Rob Fahey (Page 97)

One of Britain's longest-established developers appears to have reached the end of the line, with reports indicating that Argonaut's administrators have shut down the firm's Edgware head offices and made the remainder of the staff redundant.

Infogrames CEO Bruno Bonnell has denied rumours that the company is currently the target of a takeover bid, shortly after the Atari parent company announced a new deal with its bankers which will help it through Christmas.

Former Argonaut CEO Jez San has acquired two of the company's studios, with Cambridge-based Just Add Monsters and mobile developer Morpheme both being bought by the veteran developer.

A major decline in sales of the PlayStation 2 console has heavily impacted financial results from Sony's gaming division, although sales targets for the full year have been raised as the market awaits the arrival of a redesigned model.

Scottish independent developer Visual Science has told potential investors at the Connect investment showcase that it plans a trade sale by 2007, with a number of publishers already interested in acquiring the studio.

French publisher Ubisoft has announced financial results for the three months ended September 30th, revealing that revenues beat growth expectations thanks mostly to strong sales of the Tom Clancy franchise.

Efforts to prevent the launch date of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from being broken in the UK have been a resounding success on the High Street - but customers of somee online retailers have received their copies early.

Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed that the PSP version of Gran Turismo 4 is set to ship in Japan next spring - but reports from US retailers reveal concern that the PS2 version could miss Christmas in North America.

Publisher THQ has announced its financial figures for the September quarter, revealing a year on year decline in revenue and a drop into loss, but has given upbeat guidance for the holiday season and beyond.

Japanese publisher Koei has announced one of the world's first PlayStation 3 titles, revealing that it is working on a game tie-in for forthcoming samurai film Oni, which is scheduled for release in 2006.

Publisher Activision has announced record financials for the three months ended September 30th, with revenues up by 164 per cent year on year thanks to the strong performance of Spider-Man 2 and Doom 3.

The first official hardware bundle for the redesigned slimline PS2 console has been announced, with Japanese consumers set to be tempted by a Gran Turismo 4 pack launching in early December.

The GameCube and Game Boy Advance will be supported by a UKP 5 million marketing budget in the run up to Christmas, Nintendo UK has revealed, with the firm hoping to continue the sales uplift which has marked much of 2004.

Electronic Arts' FIFA Football 2005 is back on top of the UK all-formats software chart this week, knocking rival football title Pro Evolution Soccer 4 into second place as both games saw a significant sales decline.

Publisher THQ has announced that its licensing deal with Nickolodeon has been extended through to 2010, ending speculation that valuable properties such as Rugrats and Spongebob Squarepants could end up at Midway.

The Sheffield studio of embattled British development group Argonaut has shut its doors, with the future of the company as a whole uncertain as it seeks a way out of serious financial difficulties.

A new Nokia initiative called Preminet aims to provide an end-to-end solution for mobile content distribution - simplifying the process for developers, operators and consumers alike.