VGTribune

UK supermarket giants ASDA and Tesco have entered the huge pre-owned games market selling pre-owned titles in some of their UK stores. It’s understood that Asda is currently trialling the scheme in its Leeds store which is believed to have begun on Monday.

ASDA’s competitor, Tesco, has been running a similar scheme since last year. Both supermarkets are selling second hand titles and allow customers to trade them in.

The pair become the latest in a long-line of non-specialist retailers to enter into the second hand market,  following the likes of HMV and Woolworths in the UK. US retailers Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, as well as  online retailer Amazon, have also done the same at some locations within the US.

Pre-owned sales have always been a corner stone for retailers especially in the recession, with gamers seeking to get more value for money out of there purchase.

[Via MCV]

We still have no clue what titles Microsoft will launch with Natal, but Microsoft have yet again commented on speculation and said that it won’t just be throwing titles at Natal.

Speaking in an interview with Destructoid, Xbox product director Aaron Greenberg said:

“We want the first impression to be a great one, so we are not going to dump products on it just because we can,”

“We are going to be very careful in the way we think about our portfolio .We are going to be very thoughtful about what we bring to market.”

This comes after previous comments that Natal won’t just be for casual gamers but also for the main stream fanbase, as well as a leak of a possible launch date earlier this week from British TV personality Jonathan Ross.

Either way Natal is certainly shaping up to be quite an interesting launch creating a lot of hype anywhere it is mentioned lets just hope it’s launch does not follow other hyped up no-shows.

Usually rushed out of development with a focus on a quick way to monetize the system, free-to-play games often lack quality and most importantly, fun. And when free-to-play games finally get a lot of attention from their developers, more often than not, they end up being some sort of Farmville-like game on Facebook. And sometimes, they just flat out lack fun. That’s right, we’re looking at you Evony and many other other free-to-play games.

Free-to-play games have long been ignored, and not unjustly so, but it’s time that gamers take another look at them. And this time, take a look at the right ones. The good ones, like Alliance of Valiant Arms.

Find the Q&A after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

It was only December when the British Government announced to the anger of many it would not be introducing a Tax Break for UK games developers, however today Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he thinks the UK’s games industry is the most important in Europe.

Speaking on a podcast for the Global Investment Conference (GIC) which takes place in London this week he said, that UK developers are “by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe” – and promised that the GIC would lead to “new commitments of investment”.

“We’re leading the way in creative industries: by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe,” said Brown.

“And we’re leading the way in digital communications: In a country with only one per cent of the world’s population, more than a third of all internet traffic is routed through UK servers.

“This coming week is another chance to showcase the UK. This is not just a talking shop though. There will be new commitments of investment off the back of this conference.”

Major UK developers include Rebellion (AVP), Lionhead (Fable), Codemasters (DIRT), Rocksteady (Arkham Asylum), Rockstar (GTA) and many more.

[Via CVG]

A new digital distribution service for games is on it’s way. However, this one has a twist. It’s called Green Man Gaming and the concept allows gamers to ‘Trade-In’ titles that they have bought and downloaded directly from them. The firm will then re-sell that game’s license code to another customer for a ‘pre-owned’ price, with publishers and content owners getting a cut of the profit.

“Previously the minute you had paid your money and downloaded your game it had no re-sale value,” said Green Man Gaming COO Gian Luzio. Pre-owned games are pretty good for gamers and helps them have a little more cash in their pockets to buy the latest releases. It’s also great for developers since they get some small benefit from the current pre-owned market.

Read the rest of this entry »

VG247 is claiming that the new Playstation 3 motion controller will be called ‘Arc’. They are saying that that their source is ‘concrete’, but of course wants to be kept anonymous. The Playstation motion sensor as we all know was previously called ‘Gem’ at one point in development so it seems possible that Sony will have gone with a terrible name like Arc.

Sony is doing its usual thing of saying “no comment” at this moment in time, but I’m sure they will announce a name soon if they are to meet there target release of early 2010. Though it seems likely that they are going to delay the product considering what we have heard at this current stage, which is close to release, is very little. Do you like the name Arc and think that the motion controller will be on time? Please tell us in the comments.

Update: While typing this post I have just received a press release saying that the Playstation motion controller (still unnamed) is going to be released fall 2010 worldwide. Am I surprised? Well no as indicted by my above post. But are you surprised? Let us know in the comments!

Read the rest of this entry »

In an email from a Tell Tale games yesterday we learned of there upcoming plans on International Talk Like a Pirate Day. In honour of the day, which is this Saturday, Sept. 19, they are making the complete first episode of Tales of Monkey Island FREE from 12:01 am GMT, Sept. 19 (that’s 4:01 pm Sept 18 PST) until midnight PST, Sept. 19 at the URL: http://www.playlikeapirate.com

I think this is a great idea and a great way to get a free game. Obviously they’re hoping it will entice you all to play the whole series, in which case we also received news that Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3 has a release date of September 29. Along with this news, Telltale also posted a teaser of what might happen in Chapter 3 from creatives in their fan community: http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland/lairoftheleviathan/wonderwhathappens.

Whether current PSP owners want one or not, they’re all talking about the PSP Go. But what’s on the minds of those who don’t own a PSP?

What games make the PSP worthwhile for me? Does the PSP’s price justify a purchase? Which PSP do I get?

VGTribune helps you answer those questions and more after the break!

Read the rest of this entry »

The sequel to Final Fantasy IV has been released today. This blogger is a little annoyed he doesn’t get to play it but i hope you guys enjoy the game.

The game is coming as 8 chapters. Each chapter will be 300 points and be a few hours long. This first chapter is called “Rydias Tale”.

EA has announced that their new fitness title, EA Sports Active, has already sold 600,000 copies and has only been out 13 days. The game sold just as good in its second week as its first according to Peter Moore. Because of the sales and great feedback, Peter announced that the game will be getting an expansion with some new activities this fall. The only activity pictured was a rowing game, but we know that other activities . Pictures and Video to come later.