Rob Fahey (Page 128)

A new report from market analysts DFC Intelligence has concluded that revenue from the videogame industry could bypass the music industry within the next five years, based on projected rates of expansion for the market.

With just over 24 hours to go before Microsoft's Xbox press conference at GDC, word has reached us that the company may be planning to unveil the first demonstrations of Xbox 2 software in San Jose tomorrow.

Development services and solutions provider Criterion has unveiled a host of new and updated products, with the company's portfolio being extensively reworked to take account of the requirements of next generation development.

Leading publisher Electronic Arts has announced a number of key new deals, with publishing agreements struck with developers Gas Powered Games and Castaway Entertainment, as well as a new European deal with Koei.

Computing giant IBM seems set to begin a promotional drive for its forthcoming processors, including the Cell chip which is to appear in the PlayStation 3 and the Power5 chips being used for Microsoft's Xbox 2 and Nintendo's N5.

PlayStation Portable is on the agenda for most development tool firms at the Game Developers Conference this week, with new products for the platform being announced by Metrowerks, SN Systems and Criterion.

Electronic Arts' latest James Bond 007 offering was neither shaken nor stirred by the launch of major PC titles Battlefield Vietnam and Unreal Tournament 2004 last week, with Everything or Nothing taking the top spot for a fourth week.

Dutch game development studio Guerrilla has signed a deal with SCEE which will see the company, currently working on PS2 title Killzone, developing games exclusively for SCEE and Sony platforms in future.

A number of staffing changes have been announced at the top of Microsoft's Xbox operations, with Shane Kim taking over Ed Fries' old role on a permanent basis while Peter Moore and Mitch Koch have been promoted.

Independent developer representative body TIGA has welcomed changes introduced in last week's UK budget, which it says will benefit studios by making more development costs eligible for the R&D tax credits system.

Square Enix's first Final Fantasy outing on the GameCube has given Nintendo's diminutive console another major hit in the USA, with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles taking the top spot in February's US software chart.

The rarely-used Digital AV port on the back of the GameCube console is to be removed from future revisions of the hardware in a move designed to save production costs, Nintendo has confirmed today.

Capcom continued its reign at the top of the Japanese charts this week with a number one debut for Monster Hunter, but the real news was the appearance of the first Xbox title of the year in the top ten - Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden.

UK developer Kuju Entertainment has commenced work on Sony's forthcoming PlayStation Portable platform, with a team at the company currently creating technology and tools for the handheld system.

Publishing giant Square Enix has given a further signal of its intent to extend its lucrative Japanese mobile gaming business into other markets, with the acquisition of American wireless developer UIEvolution.

Unreal franchise owner Epic Games has acquired Scion Studios, the new company founded by Americas Army designer Michael Capps, in a move which will double its development capacity.

The latest retail promotion from Nintendo will see purchasers of a new GameCube or Game Boy Advance console during April being handed a £250 book of vouchers redeemable against a variety of Nintendo and third party products.

Media conglomerate Vivendi Universal has announced its full year financial results, revealing that while the group as a whole moved into operating profit, the troubled games division reported a major loss.

Publisher Sega has announced that it is working on the first massively multiplayer title for Nokia's N-Gage mobile gaming platform, a large scale RPG called Pocket Kingdom: Own The World which will be played over N-Gage Arena.