo’s console, helping tosilence frequent claims thatthird parties are hard-pressed to

rack up high sales on Wii. NowTHQ believes that BBS2 willperform just as well.

“We are really pleased to belaunching the sequel to BigBeach Sports this summer,”said THQ’s associate PRmanager Rebecca Attard.

“The original is the fourthhighest selling third-party Wiititle of all time. It has continuedto generate sales and reached815,635 units sell-in to date.”

After the suburban setting ofBig Family Games, THQ hastaken the brand back to itsroots for this summer’s release.

Big Beach Sports 2 featuresa wide variety of new motion-sensitive mini-games set ontropical beaches.

It also introduces BalanceBoard-compatibility for certainmini-games, such as surfing.

THQ believes the crossoverbetween the game’s theme andtimely release should help drivesales among its target market.

Attard adds: “Big BeachSports 2 is hitting the market afew weeks before the kids’summer holidays begin,offering great fun for all thefamily with both single-playerand multiplayer games alongwith plenty of great beachspots to compete in, includingdune buggy racing, surfing andbeach football.”

Big Beach Sports 2 is due tobe released on the NintendoWii on June 25th.THQ: 01483 767656

by Dominic Sacco

Free NFS won’t leave retail behindNeed For Speed World could see ‘top up’ cards on High Street � EA says distribution model will beat piracy

”Rebecca Attard, THQ

The original Big Beach Sportsis the fourth highest-sellingthird-party Wii title of all timeand continues to sell well.“

”Jesse Abney, EA

The whole eco system of thegames business is still builton retail – we can’t ignorehow important that is.“

Record sales predicted for Big Beach 2

ON THE CARDS: Need For SpeedWorld could still have a presenceon the High Street, despite being adigital-only release



NEWS

MINDSCAPE takes its firststeps into the digital gamesspace next monthwith the release ofU-Sing: Girls’ Night.

The karaoke title,which is releasedon June 18th, willarrive with thelaunch of the U-SingWii Store.

This onlineservice allows Wiiowners to download newtracks that can be used withany U-Sing title.

Girls’ Night already boasts apacked tracklist, with more than

30 songs from leading femaleartists including Lady Gaga,

Katy Perry, Pixie Lott,Rihanna and more.

“It’s very importantthat we can offer ourcontent by every viablemeans,” said UK GMMark Stanger.

“The great thingabout the U-Singdigital store is that itadds value for those

with a physical version of thegame, by extending thecatalogue and making thosedownloads available for life.”Mindscape: 01858 469573

Mindscape entersdigital with Girls Night

A NEW PSP range is set toboost sales among youngergamers as the holidays approach.

Launching on June 4th, thePSP Essentials collecitonencompasses more than 20best-selling handheld titles atnew sub-£10 price points.

“We’re aiming this seriesmainly at children and theirfamilies, encouraging them toget some new games for thesummer,” saidSony productmanager ClaireBackhouse.“The pricepoints mean

that even kids can afford toptitles with their pocket money.”

Rebranded editions of gamessuch as FIFA, LocoRoco andBen 10 will now be availablefor £9.99 on UMD or £7.99via PSN.

The range will benefit froma dedicated marketing campaign,with TV spots and print adskicking off in mid-July. Sony: 020 7859 5000

Sony plots kids’ pushwith PSP Essentials

THE E3 EDITION of MCVwill launch as a special iPadapp next month, kick-starting abrand new digital editionstrategy for the leading gamesindustry publication.

Available from June 11th,the interactive version of MCVarrives just days after the UKroll out of the Apple device.

Apple launched the iPad inthe US at the start of April –the tablet has since sold over1m units in the territory.

The UK version arrives onMay 28th, and rolls out inAustralia, Canada, France,Germany, Italy, Japan, Spainand Switzerland at the sametime. Since launch iPad hassold over 12 million appsthrough its App Store, as wellas over 1.5 million ebooks fromthe new iBookstore as usersstart to consume the printedword in different ways.

MCV’s iPad app will be adigital version of the weeklymagazine. Along with ourauthoritative news features and

product coverage, it will containvideo segments and variousways to read the magazine.

“Launching on iPad is part ofour on-going commitment tomaking MCV content available

on all devices,” said IntentMedia MD Stuart Dinsey.

“This digital edition willbring to life our print edition,with rich media options andeven wider UK andinternational circulation.

“Our established PC digitaledition will also be relaunchedat the same time.”

MCV to launch on Apple iPadE3 issue will kick off new digital edition � App includes video and back issue archive

by Michael FrenchFUTURE Publishing releasedthe new look GamesMasterthis week as part of itsongoing plans to reboot theentire brand.

The redesign is the biggestin the publication’s 17-yearhistory and sees theintroduction of new features,as well as a shift in focus toincorporate mobile, online

and socialnetworkgames.

“Withconsiderablerespect fromthe industryand anunrivalledlegacyamongst UK

gamers, GamesMasterremains an important gamingbrand within Future’sportfolio,” said SimonMaxwell, group publisher,console and online.

“This extensive redesign ofthe monthly magazine kicksoff our well-publicised rebootof the GamesMaster brand.We are currently exploring avariety of brand extensions,initially focusing on howGamesMaster is reflectedonline, through our CVG andGamesRadar networks.

“GamesMaster is the UK’sbest-selling multiformat gamesmagazine and continues todrive pre-orders and buzz fornew games amongst earlyadopters. With the magazine’sfresh new look and feel, andthe appointment of LeeNutter as publisher, we areable to offer our industrypartners some incrediblycreative ways of promotingtheir new launches.”

Back in March, MCVreported that Future may belaunching a new iteration ofthe popular GamesMaster TVseries this autumn.Future: 01225 442244

GamesMastermag finallyrelaunched

”Stuart Dinsey, Intent Media

Launching on iPad is part ofour on-going commitment tomaking MCV contentavailable on all devices.“

LAUNCH PAD: An enhanceddigital edition of MCV will beavailable for Apple’s iPad everyweek, starting with the E3 Edition



NEWS

4mm reveals European battleplan

4MM WANTS to set up adevelopment studio in the UKin a bid to become a ‘globaldigital publisher.’

The US publisher/developer– which is currently workingon promising music game DefJam Rapstar – set up a UKsales and marketing office last

month, and has recruitedindustry veteran Geoff Heathto its advisory board.

The firm has told MCV thatpart of its plans to become amajor player in the digital andsocial games market includesopening a UK studio – if theGovernment can follow throughon the promise of tax breaks.

“Opening a UK studio isabsolutely something we’relooking at,” said Geoff Heath.

“The UK has a tremendoustalent pool and history ingames. We will be watchingclosely to see if the newGovernment follows throughon its pre-election proposals.

“The 4mm team feels thatwe are very much at the

beginning of the social gamesmarket. Def Jam Rapstar is asocial game, not in the pure‘game played on a socialnetwork’ sense, but with theextensive online play andpromotional metagame acrosssocial networks.

“We think you will see thelines blurring over time as to

what a social game is – we seea future where ‘social’becomes a feature – where allgames build in social hooks tobetter engage their players.”

4mm has also announcedthe appointment of GavinShackell to its UK office asEuropean marketing director.

Shackell joins from EMI Musicwhere he held the role of VPof European marketing.

Meanwhile, the firm saysthat despite setting up a UKoffice it won’t be handlingEuropean distribution itself.

“4mm has established agreat relationship with Konami

and they have been incrediblysupportive of Def JamRapstar,” added Heath.

The game features a numberof tracks from leading rapartists including Dizee Rascal’s‘Fix Up, Look Sharp’ andKanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’.www.4mmgames.com

by Christopher Dring

New publisher wants UK studio � European marketing director named � ‘Konami partnership key,’ says Heath

TVUsers can create their ownrace sequence online fromgame footage and enter it intoa competition. The winner willget their movie used in a UKTV ad spot.

Disney will also advertiseeditorial-style spots on MTVfeaturing one of the channel’spresenters.

EVENTS Consumers had the chance toplay the game at The GadgetShow Live and the 2009Eurogamer Expo. Petrolheadswill also be able to see it at theautomotive Modified Nationalsshow on May 28th to 30th.Disney claims this attracts thefamily, tech savvy, gaming andcar enthusiast audiences.

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTDisney has signed ManchesterCity and Engand footballerShaun Wright-Phillips as the

game’s ambassador. He hasprovided the developer withfeedback and will help promotethe game.

CINEMAA national cinema campaignwill attract potential buyerswith a series of high definitionfilm spots.

PRINTAdvertising will appear inconsumer print and tradepress publications.

ONLINEAds and editorial articles willappear on several gamingwebsites, as well as an officialdownloadable Split/Second:Velocity magazine appearingon Gamerzines.

RETAILDisney will provide retail with arange of POS materials and in-store trialling.

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK

Disney prepares its majorracing release with acreative marketing plan…

SPLIT/SECOND: VELOCITY

RELEASED: MAY 21

FORMATS: 360, PS3, PC

PUBLISHER: DISNEY

DEVELOPER: BLACK ROCK STUDIO

PRICE: VARIOUS

DISTRIBUTOR: CENTRESOFT

CONTACT: 0121 625 3388

”Geoff Heath, 4mm

The UK has a tremendoustalent pool and history ingames. Opening a UK studiois something we’re looking at.“

RAPPING TOEUROPE: 4mmhopes to open aUK developmentstudio to producetitles like Def JamRapstar


EA’S THREE-MONTH stay atthe top of the UK monthlycharts is at an end as Ubisoft isdeclared the biggest publisherin April, according to GfKChart-Track.

It was a tough month forthe UK games industry. Interms of value the market isdown 22.2 per cent comparedto the same period the yearbefore, and in terms of unitsthe market is down 23.5 percent year-on-year.

Ubisoft took an 18.6 percent share of the UK softwaremarket last month, rising up tothe top of the publisherrankings after sitting in fifthposition in March. EA slippedto second with 18.1 per cent,but is still well ahead ofNintendo which sits in thirdplace with a 14 per cent share.

The reason for Ubisoft’striumph was down to thecontinued success of its MCVAward-winning Just Dance,which was April’s biggestseller. The game has sold over

1m copies in the UK since itsrelease in November last year.

Ubisoft also secured secondposition in the April Top Tenwith the arrival of itsanticipated stealth sequel,Splinter Cell: Conviction,while EA grabbed third placewith its FIFA World Cup game.

Ubisoft’s UK MD RobCooper told MCV: “It is agreat start to the new financialyear – Splinter Cell:Conviction has performed welland Just Dance continues tobe a huge seller.

“With Prince of Persiareleased today (21st May) andthe rest of the exciting line-upwe have for this year, I amconfident of maintaining a highlevel of success.”

In terms of the value ofgames sold, Microsoft’s Xbox360 held a 30.9 per cent shareof the software market, withPS3 in second place (23.6 percent) and Wii following closelybehind in third position (21.4per cent).GfK Chart-Track:

020 8741 7585

UBISOFT: A new retailversion of Assassin’s CreedII – dubbed The CompleteEdition – will hit retail onJune 4th. It includes a fullcopy of the game and bothDLC expansions.

SQUARE ENIX: Thepublisher posted its bestannual financial results sincethe merger of Square Co andEnix Corporation in 2003.Operating income was up130 per cent at £210m. Netsales increased 41.7 per cent.

NINTENDO: DS sales in theUS saw a year-on-yeardecrease of 600,000 units inApril, despite selling over 1mduring the same period. Thiswas due to the DSi’s launchin April 2009. Wii sales weredown 63,000 year-on-year.

SEGA: Sega SammyHoldings posted year-on-year profits of £151.8m upfrom a loss of £171.3m in thesame period last year, whiletotal sales were down 10.4per cent.

WARNER BROS: SuperScribblenauts has beengiven an autumn releasewindow. It’s the sequel to thepopular DS titleScribblenauts which has holdover 1.1m copies worldwide.

KONAMI: Profits rose 22.4per cent year-on-year forKonami during its fiscal yearending March 31st at$143.4m, and revenues fell15.4 per cent at $2.8bn.

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NEWS

A NEW GAMES marketingagency Splatter is calling onpublishers to utilise its uniqueservices, promising them acost-effective way to get theirtitles into retail.

In addition to runningmarketing campaigns forgames firms, Splatter alsoboasts a sales solution.

The company helpspublishers pitch their productsto retailers, with the focus onbringing European titles to theUK. It can arrange in-storeactivities from staff demos tolaunch parties.

Splatter was set up inFebruary by former ChannelAdvantage man Jonathan

Dunnett, who now works asSplatter’s owner and directorof sales and marketing.

“We feel we are the mostcost-effective agency in thisindustry and offer some uniqueservices,” said Dunnett.Splatter: 07812 353116

by Christopher Dring

Ubi on top in monthly charts

New UK sales forceSplatters over retail

Just Dance leads April charts as UK market value falls � EA relinquishes No.1 spot

PERIPHERALS specialist HiveEntertainment will benefitfrom the release of THQ’s UFCUndisputed 2010.

Hitting shelves around thesame time as the game will beHive’s Round 5 World of MMAChampions series – a range ofUFC fighter figurines priced at£12.99 each.

THQ’s UFCUndisputed 2009sold 3.5 millionunits worldwide.With the 2010edition expectedto top this, Hivebelieves its ownUFC range will alsobe a hit.

“As UFC fans ourselves, wewanted these officially licensedfigures to be available in timefor the release of the newUndisputed game,” said Hive’sdirector Steve Nicholas.

“It is evident from thepopularity of last year’s 2009outing that gamers have really

embraced UFC andwith the launch ofTHQ’s UFC 2010,this is the perfect

time to makethese collectable

figuresavailable.” Hive

Entertainment:

07872 692486

Hive to share THQ’sUFC 2010 success

SPLATTER HOUSE: Dunnetthelps publishers pitch products

THE APRIL TOP TEN1. Just Dance .............................................................................Ubisoft2. Splinter Cell: Conviction......................................................Ubisoft3. FIFA World Cup 2010 ...................................................................EA4. GTA: Episodes From Liberty City ..................................Rockstar5. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 .......................................................EA6. Wii Fit Plus ..........................................................................Nintendo7. Wii Sports Resort ..............................................................Nintendo8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ...................................Activision9. Just Cause 2 .................................................................Square Enix10. Pokemon: Soul Silver .......................................................Nintendo


Stickers ad MCV.indd 1 14/5/10 09:12:34

How have MTV Games and RockBand performed in Europe so far? The positive is that we see Europe asthe biggest opportunity for growth. Thereality is we have underperformed in thismarket, certainly versus our competitor.We had decent growth with The Beatles:Rock Band, but we absolutely believethere is much more to come from us forthe European territories.

How does the company plan to turnthings around?It is a fairly straightforward game plan –we need to have more feet on the groundso that we’ve got dedicated resourcesthat will be able to collaborate and workwith our EA and Mad Catz partners.

One of the new people you’ve hiredis Roy Campbell. What can he bringto the business?As you know this is a very competitivemarket place, particularly here in the UK.I’d say the UK is the toughest territoryfor anyone in the gaming business. Thereis a lot of price compression. So somebodywith Roy’s experience is key. He allowsus to be nimble, he will hopefully teamup quickly with our partners, and thenbe able to go out to the marketplace andachieve the required growth.

Is the long-term plan to stick withEA or will MTV look to go it alone? We have a partnership that is not long-term, but we have been together a longtime. These things are contractuallybound, but in terms of how weapproach the partnership, it is long-term. Electronic Arts isfully supportive of whatwe are trying to do andthey’re really the keydrivers in helping usachieve our objectives.

How much market share are youlooking for in Europe and the UK? It varies from territory to territory. TheUK and Nordic countries are good

territories for a music-based business, andwe expect to participate in the 16 to 17per cent sizing that the music/rhythmspace has in these markets. Our goal isto be the number one player in music

games. We have a long way to go, andwe are playing catch-up – we were notthe first people in the market and we’re

up against not just a formidable opponentin Activision, but also Sony with theSingStar franchise. There are severalthings in play here – but we absolutelybelieve we can be the market leader.

In the UK Guitar Hero isNo.1. How can youunseat this franchise? Guitar Hero absolutely is themarket leader in Europe, butthat’s not the case back in

the US, so we have been able to do thisbefore. We think we have bettergameplay, better song selection and abetter online presence. When you

access Rock Band’s DLC we have over1,000 songs, whereas they have a thirdof that. We really believe that with thelaunch of Rock Band 3 – which is asignificant upgrade to what we hadbefore – we believe we can take marketshare aware from them.

At the end of the day, what we aretrying to do is isolate what our consumeris looking for, and hopefully grow his orher participation in our games. Gainingmarket share is our secondary objective.We want to please our consumers andexpand our consumer base.

Music is one of those things wherethere may be some songs on Guitar

Rock Band may be the market leading music game in the US, but in Europe it lags firmly behind the GuitarHero series. Christopher Dring speaks to MTV Games boss Scott Guthrie to discuss the firm’s newEuropean office, its plans to unseat Activision and the appointment of industry veteran Roy Campbell…

MTV’s Euro Vision

MCV INTERVIEWSCOTT GUTHRIE, GM & EXEC VP, MTV GAMES


”Scott Guthrie, MTV Games

I’d say the UK is the toughestterritory for anyone in thegaming business. There is alot of price compression.“

TOP OF THE POPS: MTVGames’ Scott Guthrie isconfident the company canbe the market leader in allforms of music gaming

11,12 MCV588_final:Layout 1 17/5/10 10:49 Page 1

Hero that isn’t in our title that a consumerwants to play, so hopefully they willenjoy both products. So both businessescan be compatible with each other.

How important is Rock Band’s digitalelement to your overall business? I think it is critical no matter whatentertainment category you’re in. For usthe disc has always been the entry pointfor our game, but then that disc opensup a whole other world of opportunitiesthrough DLC.

For example, we can feature a newartist every month for download. DLCallows the franchise to stay alive and itkeeps it interesting. But one is notseparate from the other.

We don’t see it is a digital businessand a boxed business, both areconnected to one another. We knowthat space at retail is tight and expensive,and it has to be a huge opportunity forretail to give up that space. So digitalallows us to compliment what we aredoing on a day-to-day basis.

Do you think it will ever reach astage where you won’t need torelease a disc and can just updatethe game through DLC?I don’t know. The consumer will tell ushow they want to get their entertainment.But I don’t see that happening in theshort term. I see that there is still a needfor us to distribute product throughbricks and mortar.

One of your digital initiatives hasbeen the Rock Band Network.What’s been the response to that? It has been really fun and is exceedingour expectations in the number ofartists that are using it. We expectedartists that have yet to make a living outof music to be putting their songs onthe network. But what we are finding isthat very well-known artists are alsousing it – we’re more than doubling thenumber of artists we anticipated.

Activision is looking to grow themarket by targeting other musicfans through DJ Hero and BandHero. What are your thoughts onthis strategy?I will speak for my franchise, because Ican’t talk for theirs. But we believe thatRock Band can suit different genres. Youmay have an inclination to metal or tocountry, but we believe that once you

have played our game with your chosengenre you can then go on and enjoy adifferent style. Rock Band can bringfamilies together. That is what was socool about The Beatles. It allowedparents to introduce that music to theirchildren, but it also allowed thechildren to go on the Rock Band storeand introduce Green Day to the parents.

The Beatles and Green Daycertainly have very different fans.But if you don’t want to get stuckfocussing on a specific genre, thenwhy release band-specific titles? First and foremost it has to be a bandthat wants to work with us and has astory to tell. And that story has to beable to translate into thegame itself. We knowthat consumers like awide range of music, sowe are trying to walkthat fine balance ofgiving consumers whatthey want but also, whenwe have the opportunity to work with agreat band like Green Day, to be able toembrace it and tell their story.

Would you say that perhaps a bandlike Green Day is more suited toRock Band’s audience than perhapsThe Beatles were? Yeah, I think that is a fair statement. Ithink that our core audience of 16 to34-year-old males are much more familiarwith Green Day music than The Beatles.What is interesting about Green Day is

that this isn’t a band that has beenaround for short period – they’ve beengoing 21 years. They have a great history.For the core gamer market, Green Dayprobably has a much higher awarenessthan perhaps The Beatles did.

Were you happy with how TheBeatles: Rock Band performed? The honest answer is no. We wereexpecting higher sales. We got caught ina few things that happened last year. Itwas a tough economy; there was a lot ofcompetitive products out there, and Ithink Beatles probably had softer salesthan it would have if some of thosethings weren’t in play. Overall we werepleased with the sales. I think that we

underestimated the competition andthey took mind share away from us.The music genre still performed well.

So you don’t agree that the musicgenre is in terminal decline? Yes, when you look at share year-over-year, it is in decline. But what hashappened is that people now have theplastic peripherals in their homes. Youcould argue the instruments shouldnever have been part of the share in thefirst place, because in terms of software

our business was up 73 per cent year-on-year. I believe that was also the casewith Guitar Hero. I think that is wherewe are in the evolution of music games.Most people have their instruments andthey are only looking to buy the software.Music games are still significant in themarketplace – they’re the number twogenre behind shooters.

Like any big genre, it will have its upsand downs, but it will be built on newcontent and creativity, and those will bethe things that decide whether consumerswant to keep investing in music games.

Why should we be excited for RockBand 3? At E3, you’ll see that Harmonix has

spent two years on an engineupgrade and creating the nextevolution of Rock Band.

Unlike the other guy, wehaven’t been bringing a newgame out every year. Sure,last year we had The Beatlesbut that was more about the

content. This time we have lots of great,new music and some new consumerfeatures you will find interesting.

What about MTV Games’ ambitionsoutside of the music genre? We’re very focused on leveraging theassets of MTV, which is a music, pop-culture business, and the ability of theHarmonix studio, which is music-basedas well. You will see some thingsannounced at E3 that will focus aroundboth the music and pop-culture elements.

MCV INTERVIEWSCOTT GUTHRIE, GM & EXEC VP, MTV GAMES


”Scott Guthrie, MTV Games

I don’t see DLC replacing newmusic games in the shortterm. There is still a need todistribute these through retail.“

GOT THE GREEN LIGHT: Guthrie says Green Day’s history and fans makes the group more suitable for Rock Band than The Beatles


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THE LAST FEW weeks willdoubtless be seen by historiansas a truly remarkable time inBritish history, the outcome ofwhich will have a huge impacton UK business not least thegames industry.

In the run up to the GeneralElection, having developed ourpolicy agenda, ELSPA looked atthe most effective ways toimpose the needs of our industryon the future Government. Itwas clear to us that the GeneralElection outcome would beclose, though we did not predictthe astonishing result leading tosuch a political pickle.

Nevertheless, to ensuremaximum influence of ourpolicy agenda we decided thatthe best possible approach wasto communicate our messagesto all three parties. At the timewe were a little concerned thatour strategy meant that wewere spreading our resourcesand messages too thinly.

However, this has proved tobe rather prudent as we havenow been assured that regardlessof the colour (or colours) of ournew Government, our nextMinister will be up to speedregarding the video gamesindustry well before his civilservice briefing paper arrives.

With this in mind we verymuch hope to see earlyprogress on our policy agendaincluding the implementationof PEGI, the beginning of theconsultation into tax breaks,exploration into the viability ofa ‘games council’ and supportfor our skills agenda viaStemNet and SkillSet.

Sticking with Parliamentaryissues for a moment, I’m sureyou are aware that, as part ofthe Digital Economy Act,provision has been made toallow PEGI to become the legalsystem for classifying games in

the UK. Once appointed, thenew Secretary of State at theDepartment for Culture, Mediaand Sport will need to askParliament to approve his choice

of ratings body (‘The VideoStandards Council’), and alterthe packaging and labellingregulations accordingly.

These approvals will take alittle while so we are notexpecting PEGI to become thesole classifier for video gamesin the UK until the autumn atthe earliest. As soon as wehave firm information, we willupdate you accordingly.

This will also mean bigchanges for consumers. We aretherefore already developing a

campaign to educate the publicabout the changes to the lawand what the PEGI symbolsactually mean. To ensure themaximum impact of this

campaign, we are creating aworking group of the great andthe good from our industry.Therefore if you have aninterest in this area, please doget in contact.

As you will read on the pageopposite, we are delighted tobe supporting London GamesFestival again this year atwhich events will runthroughout the month ofOctober. ELSPA is employingKirsty Payne as a consultant todrive participation in the

festival and ensure that public-facing PR is co-ordinated as weapproach and lead into thefestival. Alongside the excitingconsumer events that are alreadyplanned and in discussion, wewill be using the festival as anopportunity to showcase ourindustry, our creativity andcutting edge technologicaldevelopments to policy makersand Parliamentarians.

With the launch of Natalalready lined up for Octoberand Sony’s Move likely not tobe far behind, we are in a greatposition to demonstrate theeconomic and cultural valueinteractive entertainment canbring to this country. Theseevents are a great opportunityfor you to build a relationshipwith your local MP, so do thinkabout how you can getinvolved, what products orevents you might like toshowcase and how we can

help your company make themost of the festival.

On a final note, many of youwill probably have seen ouradvertisements for two newpositions; a commercialmanager and a public affairsand communications manager.We had a great response andinterviews are taking placeright now. This investment inthe association’s team is a vitalpart of our future plans forUKIE to ensure that we havethe scope and capacity todeliver a first class service toour members and the industry.

As part of this drive thedevelopment of our vision,together with our re-brandingis well under way and on coursefor a late summer launch.

I look forward to seeing youthen – by which time, I hope,the UK economic and politicalclimate will be considerablymore settled.

ELSPA director general Michael Rawlinson discusses British politics, LGF and new staff...

A new political era


TRADE UPDATE

”Michael Rawlinson, ELSPA

We’re assured that regardlessof the new Government’scolours, our PM will be up tospeed on the games industry.“


EA MD Keith Ramsdale talks exclusively to MCV about ELSPA’s plans for thisyear’s London’s Games Festival…

Is London Games Festivaldefinitely returning thisyear? When is it and whatwill it consist of?Yes it is; the Festival will runthroughout October. The LGFis to make London a focus forInteractive Entertainment andto engage with media,consumers and Government.

The London Games Festivalis made up of individual eventsled by seperate companies allbrought together under theLGF umbrella.

ELSPA will coordinate thefull festival as well as organisethe ELSPA-specific events tobe determined. There will beFestival PR led by ELSPA buteach event’s PR will be downto the organising participant.

How can the industry makethe most of LGF? Is thisjust for publishers, or canretail play a part too?The LGF is an open formatallowing stakeholders andparticipants to hold shared orautonomous events as theydeem appropriate. We alsoencourage people to runbespoke events of course.

However if a participantalready has planned activitiesthen we just ask that they beheld under the LGF banner.This could well mean that noadditional investment wouldbe needed as the activities a

participant organises mayalready be budgeted andplanned for.

What needs to happen forLGF to grow in profile in2010, after a very quietfestival last year?We need more participants.We already have events thatare confirmed and it is anopen forum for anyorganisation to take part in.The more participants, themore we show ourselves as atruly significant and successfulindustry – and everyone will

benefit from the accumulationof all the media attention. Themore there is for consumersand the Government to seeand take part in, the moresuccessful an image we willbe and the amplification ofnoise will be louder.

ELSPA will take ownershipof the LGF and provideorganisational and PRsupport. ELSPA will facilitatethe calendar of events andactivities and will be pro-

active to the trade andstakeholders to fill thecalendar. ELSPA will work ashard as possible to garnersupport from as manyparticipants as possible.

Who is leading the LGFproject this year? This year we are lucky tohave secured Kirsty Paynewho will manage the event.Anyone looking to take partor find out more shouldcontact Kirsty at [email protected] [email protected] or

contact +44 (0) 207 5340580. In addition to Kirsty,we will have a retainedMainstream PR Agency andmuch of the comms andmarketing initiatives will beformed as an output of aforum of lead marketing adPR experts from the Industry.

What do you want theevent to achieve?There are three key desiredoutcomes from this year’sLondon Games Festival:� Engagement of mainstreamand dedicated media in a co-ordinated and centrally-ledLondon Games Festival.� Engagement of consumersin interactive entertainmentevents for four weeks in andaround London.� Engagement ofWestminster – with a month-long focus on cultural andeconomic benefits of gamesand interactive entertainmentas a whole.

Two key events, EurogamerExpo and London GamesConference, took placeduring LGF last year, butboth have moved to eitherends of the month – willthey be part of LGF thisyear? Or is LGF moreabout marketing and PR

this year than live eventsas such?The LGF isn’t bound by datesand both the events youmentioned will be takingplace under the LGF banner.We have flexibility.

At the end of the day thisis about making a collectivenoise about this wonderfulindustry to the key audiencesmentioned above. We allbelieve that this is where the‘whole will be greater thanthe sum of the parts’.

Kirsty will be looking tomake contact with as manyplayers in the industry ashumanly possible and I askeveryone who reads this tomake themselves or anappointed person available.

London Calling


TRADE UPDATE

JOIN TODAY...FOR MORE INFORMATION ON JOINING ELSPA GO TO

WWW.ELSPA.COM

FULL LIST OF MEMBERS

505 Games

Activision Blizzard

Avanquest Software

CD Team

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Capcom

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Electronic Arts

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Gamebridge

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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<”Keith Ramsdale, EA

The more participants, themore we show ourselves as atruly significant andsuccessful industry.“


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INDIE ROUND TABLE


In association with

Independent thinkingIt may be in decline, but independent retail remains a lucrative sector for some of the more savvybusinessmen out there. To celebrate last week’s Top 20 indie feature, MCV and Nindie.com hosted a specialdinner for a selection of the winners to discuss the burning issues affecting the sector…

What are the biggest challengesfacing the independent games retailbusiness today?Nick Elliot, Barkman Computers: Alot of the time it is about availability.One of the biggest problems we have iswhen national accounts have exclusiveversions or tin boxes or exclusivecontent, and in these areas we just can’tcompete. But we do whatever we can.

Matthew Brady, Game On: It is verytough, especially whenrivals sell below cost. Butyou do get loyal customerswho come back, because itis about availability,customer service, customerknowledge and they cantrade games in as well.

How important has online becometo your business?Phil Moore, Grainger Games: Weknow where we are online, and it stillneeds progressing. The good thing isthat online our like-for-like sales haveperformed extremely well, with doubledigit growth. That can only get betterbecause of the added focus online – wehave just hired a specific online monitor.

What challenges are there online?Matthew Bowden, DVD.co.uk:Online competition is very fierce at themoment with the likes of Amazon beingparticularly aggressive on price, so it canbe difficult to get a good price point foryour customers. The key is picking thetitles our bigger rivals are notconcentrating on. If they are focusing onAvatar, we will focus on a differentDVD. We did the same with HarryPotter and Modern Warfare 2.

How interested are you in thedigital market?Shaun Mulvey, Powerplay Direct:Digital is something that everyone froman independent perspective has to lookat. We are obviously researching it, andwhere appropriate we will implement it.

Matthew Bowden: We are hoping tohave some digital download content onour site for this Christmas. Games will

be the first thing we introduce beforemusic or video.

Robert Lindsay, Games Centre: Wehave no plans in digital. At the momentwe don’t see where the opportunity isin digital. I’d like to see if we could, butat the moment it is physical product weare working on.

In what ways do you compete withthe big multiple retailers such as

GAME and Amazon?Shaun Mulvey: One of theweakness of the High Streetis that you have 100 storesin a chain that is following avery specific brand identity –independents don’t have tofollow that. As an

independent we can communicate andengage with our local community at amuch better level.

James Rowson, ShopTo: The majordifference between the multiples and usfrom a sales perspective is mass-marketproduct. Look at Just Dance. It could beNo.1 every week, it could sell up to40,000 every week, but it is on Wii andis something we almost can’t give away.

But give us Yakuza or Demon’s Souls andwe can build up hundreds, if notthousands of pre-orders in under 72 hours.

What advice would you give to astruggling indie, or someone tryingto open their own store?Matthew Bowden: The biggestchallenge is getting the suppliers to takeyou seriously. You’ve got to stick with it.It’s no easier to set up an online storethan a bricks and mortar outlet. And itis getting the supply chain. If you havegood supply relationships, then you candefinitely compete on the market place.

Neil Muspratt, Simply Games: Themost sensible thing to do is not fightevery fight. We could build a volumebusiness and make no money. Ourmantra is to always try and make money.”Shaun Mulvey, Powerplay Direct

One weakness of High Streetchains is that they follow aspecific brand identity –independents don’t have to.“

OUR INDIE PANEL (from left to right): Shaun Mulvey– Powerplay Direct, Martin Marriot – Nintendo,Robert Lindsay – Games Centre, Paul Nicholls –Koch, Nick Elliot – Barkman Computers, ChrisHarwood – Grainger Games, Jason Cooling – Koch,Phil Moore – Grainger Games, James Rowson –ShopTo, Neil Muspratt – Simply Games, MatthewBrady – Game On and Matthew Bowdon – DVD.co.uk

TOP 20 UK INDIESMCV and Nindie.com offer arundown of the best indie gamestores in the UK.

Visit tinyurl.com/top20indies or turnto page 14 in last week’s MCV.

19 MCV588_final:Layout 1 17/5/10 15:14 Page 1

TERRITORY REPORT: SOUTH AFRICA


A land of diversity

[THE FACTS: SOUTH AFRICA]Population: 49,320,000Currency: Rand (ZAR)GDP (Per Capita): $10,243Capital Cities: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative)Languages: Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and ZuluDistributors: Core, Apex Interactive, Ster-Kinekor,Megarom, Comztek, Prima, Nu Metro Key retailers: Pick ‘n’ Pay, Jet, Makro, Checkers,Incredible Connection, Hifi Corporation, BT Games, Look‘n’ Listen, Musica, Toyzone, Reggies, Toys R Us, GAME

The games market in South Africa wasworth 1.72 billion rand (£152 million), aseven per cent rise in sales over 2008.

However, so far in 2010 revenues aredown year-on-year, with industryestimates suggesting that by the endof the year the market would be flat.

PS2 is the strongest selling platformby quite a long way with almost845,000 consoles sold, PSP is thesecond most successful console withan installed base of 170,000 (seeEstimated Installed Bases).

Console unit sales in 2009 showed adecline for Xbox 360, which was due tothe collapse of the platform holder’s

South African distributor, MI Digital.The fastest rising platform is PS3,which saw a year-on-year sales increaseof 36 per cent. PS3 software sales alsoshot up in 2009, with unit sales up 55per cent compared to 2009.

Meanwhile, a major growth categoryfor publishers has been mobile gaming.

The most popular games in SouthAfrica are driving and sports titles,namely Need For Speed, FIFA andGran Turismo. Traditional shooterssuch as Grand Theft Auto and Gears ofWar also perform strongly.

Unfortunately these increasing salesare offset by South Africa’s severe

piracy problem, despite the efforts ofanti-piracy group SAFACT.

“South Africa still has strong saleson the PS2 console, even though it isnot strong in Europe,” says ApexInternational director Quinton Davie.

“Piracy has always been an issue inSouth Africa, as it is in the rest of theworld. The problem is South Africa isalso far away from other markets,geographically, which makes it a littledifficult to keep release dates exactlyto international release dates.

“We also had delays in stock arrivingin South Africa due to the flightcancellations from the Volcanic eruption

in Iceland, we’re very dependent on airtravel because we are so far away fromthe UK and Europe, where we get mostof our goods from, as we are also aPAL territory when it comes to theconsole market.”

EA South Africa’s Charmaine vanNiekerk adds: “Our biggest challenge isthat our strongest install base is stillPS2 and most of the developers arenot catering for this format anymoreand that leaves us with very limitednew product to service this demand.Piracy is always a challenge for us. Notso much online as actual product beingshipped in from the east.”

MARKET OVERVIEW

South Africa plays host to the World Cup next month, but is it as welcoming to games companies as itis to footballers? Christopher Dring looks at the challenges the country has faced in the last year...

SOFTWARE UNIT SALES SPLIT 2009

30%PC 54%

Console

16%Handheld

TOTAL GAMES MARKET VALUE

0

500

1000

1500

2000

734(£65.6m)

866(£77.4m)

730(£65.2m)

986(£88.1m)

HW

SW

HW -1% YoY

SW +14% YoY

2008 2009


0

200k

400k

600k

800k

1m

PS2 PSP XBOX 360 PS3 WII DS

ESTIMATED INSTALLED BASES DEC 2009

6.7% 1.3% 0.9% 0.8% 1.0% 0.45%Household Penetration

TERRITORY REPORT: SOUTH AFRICA


TERRITORYANALYSIS

Chris Stanton-Jones ofemerging market specialistsCatapult Business Solutionsprovides us with anoverview of the SouthAfrican games market…

South Africa’seconomy hadits worst year in2009 for a longtime as GDPand consumerspending

reduced year-on-year. Despite tough trading

conditions, however, the totalvideo games market grew in2009 by seven per cent, witheven stronger growth ofsoftware alone at 14 per cent.2010 growth is expected to belower, nevertheless, and tradingin the first quarter is reportedas down versus last year.

2009 was a good year forSony with PS2 (remarkably)still the fastest-selling console,PSP outselling the DS and PS3regaining its week-on-week sellthrough lead over Xbox 360.

Nintendo has achieved goodsales results from Wii, which isnow has the second highestinstalled base of all TV basedconsoles after PS2, but DS isperforming poorly.

Microsoft has had a troubled2009 following the demise oftheir distributor and a loss ofmarket share to other formats.Despite this, they maintain aninstalled base lead over PS3.

PC is still the second largestsoftware format after PS2,although its market share isslipping slightly.

There are few changes inthe retail landscape apart fromthe continued growth of thegames specialist chain BTGames. There have been nobankruptcies amongst the keyaccounts although retailers arereportedly being cautious intheir buy-in.

In terms of key challenges,with few new PS2 titles beingreleased – what will fill thegap? PS2 titles currentlyrepresent 30 per cent ofmarket volume and 15-20 percent of revenue. Xbox also hassome work to do to regain lostmomentum in 2009.

The market, however, is oneof great opportunity. It still hasmuch room to grow and thereare signs that it is now startingto open up to the mass market.The software format with thegreatest growth opportunityfor publishers is PS3.

South African retailers can be foundmostly in enclosed shopping mallsdue to problems with crime in thecountry. There are a wide array ofgames outlets, including nationalchains, toy outlets, music retailersand specialists.

The biggest specialist is BT Games,which has around 25 stores in thecountry. The firm is well known forits pre-order initiatives, which allowsit to secure more new release salesthan its rivals. Interestingly, store-based shopping is popular in SouthAfrica and is more widely adoptedthan internet shopping.

In terms of distribution, Megaromis the dominant local distributor aheadof EA and Ster Kinekor. However,distribution is very expensive inSouth Africa and only really occursin the main towns. Last year, Xbox360 console distributor MI Digitalentered liquidation and Microsofthas since switched distribution to PCspecialists Comztek.

“The retail market is very strongin general,” says EA South Africa’sCharmaine van Niekerk.

“A good mix of specialist and massmerchants ensures we are able toreach a very diverse target market.”

RETAIL

The video game development sector in SouthAfrica is very small, only a handful of games aredeveloped in the sector – with the most famousbeing a ‘90s PC title called Toxic Bunny.

Any developers in the region work largely onmobile and digital titles. A publication calledDev.Mag for South African developers exists thatserves this underused community. Most SouthAfricans trying to break into games developmentend up having to work abroad.

“We have had a few smaller companiesdeveloping games but I think the biggestchallenge here is the cost of development,”comments EA South Africa’s Charmaine vanNiekerk. “One of the developers on Need ForSpeed: Shift is from South Africa.”

DEVELOPMENT

The PS2’s lead over the other consolesis quite clear and not uncommon in lesser-developed markets. Interestingly, thePSP is not only ahead of its rival – theNintendo DS – but also the three majorconsoles. Like other markets around theworld, the Wii maintains a lead overMicrosoft and Sony’s consoles.


PublishedJuly 9th

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sourcebook 2010 ad_v1:Layout 1 29/4/10 09:33 Page 1

As the MCM Expo returns to London, publishersand platform holders will be showcasing their titlesdirectly to consumers. James Batchelor providesa run-down of what gaming fans can expect…Show & Sell

MCM EXPO PREVIEW


WHILE THE Midlands event is alsopopular, it’s the London iteration ofthe MCM Expo that thousands lookforward to.

Held in the city’s ExCeL centre,this twice-yearly show is a celebrationof all things related to movies,comics, manga and more.

Given the crossover betweendemographics, games are becomingan increasingly important part of theexpo and this year is no exception.

From publishers to platformholders, some of the industry’sbiggest companies are preparing theproducts they’ll be showing off atthe upcoming May expo, as well asgauging the public’s reaction as theyplan ahead for the event’s largerOctober counterpart.

Event promoter Bryan Cooneysays: “May’s London MCM Expo isgoing to be a blast for everyonetaking part. The advance ticket salesare already up 30 per cent comparedto last year so smashing the 40,000consumers we saw over the two daysin 2009 looks a certainty.

“We are so pleased to have somegreat publishers on board. Plans forOctober’s show are already wellunderway with a record number ofpublishers registering their interest,including Nintendo, Tecmo Koei andUbisoft which are already confirmed.

“If publishers keep supportingLondon MCM Expo, it will be withoutdoubt the number one consumerevent for video games.”

NINTENDO

� Dragon Quest IX� Monster Hunter Tri� Professor Layton� Super Mario Galaxy 2� Sin and Punishment� Samurai Warriors 3� WarioWare DIY

“This is part of our Nintendo Unleashedgamer’s tour where we are visitingthe biggest events in the countrywhere gamers’ might be found,” saysNintendo UK’s head of communicationsRob Saunders.

“We want to show that Wii and DShave titles that even the most hardcoregamer can enjoy and feel challengedby – and MCM Expo really gives usthe opportunity to showcase those.

“We hope that the attendees enjoyplaying these titles, along with all theother awesome games we’ve got.”

ACTIVISION

� Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions� Transformers: War for Cybertron

Activision will stand out at the showthanks to two of its most successfullicences and its newest IP.

“We are delighted to announcethat both Blur and Transformers:War for Cybertron will be shown atthis years MCM Expo,” says Activisionbrand manager Natalie Giles.

“Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensionswill also be in a dedicated area and

we are excited to be able to showcaseall of these highly anticipated titlesto consumers.”

MCM Expo is set to have the world’sfirst playable demo of Transformers.

UBISOFT

While the publisher won’t be showingoff any new games, it will have astrong presence thanks to some viralmarketing for Prince of Persia: TheForgotten Sands.

There will be giant banners in themain hall and special masqueradesponsorship with Prince of Persiagoodies, with a poster and discountvoucher for the game given to thefirst 5,000 attendees. The MCM showguide will also promote the game.

As an extra treat for fans, YuriLowenthal – the voice of the Prince –will be attending and signing posters.

Brand manager Jan Sangherasays: “The MCM Expo has evolvedover the years and it’s a great way totarget a young audience of peoplewho love games, manga and films.We hope to further raise awarenessfor The Forgotten Sands and remindattendees that the game is on sale.”


MCM EXPO PREVIEW


KONAMI

Konami will be holding the UK Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game NationalChampionship and the Yu-Gi-Oh! DSNational Championship throughoutthe weekend.

Fans will be able to battle it outwith both the trading cards and thepublisher’s most recent DS release,Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2010.

Konami hopes to see up to 394entrants for each tournament, whowill be whittled down until a nationalchampion has been found.

The champion will then go on toplay in either the card tournament’sEuropean Championship or the DSWorld Finals.

RISING STAR GAMES

� No More Heroes 2� Samurai Shodown Sen

“The MCM Expo is the largestconsumer event of this kind in theUK and provides us with a uniqueand direct contact with our coreconsumers,” comments productmanager Yen Hau.

“It is a very relaxed atmosphereand you can genuinely tell peopleabout your games in an upfront andfriendly manner.

“As it is not a dedicated gamesevent, the people who attend justwant to have fun and see what isnew, so there is no pressure to ‘out-perform’ another publisher or saywho had the best game on show. Wehope to build upon our already strongrelationship with this key marketaudience for Rising Star Games.”

TECMO KOEI

� Quantum Theory

Tecmo Koei will be leading with aplayable version of Quantum Theory– the first time gamers have beenable to get hands-on with the gameoutside of the Tokyo Game Show.

The publisher will also be selling alimited edition figurine of Kasumifrom Dead or Alive: Paradise.

“For us MCM Expo is mainly abouthaving a place where our fans cancome and play the new games and

meet and greet with our staff,” saysTKE’s sales and marketing vicepresident Will Curley.

“We get great feedback from thevisitors and we can also source somenice items for them from Japan. Ithelps create an all-round experienceof Tecmo Koei – there’s a lot more toour franchises than just the games.”

AND THE REST...

� MCM Expo will be aiming to set aGuinness World Record for the largesthandheld game console party.

Attendees are invited to bringtheir DS and a game on May 29th inthe hopes of breaking the record setby Australia back in October 2007.

As part of this Nintendo will begiving consumers the chance to winone of five DSi XLs, with otherrandom prizes up for grabs fromother exhibitors.

� Namco Bandai will be supportingthe Manga Entertainment stand withdemo pods for Naruto Shippuden:Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 and DragonBall: Origins 2.

� Hasbro will be showcasing aplayable version of XBLA title Magic:The Gathering – Duels of thePlaneswalkers, based on the popularWizards Of The Coast trading cardgame. The firm will also be promotingthe upcoming launch of the PCversion, due this summer.

Wizards of the Coast’s assistantbrand manager Lupita Garcia says:“London Expo is a good event for usto be at, where we aim to reach awide audience to showcase both thecards and Duels of the Planeswalkers.”

� Turtle Entertainment will be runningprofessional gaming tournaments aspart of the ongoing Electronic SportsLeague’s ESL Pro Series for the UK.


www.foreignmediagames.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION BY

SALES ENQUIRIES TO TEL: 01564 200948 © 2010 FOREIGN MEDIA GAMES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NINTENDO DS IS A TRADEMARK OF NINTENDO

Advertentie 230x315_advertentie 230x315 v2 23-04-10 11:23 Pagina 1

PERSONNEL


Robert Price to leave Future for FoxCEO departs media giant � Campbell joins MTV Games � New VPs for disabled games charity SpecialEffect

Sponsored by

MTV GAMES � The firm hashired ROY CAMPBELL tolead its international business.

Campbell’s most recentposition was vice president ofglobal sales and marketing forCity Interactive.

More notably, he haspreviously held a variety ofroles at THQ, including UKMD, as well as working at Rage,Virgin and Infogrames UK.

His appointment comes asMTV Games moves to expand

its presence in Europe. As partof this, Campbell will beresponsible for setting up aEuropean team for the firm,which will be based in London.

“It is a fairly straightforwardgame plan – to have more feeton the ground so that we’vegot dedicated resources thatwill be able to collaborate andwork with our friends at EA,”said MTV games executive VPand GM SCOTT GUTHRIE.

“We believe bringing insomeone with Roy’s experienceand skill set will allow us to bemuch more nimble.”

SPECIALEFFECT � Thecharity has appointed KIRSTY

PAYNE and JOHNNYMINKLEY as vice presidents.

SpecialEffect is a charitydedicated to helping youngpeople with disabilities to enjoyvideo games using eye controltechnology called Stargaze.

The organisation’s directorDR MICK DONEGAN said:“As many as one person inevery ten misses out on the joysand benefits of gaming becauseof their disability.

“Kirsty has been involved inthe charity since its launch andkindly introduced us to Johnny.We are absolutely delightedand honoured that they haveaccepted our invitation tobecome vice presidents.”

FOX � ROBERT PRICE willjoin Twentieth Century FoxHome Entertainment as UKmanaging director this summer.

Price will leave his positionas UK chief executive of FuturePublishing, a company he hasworked for since 1998.

During his time at Future,he has also held roles such aspublishing director and UK MD.

He will retain his currentresponsibilities while Futuresearches for a replacement.

“Robert will leave Futurewith our very best wishes,”said Future’s group CEOSTEVIE SPRING. “He movesinto an adjacent sector wherehis experience will be very

valuable, and we look forwardto working with him for manyyears to come.

“Until his departure, I’llspend more of my time workingclosely with him to manageour business to ensure it’sbusiness as usual.”

Price is set to leave Future after12 years at the firm

26 MCV588_final:46 MCV515 17/5/10 12:10 Page 1

Promotion starts 4th June

RECOMMENDED GAMES � PRICE CHECK � CHARTS � NEW RELEASES

RETAILBIZ

JAM WITH THE BAND P34Nintendo’s acclaimed Band Brothers DS

title makes its way to UK shores

MODNATION RACERS P34Sony’s customisable kart racing game

zooms its way onto PS3 and PSP

DARK STAR ONE P35Xbox 360 exclusive from Kalypso

Media takes gamers into space

SHREK FOREVER AFTER P36Activision Blizzard brings the popular

movie franchise to multiple platforms

CRADLE OF EGYPT P36Budget-priced addictive DS puzzle

sequel from Rising Star Games

INTERNATIONALSUPERSTARSGreen Day front EA and MTVGames’ latest Rock Band P32

31 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:10 Page 1


RETAILBIZ: GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND

GREEN DAY is a four-time Grammyaward winning rock band with over 65million record sales and an enormousglobal following worldwide –making them a perfect fit forthe Rock Band franchise.

The game, Green Day:Rock Band, sets out tocapture the energy andlikeness of Green Day whileoffering players a plethora ofpast hits, including ‘Basket Case’,‘Minority’ and ‘American Idiot.’

Harmonix project lead Chris Fostersays: “Fans of the band will want to seeevery experience the musicians gothrough – and if playing them in 3D isnot enough, we’ve included real video,out takes and unseen images from theWarner Bros Records vault too.

“They’re a fun band with immenseappeal so it’s great to get to translatethat into a video game.”

The developer also worked onBeatles: Rock Band and the original

Guitar Hero, which went on to becomea worldwide hit, rocking up $45m salesin its first year on sale. It also paved theway for a string of popular musicperipheral-based video games over thefollowing years.

“The Beatles: Rock Band got us a lotof people who wouldn’t have bought aRock Band game before,” adds Foster.

“With this I think Green Day fanswill love this version, even if they’re notRock Band fans – they’re definitelypotential Rock Band fans.

“The music, the intensity and thechallenge is all there. Ifthey’re a fan of Green Daybut not yet of Rock Band,then this is definitely away to pull them in.”

LONG VIEW

Green Day: Rock Bandfeatures a broad range of tracksspanning across the band’s 21-yearhistory, including three full albums –1994’s Dookie, 2004’s American Idiotand 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown.

Players are also able to play along toclassic songs from other albums, such as‘Hitchin’ A Ride,’ ‘Good Riddance (Timeof Your Life)’ and ‘Minority.’

Punk Rock superstarsare the latest to begiven EA’s Rock Bandtreatment on Xbox 360,PS3 and Wii…

by Dominic Sacco

”Chris Foster, Harmonix

If someone has a plasticguitar or drum set in theirhouse, then they’re definitelygoing to want this game.“

32,33 MCV588_final 17/5/10 10:56 Page 1

RETAILBIZ: GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND


There are a variety of locations toperform at including Oakland’s FoxTheatre in the US, Milton Keynes Bowland a warehouse that was included atthe band’s request to showcase theirearlier years.

The likeness of each member has alsobeen translated into the game, withfrontman Billie Joe Armstrong, bassistMike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool’smannerisms, facial animations andactions accurately conveyed in-game.

Foster says: “We really wanted tofocus on Green Day as a live act andcapture their incredible stageperformances with motion capture, newcamera technology and entire recordedgigs to capture the band’s sheer chaoson stage.”

Up to five players at once can jamtogether, with guitar, bass, drums, vocalsand backing vocals available. Confident

gamers can even combine accessories toplay guitar and sing at the same time.

EA and MTV Games have also madethe game compatible with Rock Bandand Guitar Hero peripherals, making iteasier for users to pick up and play thetitle without having to spend more onspecific game instruments.

Foster comments: “If someone has aplastic guitar or drum set in their house,then they’re definitely going to wantthis game.”

I WANNA BE THE MAJORITY

The mass-market appeal of Green Daygives EA and MTV Games optimism atretail. And with it appearing on all threemajor consoles the consumer attractionfor this product is heightened further.

The songs from Green Day: RockBand can be transferred to other RockBand titles, saving users switching discs.

A Green Day DLC pack was alsoreleased last year containing six songs –all of which are also compatible withthe new game.

On top of the 47 tracks (see ‘Songs ofthe Century’), the title also boasts 100band photos and 40 minutes of specialvideo footage.

Green Day: Rock Band will bereleased for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii onJune 11th. It will be offered as astandalone disc at retail, with additionalmusic instrument peripherals availableto purchase separately.

RELEASED: JUNE 11

FORMATS: 360, PS3, WII

PUBLISHER: EA / MTV GAMES

DEVELOPER: HARMONIX

PRICE: £49.99


CONTACT: 0121 625 3388

SONGS OF THE CENTURY

Green Day: Rock Band features 47tracks in total. Here is MCV’s pickof the best, which will likelyattract both devoted followers andminor fans of the band:

� ’She’� ’When I Come Around’� ’Longview’� ’Welcome To Paradise’� ’Basket Case’� ’American Idiot’� ’Holiday’� ’Boulevard of Broken Dreams’� ’Wake Me Up When September Ends’� ’St. Jimmy’� ’Minority’� ’Warning’� ’Hitchin’ A Ride’� ’Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’� ’Nice Guys Finish Last’� ’Brain Stew’� ’Jaded’� ’21 Guns’� ’Know Your Enemy’� ’21st Century Breakdown’

32,33 MCV588_final 17/5/10 10:56 Page 2


RETAILBIZ: JAM WITH THE BAND / MODNATION RACERS

WHILE THE majority of releases arriveglobally near-simultaneously, there arestill some titles that take years to makethe journey from East to West.

Daigasso! Band Brothers is a primeexample. This rhythm action game wonover Japanese gamers and internationalpress with its addictive gameplay andmusic creation tools, provoking cries fora European release five years ago.

While the 2004 original may havenever made it to these shores, its sequelBand Brothers DX finally brings theseries to UK gamers for the first time –albeit with a different name.

Jam With The Band gives gamerswhat they expect from a rhythm actiontitle: a vast array of songs that are easyto play but hard to master. Players usethe touch screen to strum a virtualguitar with a second difficulty modeintroducing buttons.

For a change inpace, there is also akaraoke mode wheregamers sing into the DS’built-in microphone. Thegame will even analyse theirsinging and recommend a genrethat will best suit their voice.

MANY A FINE TUNE

There are more than 50 pre-installed songs for gamersto enjoy in each mode,

encompassing a range of classic andcontemporary hits including ‘I’m ASlave 4 U’, ‘Smoke on the Water’ and‘We Are The Champions’.

Nintendo fans will also enjoy a rangeof medleys that have been programmed,all based on themes from such flagshipfranchises as F-Zero, The Legend OfZelda and Super Mario Bros.

If players manage to master all ofthese, they can create their own trackswith the programming tools. There aremore than 50 instruments to use, whichcan be arranged in up to eight differentparts – or they can simply hum amelody into the microphone and thegame will make it playable.

There will be even more tunes toenjoy in months to come as Nintendo

will be making 50 extratracks for download, as

well as a multitude of user-created tracks from other

Jam With The Band owners.Nintendo has seen moderate

success with titles such asRhythm Paradise and Wii Music,so expect Jam With The Band tobe music to consumers’ ears.

by James Batchelor RELEASED: MAY 21

FORMATS: DS

PUBLISHER: NINTENDO

DEVELOPER: NINTENDO

PRICE: £29.99

DISTRIBUTOR: OPEN

CONTACT: 01753 483700

Nintendo’s cult hit music game Band Brothers DXfinally makes it to Europe with a new moniker…

MODNATION RACERS is Sony’sattempt at a Mario Kart/LittleBigPlanethybrid, offering players the chance todesign and race across their own tracks.

Both of these titles were criticallyloved, putting the new custom kartracer in good stead when it hits retail.

The game’s style is cartoony andbright, and will no doubt appeal to ayounger audience as well as families. Itboasts a single-player career mode, split-screen and online multiplayer – all withweapons at the players’ disposal – aswell as simple yet deep customisation.

For those who don’t want to spendtime tweaking their own karts, tracksand challenges, developer United FrontGames has provided a wealth of ready-made characters and worlds for playersto jump into.

THE MODDING SCENE

To create a new course in ModNationRacers, players can simply drive their

kart as they wish and watch the trackmagically appear behind them as theysteer. There are also advanced optionsavailable for those willing to spend moretime perfecting a circuit.

Gamers can vote for their favouriteuser creations and view the fastest laptimes via PSN’s online leaderboards,while the single-player mode allowsthem to work their way up to becomean elite racer.

The game has already been receivedwarmly by the media, achieving anaverage review score of 81 onMetacritic.com. Sony also hopes it willappeal to a range of players.

ModNation Racers will be releasedfor PS3 and PSP on May 21st.

by Dominic Sacco RELEASED: MAY 21 (PS3)

FORMATS: PS3, PSP

PUBLISHER: SONY

DEVELOPER: UNITED FRONT GAMES

PRICE: £49.99 (PS3), £24.99 (PSP)


CONTACT: 00121 625 3388

Sony’s kart racer encourages players to customisetheir own vehicles on PS3 and PSP…

KART KINGS:ModNation Racers is abrand new family-friendly IP from Sony

34 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:01 Page 1

Britain Needs You! With over 200 British Jobs on our books, one has got to have your name on it!

Artwork copyright of Nic Williams

OPM Response LtdTel: +44(0)1206 21 44 21

www.opmjobs.com


RETAILBIZ: DARKSTAR ONE

DARKSTAR ONE: Broken Alliance ismore than just console release – it’s ametaphor for Kalypso Media’s future.

Not unlike the game’s space-faringprotagonists, the publisher is exploringuncharted territory and hoping anycontact with the indigenous species (i.e.the consumers) will be friendly.

“DarkStar One: Broken Alliance isKalypso Media’s second Xbox 360 titleand we have high hopesafter the success of Tropico3,” says Kalypso’s productmanager Timo Thomas.

“It is important forKalypso to be seen as acompany who publishquality, engaging gamesthat people want to experience not justfor PC but across other platforms too,expanding our product portfolio outsideof the PC strategy and into the coregaming market.”

Broken Alliance is based on popular2006 title DarkStar One that venturedinto the rarely-visited genre of spacecombat and exploration. Players customisetheir own spaceship and venture into

the big black, discovering new worldsand alien races along the way.

When they’re not completing one ofthe game’s main missions, they havefree rein to explore, trade with otherships or start blasting them out of thesky in order to sell their cargo on theblack market.

Like any good action RPG, theirbehaviour will dictate how othercharacters react to them. So those whochoose to live as a space pirate will find

themselves regularly scanned for stolengoods by the authorities, turned awayfrom trading posts or hunted down byruthless mercenaries.

It’s a genre that was once highlypopular on both PCs and the earliestconsoles, but has since becomeincreasingly niche. Kalypso is hopingthat Broken Alliance could change thatand eventually attract a large audience.

“The press have all jumped on boardthe DarkStar One express with manyhailing it as a modern day version ofclassics such as Privateer, Freelancer andeven – dare I say it – Elite,” said Thomas.

“People will be impressed with thegraphics and surprised by the sheer sizeof the game – over 300 star systems toexplore and the freedom to play as youlike. The replay value is huge as you cango back and find new routes throughthe star systems, meeting new races and

facing different challenges.”

FORGING AN ALLIANCE

While the DarkStar namemay already be known to PCgamers, it is a new propertyon Xbox 360 so Kalypso iskeen to promote the brand

and raise awareness within this newaudience before the game launches.

To accomplish this, the publisher hasdrawn up a long marketing campaign,with no less than four months of coveragesecured across a range of publications.

Encompassing both editorial andadvertising, the PR campaign will seeDarkStar One marketed in specialist andnational press as well as key webistes,

targeting gaming, lifestyle, sci-fi andmovie audiences.

There will also be a dedicated pre-order advertising campaign onlinerunning across a range of games sites,with more activity planned for thegame’s launch week. A demo will alsobe made available through Xbox Live.

The weight behind the marketingonce again emphasises how importantthis release is to Kalypso Media.

Thomas adds: “PC gamers have beenplaying Kalypso titles for a while nowbut on console we are still new andneed to build a relationship withconsole owners of a company whorelease quality titles.

“Tropico 3 was a great first consoletitle for us, and now we can follow thatsuccess with another quality consoletitle building consumer and retailerconfidence in our future releases.”

by James Batchelor

Kalypso Media moves further into the lucrative console market with this Xbox-exclusive space adventure…

RELEASED: JUNE 4

FORMATS: XBOX 360

PUBLISHER: KALYPSO MEDIA

DEVELOPER: GAMING MINDS STUDIO

PRICE: £44.99

DISTRIBUTOR: ADVANTAGE

CONTACT: 0121 506 9585

”Timo Thomas, Kalypso

DarkStar One has been hailedas the modern day version ofclassics such as Privateer,Freelancer or even Elite.“

35 MCV588_final 17/5/10 12:55 Page 1


RETAILBIZ: SHREK FOREVER AFTER / CRADLE OF EGYPT

THE SUMMER blockbuster Shrek:Forever After is set to be one of theseason’s biggest films, and ActivisionBlizzard has prepared a game designedto match its cinematic weight.

Shrek: Forever After recreates theanimated escapades from its silverscreen namesake, as the popular ogrefinds himself plunged into an alternatereality where he never met Fiona andthe evil Rumpelstiltskin is king.

The film is set to finish off the series,but Activision believes the game willallow fans to experience the adventureover and over again.

“One of the most popular franchisesof all time is back,” says Activision’sbrand manager Natalie Giles. “Thanksto the popularity of Shrek, we’reconfident that kids and adults will enjoythe last instalment of the Shrek games.”

WINNING WAYS

Forever After follows the formula ofprevious Shrek titles from Activision –one that can be enjoyed as a family.

Up to four players can take on theroles of Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss

in Boots as they work their way throughvarious fairytale levels set in bothShrek’s reality and the twisted world ofRumpelstiltskin.

Each character has their own skills,with single players having to swapbetween them in order to progress.These specialities can all be upgraded bycollecting coins.

The film will be more than prominentthis summer, but Activision is workinghard to guarantee the video gameadaptation is not forgotten.

“We are working closely withDreamWorks to ensure that the videogame is promoted with all theiractivity,” says Giles.

“Our key focus will be on a creativePR campaign with fun, educationalShrek-based activities that appeal to ourkids and their parents, and targets bothprint and digital media.”

by James Batchelor RELEASED: JUNE 18

FORMATS: 360, PS3, PC, WII, DS

PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

DEVELOPER: XPEC / GRIPONITE (DS)

PRICE: VARIOUS


CONTACT: 0121 625 3388

Gamers take on the role of everyone’s favouriteogre as he takes on his final challenge…

THE DS IS already inundated withpuzzle games of almost everyconceivable variety, which makesreleasing a new one challenging.

The trick is to establish a familiarname for your games, one thatconsumers (and particularly non-gamers) will instantly recognise – andthat’s something Rising Star Games ison track to accomplish.

Cradle of Egypt is the follow-up to2008 puzzler Cradle of Rome, a titlethat proved to be popular enough withhandheld owners that it continues tosell well today.

“Its predecessor Cradle of Rome wasincredibly successful for us and is stillperforming well a year and a half afterrelease,” said Rising Star’s productmanger Yen Hau.

“We are looking for Cradle of Egyptto replicate, if not better, this successon what is proving to become a well-loved and recognised game brand.”

ROCKING THE CRADLE

For the tile-swapping Cradle of Egypt,the publisher has held true to theengaging puzzle mechanic that madethe original so popular. The tiles in thisgame represent resources required torebuild the Egyptian civilisation, givinggamers a goal to work towards.

Once again, players are challengedto match blocks of three, with the goalof removing all blue blocks from a levelin order to progress to the next one.

To aid the brand’s growth, RisingStar Games will market Cradle ofEgypt in a variety of entertainment,lifestyle and women’s publications, aswell as specialist gaming and nationalpress titles.

This will be supported by bothonline and trade advertising, as well asadditional activity planned for thepublisher’s own Hoshi fan club andsocial media channels.

“Cradle of Egypt is released at a verycompetitive price, so it should becomea very desirable product to consumers,”says Hau.

“We are witnessing theestablishment of the Cradle of series asa recognised brand among casualgamers – something that will allow thetitle to continue selling throughout theyear and not just on day one.

“Retailers should expect a similarsales pattern to the first game.”

by James Batchelor RELEASED: JUNE 18

FORMATS: DS

PUBLISHER: RISING STAR

DEVELOPER: CERASUS MEDIA

PRICE: £19.99

DISTRIBUTOR:: MASTERTRONIC

CONTACT: 0845 234 4242

Rising Star follows up on its successful 2008puzzler Cradle of Rome with the next instalment inthe series…

GREEN GIANT: Shrek is a popularmovie franchise and is loved by bothyounger viewers and adults alike

36 MCV588_final 17/5/10 10:58 Page 1

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Other Business sessions include:

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The Main Event for European Developers

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Early Bird

Rates until 7 June

Jagex's Indie DNA: How Jagex Did Everything Right by Doing Everything its Own WayMark Gerhard, CEO, Jagex Games Studio

As head of the UK’s largest independent games developer and publisher, Mark will share his insight into theJagex DNA and explore how Jagex has succeeded in the global games market. He will also outline his thoughtson the future of the games industry and the importance on focusing on gameplay and enjoyment over profit.

Business: Burn Zombie Burn One Year On: Marketing, Sales and Making MoneyJames Brooksby, Studio Head, doublesix

The Lowdown on Downloadable ContentChris Bruce, Senior Producer, SingStar Team, Sony ComputerEntertainment Europe

Panel: Meet the Press: How to Make the Games Media Work for YouChair: Johnny Minkley, Editor, Eurogamer TV

Broadcasting Their Intentions: TV Tunes into GamesAlice Taylor, Commissioning Editor, Education, Channel 4 Dave Anderson, BBC Worldwide Games

BUSINESS

Also speaking

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, Bioware • Louis Castle,Instant Action • David Helgason, Unity Technologies •George Andreas, Rare • Mick Hocking, SCEE • PeterMolyneux, Lionhead Studios • Chris Pruett, Google Japan •Peter Hall, Crytek • Ben Minto, EA DICE • Ben Board,Microsoft • Garry Taylor, SCEE • Alan Yu, ngmoco •Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory • Jasper Koning,Ronimo Games • Jerome Hagen, Microsoft • Dave Bishop,PopCap • John Dennis, Team 17 • Adam Levenson,Activision • Steve McCalla, Intel • Andrew Oliver, BlitzGames Studios • Michael Schade, Fishlabs • Tim Schafer,Double Fine Productions. And many more…

Business Keynote

MCV Mag - Develop Advert 4 13/5/10 13:00 Page 1

THE FIRST REALLIVING-ROOM DJ EXPERIENCE!

��

T: 01564 200948www.foreignmediagames.com

TITLE FORMAT GENRE PUBLISHER TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTOR

Released: May 28th

Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Publisher: Ubisoft

Distributor: Gem

Contact: 01279 822800

Activision Blizzard racer Blur leads a new wave of hits, while Ubisoft invades the pitch with its promising footy titlePure Football. Also out soon is Alpha Protocol, Clash of the Titans, Green Day: Rock Band, Naughty Bear and more...

Blur screeches onto UK shelves

Ubisoft ventures into thecompetitive football marketwith a title designed to offera new take on the BeautifulGame. Dubbing itself as moreof an action title than asimulation, Pure Footballdoes away with the rules formore frantic matches.

Check out MCVUK.COM/RELEASE-DATES for more

Alpha Protocol PC / PS3 / XBOX 360 Action Sega 0121 625 3388 CentresoftArmin van Buuren - In The Mix Wii Music Foreign Media Games 0121 506 9585 AdvantageBackbreaker XBOX 360 / PS3 Sports 505 Games 0121 506 9585 AdvantageBlur PC / PS3 / XBOX 360 Racing Activision Blizzard 0121 625 3388 CentresoftClash Of The Titans PS3 / XBOX 360 Action Namco Bandai 0121 506 9585 AdvantageClass 20 Collection PC Simulation Just Flight 0845 234 4242 MastertronicGreat Party Games Wii Mini-games O Games 0121 625 3388 CentresoftNo More Heroes 2 Wii Action Rising Star Games 0845 234 4242 MastertronicProject Runway Wii Casual Atari 0121 506 9585 AdvantagePure Football PC / PS3 / XBOX 360 Sports Ubisoft 01279 822800 GemSamurai Warriors 3 Wii Action Tecmo Koei 01462 476 130 OpenSniper PC / XBOX 360 FPS City Interactive 01279 822800 GemUFC Undisputed 2010 XBOX 360 / PS3 / PSP Fighting THQ 0121 506 9585 Advantage

Dark Star One: Broken Alliance XBOX 360 Action/RPG Kalypso Media 0121 506 9585 AdvantageI'm Not Alone PC Adventure Mamba Games 01273 202220 LaceNaughty Bear XBOX 360 / PS3 Adventure 505 Games 0121 506 9585 AdvantageRooms: The Main Building DS Casual Nintendo 01753 483700 OpenSpace Shuttle Simulator PC Simulation Excalibur Publishing 01869 338833 Open

Beat City DS Platformer THQ 0121 506 9585 AdvantageGran Turismo (Platinum) PSP Racing Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftGreen Day: Rock Band XBOX 360 / PS3 / Wii Music EA 0121 625 3388 CentresoftJak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier PSP Platformer Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftLittleBigPlanet (Platinum) PSP Platformer Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftLocoRoco 2 (Platinum) PSP Platformer Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftMotorStorm: Arctic Edge (Platinum) PSP Racing Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftNancy Drew: The Model Mysteries DS Mystery THQ 0121 506 9585 AdvantageNaval Assault: The Killing Tide XBOX 360 Action 505 Games 0121 506 9585 AdvantagePrince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands PC Adventure Ubisoft 01279 822800 GemRatchet & Clank: A Crack In Time (Platinum) PS3 Platformer Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftResistance: Retribution (Platinum) PSP Action Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftSuper Mario Galaxy 2 Wii Platformer Nintendo 01753 483700 Open

Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force: Herbert's Revenge DS Mini-games Disney Interactive 0121 625 3388 CentresoftEverybody's Tennis PSP Sports Sony 0121 625 3388 CentresoftMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP Action Konami 0208 987 5706 OpenPro Cycling Tour Manager: Tour De France 2010 PC Sports Ubisoft 01279 822800 Gem

15 Days PC Casual/Adventure Mamba Games 01273 202220 LaceA New Beginning PC Adventure Mamba Games 0121 506 9585 AdvantageBig Beach Sports 2 Wii Mini-games THQ 0121 506 9585 AdvantageDaisy Lafuente Pilates Wii Fitness 505 Games 0121 506 9585 AdvantageDemon's Souls PS3 RPG Namco Bandai 0121 506 9585 AdvantageDeponia PC Adventure Mamba Games 0121 506 9585 Advantage

MUSTSTOCK ..............................................BLUR

MAY 28th

JUNE 4th

JUNE 18th

JUNE 25th

JUNE 11th

RETAILBIZ: NEW RELEASES


Bizarre-developed racer Bluraims to reinvigorate thegenre by mixing the streetracing of Need For Speedwith the power-up attacks ofMario Kart. Expect thishighly anticipated title to sellwell as players seek a newtype of racing experience.

Released: May 28th

Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Publisher: Activsion

Distributor: Centresoft

Contact: 0121 625 3388

MUSTSTOCK ...........................PURE FOOTBALL

38 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:57 Page 1

For sponsorship opportunities please [email protected] • +44 (0)1992 535 646

Hilton Metropole Hotel, Brighton, UK

Wednesday July 14th, 2010

For tickets and table sales please [email protected] • +44 (0)1992 535 646

28 Dev105 DevelopAwards2010 Ad_final 21/4/10 13:57 Page 1

IS THE LACK OF A ‘WII 2’ OR ‘WII HD’ HURTINGNINTENDO?

Speaking to MCV recently, analyst MichaelPachter suggested that Nintendo is leavingit far too late to reveal a successor to theWii. He claimed Wii games are notcompelling enough to drive consumers tobuy more than two per year and that gamequality suffers because publishers have todevelop separate versions from Xbox 360and PS3 titles.

It seems that a little over half of theparticipants in the latest MCV online

survey agree with him, believing thatNintendo should have released anupgraded or succeeding console sooner.

However, just under half of voters (44per cent) believe Nintendo is in anacceptable position and that the Wii’ssuccess has not suffered for its lack ofhorsepower when compared to Microsoftand Sony’s platforms.� Take part in MCV’s next poll atwww.mcvuk.com

POLL

REVIEW SCORES

MCV provides the most important average review scoresof the last few days – all sourced from Metacritic...

*Metacritic scores correct at the time of going to press

Skate 3,360,EA

82%ModNation Racers,

PS3,Sony

81%3D Dot Game Heroes,

PS3South Peak

80%Lost Planet 2,

PS3,Capcom

68%

93%

1LAST WEEK TITLE/FORMAT PUBLISHERTHIS

WEEK

2 6 SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION 360 UBISOFT

3 2 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP: SOUTH AFRICA PS3 EA

4 MONSTER HUNTER TRI WII CAPCOM

5 7 GOD OF WAR: COLLECTION PS3 SONY

6 POKÉMON SOULSILVER DS NINTENDO

7 5 SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV PS3 CAPCOM

8 3 SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV 360 CAPCOM

9 9 IRON MAN 2 360 SEGA

10 THE SIMS 3 PC EA

Charts compiled by Game Guide/CompleteEPOS Solutions. For more information aboutComplete EPOS Solutions call 01543370002. For more information about theGame Guide call 01606 836347.

Super StreetFighter IVPS3, Capcom

1 2 3 4 5

INDIE CHARTS - ALL FORMATS

DEAL OF THE WEEK

Sponsored by

RETAILBIZ: HIGH STREET


RE

56%Yes

44%No

GAME customers cansave almost £100when they pick up a250Gb PS3 Slim,Final Fantasy XIII andeither God of War IIIor Uncharted 2 for£289.99.

MARGIN MAKER

Gamers on the go this summerwill be interested in this smarttransportation and storagepack for their DS.

The Mini Transporter Casesports a backpack-styledesign and can safely carry aNintendo DS, DS Lite or DSi. Italso has space for other

accessories, as well as storageslots for up to twelve games.

The cases are made from a rugged,hard-wearing material that shouldsurvive whatever kids can throw at it,and are available in a mix of colours –

blue, pink and cyan.BDA: +1 425 492 6111

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP: SOUTH AFRICAFORMAT: 360 DEVELOPER: EA CANADA PUBLISHER: EA

RE

RE

40,41 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:06 Page 1

RED DEADREDEMPTION:LIMITED EDITION360, ROCKSTAR

[PRE ORDERS]

2. RED DEAD REDEMPTION – LIMITED EDITIONPS3 ................................................................ROCKSTAR

3. RED DEAD REDEMPTION360 ................................................................ROCKSTAR

4. HALO: REACH – LEGENDARY EDITION360 ..............................................................MICROSOFT

5. RED DEAD REDEMPTIONPS3 ................................................................ROCKSTAR

6. ALAN WAKE + STRATEGY GUIDE360 ..............................................................MICROSOFT

7. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS360 ................................................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

8. SKATE 3360 ..........................................................................EA

9. UFC UNDISPUTED 2010 + 1GB USBPS3 ........................................................................THQ

10. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPSPS3 ................................................ACTIVISION BLIZZARDWeek ending MAY 14thSource: SHOPTO.COM

TOP 10

[PRE ORDERS]

2. RED DEAD REDEMPTION – LIMITED EDPS3 ................................................................ROCKSTAR

3. STARCRAFT II: LIBERTY – LIMITED EDPC ..................................................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

4. ALAN WAKE360 ..............................................................MICROSOFT

5. STARCRAFT II: WINGS OF LIBERTYPC ..................................................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

6. SKATE 3360 ..........................................................................EA

7. RED DEAD REDEMPTION – LIMITED ED360 ................................................................ROCKSTAR

8. ALAN WAKE – LIMITED EDITION360 ..............................................................MICROSOFT

9. RED DEAD REDEMPTION – LIMITED EDPS3 ................................................................ROCKSTAR

10. SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2WII ................................................................NINTENDOWeek ending MAY 14thSource: AMAZON.CO.UK

TOP 10RED DEADREDEMPTION360, ROCKSTAR

Sponsored by

IN STORE: BLACKPOOL

ONLINE

£39.99 £32.99 £24.99 £24.99 £29.99

N/A £32.99 N/A N/A £29.99

£34.71 £27.00 N/A N/A £27.71

£39.99 £32.99 £24.99 N/A N/A

£34.99 £29.99 £24.99 £17.99 £29.99

£34.99 £25.18 £17.91 £17.91 £22.00

£34.95 £26.45 £17.95 £17.95 £21.95

£32.75 £27.85 £21.86 £19.85 £24.85

Lost Planet 2360, Capcom

2010 FIFA World CupPSP, EA

RETAILBIZ: HIGH STREET


What makes your store unique?I’m Doncaster born and bred so mycustomers can relate to me and I’m keento look after them. I try not to sell games– I offer them games and services at aprice they want. Also, we do disc andconsole repairs so we can resolve almostany problem a gamer can have. Of course,a lot of indies do that now – it’s hard to bedifferent in games retail, so it’s all aboutfriendly service for us.

What do you think will be the biggest-selling title this summer?We’re getting big numbers for Red DeadRedemption. I’m looking forward to thatone and so is my son – if I don’t bring thatone home, there’ll be trouble. UFC shouldalso be quite big and Crackdown 2 mightdo rather well, too.

What are your hopes for E3?I’d like to see a fourth console come outfrom a complete independent – a genuinecontender. We indies are always beingsqueezed on price by the Big Three andwhile that’s bound to happen with afourth console from a smaller

manufacturer, hopefully we’d get fairerpricing while they’re starting out, like wedid with the PSP. Games-wise, it’d be niceto see less sequels and more new ideas.And it’d be good to see Natal and Move ataffordable prices well.

What is the biggest problem you face?Supermarkets. They’re going to make usall butchers and milkmen if we’re not

careful. Now that Asda is looking atselling second hand games, it’s adangerous situation. That said,supermarkets selling new games hasn’tstopped us, so maybe their pre-ownedschemes might not have that bad animpact. The trouble is people are gettinglazy – if they can pick up games whiledoing they’re shopping, they don’t haveto wander into town centres.

This week we chat to KevTaylor at The Cool Spot…

Sin & PunishmentWii, Nintendo

FROM THE FRONTLINE

PRICE CHECK

God of War: CollectionPS3, Sony

Iron Man 2Wii, Sega

“I’d like to see a fourth console come out froma complete independent with fairer pricing – a

genuine contender.”

40,41 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:06 Page 2

NINTENDO DS [FULL PRICE]THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK TITLE PUBLISHER

2 1 POKÉMON HEARTGOLD NINTENDO

3 3 WARIOWARE D.I.Y NINTENDO

4 4 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NINTENDO

5 6 JEWEL QUEST: EMERALD TEAR GSP/AVANQUEST

6 5 PROFESSOR LAYTON & PANDORA’S BOX NINTENDO

7 7 MARIO KART DS NINTENDO

8 9 DR KAWASHIMA’S BRAIN TRAINING NINTENDO

9 8 PEPPA PIG: FUN AND GAMES P2 GAMES

10 10 MARIO & LUIGI: BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY NINTENDO

WII [BUDGET PRICE]THIS WEEK


JUST DANCEDEVELOPER: UBISOFT (FRANCE) PUBLISHER: UBISOFT


2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICAFORMAT: 360, PS3, Wii, PSP DEVELOPER: EA CANADA PUBLISHER: EA

PC CD-ROM [FULL PRICE]THIS WEEK


2 3 THE SIMS 3 EA

3 6 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 EA

4 4 C&C4: TIBERIAN TWILIGHT EA

5 5 THE SIMS 3: WORLD ADVENTURES EA

6 9 WOW: WRATH OF THE LICH KING ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

7 12 COD: MODERN WARFARE 2 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

8 10 DAWN OF WAR II: CHAOS RISING THQ

9 BIOSHOCK 2 2K GAMES

10 13 MASS EFFECT 2 EA

[ENTERTAINMENT - ALL PRICES]

OFFICIALUKCHARTS[1]

[3]

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010DEVELOPER: SPORTS INTERACTIVE PUBLISHER: SEGA

WII [FULL PRICE]THIS WEEK


NEW SUPER MARIO BROS.DEVELOPER: NINTENDO PUBLISHER: NINTENDO

2 3 MARIO KART WII NINTENDO

3 2 MONSTER HUNTER TRI CAPCOM

4 4 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA EA

5 6 SONIC & SEGA ALL-STARS RACING SEGA

6 5 MARIO & SONIC: WINTER OLYMPICS SEGA

7 8 RED STEEL 2 UBISOFT

8 7 F1 2009 CODEMASTERS

9 9 IRON MAN 2 SEGA

10 13 FIFA 10 EA

[5]

RETAILBIZ: RETAIL CHARTS


Check out RETAILBIZ at WWW.MCVUK.COM

THIS WEEK

POKÉMON SOULSILVERDEVELOPER: NINTENDO PUBLISHER: NINTENDO

2 2 WII FIT PLUS NINTENDO

3 3 WII SPORTS RESORT NINTENDO

4 HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE DISNEY

5 5 WII PLAY NINTENDO

6 6 EA SPORTS ACTIVE EA

7 4 JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR UBISOFT

8 7 MONOPOLY EA

9 13 SUPER MONKEY BALL: STOP & ROLL SEGA

10 9 CARNIVAL: FUNFAIR GAMES 2K PLAY

2 ALAN WAKE 360 MICROSOFT

3 LOST PLANET 2 360, PS3 CAPCOM

4 2 JUST DANCE Wii UBISOFT

5 SKATE 3 360, PS3 EA

6 5 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 360, PS3, PC EA

7 3 COD: MODERN WARFARE 2 360, PS3, PC, DS ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

8 14 FINAL FANTASY XIII 360, PS3 SQUARE ENIX

9 4 WII FIT PLUS Wii NINTENDO

10 7 WII SPORTS RESORT Wii NINTENDO

11 9 GTA: EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY PS3, PC, 360 ROCKSTAR

12 6 SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV 360, PS3 CAPCOM

13 10 JUST CAUSE 2 PS3, 360, PC SQUARE ENIX

14 8 SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION 360, PC UBISOFT

15 COD: WORLD AT WAR PS3, 360, WII, PS2 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

16 23 SONIC & SEGA ALL-STARS RACING PS3, 360 Wii, DS SEGA

17 15 ALIENS VS PREDATOR 360, PS3, PC SEGA

18 12 IRON MAN 2 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP SEGA

19 13 JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PC UBISOFT

20 16 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS WII Wii NINTENDO

1RE

1[2]

[4]

1

1TOP 40ALL

1

RE

RE

NEW

NEW

NEW


PC CD-ROM [BUDGET PRICE]THIS WEEK


Highest New Entry

EA’s 2010 FIFA World Cup has held on to the top

spot for the third week in a row, despite three

new games making a strong impact in the charts.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 exlusive Alan Wake was

the highest new entry in at No.2. It received just

1,000 fewer sales than FIFA but 12,000 more

than Capcom’s new Lost Planet 2.

The other key new release this week – Skate 3

– entered the charts in fifth place behind

Ubisoft’s successful Just Dance, which fell to its

lowest position in seven weeks.

Modern Warfare 2 slipped from No.3 to No.7

following a price cut at retail, while Final Fantasy

XIII leapt back into the Top Ten after eight weeks

sitting below it.

Price promotions caused a number of re-

entries including World at War and BioShock 2.

[email protected]

[ANALYSIS]

NAPOLEON: TOTAL WARDEVELOPER: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY PUBLISHER: SEGA

2 HIDDEN MYSTERIES TRIPLE PACK GSP/AVANQUEST

3 1 SIMS 3: DESIGN & HIGH-TECH STUFF EA

4 2 MYSTERY CASE FILES: DIRE GROVE FOCUS

5 ANCIENT MYSTERIES: KING TUT’S TOMB GSP/AVANQUEST

6 ALIENS VS PREDATOR SEGA

7 3 ROME: TOTAL WAR GSP/AVANQUEST

8 5 WOW: BATTLE CHEST ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

9 CHRONICLES OF MYSTERY: TREE CITY INTERACTIVE

10 AGATHA CRISTIE MYSTERIES: TRIPLE MASTERTRONIC

PS3 [FULL PRICE]THIS WEEK


2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICADEVELOPER: EA CANADA PUBLISHER: EA

2 LOST PLANET 2 CAPCOM

3 8 FINAL FANTASY XIII SQUARE ENIX


5 2 GTA: EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY ROCKSTAR

6 SKATE 3 EA

7 4 SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV CAPCOM

8 3 GOD OF WAR III SONY


10 26 YAKUZA 3 SEGA

XBOX 360 [FULL PRICE]THIS WEEK


ALAN WAKEDEVELOPER: REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PUBLISHER: MICROSOFT

[SO

UR

CE

](c

) E

LS

PA

, C

om

piled

by C

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RETAILBIZ: RETAIL CHARTS


WEEK ENDING15/05/10

21 21 POKÉMON SOULSILVER DS NINTENDO

22 17 ASSASSIN’S CREED II 360, PS3, PC UBISOFT

23 NIER 360, PS3 SQUARE ENIX

24 19 FIFA 10 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS, PC, PSP EA

25 LIPS: I LOVE THE 80’S 360 MICROSOFT

26 25 FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 360 MICROSOFT

27 18 POKÉMON HEARTGOLD DS NINTENDO

28 22 HALO 3: ODST 360 MICROSOFT

29 20 GOD OF WAR COLLECTION PS3 SONY

30 BIOSHOCK 2 360, PS3, PC 2K GAMES

31 BAYONETTA 360, PS3 SEGA

32 34 BAND HERO 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

33 40 COD4: MODERN WARFARE PS3, 360, WII ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

34 11 GOD OF WAR III PS3 SONY

35 NAPLOEON: TOTAL WAR PC SEGA

36 29 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV 360, PS3, PC ROCKSTAR

37 31 MARIO KART WII Wii NINTENDO

38 24 WARIOWARE D.I.Y DS NINTENDO

39 33 LEGO BATMAN PC, DS, PS3, 360, Wii, PSP WARNER BROS

40 27 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS DS NINTENDO

NEW

RE

PSP [FULL PRICE]THIS WEEK


L FORMATS 1

12 2 GRAN TURISMO SONY

3 3 LITTLEBIGPLANET SONY

4 MONSTER HUNTER: FREEDOM UNITE CAPCOM

5 6 ASSASSIN’S CREED: BLOODLINES UBISOFT

6 5 FIFA 10 EA

7 4 IRON MAN 2 SEGA

8 7 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010 SEGA

9 9 DISSIDIA: FINAL FANTASY SQUARE ENIX

10 NARUTO: ULTIMATE NINJA HEROES 3 NAMCO BANDAI

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICADEVELOPER: EA CANADA PUBLISHER: EA

1 12 LOST PLANET 2 CAPCOM

3 1 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA EA

4 SKATE 3 EA



7 3 SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION UBISOFT

8 10 FINAL FANTASY XIII SQUARE ENIX

9 8 FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 MICROSOFT

10 6 HALO 3: ODST MICROSOFT

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

RE

RE

RE

RE

NEW


International Distribution Guide

TO ADVERTISE IN THE INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION GUIDE PLEASE CONTACT [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION


AUSTRALIAAll Interactive.................Helensvale Town Centre

AUSTRIA

Koch Media GmbH...............................Rottenmann

Play Art Multimedia Handels GmbH....Rankweil

BELGIUM

CLD DISTRIBUTION S.A.ZI Noville les Bois, Rue de la Tour,

2b 5380 FERNELMONT, Belgium

Phone: 0032 81 83 02 07

Fax: 0032 81 83 02 09

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.cld.be

Wholesaler Gaming products

Official Benelux distributor for

Horelec S.A. ...........................................Bruxelles

BENELUX

GAMEWORLD Cornusbaan 1, 2908 KB Capelle A/D IJssel

Tel: +31 10 298 3838

Web: [email protected]

CYPRUSGibareio.............................................................Nicosia

GOODTONESGREAT GAMES LTD1 Alkaiou Street / Office 1 /

Engomi / Nicosia 2404 / Cyprus

tel. +357 22 666612

www.greatgames.com.cy

DENMARK

GATEWAY DISTRIBUTION APSGateway Distribution ApS

+44 1279 408 665 (UK)

+45 7026 0870 (DK)

[email protected]

www.gatewaydistribution.dk

ESTONIAAndrico ..............................................................Tallinn

FINLANDPanvision Oy.......................................................Turku

FRANCEEMC GROUPE CASINO..........Croissy Beaubourg

INNELEC MULTIMEDIA45 rue Delizy,

93692 PANTIN Cedex, France

Email purchase: [email protected]

Email export sales: [email protected]

Tel: 00.33.1.48.10.55.55

SUPREME FACTORY439 avenue de la Gare

84470 Chateauneuf de Gadagne

Email : [email protected]

Phone : 0033 432 751 165

Fax : 0033 432 751 160

GERMANYGroß Electronic .......................................Rohrnbach

Otto Group...................................................Hamburg

Playcom Software Vertriebs .......................Erfurt

Vitrex Multimedia Großhandel.....................Erfurt

GREECECentric ...............................................................Athens

Nortec Multimedia.........................................Athens

Zegetron S.A....................................................Athens

HUNGARYAntec .............................................................Budapest

ICELANDSena ................................................................Reykavik

INDIA

ISRAELHed-Arzi......................................................Or-Yehuda

ITALYCidiverte Spa ...............................................Gallarate

Coop Italia..........................................Sesto F.NO (FI)

Digital Bros spa................................................Milano

Leader Spa.................................Gazzada Schianno

Newave Italia...................................................Firenze

Promovideo SRL ...........................................Senago

NETHERLANDSEBS-Benelux...........................................Bunschoten

Gameworld BV............................Capelle A/D Ijssel

Micromedia BV...........................................Nijmegen

Favour Games..................................................Tilburg

Rigu Sound B.V. ...............2153 GB Nieuw Vennep

NEW ZEALANDGamewizz..........................................................Albany

NORWAYPan Vision Norway.....................................Trollasen

MPX.no.......................................................Sandefjord

Platekompaniet....................................................Oslo

Massemedia AS...........................................Notteroy

Pan Vision Norway..............................................Oslo

POLANDCD Projekt Sp. z o.o......................................Warsaw

TECHLAND Sp. z o.o. ul. Jana Szczyrki 12,

54-426 Wroclaw, Poland


Web: www.techland.pl

Phone: +48 71 354 46 10

Fax: +48 71 354 46 10

PORTUGALecofilmes...............................Sao Joao Da Madeira

RUSSIAHitzona.............................................................Moscow

Noviy Disk .......................................................Moscow

Soft Club..........................................................Moscow

Vellod...................................................................Mitishi

SERBIA

COMPUTERLAND DOOKumodraska 45

11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Tel:+381(0)11 309 95 95

Fax:+381(0)11 309 95 96

mail:[email protected]

website:www.computerland.rs

SINGAPOREReplay Interactive....................................Singapore

SOUTH AFRICAMidigital ..............................................Johannesburg

Nu Metro Interactive ......................Johannesburg

SPAINArdistel. S.L..................................................Zaragoza

Distribuciones Videográficas Digitales....MADRID

Lamee Software S.L. .....................................Madrid

DistribucionesVideográficas Digitales ....Madrid

Distribuye Palmera................................Las Palmas

JC Distribuciones .............................................Getxo

Shine Star, S.A...........................................Barcelona

SWEDENBergsala AB............................................Kungsbacka

GAME OUTLET EUROPE AB

PO Box 5083

S-650 05 Karlstad, Sweden

Phone: +46 54 854750

Fax: +46 54 854759


Website: www.gameoutlet.se

Panvision....................................................Stockholm

SIBA AB ...................................................Gothenburg

SWITZERLANDABC Software GmbH.......................................Buchs

TURKEYARAL Import..................................................Istanbul

Nortec Eurasia...............................................Istanbul

JOWOOD ENTERTAINMENT AGHeiligenstädterstrasse 201-203/19

1190 Wien, Austria

Tel: +43 (0)1 37909 0

Fax: +43 (0)1 37909 1064

Web: www.jowood.com

44,45 MCV588_final 17/5/10 10:52 Page 1

The International DistributionGuide is dedicated to promotingcompanies outside of the UK. Ifyou are looking for new customersoverseas, then look no further...

UPCOMING FEATURESA glimpse at some of the special features coming up in MCV, the onlytrade publication that covers all sectors of the video games market...


FOR MORE DETAILS CONTACT: [email protected]

EDITORIAL PLANNER

FRIDAY JUNE 4th

DEVELOP AWARDS FINALISTSAs this year’s Develop Industry Excellence Awardsapproaches, MCV announces the full list of finalists: everystudio in each category, including new awards for BestNew Download IP and Best Micro Studio.

FRIDAY JUNE 11th

E3 2010 SPECIAL

The biggest event in the games industry’s calendarreturns and, as the offical International Media Partner forthe event, MCV brings you a complete guide to this year’sE3 Expo. We look at how the organisers have improvedthe 2010 event over its predecessors, and offer a round-up of what to expect, including:� A breakdown of the venue, including stand locations forall of the major publisher and format holders, and aschedule of key presentations.� Interviews with major execs from some of theindustry’s leading publishers.� Industry roundtables on some of the most topicalissues that face gaming and retail.

FRIDAY JUNE 18th

DISTRIBUTION SPECIAL

As well as covering all the big E3 headlines, this week’sissue of MCV takes an in-depth look at the biggestchallenges facing the always-important distributionsector. We speak to the major players – from pick ‘n’ packspecialists to multi-faceted sales and marketingbehemoths – about the future of the supply chain andhow they will be tackling the challenges ahead for thedistribution side of the games trade.

FRIDAY JUNE 25th

E3 REVIEW

A thorough and comprehensive look back at this year’s E3Expo, reporting on each and every revelation as well as the –potential impact they will have on the industry, We cover theBig Three’s presentations and the major developments fromthe leading third-party publishers.

FRIDAY JULY 2nd

GUIDE TO GAMES RETAILThe games retail landscape is constantly changing, so webring you the definitive guide to the major retailers onthe market. As well as essential information on eachcompany and a summary of its position in the industry,you’ll find a breakdown of the games buying teamsidentifying the key personnel and their roles.

FRANCE TERRITORY REPORT

France is one of Europe’s biggest video game territories -not least because it’s home to publishing giant Ubisoft.MCV takes a closer look at how the country’s video gameoutput is evolving and speak to the key retailers,developers and publishers on the current challengesaffecting the region. We also provide a rundown of thecountry’s headline-grabbing efforts to thwart piracy withits strict laws and regulations.

UNITED STATES

BASCO, INC.VIDEO GAMES DISTRIBUTOR

Tel: 1-917-627-3000

Fax: 1-718-228-4401

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.bascodistribution.com

U.S. GAMES DISTRIBUTION, INC.16700 Schoenborn St.

#2 North Hills, CA. 91343

Tel: +1 818 920 9393

[email protected]

www.usgamesdist.com

UAE

ALESAYI UNITED COMPANYVideo Games Distributor in the Middle East

P.O BOX 16999

Jebel Ali Free Zone Dubai U.A.E.

Tel: 00971 4 883 5960

Fax: 00971 4 883 5175

E-Mail: [email protected]

U.A.E. Website: www.alesayi.ae

Group Website: www.alesayi.com

PLUTO GAMESPO Box 10705, Office 103-104

Emirates Islamic Bank Building, Dubai, UAE

www.pluto-games.com

Tel: +971 4261 8111

Fax: +971 4261 8112

Modern Pluto Trading LLC...............Saudi Arabia

NXT Global LLC .................................................Dubai

Pluto Derinton Games LLC............................Egypt

Red Entertainment Distribution ..................Dubai

44,45 MCV588_final 17/5/10 10:52 Page 2

GAMING ACCESSORIES

...bringing you all the right lines

General enquiries: 01606 558 428or email: [email protected]

Road One, Winsford, Cheshire CW7 3QGwww.pinpointce.co.uk Part of the Pinpoint Group

Premier Disc Cleaner

Wii Fitness Kit Plus Wii Racing Wheel

Laser Lens Cleaner

Wii Perfect Shot

360 Intercooler TS

PINPOINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01606 558428 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.pinpointce.co.uk

TO ADVERTISE CONTACT ROB BAKER ON: 01992 535647 OR

KEY CONTACTS

DIRECTORYDESIGN STUDIOS

Fink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01480 302352

DISC REPAIR

Elm-Digitalia UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0845 643 6021

Total Disc Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01202 489 500

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

Green Man Gaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 7193 6910

TripleACodes.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION

Creative Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 020 8664 3456

Curveball Leisure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01792 652562

Discstribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0845 430 8735

Gem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01279 822800

GLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01708 725742

Ideal Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01767 689720

Meroncourt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01462 680060

Universal Games Distribution (UK) Ltd . . 0208 787 7030

USD Limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01933 227220

GAMING ACCESSORIES

Logic3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01923 471 000

Pinpoint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01606 558428

GAMES CONSOLE REPAIR

Total Console Repair Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 087 19 18 17 21

LOCALISATION

Partnertrans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01273 229030

Testronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01753 653 722

Universally Speaking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01480 210621

STORE FITTINGS

AMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0113 2311030

46-51 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:07 Page 1

DISTRIBUTION

THE NEW FORCE IN ENTERTAINMENT

DISCSTRIBUTION

www.discstribution.comDistributors of DVDs, Blu-Ray, Music CDs and Video Games

Over 100,000 Different Items to Order Online

Accepted Payments - Paypal - Google Checkout - Credit Cards - Bank Tranfers and 30 Day Credit Accounts

Call Kevin, Ashley, Richie or Pete+44 (0) 845 430 8735

DISCSTRIBUTION . . . . . . . +44 (0)845 430 8735 . . . . . . . . . www.discstribution.com

[email protected]

DISTRIBUTION

MERONCOURT . . . . . . . . . . +44 (0) 1462 680060 . . . http://trade.meroncourt.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION

CURVEBALL LEISURE . . . . . . 01792 652526 . . . . [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION

GLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01708 725742. . . . . . . . . [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION

CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION . . . . 0208 6643456 . . . . www.creativedistribution.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION

GEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01279 822800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.gem.co.uk

46-51 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:07 Page 2

TO ADVERTISE CONTACT ROB BAKER ON: 01992 535647 OR

STUDIOS

Epic Games..........................................................+1 919 870 1516

FaceFX...................................................................+1.919.727.9624

Stainless Games [email protected]

TOOLS

Blitz Games Studios.............................+44 (0) 1926 880 000

bluegfx.....................................................+44 (0) 1483 467 200

Dolby.........................................................+44 (0) 1793 842 922

Havok .................................................................+1 415 543 4620

SERVICES

Amiqus ..............................................................www.amiqus.com

Brand Protect ..........................................+44 (0) 1869 346160

Outso Ltd. ............................................................www.outso.com

Partnertrans.............................................+44 (0) 1273 229030

Testronic Labs.........................................+44 (0) 1753 653 722

Universally Speaking..............................+44 (0) 1480 210 621

COURSES

Futureworks .............................................. +44 (0)161 237 7570

University of Hull ...................................+44 (0) 1482 465 951

To be included in the Develop Directory (which appears every month in Developand every week in MCV) contact [email protected]. All subscription requests should go to [email protected]

GAMING ACCESSORIES

LOGIC 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01923 471000 . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

GAMES CONSOLE REPAIR

TOTAL CONSOLE REPAIR . . . . . . . 08719 181721 . . . . . www.totalconsolerepair.co.uk

Develop is the only dedicated publication for the UK andEuropean games development community. It reachesover 8,000 request-only subscribers every month.

46-51 MCV588_final 17/5/10 12:04 Page 3

[email protected]


GREEN MAN GAMING. . . . . . . 020 7193 6910 . . . . . . . . [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION

IDEAL SOFTWARE . . . . . . . +44 (0) 1767 689720 . . . . . . . . . . www.idealsoftware.net

DISTRIBUTION

UNIVERSAL GAMES DISTRIBUTION (UK) LTD . 0208 787 7030 . www.unigames.co.uk


nimaDESIGN I DIGITAL I LITHO

www.tripleacodes.com [email protected]

Now is a great time to expand your digital business

Distributors of CDkey, Epin and downloadable products.

TripleACodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

46-51 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:07 Page 4

LOCALISATION

TESTRONIC LABORATORIES . . . +44 (0) 1753 653 722. . . . www.testroniclabs.com

LOCALISATION

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING . . . . . . . 01480 210621 . . . . . . . . . . . www.usspeaking.com

LOCALISATION

PARTNERTRANS . . . . . . . . . . . 01273 229030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.partnertrans.com

STORE FITTINGS

AMA DISPLAYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0113 2311030 . . . . . . . . . . . www.ama-displays.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION

USD LIMITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01933 227220. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.usdlimited.com

DESIGN STUDIOS

finkcreative

Design/Branding/ Advertising/ Packaging/Web

[email protected]

01480 302 352

FINK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01480 302352 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.finkcreative.com

46-51 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:08 Page 5

From the MCV Awards to our GamesDeveloper Conference, here are all theessential industry dates to put in your diary…

DIARY DATES

MAYMONETISING MOBILEWednesday, May 26th BAFTA, [email protected]

MCM LONDON EXPOSaturday, May 29th –Sunday, May 30thExCeL, Londonwww.mcmexpo.net

JUNEE3 2010Tuesday, June 15th –Thursday, June 17thLos Angeles Convention Centrewww.e3expo.com

JULYDEVELOP CONFERENCE 2010Tuesday, July 13th -Thursday, July 15thBrighton, UKwww.develop-conference.com

DEVELOP INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2010Wednesday, July 14thBrighton, UKwww.develop-online.net

CASUAL CONNECT SEATTLETuesday, July 20th –Thursday, July 22ndBenaroya Hall, Seattle, USseattle.casualconnect.org

AUGUSTGAMESCOMWednesday, August 18th -Sunday, August 22ndCologne, Germanywww.gamescom-cologne.com

EDINBURGH INTERACTIVEFESTIVAL 2010Wednesday, August 25th –Thursday, August 26thEdinburgh, Scotlandwww.edinburghinteractivefestival.com

SEPTEMBERMCV/XBOX 360 QUIZThursday, September 23rdSway Bar, [email protected]

DEVELOP INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARDS2010Wednesday, July 14thBrighton, UKwww.develop-online.net

Lobbying has alreadyopened for the DevelopIndustry Excellence Awards.Now in its eighth year, theevent takes place inBrighton at the HiltonMetropole, on July 14th.

Anyone in the industrycan nominate a studio forthe awards. Simply send a300 word pitch [email protected].

Prices have also beenreduced to make the eventmore accessible. [email protected] to book tablesand [email protected] to order tickets.

MCV/XBOX 360 QUIZThursday, September 23rdSway Bar, [email protected]

The MCV/Xbox 360 Quizgives retailers, suppliersand the media the chanceto show off their generalknowledge skills in anappropriate arena for ourindustry – the local bar.

There will be thousandsof pounds’ worth of prizesup for grabs to the bestperformers on the night, aswell as loads of top-notchbooze and food.

The quiz is free to enterfor retailers and the media,and serves as a greatnetworking opportunity.

DISC REPAIR

TOTAL DISC REPAIR. . . . . . . . . . 01202 489500 . . . . . . . . . www.totaldiscrepair.co.uk

46-51 MCV588_final 17/5/10 11:08 Page 6

SIX DEGREES OF ACTIVISIONIt’s almost rude not to knowsomeone who once worked there.This week, we start with...

Frank Herman, the sorelymissed, Spurs-supportingindustry legend createdMastertronic in 1983.Some of its earliestgames were written by acouple of scamps called...

David and RichardDarling, who went onto findfame and fortune as foundersof one of ‘Tronic’s mainrivals, Codemasters, where...

Gavin Chesire is now VPof studios. He was oncemanaging director ofBanbury-based sportsgames specialist SiliconDreams, where...

Dene Landucci used to doPR duties and much more,having started his gamingcareer as an on the road repat merchandising outfit USD,jointly managed by...

Roy Campbell, who’s nowre-emerged as the head ofMTV Games’ internationaldivision but was once UKboss of THQ, which hasjust appointed...

2

1

3

4

5

��

��

�

6

�Suzanne Panter assenior PR manager. She’spreviously had spells atHasbro, Koch and...ACTIVISION

Plenty of embarrassing pics, a new Six Degrees and tw

o chances

to win hotly anticipated games. What m

ore could you want?

Managing Editor: Lisa [email protected]

Editor-In-Chief: Michael [email protected]

Deputy Editor: Christopher [email protected]

Staff Writer: James [email protected]

Staff Writer: Dominic [email protected]

Online Editor: Ben [email protected]

Contributors: Will Freeman, Rob Crossley,Stuart Richardson, Colin Campbell

Advertising Manager: Lesley [email protected]

Advertising Executive: Rob [email protected]

Art Director: Stuart Moody [email protected]

Design: Adam Butler [email protected]

Production Manager: Suzanne [email protected]

Business Development: Dave [email protected]

Contributing Editor: Samantha [email protected]

Circulation & Marketing: Hannah [email protected]

EDITORIAL: 01992 535646 � ADVERTISING: 01992 535647 � FAX: 01992 535648

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS United Kingdom £150 l Europe £175 l Rest of the World £250To order your subscription via Visa, Mastercard, Switch or AMEX or to make changes to your subscription details, contact [email protected] or call 01580 883848.

SAXON HOUSE, 6A ST. ANDREW STREET, HERTFORD,HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND SG14 1JA Intent Media specialises in trade-dedicated print and

digital publishing for entertainment and leisure markets.As well as MCV, Intent publishes Develop, PCR, ToyNews,Mobile Entertainment, MI Pro, Audio Pro International

and BikeBiz. It also has two online-only brands:CasualGaming.biz, dedicated to the growing mass marketvideo game sector, and Licensing.biz, for everyone in theglobal licensing industry. It also runs a number of events

including the MCV Industry Excellence Awards, theLondon Games Conference and the Games Media Awards.

www.intentmedia.co.uk

MCV has an exclusive media partnership withFamitsu - Japan’s leading video games analyst

and news source

ISSN: 1469-4832 Copyright 2010

MCV is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and the Periodical Publishers Association. Membership of the ABC and PPA provides our advertising partners with confidence in our circulation statements. For the 12 months ending December 2009, MCV had an average weekly net circulation of8,045. MCV’s circulation is 100 per cent named and zero per cent duplicated.

Please address all enquiries to:

MCV, Intent Media, Saxon House,

6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford SG14 1JA.

Managing Director/Publisher: Stuart [email protected]: 01992 535688

Finance Director: Hilary Cole Finance Manager: Michael Canham [email protected]

Printed By:Pensord, TramRoad,PontllanfraithBlackwood, NP12 2YA

SEND YOUR PICTURES TO [email protected]

NO SPAIN, NO GAMENamco Bandai showed off its 2010line-up in style by inviting assortedjournos from publications includingOXM, CVG, GameSpot, Inside Xboxand more to sunny Barcelona. Guestswere kept busy with drinking, working,more drinking, playing the latest titles,and karaoke – while drinking. NBP’sLee Kirton and Marlene Fitzsimmonswere hand to supply earplugs.

52-54 MCV588_final 18/5/10 13:16 Page 1


Neil Ashurst,GAME & Gamestation

Duncan Cross,Asda

Marc Spence,Best Buy

Don McCabe,CHIPS

Tim Ellis,HMV

Keith Sharpe,play.com

Sarah Jasper,The Hut

Jon Biggs, Morrisons

Azeem Sadiq,Comet

Graham Chambers,Amazon

Danielle Fleming,DSGi

Igor Cipolletta,ShopTo

Anthony Stocker,Argos

Stephen Staley,Gameseek

Joanna Hunt,Tesco

Gurdeep Hunjan,Sainsbury’s

Phil Moore,Grainger Games

MCV takes soundings from its Retail AdvisoryBoard on the biggest issues of the day. Thecurrent members are...

October 20th, 1997

FROM THE ARCHIVE

NEWS:Nintendo’s UKdistributor, THEGames, cuts softwareprices so that N64titles such asGoldeneye and DiddyKong Racing will bereleased at astaggeringly cheap, er,£49.99... Gem founderPeter Bellamy quitsthe company leavingPaul Donnelly in solecharge... Sega says nonew hardware is due,following rumours of a new project, codenamedDural, that utilises PC technology... Emap startsgetting to grips with this pesky ‘internet’ thingby launching a ‘website’ called Game-online...You think that’s creaky? CTW has a sectioncalled MULTIMEDIA.

CHARTS:All Formats Top 5:Lylat Wars (N64).....................................NintendoFormula 1 ‘97 (PL)..................................PsygnosisRed Alert: The Aftermath (PC) ..................VirginFlight Simulator (PC) .............................MicrosoftNuclear Strike (PL) ......................Electronic Arts

FEATURES:A profile of Telstar, the music compilation kingwhich has just appointed Geoff Heath as bossand Gary Bracey as development director andhas Siege and Lone Soldier on the slate... BTpredicts great things for its online multiplayergames service Wireplay. Looking back, file nextto dial-a-disc (and for added points, tryexplaining dial-a-disc to someone under 30)...Dick Francis, the boss of THE Games, is asentertaining as ever in a big Q4 interview.... Athink piece wonders if the games market’sfortunes will always be shackled to hardwarecycles (see next week’s MCV for more or lessthe same feature).

AND FINALLY...Andrew Hewson of 21st Century Entertainmentwrites in to defend himself from accusations ofghoulish profiteering following the announcementthat his company will be selling DianaScreensavers just a few weeks after her death.No one makes any jokes about them beinglikely to crash. Thank goodness.

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

We’re giving away five copies ofNamco Bandai’s upcomingaction title Clash Of The Titans. To be in with a chance of winning,simply answer thefollowing question:

What happens to those who stareinto the eyes of Medusa?a) They get stonedb) They get turned to stonec) She throws a stone at them

Please send your answer,name and address [email protected]

52-54 MCV588_final 18/5/10 13:16 Page 2

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

GRAINGER TURNS TOONNot content with owning half of Newcastle’sgames stores, ambitious indie GraingerGames took over Newcastle United’shome turf at St James’ Park for a charityfootball day. Getting more than a littlecompetitive resulted in £500 for industryorganisation GamesAid – and no doubt asimilar amount was spent in Shearer’s Barafter the games.

WET WET WETNot the band, but Sega’s David Corless –dubbed a ‘computer games marketeer’ bythe BBC, which sounds oddly exciting.Corless was spotted on the final of TotalWipeout and lived up to the game show’sname with some spectacular tumbles intothe drink. If you can track down theepisode on iPlayer or YouTube, we adviseyou do so – if only to admire the headband.

We’ve got fivecopies of Disney’sSplit/Second to giveaway. To be in the running,answer the following question:

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THEENVIRONMENT-BASED ATTACKS PLAYERS CAN TRIGGER DURING A RACE?a) Powerplaysb) Car hazardsc) Opponent obliterating power system (Oops)

Please send your answer, name and address [email protected]

52-54 MCV588_final 18/5/10 13:16 Page 3

© Disney. “2”,“ ” and “PlayStation” are trademarks or

registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All

rights reserved. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the

Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies

and are used under license from Microsoft. Product names

and/or visuals shown are of product currently in development

and may be subject to change.

MCV 21-5-2010 - Inside front & back_Final 13/5/10 12:04 Page 2

MCV 21-5-2010 - Disney Back Cover 13/5/10 12:00 Page 1

mcv588 friday may 28th 2010

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