Tag Archives: uk

After a fairly lengthy delay, Batman: Arkham City’s Game of the Year edition is finally out today in the UK. Rocksteady has even gone and released a trailer for the occasion, so check it out and learn how the Caped Crusader’s story was created below.

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MCV reports that games retail sunk to an all-time low last week, according to figures released by UKIE and Chart Track.

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The guitar game that actually teaches you to play a real guitar hopes to bring anarchy to the UK this september. More »

A Jungle Green DualShock 3 controller will be bundled with Killzone 3, an Amazon France listing’s revealed.

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Red Dead Redemption’s topped the UK chart, making it the second all-format win for Take-Two this year after BioShock 2.

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The results of the latest TIGA survey are in, and it appears that the majority of UK game developers have this whole piracy thing under control.

While 90 percent think piracy is an “increasing problem,” 60 percent see unlawful plundering and pilfering as only a “low threat” to the viability of their companies. A mere 10 percent, meanwhile, think piracy is public enemy number one, assigning it a “significant threat” rating. Overall, though, it looks like developers aren’t abandoning ship just yet.

“The results of the TIGA piracy survey clearly demonstrate that UK developers are taking the initiative when dealing with the issue of piracy and looking for new ways of delivering content and communicating directly with their consumers,” said Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA.

Thanks, GI.biz.

Of all the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King launch events in the UK, we’re pretty sure we picked the right one.

According to a report by Eurogamer, the midnight launch at HMV’s Oxford Street location was the most jam-packed ever seen – smashing the UK’s previous record of 1,500, held coincidentally by WoW: The Burning Crusade’s launch event last year.

At this point, HMV reps estimate that roughly 2,000-2,500 people attended last night’s blowout, though official numbers haven’t been tallied. Even so, however, HMV has a good feeling about this one.

More through the link.

By Nathan Grayson

The price of Apple’s 8GB iPhone has been slashed by £100 in the UK in what seems like preparation for the new version 2, 3G-enabled models rumoured to be on their way to Europe.

UK mobile suppliers Carphone Warehouse and 02 announced that the price for the 8GB model would now be £169, with the 16GB version remaining at £329.

“More and more this is starting to look like they want to clear stock of an older model, with a looming revision to the iPhone which will likely include 3G,” CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood told Reuters.

“But also we think the iPhone has slowed down during the first quarter and we think [a 3G launch] should give sales a bit of a lift.”

If you have bought an 8GB iPhone within the last 30 days, Carphone Warehouse will be offering a £100 voucher in compensation.

“The offer is available from [Wednesday] on all O2 iPhone tariffs and will create additional momentum for what has been O2′s fastest-selling device,” an 02 spokeswoman said.

By Mike Bowden

Despite the fact there’s a GAME on every British street corner, US retailer Play N Trade “likes competition” and is planning on moving to the UK wholesale.

“GAME has a very strong presence in the UK and beyond, but I like competition,” Play N Trade CEO Roger Lloyd said here. “GAME will have to adapt to Play N Trade and we will push them to new heights. Ultimately, the consumer will win out. There’s no reason why, if we go in with a strong business plan and get the right people, right relationships and right distribution model, we can’t come in and have the same growth as we have seen in the US.”

Play N Trade is the fastest growing US high street retailer, the company claims, with over 100 stores. The first UK Play N Trade is planned to open in the second quarter of 2009.

And the winner is… FIFA 08, according to an extensive look at UK sales in the past year from MCV. The top 10′s below, in case you can’t be bothered to wade through the full top 50, an analysis feature or a breakdown by format. There are no sales figures, unfortunately, as Chart-Track only allows deities to read them.

1. FIFA 08 (Electronic Arts)
2. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (Nintendo)
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami)
5. More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima (Nintendo)
6. Halo 3 (Microsoft)
7. The Simpsons Game (Electronic Arts)
8. Wii Play (Nintendo)
9. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
10. WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 (THQ)

The European Commission’s launching an investigation into why various items cost more in the UK for no apparent reason, according to this. PlayStation 3′s pricing is one of the first things mentioned in the article.

“Sony’s British launch price for the 60GB version of the PlayStation 3 console last year was £425, some 27 per cent more than in the U.S. and 68 per cent more than Japan,” said Sean Poulter, writing in the Mail. “The price was also higher than the £399 charged in France and Germany and the £397 in Australia. The prices across all these nations have since come down.”

“Where there is no obvious explanation for why the price of a standard item, say, a camera, is vastly different across borders, we will want to know why,” said a Commission spokesperson. “We are screening the markets, taking into account levels of complaints about prices, pricing patterns across Europe and customer satisfaction. We are looking for the kind of retail patterns which raise questions.”

“No obvious explanation”. Just remember that the next time anyone gaming-related trots out the old favourite of “tax” as the reason British consumers have to pay more for games items than anyone else in the world.