News (Page 3858)

Activision's Spider-Man 2 has remained in the number one spot in the UK software charts for a second week, with the launch of the film driving a 76 per cent rise in sales on PS2 and making it into the best sales week ever for an Activision title.

Top Cow Productions, publishers of the Tomb Raider comic book, have revealed that the next Tomb Raider videogame is currently planned for release in Summer 2005 in a statement on the future of the comic franchise.

NCSoft Corporation, the Korean company which runs some of the world's most popular massively multiplayer titles including the Lineage series and the recently released City of Heroes, has announced its intention to open a European division.

ION Storm's Warren Spector and BioWare's Ray Muzyka are to deliver keynote addresses at the European Developers' Forum this September in London, headlining a programme which features a range of speakers from around the world.

Metal Gear Solid 3 and Pro Evolution Soccer 4 will both be receiving their public debuts at the Leipzig Game Convention consumer show in Germany next month, ahead of their first UK appearances at Game Stars Live in September.

New information about the progress of the criminal investigation into the theft of source code and resources from developer Valve's network has emerged, including the fact that the "primary" hacker responsible was German.

<b>Interview:</b> The new president and CEO of Square Enix Ltd., John Yamamoto, speaks exclusively about the company's new focus on the European market, the possibility of local development and the concept of "polymorphic content".

Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone has taken a further vital step towards a complete takeover of publisher Midway Games, increasing his personal holding in the company to over 80 per cent in a share acquisition yesterday.

Mobile handset giant Nokia has reported a fall of almost six per cent in its global sales during the second quarter, and dropped its full-year forecasts; while the company plans to showcase its N-Gage range at the Edinburgh Festival next month.

Microsoft has announced that there are now over a million users of the Xbox Live console online gaming service, which makes it into one of the fastest-growing online services of any description in the world.

Electronic Arts has announced that the next console evolution of the hugely popular Sims franchise, The Urbz: Sims in the City, is set to appear on the Nintendo DS around the time of the platform's launch in the USA this November.

Climax' Xbox-exclusive role-playing title Sudeki has gone gold, and will be shipping to retail in the USA on July 20th, with a European version of the Microsoft-published title due in August.

Reports today have suggested that Confounding Factor, the development studio founded by Lara Croft creators Toby Gard and Paul Douglas, will cease operations after it finishes up work on Xbox title Galleon.

Eagerly awaited Xbox-exclusive title Fable will be arriving in the USA on September 14th, followed by a European launch in October - while a bonus "Making Of" DVD is to be handed out as an incentive to drive pre-orders in the US.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has expressed his confidence in the company's ability to defeat Sony in the next generation console battle, pointing out that the Xbox has become a major player despite the fact that it continues to lose money.

The forthcoming PlayStation Portable will be given its most detailed public airing yet at the Austin Game Conference this September, according to event organisers, with Sony planning an in-depth technical discussion of the system.

id Software has announced that its eagerly awaited PC first person shooter DOOM 3 has been completed and approved for release, with game set to arrive at US retail on August 3rd followed by European launches between August 6th and 13th.

Unconfirmed reports from Japanese retail sources suggest that Nintendo is planning to roll out the DS handheld on November 4th priced at 19,000 Yen (140 Euro), followed by a US launch on November 11th at $179.95 (145 Euro).