Whether you want to delight Mom with a great Wii title or challenge the skills of the most dedicated gamer, our exhaustive Holiday Guide will provide gift ideas aplenty. Read Full Story

Microsoft has patented a new invite system for Xbox Live which could be used for “viral” gaming similar to Facebook applications, but exclusively on the Xbox 360. As reported by Siliconera the new patent was registered by director of platform development Gary Hall, previously head of casual developer Carbonated . The concepts are all based around the current party system, with the most basic simply allowing invited friends to invite their own friends, whether they are known to the... Read Full Story

The Rock Band series now has more than 1000 songs available across the various Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions – more than any other music game including Guitar Hero, according to developer Harmonix. The first home music game to feature a dedicated drum peripheral and to feature bundles containing guitar, drum and microphone controllers, Rock Band now features more than 390 bands across the various retail versions and downloadable songs. Release of weekly downloadable content i... Read Full Story

The Cowen Group’s Doug Creutz has released conclusions drawn from the company’s latest research into what motivates consumers to purchase , with review scores apparently having the least impact. With the cost of development on the current generation of platforms higher than ever, coupled with a difficult macro-economic situation, the pressure is on publishers to try and ensure product success – something which has led to some companies using strong tactics, usually involving... Read Full Story

Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver moved up to the top of the software sales chart last week, breaking through the 3 million units chart in the process, according to the latest data from Media Create. Tomodachi Collection jumped up two places to fourth while Wii Fit Plus edged closer to the 1 million mark in third – if it continues to sell at close to its current rate it should break that barrier in the first week of December. Inazuma Eleven 2: Threat of the Invaders took fourth while a cou... Read Full Story

The release of the PlayStation 3 Slim has given the platform a good momentum going into the Holiday season, a move which has been received well by third party publishers, and is in fact in their best interests. That’s according to Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Andrew House, who told Industry.biz that he publishers were happy with the price point, and that console was in a strong position. “Just anecdotally, it’s been enormously positive,” he revealed of... Read Full Story

In part one of this interview, SCEE president and CEO Andrew House talked about the launch of PlayStation’s new Video Delivery Service and the ongoing impact of Blu-ray in the PS3’s value proposition. Here, in part two of this industry-exclusive interview, he looks at the momentum of the PS3 going into the Holiday season, the shift in marketing that’s helped bring that about, and the strategy behind the PSPgo on a continuing basis. <a href="http://www.industry.... Read Full Story

Beautiful Game Studios, the developer responsible for recent Championship Manager titles and owned by Square Enix Europe, is to be restructured, Industry.biz has learned. It is understood that around 80 per cent of posts will either be cut or relocated to China in a cost-cutting exercise, while Roy Meredith will continue to lead the studio, and the ChampMan brand will remain headquartered in London. Square Enix Europe wouldn’t be drawn on precise details, but did admit that changes were... Read Full Story

A new state-of-the-art computer laboratory has opened for students at Kingston University in London. The new facility includes specialist software supplied by Sony and Microsoft, which Kingston’s technology field leader Darrel Greenhill said will give students a huge advantage in their studies. “Having access to the most up-to-date development hardware and software means that Kingston students are working to industry standards even before they’ve left the classroom,”... Read Full Story

While the release of the PSPgo demonstrated Sony’s intention to cater for the consumer that prefers digital downloads over packaged media, the latter is “not going away any time soon”. That’s according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Andrew House, who told Industry.biz that the company has no intention of seeing the latest edition in its handheld line-up cannibalise sales of its UMD-equipped PSP-3000. “I think we were always fairly clear, as far b... Read Full Story