Rob Fahey (Page 58)

US market data firm NPD has published and promptly withdrawn figures for the performance of videogames retail in November, with analysts expecting the final figures to be significantly lower than the original reported fall of 4 per cent.

Leading videogame publisher Electronic Arts has announced that it's set to acquire mobile game company Jamdat in a deal which values the publicly traded firm at around $680 million and gives EA a strong lead in the mobile space.

With Microsoft set to roll out the Xbox 360 in Japan tomorrow - its third territory launch in as many weeks - opinions on the console's prospects in the region remain mixed, but analysts seem largely unimpressed by the system.

The development talent which Sony is building up in its worldwide studios will "change the landscape of computer entertainment," the company has told <i>GamesIndustry.biz</i> following the acquisition of Dutch studio Guerrilla.

Developers speaking to <i>GamesIndustry.biz</i> this week have commented that the the Revolution console, hardware kits for which began shipping to third parties recently, is shaping up to be around 2.5 times more powerful than GameCube.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has pipped the record set by Nintendo's GameCube in May 2003 to become the UK's fastest-selling home console at launch despite serious stock shortages, with Perfect Dark Zero the best-selling title on the new platform.

<b>Xbox 360 Launch:</b> Neil Thompson, Microsoft's senior regional director for Xbox in Northern and Eastern Europe, speaks to <i>GamesIndustry.biz</i> at the midnight launch in London about how the firm is working to meet demand.

<b>Xbox 360 Launch:</b> Lisa Morgan, deputy chief executive of the UK's leading videogames retailer, GAME, talks to <i>GamesIndustry.biz</i> about how important the Xbox 360 launch is for the retail sector.

The next-generation games consoles become a reality in Europe tonight with the arrival of Microsoft's Xbox 360, which will be rolling out across the continent at midnight accompanied by fifteen game titles.

Leading UK videogame retail chain GAME Group has issued a trading statement today warning that demand for software on older platforms is failing to meet expectations, with low supplies of PSP and Xbox 360 unlikely to cover the shortfall.

Sony has released version 2.60 of the PlayStation Portable firmware in Japan and North America, expanding on the functionality of the console with the addition of features including WMA audio playback and RSS feed reading.

A patent granted last month to Nintendo by the US Patent Office may give new insight into the "Virtual Console" system in the Revolution console, which will allow players to access the firm's back catalogue of titles on the new system.

A new twist in the ongoing saga of British publisher Digital Jesters has come in the form of a $5 million investment being made by US firm Myriad Interactive in a new company, The DJ Group, which is taking over Digital Jesters' assets.

New details of next year's European development event, the Develop Conference and Expo, have been announced by organisers Tandem Events - with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe confirmed as platinum sponsor.

Microsoft corporate vice president Peter Moore has given the first firm indications of the company's sales ambitions for the Xbox 360 over the coming year, which see ten million consoles being shipped by the end of 3006.

Nintendo is claiming massive early success for its Wi-Fi Connection online play system for the Nintendo DS handheld, with the company's statistics suggesting that 45 per cent of Mario Kart DS owners have already tried the game online.