Bin War

Square Enix president Yoichi Wada has spoken of his belief that the videogames industry is about to begin a “second stage of growth” as he discusses the company’s recent acquisition of Eidos Interactive.

Speaking in a new joint interview with Eidos CEO Phil Rogers, Wada commented: “Some people say that demand for games has levelled off. In some respects this is true, but in others it is not. I think some people say it’s levelled off because they believe… growth has almost reached its limit.”

Insisting that the establishment of gaming as a mainstream form of entertainment would soon see a second stage of growth, Wada asked: “How will we be able to contribute to this second stage of growth in the game industry? This is expressed in our corporate philosophy statement: To spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences.”

All PC copies of movie tie-in Terminator Salvation have been recalled in the US due to an installation problem.

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game are not affected, said publisher Evolved Games.

“Unfortunately a defect occurred during replication of the PC version of Terminator Salvation, which does not allow end users to install the game,” said the company. “The Xbox 360 and PS3 are not affected and function properly.”

THQ and Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment have announced new title Space Marine, set in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 sci-fi universe.

Relic has considerable experience with the license already, through the Dawn of War series of real-time strategy games. According to a preview by sister site Eurogamer.net the new title is an action role-playing game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but not PC.

The game will see players controlling as single space marine, with Relic staff describing it as “high action” and “RPG lite”. The game is currently in the early stages of development, with THQ confirming only that it will not be released this year.

A greater percentage of Americans play videogames than go out to the movies, according to a new report from chart compiler and research firm The NPD Group.

Extracts from the report “Entertainment Trends in America” suggests that 63 per cent of Americans have played a videogame in the past six month, compared to just 53 per cent for those visiting a cinema. However, both activities are dwarfed by the number who listened to music during the same period - which runs to 94 per cent.

“Videogames account for one-third of the average monthly consumer spending in the US for core entertainment content, including music, video and games,” said analyst Anita Frazier. “While a portion of that share stems from the premium price of console games, we’re also seeing an overall increase in the number of people participating in gaming year-over-year.”

MMO publisher Gazillion Entertainment has hired former Microsoft veteran Stuart Moulder as vice president of studios.

At Microsoft Moulder was responsible for acquiring and managing development studios including Bungie, Ensemble and FASA.

“Stuart is widely recognised as an industry leader with a wealth of experience managing teams who have developed multiple blockbuster titles,” commented Rob Hutter, CEO of Gazillion. “We’re pleased that Stuart has elected to contribute his deep game industry expertise and proven game development leadership.”

Rumours suggest that Microsoft could be about to announced a partnership with BSkyB for video content on the Xbox 360.

The exact nature of any deal is still unclear, but website Rapid TV News claims that the two companies have been seeking to cooperate for almost two years.

The site suggests that a full BSkyB service via a console is still some way off, but that Microsoft is still looking to make some content available in the near future.

CyberSports’ massively multiplayer online game Football Superstars is set to be released at retail in the third quarter of 2009.

Featuring a persistent online world, where users control a single player rather than a whole team, the game has previously only been available as a free online download.

The boxed retail version will be sold for GBP 19.99 and will include new features such as an increased variety of game modes, new training options and the chance to buy licensed items from Puma and Reebok.

UK-based media company Future plc has reported largely flat results for the first half of its financial year, ended March 31.

Revenues fell by 2 per cent to GBP 76.6 million, while UK profits were up 3 per cent. Overall pre-tax profits fell from GBP 4.1 million a year ago to GBP 1.2 million.

The company’s EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortization) were down from GBP 7.0 million to GBP 4.6 million, but largely flat if GBP 2.4 million in one-off costs are discounted.

EA has “missed the current hardware cycle” and is unlikely to return to historical operating income margin levels “anytime soon”, according to a new report by analysts at Cowen Research.

In an occasionally damning critique of EA’s plans and guidance the report states that: “We believe that following serial earnings disappointments, Electronic Arts now deserves a lower valuation premium than the company has historically enjoyed.”

“Since management first laid out its initial full year 2010 guidance and full year 2011 long-term guidance in February 2008, the company has failed to deliver on its earnings targets and has been forced to repeatedly revise down its guidance. Given this historical record, we do not think investors should place too much faith in management’s current guidance.”

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