News (Page 3862)

Graphics giant ATI has reported record profits in its third quarter results, with net profit more than trebling to reach $48.6 million thanks to increased sales across its wide range of graphics products, including consoles and PC graphics cards.

Nominations are being sought for the first BAFTA Interactive New Talent award, a special award which is designed to recognise rising stars of the UK games industry and will be presented at the EIGF 04 event this August.

Network middleware providers demonWare have announced the launch of BitDemon 1.0, a software platform designed to make the process of adding networked multiplayer to PC, PS2 and Xbox titles easier.

Mobile game developer Digital Chocolate, which was founded by industry veteran Trip Hawkins, has announced that it has acquired Finnish mobile developer and publisher Sumea in a move designed to broaden its international reach.

A new job posting on Sony Computer Entertainment's Synthesis careers site indicates that the company has started recruiting a team to build a common network platform for its PlayStation home consoles and the PSP handheld.

UK catalogue retailer Index has slashed the price of the GameCube by 50 per cent as part of a sale promotion, and is selling the console for £39.99 in high street stores - but it will not be dropping the console from its range, according to Ninten

Publisher Acclaim has been granted a 45-day extension to its existing credit agreement with GMAC Commercial Finance LLC, which will see the company being given until August 4th to finalise negotiations with a new lender.

In a break from its usual refusal to comment on rumours, Microsoft has branded reports carried by this site relating to the company's plans for Xbox 2 as "pulp fiction" - but has failed to deny the stories, or to back up its allegations.

A document purporting to be the currently planned specification for Microsoft's next-generation console has been leaked onto the Internet, and information in it tallies with what the company has told development partners, <I>gi.biz</I> has learned.

Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai has told an American senate body that cheaper and more widespread broadband will be essential if the next-generation consoles are to reach their full potential.

Noritaka Funamizu, best known for working as producer on the seminal Street Fighter II, has left his role as boss of Capcom's Research and Development Division 1 unit to found a new independent development studio.

Britsoft developer Climax has spoken out about the cancellation of massively multiplayer title Warhammer Online, which was announced earlier this week by rights-holder and project partner Games Workshop.

Following the news that Blizzard's StarCraft: Ghost has been pushed back to 2005 in order to give the developer more time to polish the title, it has now emerged that Nihilistic Software is no longer working on the high-profile title.

An annual report into the games industry published by Wedbrush Morgan Securities has suggested that added media functions in PlayStation 3 could push its launch price up to $500, alienating many consumers in the process.

Rockstar's Red Dead Revolver on PS2 was the best selling game in the USA last month, with the old west action title leading the chart ahead of EA's Fight Night 2004 and Midway's NBA Ballers.

Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow has taken the top spot in the UK sales charts this week, moving up one place to unseat EA's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban thanks to strong sales of its recently released PS2 version.

Media empire Viacom is investigating the possibility of making money through advertising and product placement in videogames, according to a presentation given by CFO Richard Bressler at the Global Digital Summit.

Vivendi Universal Games has announced that 350 staff have been laid off as part of the firm's restructuring efforts, representing some 40 per cent of its US workforce - with the toughest cuts coming at the Sierra operation.

British tabletop gaming firm Games Workshop has cancelled work on Warhammer Online, the massively multiplayer game which was being developed by Climax based on its best-known role-playing property.

Sources close to Microsoft's senior Xbox executives have confirmed that the company does not intend to make its next-generation console, which is set to be launched by late 2005, backwards compatible with existing Xbox software.

French publisher Infogrames has announced details of a new financing deal which will see the firm receiving $28.2 million in return for 10.6 million shares in subsidiary Atari Inc, which will effectively serve as collateral for the funds.

Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will not feature any online play when it launches on PlayStation 2 later this year, according to Rockstar creative director Dan Houser, who claims that it would be "impossible" to implement GTA online.