EVERY BUYER EVERY BRANCH EVERY WEEK Issue 669 Friday January 6th 2012 £3.25
Biggest E3 ever will reveal new consoles
Microsoft AND Sony will outline next hardware plans to counter Wii U price and date reveal by Christopher Dring by Michael French
BOTH THE 360 successor AND a follow up to the PS3 will be shown at E3 2012. The LA show tease will come as Wii U launch details are locked in – and should ensure no ground is lost between competing consoles. It will mark the very first time in the show’s 17-year history that three fresh, rival console formats will be so directly comparable. Microsoft has long been rumoured to detail its next- gen plans at E3 2012, and recently signalled to partners this will happen, MCVhas been told. The 360 is one of the longest-serving games consoles in history. But the real surprise is an early move from Sony. Execs at the PlayStation firm have made it clear to third- parties that they will not be left behind this time. Execs aren’t expecting price or launch details for the new Xbox or PlayStation. But their unveiling could be a perfect spoiler to the pre- Christmas launch date and price that will be revealed for Wii U in June.
IN THIS ISSUE
04 VITA HYPE GROWS Sony says the new handheld will be supported by its biggest ever marketing plan
08 HOW DO WE RESCUE THE HIGH STREET? Retailers discuss ways to bring new life to town centres
17 50 THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2012 MCVpicks the games, hardware and events that define this year
26 FITNESS GAMING A look at the ongoing success of exercise games. Is the genre reaching its limit?
29 RECOMMENDED Previews of the biggest upcoming titles, including Resident Evil: Revelations
In recent years the emphasis at E3 has been on software, but expect the June event to be focused on new hardware
END OF year trading figures show a gaping £100m hole in the UK games retail market for 2011.
According to GfK Chart- E3 2012: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE INDUSTRY LEADERS
Sony’s trademark cutting- edge technology and even deeper use of online services and its multimedia content credo are a cert for the next PlayStation.
Although not expected for release until 2013 at the earliest, a new Xbox should feature closer integration with Kinect, and more voice and gesture UI.
Unveiled at E3 2011, the Wii successor features a wireless tablet controller and HD games. E3 2012 will detail the device’s pre- Christmas launch and price.
Track data, UK games retailers sold 55.4m games during 2011, almost 12 per cent down year-on-year. In terms of revenue, UK retailers made £1.42bn from software, down 7.1 per cent on 2010’s £1.53bn. But experts say this metric is increasingly meaningless without data from the download, browser and mobile sectors. Geoff Heath is part of the UKIE group building the first UK digital chart. He said: “I look at my MCVonce a week and I see the size of the market in there, and I can’t resist a wry smile, because what’s in that number is not that big of a percentage of the market anymore. We have got to identify that there is a massive market out there that nobody is quantifying.” 2011’s top five games sold over 1m or more in the UK: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 12, Battlefield 3, Skyrimand Zumba Fitness.