A number of Ziff Davis staffers (including a few writers for 1UP, arguably GameSpot's biggest competition) recently crafted an uplifting banner and marched to the GameSpot offices just two blocks away. The demonstration was a response to the recent unexplained firing of GameSpot contributor Jeff Gerstmann. After hearing the rumors that Gerstmann was fired due to pressure from advertisers following his lackluster review of Kane and Lynch, the ZD staff decided to show their support for their fellow gaming journalist.
Patrick Klepek, news editor for 1UP, stressed to us that the rally was not intended to mock Gerstmann or the GameSpot staff. He said he recognizes that "even though 1UP and GameSpot are competition, what's happening over there includes industry-wide ramifications, when the dust finally settles." That is, assuming that the rumors of shady dealings surrounding Gerstmann's termination from the company prove to be true.
While 1UP's status as GameSpot's lead competitor might raise concerns that they're just fueling the anti-CNET fires that have been popping up around GameSpot's forums, it's our opinion that this was a sincere showing of solidarity and good will among video game writers. We certainly hope that GameSpot's staff gets the message.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick also gave the union his blessing. "This is a pivotal event in the continuing transformation of the interactive entertainment industry," he declared. "By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard will be the only publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry and reach the broadest possible audiences."
Back in high school I had this one English teacher who was obsessed with death, or so it seemed. Every story we read in class, she could find something that symbolized it. A broken coffee mug, a handful of balloons, a newborn baby - all symbolized death. I'd like to say that this Boo Mario cake symbolized triumph over death, but I'm afraid she'd find me on the internet and come to my apartment to chastise me. She was scary. This cake was actually submitted to me via GameCakes.com, but I've not had too much time to work on that site lately, and it is due for a good spam-comment cleaning. Still, this cake had to be seen. Excellent job, despite a little sloppy tongue-work - but who hasn't been guilty of that?
Blizzard Entertainment has posted a frequently asked questions document on its web site in which it sends out one clear message: It's business as usual.
Many of the questions relate to whether or not the merger between Vivendi Games and Activision would impact the company or its games, and according to the FAQ even the company's brand will remain the same to consumers.
"We do not anticipate any difference in Blizzard's operations as a result of the combination. Joining forces with Activision will create a stronger and more diversified company that we anticipate will benefit and strengthen both brands."
Additionally the document stated that no management or office changes were on the cards, and its game release schedule would remain unaffected.
It ended by noting that the deal was subject to shareholder approval, and that it would be unlikely to be finalised before mid 2008.
US analysts have raised their price targets on Activision in response to news that the company is merging with Vivendi Games.
Stock of Activision and Vivendi have risen 17.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively in morning trading, although the deal has not yet gained regulatory approval.
Commenting upon the deal which would create the world's largest videogame publisher, analyst Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets noted that the combination was strategically a very good fit, with complimentary product portfolios and business models.
"We expect Activision Blizzard, the new entity, to occupy leadership positions in traditional mass-market video games, as well as the fast-growing and high-margin online gaming segment," he said.
Sebastian noted that Activision could leverage other Vivendi businesses, namely its music publishing, to enhance franchises such as Guitar Hero.
He raised Lazard Capital Markets' price target on Activision from USD 26 to USD 30.
Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter was similarly upbeat about the merger.
"We are generally positive on the combination, as we think it strengthens Activision's product offering and expands its geographic reach, while allowing Vivendi to further monetize its success with World of Warcraft," he said.
Although lowering his company's rating from "strong buy" to "buy," he raised the price target to USD 30 from USD 27.50.
Activision expects the transaction to close in the first half of calendar 2008, and expects the deal to be immediately accretive to its shareholders.
Both Wal-Mart and Amazon have already made their positions on DRM pretty well known, but it looks like each are now taking some further steps to ratchet up the pressure on the remaining hold-out record labels. For its part, Wal-Mart has reportedly told the record labels point blank that they must offer DRM-free MP3 versions of all their music, a matter that Sony BMG is apparently still the biggest hold out on. Amazon, on the other hand, is looking to give its download service (and, in turn, DRM-free downloads) a boost by giving away up to a billion free downloads in a promotion with Pepsi that's its set to launch during the Super Bowl in February. You'll need to guzzle quite a bit a Pepsi if you want to get your quota of those MP3s, however, as you'll apparently need to collect five bottle caps for each download. According to Billboard, Amazon has approached all the major record labels about participating in the promotion, but some are apparently balking at the 40 cents per track Amazon is willing to give 'em, which is a sizable cut from the 65 to 70 cents they currently receive.
The ESA, the organisation dedicated to serving the business and public affairs of the US videogame industry, has hired Rich Taylor as its new senior VP for communications.
Taylor was formerly a senior VP for the Motion Picture Association of America, an organisation which "shares many of the same goals such as promoting intellectial property rights and reducting piracy across the world," according to MPAA CEO Dan Glickman.
"Rich will undoubtedly be a great asset to the Entertainment Software Association," he added.
Taylor was also previously an aide to Congressman Jim Chapman (D-Texas).
"The ESA and the videogame industry are very lucky to have Rich aboard," said ESA CEO Michael D. Gallagher. "Rich's expertise and extensive experience in communications are a perfect match for the investment, innovation, and creativity of the video game industry."
The value of both Activision and Vivendi's stock increased during the first day of trading following the announcement of a merger between the two companies.
On a day when the US stock markets declined, Activision shares were up USD 2.82, or 12.73 per cent, to close at US 24.97.
In Paris, Vivendi's shares rose just slightly, up 1.02 per cent to 31.71 Euro.
Meanwhile, shares of The9 Ltd., the Chinese company which operates Vivend's World of Warcraft in China, declined 9.39 per cent to USD 23.35.
EA owns a 15 per cent stake in The9, and some analysts expressed concerns that the Activision/Vivendi merger could affect future publishing decisions.
The9's World of Warcraft publishing contract expires in 2009. Currently, more 80 per cent of the company's revenue comes from publishing the game according to a Goldman Sachs analyst.
A Panorama programme claiming that Wi-Fi creates three times as much radiation as mobile phone masts was 'misleading', an official BBC complaints ruling has found. The team involved in the research came under fire from the school where the 'investigations' were held for scaremongering, but now the BBC has come out with an official ruling.
'The programme included only one contributor (Professor Repacholi) who disagreed with Sir William, compared with three scientists and a number of other speakers (one of whom was introduced as a former cancer specialist) who seconded his concerns.'
It's perhaps the most eagerly anticipated addition to Orlando's assortment of rides, shows and attractions in more than a decade: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is slated to open at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure in 2009
And with construction walls popping up all over the Lost Continent section of that theme park over the past three weeks ...
... It's been a somewhat maddening time for Potter fans. By that I mean: They can see those fences ...
... And sometimes they can get tantalizingly close to the construction site ...
... And even see mysterious mounds of earth that have been heaped up next to those fences.
But as for being able to see over those carefully-placed construction fences ... Well, you'd have to be Hagrid-sized to pull that off.
Or -- better yet -- clever like JHM webmaster Max Schilling. Who -- two weeks ago -- realized that if an enterprising photographer were to climb board IOA's "Flying Unicorn" attraction...
... As they reached the top of that family coaster's lift hill, they'd then have a fairly unobstructed view of the Hogwarts Castle construction site.
Just so you know: The construction team that Universal has hired are currently in the site prep portion of this project. Meaning that -- now that they've cleared all of the brush in this previously undeveloped part of that theme park -- the workmen are hauling in truckload after truckload of fill. Which is then spread out all over the Hogwarts Castle construction site.
"And why are they doing that?," you ask. Well, once it's been determined that the Universal Orlando Resort has a level working surface which will actually be to support the weight of this several-hundred-ton structure (Which is quite a concern in sinkhole-prone Central Florida), then construction can then begin in earnest on Hogwarts Castle. With first the footings & foundation work getting underway in January, which will then be followed by vertical construction on this enormous show building in the late Winter / early Spring of next year.
According to folks familiar with the various construction phases of this ambitious IOA addition, Universal hopes to have Hogwarts Castle "topped off" by this time next year. Which will be quite a feat. Given that this show building is expected to dwarf the Jurassic Park River Adventure structure with its 85-foot drop that's located to the northeast of this construction site.
Anyway ... JHM will be sending Mr. Schilling back to Islands of Adventure repeatedly in the weeks and months ahead. So that Max can then keep all you "Harry Potter" fans out there abreast of the progress that's been made on this 20-acre redo of that theme park's "Lost Continent" section.
Here's hoping that he doesn't get sick of riding the "Flying Unicorn."
The merger of High Street specialists GAME and Gamestation has been given the all clear by the UK's Competition Commission.
However, the sticking point for the inquiry was the subject of second-hand software sales, with the body revealing that the inquiry Chairman had to use her casting vote to give the merger the go ahead.
"There are fewer alternative retailers engaged in trade-ins and the sale of pre-owned [games]. However, we see that several competitors are expanding rapidly and customers are increasingly making use of alternative retail channels," noted Diane Coyle, chairman of the inquiry.
"We also found that competition for new gaming products effectively sets a cap on prices for pre-owned products, as customers could easily switch to new products sold elsewhere were the merged company to increase pre-owned prices.
"Two members of the Group disagreed with the conclusion in relation to the potential for a substantial lessening of competition with regard to the trade-in and sale of pre-owned gaming software. As this meant a split 2:2 verdict, the Chairman has exercised her casting vote in favour of a provisional clearance," said Coyle.
The amount and variety of retailers taking advantage of the lucrative game business was another reason for the provisional greenlight, with the Commission noting that there isn't a great deal of customer loyalty for retail brands.
"Even though customers view GAME and Gamestation as the next best alternative for each other, if the merged company was to raise prices, for example, we think it is likely that customers could move a significant amount of their business to alternative retailers such as independents, high-street retailers, supermarkets and Internet retailers.
"Customers appear to switch between different types of retailers to look around for the best deals," said Coyle.
The Competition Commission carried out research by speaking to various retailers – from specialist games stores to electrical, online and entertainment retailers.
Although the merger has been provisionally cleared, the final report is expected to be published by late January 2008.
THQ CEO Brian Farrell noted that his company doesn't have the videogame rights to the Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 film scheduled for release in 2010.
Speaking at a UBS Investment Bank conference in New York City, Farrell said that THQ's current licensing deal gives them the rights to develop games based upon four Pixar films.
THQ has developed games based upon Pixar films such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars under an agreement that first began in 2002. The current agreement was signed in 2004, before the merger between Disney and Pixar.
Ratatouille, released this year, was the first film covered under the current agreement; Wall-E, coming to theaters in 2008, will be the second. The deal will also cover two as-yet-unnamed Disney/Pixar films to be released in 2009 and 2011.
Farrell said that THQ never had any rights to Toy Story 3, so it wasn't surprising that Disney has decided to develop the videogames internally. The film itself is currently scheduled for a 2010 release.
Because the current licensing agreement gives the company the rights (and time) to develop videogame sequels, such as the recently released Cars: Maternational, THQ can make games based upon Disney/Pixar properties through 2014. After that, however, their working relationship is uncertain.
Farrell noted, however, that THQ has some visibility in the long-term plans of Disney/Pixar.
"Intellectual properties come and go in this business," he said. "We have to plan as if those aren't going to happen, but certainly we will work aggressively with Disney as we will with everyone else in the IP business to try and get key franchises."
To Farrell, whether or not THQ develops Disney/Pixar properties in the future depends upon how successful Disney is on its own.
"It is really a better question for Disney," he said. "Are they satisfied with what they are doing with their internal group?"
In fiscal 2007, over 80 per cent of THQ's revenue came from licensed properties, although the company is working to increase the percentage of owned IP.
Playing famed titles on the sides of buildings ain't nothing new, but this rendition of Tetris is just too svelte to be ignored. Folks from the Finnish Student Union and Universimo gaming company (among others) were responsible for rigging up an elaborate (and shall we say, quite beautiful) colored graphics platform using the Mikontalo's D-staircase as light pixels.
Reportedly, the installation will also be used for other demos created by pupils at the Tampere University of Technology, but we've all ideas the falling blocks you see above easily stole the show. Be sure and check out a bevy of photos from the unveiling in the links here, and in case that's not enough, you can peep a video of the setup in action just beyond the break.
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publisher's Association has responded to a private member's bill presented by Julian Brazier MP.
The proposed bill would provide for parliamentary scrutiny of senior appointments to the British Board of Film Classification and of the guidelines produced by it. It would also establish a body with powers to hear appeals against the release of videos and DVDs and the classification of works in prescribed circumstances.
"This Bill highlights the importance of the classification of the visual entertainment industry," the ELSPA said in a statement.
"The correct classification of computer games made for adult consumption - covered by the BBFC - is of the utmost importance to the computer games industry.
"For this reason ELSPA has recently taken time to give evidence to the Byron review and explain how children can best be protected both on and off line; now and in the future."
The ELSPA is requesting a meeting with Mr. Brazier to ensure that the bill takes their concerns into account.
The Championship Gaming Series has announced that is has been forced to change its line-up after one of its participants - the Wuhan Dragon team from China - was refused a visa to travel to the US.
According to Andy Reif, CGS commissioner, the organisation lobbied the US embassy in Beijing several times, but to no avail.
"We are profoundly disappointed by the news that visas have been denied to the Wuhan Dragon players," he said.
"Between the competitions leading up to the establishment of the Wuhan Dragon team, the avid fan support and the success of Wuhan at the Pan Asia Final, China has been a very important part of our success in 2007.
"Nonetheless, CGS and its partners left no stone unturned in its efforts to assist these players in obtaining the necessary visas. We’ve been working tirelessly with the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing repeatedly, and all other contacts in our extensive network to rectify this matter.
"The gamers are the real victims here; they are being denied the right to prove themselves at the World Final. We are committed to finding a solution to this situation for the 2008 season."
UK team Birmingham Salvo will face up to Rio Sinistro on match day one - December 6 - while London Mint take on the winners of the competition's group two on December 10.
The winning team will share a USD 500,000 top prize, with other team and individual prizes taken from the remainder of the USD 1 million pot.
Following the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, Electronic Arts has told GamesIndustry.biz that there is always a possibility of further acquisitions by the publishing giant.
EA Partners' Nick Button-Brown, speaking at GDC Lyon, also said that he believes the Activision Blizzard deal was necessary for Vivendi, although he doesn't expect to see any real effects of the merger for at least six months.
"Vivendi needed to make a change, they were just drifting. And Activision have been doing really well, Blizzard have been doing really well so it's definitely an interesting combination," he said.
"It's very interesting, I don't think we're going to know exactly how it's going to go until it settles down for six months," he added.
Asked whether EA is eyeing developers for potential acquisitions, Button-Brown, who is director of business development for EA Partners said: "It's always possible. My primary aim is to find new IP and work with great developers whether we acquire them or not.
"It would have to work for both parties. There are no hostile takeovers, it has to be right," he said. "Look at Bizarre being bought by Activision. Bizarre were independent for so many years but then they felt like they wanted a little bit of shelter and it fitted. If we'd have been working with Bizarre, that would have been an interesting deal."
EA currently works with a number of independent developers that have provided some of the company's most recent success stories – Rock Band from Harmonix, Crytek's PC shooter Crysis and Valve's Half-Life collection The Orange Box.
For EA Partners, the challenge is finding quality independent studios that can provide titles where the publisher doesn't already have major strengths.
"There're so many opportunities out there. Look at Crytek, they make absolute bleeding-edge first-person shooters and they have been doing this for some time. It's not something that we specialise in.
"There's some really good creativity outside of EA. Look at Harmonix, EA couldn't have come up with Rock Band. It's not something that anybody other than Harmonix could have done, they spent years building that expertise. It's about finding expertise that we don't have in-house," he said.
Namco Bandai Games America and Deep Silver have announced the signing of a new co-publishing agreement.
Under terms of the agreement, Koch Media will market three titles in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltic, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
The games in question include Warhammer: Battle March for the Xbox 360 (where Koch Media/Deep Silver acts as the publisher in Europe), Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Battle March for the PC, and The Fast & The Furious for the PSP.
Koch Media had previously published the PC game Warhammer: Mark of Chaos together with Namco Bandai in December 2006.
"The PC version of Warhammer: Mark of Chaos was received with great critical acclaim in the press," said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, managing director of Koch Media.
"We are very pleased to be able to continue the successful cooperation with Namco Bandai Games America as the grim Warhammer world offers the player a unique playing experience on Xbox 360. And with The Fast & The Furious, we have a another strong and well-known license on the PSP."
Finally, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde, and even old Pacster get some religious iconography happening for themselves. A creative group of X-mas-and-Pac-Man-loving cats and kittens in Madrid have created a truly festive monument to the holiday... and the video game. Check the video after the break for the whole, utility-burning display in action -- and commenters, feel free to translate.
US videogames retailer GameStop is to take the place of newspaper publisher Dow Jones & Co in the Standard & Poor 500 financial index.
Dow Jones, which publishes the Wall Street Journal, is a purchase target for News Corp - a date for GameStop's stock move is pending completion of that deal, which is thought to be at an advanced stage.
BE Aerospace Inc, which manufactures aeroplane parts, will step up to replace GameStop in the S&P MidCap 400, the exchange stated.
Hey folks, it's here. For those of you who haven't been following this, I'll tell yah what it is. It's a history of DCEmu's forums from 2004 to the present day.
Please tell me of any inaccuracy, and I'll fix it for my next release.
Jordan Weisman has established Smith & Tinker and secured the rights to Crimson Skies, Shadowrun and MechWarrior. The studio also has the rights to additional properties from the FASA back catalogue.
"We're not quite ready to announce our plans for each property, but please be assured that our goal is to surprise and delight old fans, while welcoming new fans to these fantastic worlds," reads a statment on Smith and Tinker's official website.
FASA Studio, which was one of Microsoft’s first-party studios, developed first-person shooter Shadowrun (pictured), a multiplayer-only title that was the first cross-platform game for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista. The studio was shut down in September 2007. Following its closure, around half of FASA’s employees found employment elsewhere in Microsoft Game Studios.
Registration for THQ's WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 International Tournament begins tomorrow, the company announced today.
Qualifying rounds for the competition begin in January in three regions – North America, the UK and continental Europe. The tournament will continue through February, with the four top players in each region moving on to participate in regional finals in early March.
Two finalists from North America, along with a finalist from the United Kingdom and a finalist from Continental Europe, will then battle head-to-head at the grand finale, scheduled to take place during the 6th Annual THQ Superstar Challenge on March 27 at the House of Blues Orlando.
There, the finalists will play live against one other in front of a capacity crowd and share the spotlight with top WWE Superstars. The grand prize winner will receive two floor tickets to WrestleMania 24, and each finalist will receive two stadium tickets to the event.
The registration site, hosted by GameStop, will be live at the link below tomorrow:
Two Delaware politicians have teamed up with the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to launch a new series of public service announcements encouraging parents to heed videogame ratings.
Delaware Lt. Governor John Carney, State Rep. Helene Keeley and ESRB president Patricia Vance announced the PSAs today. The advertisements will run on billboards, on shopping mall kiosks and in radio spots throughout the holiday season in Delaware.
The billboard and kiosk ads show an image of each politician on a colored background with the quote, "Some video games are for kids. Some aren't." Below the phrase is a list of each ESRB game rating, from EC (Early Childhood) to AO (Adults Only).
"The ESRB ratings are an effective and informative resource that allows parents to decide if the video game their child wants is appropriate, and parents should be sure to check the rating each time they consider a game for their child so they know they're choosing one that's right for their age," added Rep. Keeley. "I'm proud to be participating in the effort to educate parents in our state about the tools at their disposal so they can make informed decisions."
On Tuesday, the National Institute on Media and Family released a report critical of the ESRB's track record and called for a universal U.S. media ratings system. The following day, advertising agency Hill & Knowlton released the results of a survey it conducted as part of a pitch to an industry group - the Entertainment Software Association. The survey indicated that 60 percent of adults believe the government should regulate the sale of mature videogames to minors.
The ESA on Wednesday reiterated its support for the ESRB, called H&K's release of the data "unprofessional and unethical" and questioned the timing of the data dump.
Scientists at Columbia University have used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to show that a brain network responsible for suppressing inappropriate or unwarranted aggressive behaviors became less active after study subjects watched several short clips from popular movies depicting acts of violence. These changes could render people less able to control their own aggressive behavior. Although research has shown some correlation between exposure to media violence and real-life violent behavior, there has been little direct neuroscientific support for this theory until now. 'Depictions of violent acts have become very common in the popular media,' said researcher Christopher Kelly. 'Our findings demonstrate for the first time that watching media depictions of violence does influence processing in parts of the brain that control behaviors like aggression.' The full research paper is published on the The Public Library of Science, a peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication, that publishes all its articles under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
features
Made from Cold Cast
Includes a hand-numbered base with matching box and Certificate of Authenticity
Limited to only 1500 pcs worldwide and 400pcs for Asia
Codemasters has fired off legal threats and cash demands to net users who it accuses of illegally distributing its videogames over P2P networks.
People have been hit with multiple demands for hundreds of pounds in settlement, or face a lengthy legal battle.
The development means a payday for Davenport Lyons. The London-based rights protection law firm was behind similar tactics aimed at net users who it accused of sharing Dream Pinball 3D earlier this year.
Codemasters' lawyers have obtained a court order under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act for ISPs to hand over an unknown number of customer details.
It is known that BT and PlusNet subscribers have been targeted. PlusNet has posted advice to its users in its blog here.
Davenport Lyons employs a Swiss firm called Logistep that offers "anti-piracy solutions" via a modified version of the Shareaza P2P client. It does the digging on the lawyers' behalf and claims the user identifications it sells are "fully accurate".
A worried recipient of several of Codemasters' letters denied any wrongdoing in an email to The Reg. He wrote: "I have received a letter... saying i have downloaded a file called Colin McRae Dirt for the Xbox 360 and they want me to pay £511 to them.
"Having checked my computer to my knowledge I have not downloaded any such file and do not have it on my computer. They sent me 5 letters all about the same game but with different IP addresses and different times. I'm not sure what to do they want a response in 14 days and they want me to sign saying I did it and won't do it again."
The time that Logistep links a customer to an IP address is key; in a dynamic IP address pool, getting it slightly wrong could easily mean identifying the wrong person.
The Codemasters demands also accuse their recipients of committing a criminal offence by file-sharing. No such offence exists for copyright infringement for non-commercial use.
Involving such a high-profile games developer, the case raises a lot of questions about the legal climate on file-sharing. Codemasters has not responded to our calls and emails. Davenport Lyons' receptionist told us that its lawyers don't talk to journalists about this matter.
Activision executives Robert Kotick (pictured) and Brian Kelly stand to make around USD 40 million between them as a result of the deal to merge Activision with Vivendi Games, thanks to their current shareholding in the company.
According to an FT report the pair, who will continue in charge of the new company, stand to gain about USD 10 million each in change-of-control payments, as well as 363,637 shares each restricted until 2010 which have a current value of about USD 10 million.
Additionally Kotick is set to receive a potential 1.25 million shares, linked to performance over the next five years, as well as a further 1.5 million share options.
Kotick, current chairman and CEO of Activision will serve as president and CEO of the new Activision Blizzard, while Kelly will keep his current co-chairman job title.
Both men are thought to have waived additional benefits that would have been due to them as a result of the deal.
Meanwhile Vivendi has confirmed that Blizzard Entertainment will continue to enjoy a level of independence within the new company, and although it will not have the authority to make independent decisions about new products, the CEO will have the power of veto.
World of Warcraft is largely responsible for the current Vivendi subsidiary's USD 1.11 billion gross revenue and USD 517 million operating profit in the past 12 months.
EA Partners' Nick Button-Brown has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes European developers are more creative than US studios, as North American teams are focused on making money rather than taking chances.
As director of business development for EA Partners, Button-Brown sees rich pickings in Europe as the publisher continues to work with independent studios – a new deal with a German developer is expected to be announced very soon.
"There's more creativity in Europe than there is in America," said Button-Brown, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz. "The Americans are much more refined in their processes, it's all about the money. There are less chances taken and there is more money being thrown at developers in the US."
"Taking less chances means there's less failures, but I can't see the US having ever come up with Grand Theft Auto. There are a lot of really good European developers and they all bring slightly different things and there are big cultural differences as well, that they are willing to exploit," he added.
EA is currently working with Germany's Crytek on PC shooter Crysis, and has snapped up RTS specialist Phenomic and Battlefield team Digital Illusions in the past 18 months.
The multiculturalism of Europe is one of the markets strengths, says Button-Brown.
"So many developers are multinational. Go to Crytek and they have 27 national languages there. And that's interesting because they are bringing in so many different areas and ideas to the studio, particularly with the influx of Eastern Europe – you're getting such a wide range of experiences to pick from.
"We like that multiculturalism. What we're getting now are more worldwide titles. We used to have the German industry that produced German titles, the UK would deliver tongue-in-cheek games, but now it's become much more globalised and what we are seeing is European titles that can sell worldwide," he continued.
2007 has been a busy year for consolidation and acquisition in Europe. As well as headline grabbing acquisitions like the Acitivision and Bizarre Creations deal, a number of developers have forged closer relationships with each other to face future challenges.
Gears of War developer Epic Games acquired a majority stake in Polish outfit People Can Fly, and Germany's 10tacle Studios has bought a 29 per cent stake in UK developer Climax, after swooping for Hungarian specialist Stormregion.
But EA Partners isn't put off by the consolidation as it leaves room for new studios to grow. Although Button-Brown admits that EA would rather partner with established teams than start-ups.
"There's still a lot of good European developers out there, they are being bought up with some frequency but that means there's room for new ones to come along as well," he said.
"EA doesn't normally pick up complete start-up developers because it's quite risky, but Crytek is a good example. We signed them up as they finished off Far Cry and they'd done the hard work of setting up the company and we felt they were ready to deliver something big," he added.
London-based PC gamers who like to try before they buy can now do just that thanks to the launch of the first Gamerbase gaming zone - a Dell and Intel powered games centre located in HMV's Piccadilly Circus store.
Covering 2,300 square feet of the shop, Gamerbase features loads of XPS gaming PCs from Dell with Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processors, GeForce 8800 GTX graphics cards running in SLI and new games running on them. There are also some Xbox 360s to play around on.
Membership is free, with players charged between GBP 2.50 and GBP 4 per hour in advance of playing, according to MD Dominic Mulroy. However, any time not used up can then be saved for next time.
"The way people discover and enjoy games is showing signs of broadening out, and we want to be at the forefront of this process so we can continue to cater to all tastes and demands as they develop," says HMV head of games Tim Ellis. "The Gamerbase gaming centre is located right next to the store's Games department, so gamers can buy or pre-order a PC title straight away if they've had a great experience playing it."
Gamerbase is open seven days a week whenever HMV is and looks like that. Mulroy adds that the staff "have all been trained by Dell to ensure that customers receive the best advice and support on their PC purchase", so make sure to ask them difficult questions like "how many guns can you hold in Nintendogs?" and "can I have a SWAT3 CD key?"
For more details on Gamerbase and who set it up, check out the website.
Hight Street retailer GAME has announced that sales for the 45 weeks ended December 8 were up by 89.1 per cent, with like for like sales for the same period up by 44.1 per cent.
The total group sales include those of Gamestation from May 2007, when the company announced it had acquired its nearest specialist rival for GBP 74 million.
The UK and Ireland were the Group's strongest regions, with sales up 92.3 per cent and like for like sales up 46.1 per cent. Sales for the the international business were up by 80 per cent with like for like sales up 38.2 per cent.
"This exceptional sales growth reflects strong consumer demand for all product formats, particularly so for the Nintendo DS Lite and Wii console," commented Peter Lewis, chairman of GAME.
"We are very pleased with our performance for the year to date and we look forward to the key Christmas trading season.
"There is an unprecedented range of products for our customers albeit we anticipate that demand will outstrip supply particularly for the Nintendo Wii format," added Lewis.
Although GAME's share of hardware sales will rise throughout the Christmas period, the retailer expects that substantially lower margins on consoles and from the Gamestation business will reduce overall gross margin for the full year.
The company has increased its portfolio of stores by 333 and will have over 1150 open for the Christmas period.
Lewis said that he expects capital expenditure for the full year to be in the region of GBP 40 million due to accelerated store openings and IT costs for new stores and the company website.
The UK's Competition Commission has preliminarily cleared GAME's acquisition of Gamestation, and as previously detailed the costs incurred for the inquiry are expected to be around GBP 4.5 million.
In addition, a non-recurring charge of GBP 5 million is expected due to integrating the Gamestation business and a further expenditure of around GBP 3 million is earmarked for IT and distribution changes.
Atari Inc. has announced the completion of several restructuring initiatives transitioning the company out of the videogame production business in the US.
The company has entered into an amendment to its senior secured credit facility with BlueBay High Yield Investments (Luxembourg) S.A.R.L. that will increase its borrowing capacity from USD 10 million to USD 14 million, enabling it to meet its holiday season financing needs.
As a condition to the increase in the availability under the credit facility, Atari Inc. terminated its existing distribution agreements with Infogrames and has entered into a new distribution agreement covering the distribution of Infogrames' products in North America.
In consideration for its services, Atari Inc. will retain 30 per cent of the net receipts from the distribution of Infogrames' products. The parties will enter into a similar agreement for the distribution by Infogrames of Atari's products outside of North America.
Additionally, Atari Inc. has licensed back to Infogrames the use of the "Atari" trademark in North America for the purposes of a global online initiative to be lead by Infogrames.
Further, Atari Inc. has terminated its existing corporate management and service contracts with Infogrames. The company will continue to provide certain administrative functions to Infogrames on a transitional basis over approximately the next 7 to 10 months for an annualized fee of approximately USD 2.6 million.
The parties terminated the agreement under which Infogrames provided certain management services to Atari Inc., which is expected to save Atari approximately USD 3.0 million. The company has also agreed to transfer certain employees, with their acceptance, from the production and development businesses of Atari Inc. to Infogrames.
Atari Inc. previously announced a reduction in its workforce as its CEO resigned and the company decided to exit the production business. Atari UK was not affected by the turmoil.
The company also announced that it has resolved a licensing dispute over the Dragon Ball Z franchise.
Atari has announced that it has settled its dispute with FUNimation Productions related to the licensing of the Dragon Ball Z franchise.
As previously reported, FUNimation served Atari with a notice to terminate the license based on alleged breaches of their licensing agreement.
Atari settled the matter for USD 3.5 million, consisting of a cash payment of approximately USD 2.7 million and an USD 0.8 million reduction in the amount of recoupable royalty advance.
"With this dispute behind Atari Inc., we look forward to continuing our relationship with FUNimation and continuing to deliver to our consumers exciting products from the Dragon Ball Z franchise," said Atari's chief restructuring officer Curtis G. Solavig.
Atari has just recently released Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii and PlayStation 2. The company earned USD 85 million on the Dragon Ball Z franchise in fiscal 2005
HMV can see the writing on the wall. Nobody buys CDs now. Nobody. But everyone buys games! Putting the two together, the British retail giant has announced that as CD revenues drop by an estimated 10% per year, they'll be replacing them on the shelves with more games. But they'd best get a move on; Britain's specialist "high street" retailers have been dropping like flies over the past year or two as the market for store-bought CDs and DVDs falls through the floor, and if HMV can't win the punters over with games then they'll soon be following.
K2 Network has announced the addition of Erick Hachenburg, the CEO of Metacafe, to its board of directors.
Hachenburg is a 15-year veteran of the online and gaming industry, having served as Electronic Arts' senior vice president of global online publishing and managing director of EA China prior to joining Metacafe.
"Erick brings a wealth of experience in all aspects of the online world to K2 Network as we strive to differentiate ourselves by delivering what our gamers want through better community service and our Free2Play pricing model," said Joshua Hong, CEO of K2 Network.
"Attracting key board members like Erick couldn't be more timely given his experience and insights gained from founding Pogo.com and building EA's global online publishing business."
Hachenburg joined EA following the company's 2001 acquisition of Pogo.com, the industry leader in the casual games market that Hachenburg founded and built to nearly 1.5 million subscribers.
"This is an exciting time in online entertainment and social media, and companies such as K2 Network face a great opportunity to grow their businesses into global industry leaders," Hachenburg said.
"I'm pleased to serve as an advisor to the executive team during this exciting time in the company's history."
Sega is currently test-marketing a new tool to match facial expressions to vocal performance data, Nikkei reports.
The Magical V Engine works with CG programs to analyse the timings of vowels in performance data, to which it matches movements for the mouth, eyes and eyebrows. The tool also analyses the vocal performance to extract data on the emotional delivery, able to discern happiness, anger, surprise and sadness and mix them together to create advanced expressions.
Sega’s internal testing estimates that the tool automates 70 to 80 per cent of the task of animating facial expressions, and believes the tool can increase efficiency nearly 100-fold.
The software will be available for 207,900 yen (approximately £915), with a special discount cutting the price to 155,400 yen (approx. £684) until March.
The European Commission has approved the French government's request to apply film industry tax breaks to the games industry.
The move will allow for around a 20 per cent rebate on the cost of development for games that fall under qualifying criteria - and it is estimated that around half of all games developed this year would have qualified.
Both Tiga and the EGDF had argued strongly that such a move should go ahead, in order to help lessen the unbalancing effect that support from other countries such as Canada was having.
In a statement, the EU said that only games that meet the "criteria of quality, originality and contribute to cultural diversity," will be eligible, with the scheme authorised for a period of four years.
"Given in particular the small market shares of the manufacturers covered by the measure, the Commission is satisfied that the aid will have a limited effect on competition and on trade between the Member States," said the Commission.
"This effect will be even more limited by the fact that the French authorities have accepted the Commission's request to largely include subcontracting costs within the eligible costs. These costs had initially been excluded, thus creating the risk that beneficiary companies would be encouraged to internalise their costs, to the detriment of European subcontractors," detailed the report.
The EU investigation was prompted by the French government's proposal late last year, and conditions then included a test for originality, quality and promotion of European cultural diversity.
At the time the EU's competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, warned: "We must be sure that the measure will promote only genuine cultural projects and that it will not have the effect of an industrial policy instrument in favour of the videogames sector."
Free Radical Design boss Dave Doak has told GamesIndustry.biz that he's dubious of any benefits that proposed tax credit schemes would have for UK development.
While admitting the European Commission's decision to give 20 per cent of development costs back to French studios is "clearly a good thing," he also echoed Guillaume de Fondaumière's disappointment that "it's less than the Canadian tax break".
But the bigger problem for Doak is that the majority of UK government is ignorant to the content of videogames and their cultural worth, making it difficult to convince politicians to help implement any such scheme.
"Convincing the UK government that a videogame has genuine cultural worth sounds like a tricky proposition given that their default position is that videogames as an artistic medium lie somewhere between child pornography and snuff movies," commented Doak.
TIGA's Fred Hasson today told GamesIndustry.biz that the developer association intends to begin lobbying the UK government this week to see if it will consider applying the same tax breaks that apply to film to the videogame industry.
But Doak was also sceptical of the effect such a move would have in the UK, suggesting that if development costs less, publishers will expect to pay less for the product.
"Here's a rosy prediction, if it happens in the UK, publishers will expect to pay 20 per cent less and employees will expect to be paid 25 per cent more," he said.
Games are at the heart of HMVs revitalisation for the first half of this year as the company reveals that software and hardware represent 15 per cent of sales for the entertainment chain in the UK and Ireland, up from 9 per cent for the same period last year.
In Canada, where games were first introduced into its offering at the end of last year, five per cent of sales for the first half of the year are attributed to success in the gaming market.
Total sales for the entire HMV Group were GBP 790.2 million for the 26 weeks ended October 27, up from GBP 767.2 million for the same period last year.
Profit after tax was GBP 25.9 million, up from a loss of 26.1 million in 2006, boosted by the sale of HMV Japan for GBP 70.6 million.
"Less than a year into our three year strategic plan, we are pleased with progress," commented Simon Fox, chief executive of HMV.
"The Group's first half was driven in particular by like for like sales growth in HMV UK and Ireland, where we are successfully exploiting the high growth games and technology categories and increasing our share of music and DVD."
HMV has this year trialled a number of new store formats, including a dedicated console zone in Edinburgh and a PC gaming concession in London.
Although HMV is pleased with the performance of the first half of the year, the Christmas period will be the most crucial for 2007.
"At this stage, the most important days and weeks of our financial calendar are still ahead of us, and our stores and websites are very well prepared for Christmas," said Fox.
Matthew Murray, who killed four people and wounded several others during a pair of horrific church shootings over the weekend, apparently wasn’t permitted to play video games while growing up.
The Denver Post reports:
On another website, a poster named nghtmrchld26, believed by police to be Murray, said he rebelled against an upbringing that forbade him from buying rock music, video games and popular DVDs.
Meanwhile, the All Spin Zone has published a lengthy collection of Murray’s online postings:
Growing up, TV, Internet/computers, video games, music, Christian contemporary music, movies and books were all extremely restricted.
Despite that, Murray apparently did play some unspecified video games:
Yeah Diamond girl, when I was a teenager my mother would do a pat down to check for music, DVDs and video games whenever I came out of an electronics store like Best Buy or Circuit City. I’d still obtain things anyways, it was like getting drugs from a drug dealer, EVERYTHING had to be done in secret. lol
I remember getting thrown around the room and hit while getting interrogated about whether or not I had video games and DVDs… I remember having to listen to everything in secret, at very low volume levels or with headphones, whether it was video games, TV, DVDs, or music/radio.
GP: It’s always difficult to know whether to even raise this issue in the aftermath of a shooting rampage. However, since the Denver Post gives it a mention, I believe it is appropriate for discussion. And, of course, we know that certain critics will be pushing a video game connection, however tenuous, in any tragedy like this.
In the final analysis, Murray seems like a very depressed, very angry, very disturbed young man who had access to weapons.
Stony Stevenson writes with the news that, despite a ban on US PC hardware, Iranian techs have built an enormously powerful supercomputer from 216 AMD processors. The Linux-cluster machine has a 'theoretical peak performance of 860 gig-flops'.
"The disclosure, made in an undated posting on [the University of] Amirkabir's Web site, brought an immediate response Monday from AMD, which said it has never authorized shipments of products either directly or indirectly to Iran or any other embargoed country."
The city of San Francisco is working on a groundbreaking new solar energy initiative, working on adding a combo of loans and rebates that would make installing solar panels a cheaper and more attractive option for local residents. Under the proposed plan, businesses would be eligible for rebates of up to $10,000 while residents would be eligible for $3,000 to $5,000 discounts off the cost of installing panels.
The goal is to bring the number of solar installations up from 660 to 10,000 citywide over the course of the next ten years. So what would it cost for you to go solar under the initiative?
For a typical homeowner in San Francisco, installing a 3-kilowatt, rooftop solar electric system costs $24,000, according to Barry Cinnamon, president of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. Between a $4,000 city rebate, a similar $7,000 refund available through the state and a federal tax credit of $2,000, they would be able to get the price down to $11,000, Cinnamon said.
If that amount were underwritten through a city-backed loan, the costs would be spread out over time and eventually recouped in under a decade through lower electricity bills, he said.
The plan needs to be approved by both voters and the city Board of Supervisors, but if all goes well it should be up and running by this summer. If it goes well, look for similar plans to be enacted by other large, hippie-filled cities.
Market research firm The NPD Group has released a report called Expanding the Games Market which finds that gamers of all types see videogames as a good way to bond with family and alleviate stress. The report separates gamers into "heavy" and "lighter" categories, which we presume refers to the amount of time they spend gaming and not their respective weights (although the two figures might correspond). While heavy gamers are unsurprisingly more likely to play alone, both types value the power of games to bring families together.
According to the report, 63 percent of the U.S. population plays some sort of videogames. This includes all consoles and handhelds, as well as games on mobile phones, iPods, and edutainment devices for children. The amount of time consumers are spending gaming is basically flat as compared to last year: 30 percent say they are gaming more, 30 percent less, and 40 percent said they spent the same amount of time on games this year as they did last.
Heavy gamers are typically male, 18-34, while lighter gamers are concentrated in the lower and upper age ranges with high female representation.
NPD finds that the rise of casual gaming is attracting new gamers beyond the traditional core crowd.
"The new type of game experiences brought to the market over the past several years are succeeding in reaching a broader audience," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "The challenge for the industry is that consumers are a fickle group, and with the great variety of options pulling at their limited free time, they're going to be easily distracted unless something really compels them to stay with gaming. To reach these less involved consumers, the industry has to work even harder, but doing so can produce great rewards."
NPD surveyed 5,039 members of its online consumer panel between October 11-18, 2007. Data on 2- to 12-year-olds was obtained under the supervision of a female parent or guardian.
Hot on the heels of the original, massively successful Vii, comes the Vii 2, this time from "Kensington." We're pretty hot on the NES-inspired design and ergonomic, soft-touch Vii-mote, but seriously -- a "porwer" button? Time to start bringing the A-game, guys. Check a few more pics after the break, here.
Banks are being accused of pressurising customers who have financial problems to take out expensive loans to try to ease their debts, the BBC has learned.
Some banks are repeatedly telephoning customers to try to get them to take out costly loans, against the advice of debt charities.
Citizens Advice said it had received many complaints about the increasingly aggressive tactics being used.
Banks say interest rate charges are up to them.
The BBC's Breakfast programme has discovered some customers who have an agreed debt repayment plan with a debt advice charity are being put under pressure to take out loans, sometimes at a higher interest rate than they are already paying.
One HSBC customer, Simon Chandler, said that even though he had declined the bank's offer of a "managed loan", they had continually telephoned him to try and make him change his mind.
The interest rate on the managed loan is 13% - double what he is paying at the moment.
Simon Chandler says he is being pressured by his bank
He said: "I have had multiple letters from HSBC saying they want to help people in financial difficulty - when clearly they don't.
"HSBC have agreed that the amount I can repay each month is acceptable. But the only way they will accept that repayment is if I enter in what they call a managed loan."
In a statement HSBC said: "As a responsible lender HSBC only offers a managed loan to customers when all other lending options have been exhausted. Mr Chandler's loan is flexible and affordable.
"Now back in full time employment he can make additional monthly payments when possible and his interest rate can be revised after a period of good repayment - typically just one year."
Citizens Advice (CAB) said it was aware of many cases in which people in debt have offered to make payments where the bank has asked for more than they can afford.
In some cases, customers had asked their bank to deal with a debt advice charity, yet they were still being sent aggressive letters and receiving pushy phone calls.
Aggressive letters
Peter Tutton from CAB said: "We see a lot of cases of people coming in who have tried to talk to their banks about arranged payments and they haven't been listened to, and they have been asked for more than they can afford.
"Typically people find that, even after they have been dealing with us, they have found that they have been continued to be written to. They get aggressive letters and phone calls from their lenders."
The banks' organisation, the British Bankers' Association (BBA), said banks were happy to work with debt advice charities.
However, it said they have to make their own judgement about the interest rate they charge and how much someone can afford.
Eric Leenders from the BBA said: "The work that banks do with intermediaries like money advice trusts are essentially negotiations - they are not necessarily conclusive."
Negotiators trying to agree a road map for a new international climate change deal finally managed to broker a compromise deal today after days of wrangling.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today hailed the agreement as "an historic breakthrough".
Following tense talks, ministers from around 180 countries meeting in Bali agreed the agenda for a global emissions cuts agreement to launch negotiations for a post-2012 agreement to tackle climate change.
Agreement for the road map followed a dramatic U-turn by the US, which had threatened to block the deal at the 11th hour and been booed by other countries.
While it will be two years before a final deal on post-2012 is likely to be struck, countries have been fighting for the kinds of things they want to see on the table for those talks.
Mr Benn said: "This is an historic breakthrough and a huge step forward.
"For the first time ever all the world's nations have agreed to negotiate on a deal to tackle dangerous climate change concluding in 2009."
He said it was the compelling clarity of the science and the strength of the case for urgent action that has made this agreement possible.
But it was political leadership that made it happen, Mr Benn added.
He continued: "Our changing climate has changed our politics, because we knew that we could not let people down.
"We came here saying we wanted a road map that included every country and covered emission reductions from developed countries and fair and equitable contributions from developing countries.
"We leave here with all of this and more - a groundbreaking agreement on deforestation, and others on adaptation and technology.
"And against predictions these negotiations will be guided by ambitious goals for emission reductions.
"What we have achieved here has never been done before.
"Less than a year ago, many would have said this agreement was impossible.
"Now we must make it work, and in the next two years agree the detail of a comprehensive global climate deal that will take us beyond 2012."
The agreement follows days of emotionally-charged wrangling.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, who returned to Bali as the conference stretched into another day, had earlier said he was "disappointed" at the lack of progress.
A highly emotional Mr Ban told delegates: "Now the hour is late. It's time to make a decision.
"You have in your hands the ability to deliver to the people of the world a successful outcome to this conference."
Ministers worked through the night to hammer out the details of an agenda for the agreement which will replace the current Kyoto Protocol.
The EU conceded on one of the main sticking points - the inclusion in the road map of a reference of 25 per cent to 40 per cent emissions cuts by developed countries by 2020, which scientists have said are necessary to avoid dangerous climate change.
The EU had insisted the figures were in the document because they are based on the science of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and an ambitious road map was needed.
But the US demanded - and won - their removal, claiming they could "prejudge" outcomes of negotiations over the past two years.
This morning the Europeans accepted a road map in which the targets were missing, as were references to the need for emissions to peak within 10 to 15 years and for global greenhouse gas output to halve by 2050.
Instead the document said countries recognise that "deep cuts in global emissions" will be required, and calls for a "long-term global goal for emissions reductions".
In turn the US conceded over the issue in the road map of how much developing countries need to do to curb their emissions.
Paula Dobriansky, the head of the US delegation, said: "I think we have come a long way here.
"In this, the United States is very committed to this effort and just wants to really ensure we all act together.
"We will go forward and join consensus."
The sudden reversal by the US in the marathon talks which saw the country duelling with European envoys was met with rousing applause.
The US is the only major industrial nation to reject Kyoto.
President George Bush has complained that it would unduly damage the US economy, and emission caps should have been imposed on China, India and other fast-growing developing countries.
The Bush administration favours a voluntary approach with each country deciding how it can contribute in place of internationally negotiated and legally binding commitments.
Campaigning groups said the deal had been stripped of important targets and hit out at the US's "wrecking policy".
Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF UK, said: "We are not at all pleased.
"We were looking for a road map with a destination."
But he praised the talks having been brought back from the brink of collapse, with the alliance of the G77 developing countries with the EU.
He said positive aspects included the beginning of a framework to ramp up the finance to help poorer countries adapt and potential for "real movement" with technology transfer.
Looking ahead, Mr Allott hoped for a new administration in the US.
"We are seeing a dynamic situation in many of the countries," he said.
"We have had a sea change in Australia."
Greenpeace said that the agreement had been stripped of the emission reduction targets that humanity needs.
"The Bush Administration has unscrupulously taken a monkey wrench to the level of action on climate change that the science demands," said Gerd Leipold, executive director of Greenpeace International.
"They've relegated the science to a footnote."
Greenpeace said it remains confident that mounting public pressure on every continent will force governments over the next two years to agree "inevitable" deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
The group criticised the US's strategy, saying the Bush Administration was "shamed" by the firm resolve of the developing countries China, India, Brazil and South Africa, who came to Bali with concrete proposals.
Nelson Muffuh, a Christian Aid senior climate change policy analyst, said: "For most of the conference, the US delegation in particular proved a major obstacle to progress.
"They appeared to operate a wrecking policy, as though determined to derail the whole process.
"We welcome their last minute agreement to support the consensus in accepting the Bali road map, having said less than an hour earlier that it was unacceptable, and we sincerely hope they are serious in their stated desire to negotiate.
"But the way ahead will be hard. The Bush administration has said throughout that it wants to see developing countries agree to cuts in carbon emissions.
"A number of emerging economies put creative, flexible plans on the table, but will have little incentive to negotiate further until the industrialised world agrees deeper cuts.
"Climate change is already having a devastating impact on the lives of some of the world's poorest communities through drought and flooding."
He said the lack of clear targets in the road map leaves them exposed to further catastrophe.
"We were expecting a road map, and we've got one," said Mr Muffuh. "But it lacks signposts and there is no agreed destination."
A spokesman for the Carbon Markets Association (CMA) welcomed the breakthrough "of a road map to engaging all nations, including the US, in meaningful negotiations toward long-term commitments by 2009.
"The process to 2009 should at a minimum deliver an extension of the first phase binding commitments beyond 2012 as well the engagement of a broader group of nations with binding commitments."
Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper was another who was disappointed with the outcome of the talks. He said industrialised nations had let developing countries down.
He said: "Many of the developing countries brought good proposals to Bali - they know we need a climate deal - but the industrialised nations have let them down.
"We urgently need to find a way forward for an international agreement.
"This is a journey we have to make together."
The group's international climate co-ordinator Stephanie Long said: "Around the world millions of people are already suffering the effects of climate change.
"People outside the talks have sent a strong message demanding climate justice.
"This message must no longer fall on deaf ears.
"We only have two years to build on this weak outcome and develop a just deal which ensures tough action from industrialised countries and assistance for people in the developing world."
Nasa is very likely to support plans to send a British probe to the Moon, BBC News has learned.
The proposal to send a unmanned mission called Moonlite into orbit around the Moon has the backing of those planning Nasa's own return to the Moon.
The US space agency's administrator, Dr Michael Griffin, has said that he is keen to use UK expertise to carry out scientific studies.
In future, Britain might set up observatories on the lunar surface.
'Right boxes'
A Nasa study to be published in January has described the plan as "inspirational" and concludes that it fills just the right gap in the US agency's exploration programme.
'Penetrator' test
As a result of such a glowing report, it is understood that Nasa will ask the UK space community to carry out a detailed feasibility study by the end of the summer.
"At the moment it is extremely likely that it will happen," the project's lead researcher, Alan Smith of the Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory, told BBC News.
"We've got to get our ducks in order, but I think the plan ticks all the right boxes and its extremely likely that we will have the first British mission to the moon launched in 2012," Professor Smith said.
If all goes as expected, Nasa will officially back the project and become involved next summer.
It is thought that the Indian Space Agency will also be a partner, but Professor Smith says the project will be UK-led.
"The UK needs this sort of thing," he explained.
"It will inspire future researchers in these areas; it will inspire young people to get into physics and engineering. It will give UK industry a great lift."
The idea is to send a probe to orbit the Moon, and the spacecraft would then fire four suitcase-sized darts called "penetrators".
These would quite literally enable scientists to scratch below the lunar surface. These would hit the Moon at extremely high speeds, about 300m/s (1080km/h) and penetrate to a depth of two metres.
US/UK Moon mission
Once embedded in the surface, instruments in the penetrators would listen out for "Moonquakes".
Analysis of these tremors would shed more light on the chemical and physical structure of the Moon's rocky interior.
'Own astronauts'
The Moonlite concept has been developed by Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory (MSSL) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).
Nasa administrator Dr Mike Griffin said he was delighted that the UK was pushing forward with the mission.
"The UK may be geographically small but remains one of the world's largest economies," he told BBC News.
"I think for the UK to decided to step forward into space exploration, which is one of the new human frontiers, is all to the good."
Dr Griffin added that he also wanted the UK to have its own astronauts in future.
"I think enormous benefit would accrue to the UK in joining what I often refer to as the world's human space flight programme," he suggested.
"The space station programme is approaching a point where it will behind us; it will be deployed, it will be operational. The UK chose not to join that programme."
But, Dr Griffin added: "The time is now to decide if the UK wants to join the next phase of human space flight, which will involve a return to the Moon sometime in the next decade.
"I would very much like to bring our oldest and closest ally into that partnership."
Catherine Tate has suggested that the next series of Doctor Who could be the last for actor David Tennant.
The comedian, speaking on Radio 2's Jonathan Ross programme, said: "I think it's maybe David's last series."
The BBC refused to comment on Mr Tennant's future as the show's star.
