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UK's top-selling retail games of 2014 led by FIFA
As was expected, FIFA 15, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Grand Theft Auto 5 dominated the UK sales chart in 2014. MCV has the list of the top 100 titles by sales, supplied by Chart-Track and UKIE. A huge caveat to note is the data only covers physical retail box copies, with no digital distribution data. Ubisoft was the publisher with the most games on the chart, followed by EA, at 12 and nine, respectively. Watch Dogs and Destiny made the top ten, with original intellectual properties making up nine percent of the list. Head over to MCV for all 100.
Xbox One price cut in UK
The Xbox One is now £329.99 in the UK, a 20 squid drop from the console's previously suggested price of £349.99. Oh, I'm sorry, quid? And here I thought it was a calamari based economy. Videogamer notes this is the third price cut in the region within 10 months for the console, which originally launched at £429.99. The latest model does not include Kinect nor bundled games. We've reached out to Microsoft about a price drop in the States. The console's price has held steady in the region at $499 for a unit with Kinect and $399 for the currently available Kinect-less version.
Aardman's Full Steam Ahead edu-app shows great promise, early flaws
You know Aardman Animations, don't you? Cheese? Gromit? Were-Rabbits? They've teamed with the Science Museum and Brunel's ss Great Britain to create Full Steam Ahead, a free educational app that teaches children about ship design. In each stage of the app, you're presented with a basic design. It's up to you to iteratively improve that design -- whether for load bearing or stability, and so forth -- to learn about a basic underlying engineering concept. It's a brilliant idea and beautifully presented, but it's one that's showing quite a lot of early instability. In my testing, it repeatedly crashed on a clean, rebooted iPad. I was able to re-launch and pick up my exploration, but the sheer number of crashes really got on my nerves. Being a developer, I connected my iPad to Xcode to see why this was happening. It turned out that the app was constantly being warned of excessive memory use and being terminated by the system watchdog. In addition to these crashes, the app would move really slowly at times and get caught up in lengthly transitions as the app "built" the ship to test. Apart from these complaints, I very much liked this game. It provides exactly the educational experience of learning by doing, offering just enough in the way of tips (for example, pointing out that the student's focus should be on modifying the shape of the hull) to keep a student engaged. While the vocabulary, overly fussy fonts and small text size might prove challenging to elementary school students (not to mention their myopic parents), I think Full Steam Ahead is a great match to any middle schooler, especially those with an inclination towards pursuing design and engineering.
UK carriers ready for iPhone 5c and 5s, but mum on details
In the wake of Apple's iPhone 5s and 5c debut, several wireless carriers in the UK have announced that they'll be selling the California-born duo on September 20th. EE's Orange and T-Mobile, along with O2, Vodafone and Three are all on board to carry both phones from day one. None of the carriers currently have plan data available, though as Engadget reports, O2 and EE have confirmed that both the EE Swap and O2 Refresh upgrade programs can be used with the new handsets. If you're looking to snag one of the new Apple smartphones without a contract, the iPhone 5c will be priced at £469 (16GB) and £549 (32GB), with the more expensive 5s marked at £549 (16GB), £629 (32GB) and £709 (64GB).
Xbox Live Gold free to all in the UK March 8-10
Regular Xbox Live members in the UK can enjoy a free bump up to Gold status courtesy of BioShock Infinite. The free weekend kicks off on Friday, March 8, starting 12:00 GMT and lasting until 23:59 GMT on Sunday, March 10.A variety of multiplayer events will go down throughout the weekend, starting with "Rockstar Friday" when developers from the New York outfit will be online and competing in games of GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption and Midnight Club LA. Other multiplayer events for games such as Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Tomb Raider, FIFA Ultimate Team, Forza Horizon, Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 will also take place.A Microsoft representative has confirmed with Joystiq that this is for the UK only.
HMV facing 66 store closures, 930 layoffs
HMV, a multimedia chain and one of the UK's top high street game retailers, is closing 66 of its 220 stores, with 930 employees losing their jobs as a result. Deloitte, the company's administrators, said the closures should occur within the next one to two months."This step has been taken in order to enhance the prospects of securing the business' future as a going concern," said Joint Administrator Nick Edwards. "We continue to receive strong support from staff and are extremely grateful to them for their commitment during an understandably difficult period. All other key stakeholders remain very supportive and I continue to be hopeful of securing a future for the restructured business."HMV also posted a statement on its Facebook page this morning, echoing Deloitte by saying the closures give the retailer the best chance possible of a viable future on the high street: "As you may be aware, a number of our stores in the UK have been earmarked for closure. This decision has not been taken lightly and, though very sad and regrettable, it is necessary to give HMV the best possible chance of emerging from administration and having a future on the high street. We'd like to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of affected colleagues, who continue to work with great passion and dedication, and this decision in no way reflects on their considerable efforts on behalf of HMV. We also sincerely thank our customers in these locations for their valued support over many years, who we hope will continue to shop at HMV." HMV entered administration in January after failing to secure $483 million for debt financing. Hilco, a British restructuring company, subsequently took on the debt and is expected to take over the company. HMV's struggles have headlined a tough 2013 so far for British games retail, with Play.com closing its retail operations and Blockbuster UK also entering administration.
Black Ops 2 retakes top spot as Devil May Cry tumbles in UK charts
This week's UK charts feature a very familiar face at the summt. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the country's best-selling game of last year, is back on top for the first time in 2013 thanks to a 20 percent bump in sales from the previous week. It ain't done yet, nosiree.Despite it being a relatively quiet January - Ni No Kuni doesn't arrive in Europe until February 1 - DmC: Devil May Cry wasn't able to retain top spot this week. Ninja Theory's reboot fell from grace to No. 4 after a 64 percent drop in sales. Meanwhile, Assassin's Creed 3 went on a climb up to No. 5, ascending on the back of promotional discounts.Otherwise it's the same ten games doing the limbo, lazily relaxing backs and limply looking over shoulders as they wait for the big hitters of February and March to take to the dance floor. You can boogie on past the break for the UK top ten.
Nominet proposes more secure .UK domain for British websites
Nominet is considering a .uk internet domain for users who can't bear to type the extra three characters necessary for .co.uk. The body is lobbying for the new domain in time for ICANN's next TLD expansion, which includes new entries like .shop, .play and .home. Nominet has promised tough entry requirements for the system, with only businesses (or persons) that can prove a UK presence being eligible to register. It'll also be around four times more expensive, with the extra charges going to pay for daily malware scanning to prevent domain spoofing and a donation to a trust to improve web security. If you're an interested party, you can offer your tuppence-worth at the organization's official public consultation which runs until January 7th 2013.
Guild Wars 2 dominates European sales
Guild Wars 2 is on a goodwill tour through Europe, and it appears that the crowds love ArenaNet's latest release. The fantasy title has topped the charts in not one, not two, but 10 countries in the region. NCsoft reports that Guild Wars 2 is at the number one sales spot for UK, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. And as the saying goes, when you win over Finland, you've won over the world. ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien is bowled over by the accomplishment: "Our games have always been well-received in Europe, but this level of enthusiasm is both awesome and humbling. It also impresses upon us the responsibility we have to our players and explains why we've taken steps recently to constrain sales of Guild Wars 2 to ensure the highest quality of service. Of course, we hope to remedy this in the near future." Even with ArenaNet temporarily halting sales from its website, Guild Wars 2 is selling strong elsewhere. Amazon currently has it at both the #1 and #2 position on its top video game sales chart.
Radio astronomy pioneer Sir Bernard Lovell dies at 98
Astronomy just lost one of its vanguards, as Sir Bernard Lovell has died at 98. The UK-born scientist was best known as a cornerstone of radio telescope development. While he wasn't the first to leap into the field, he established the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory to study cosmic rays in 1945 and organized the construction of what would ultimately be called the Lovell Telescope -- a radio telescope so large and useful that it's still the third-largest steerable example in the world, 55 years after it was first put into action. His work helped track some of the earliest spacecraft and was instrumental in confirming the first discovered pulsars and quasars. On top of his most conspicuous achievements, Sir Lovell played an important role in developing airborne radar during World War II and was lauded for having scientific curiosity long after he hung up his Jodrell director's hat in 1980. Science will be poorer without him. [Image credit: NASA; thanks, Darren]
ZTE Grand X reaches UK shops a tad early through Phones4U
Virgin Mobile had originally promised the UK version of the ZTE Grand X for early August. The carrier just can't contain its enthusiasm: it's letting retail partner Phones4U sell the budget smartphone as of today. While you're busy skipping the start of the Olympics, the store will give you a Grand X for free if you're willing to spend at least £20.50 ($32) per month on a tariff instead of opting for the £190 ($299) pay-as-you-go hardware price. As we saw in China, the appeal of the Grand X is in those numbers -- it's more the temptation of stock Android 4.0 in a low-priced (if capable) suit than the hardware. Phones4U does hope to sweeten the pot through a contest. We hope you like the musical styles of Professor Green, as the British retailer is giving early Grand X adopters a chance to win both a custom Professor Green case as well as tickets to a private concert.
ARM forms UK group to foster an Internet of Things, put 50 billion devices online by 2020
ARM isn't content with dominating the mobile space. It's been by the far the most vocal about an Internet of Things where everything is connected -- and to make that happen, it just established an industry forum in the UK that it hopes will establish common ground for all those internet-linked light bulbs, refrigerators and thermostats. Home energy firm Alertme, cloud-aware sensing outfit AquaMW, lighting maker EnLight and white space wireless guru Neul will start meeting with ARM from August 24th onwards to hash out our automated, eco-friendly future. There's a certain urgency in this for the chip designer: it expects 50 billion devices on the grid by 2020. With IDC estimating a billion new connected devices just in 2011, the clock on that connected device transition is ticking very loudly.
Apple wins stay on having to post 'Samsung did not copy' notice
Apple's pride can stay intact for at least a little while longer: the company successfully won a stay on a UK ruling that would have it post notices clearing Samsung's name in the wake of the two tech giants' patent dispute in the country. Apple now won't have to face any kind of public flogging unless it loses an appeal on the non-infringement verdict, which is due to be heard in October. Not surprisingly, the iPad creator doesn't want its own site to become a billboard promoting someone else's work. The decision makes Samsung's victory that much more bittersweet -- along with losing that instant satisfaction from a humbled Apple, it still has to accept a verdict that claims the Galaxy Tab supposedly isn't cool enough to have been an imitation.
Google Maps to soon include waterway travel in England and Wales
Here in America, avid motorists tend to tick that 'Avoid Ferries' option whenever possible. In England and Wales, however, travel including waterways is looked quite fondly upon. To that end, Google has reportedly started the process of mapping towpaths in the two nations, as it attempts to map bridges, locks and some 2,000 miles of canal / river paths. The Guardian quotes Ed Parsons, a geospatial technologist at Google UK, as saying the following: "Canal towpaths offer green routes through our towns and cities, and by working with the Canal and River Trust we're adding towpaths to Google Maps and encouraging people to discover their local waterway." As delightful as the news may be, we still can't help but focus on a single mental image. That image, if you're curious, is embedded after the break.
LG's Optimus 4X HD officially making its way to European locales June 11 (update)
It's no secret that LG planned to launch its 4.7-inch Optimus 4X HD in select European countries this month, and now the company has confirmed that it's right on schedule. Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and Italy will be the first to receive the Tegra 3-loaded Android 4.0 smartphone, followed by the likes of six others. According to the translated presser, LG also has a "major surprise" in store regarding the device's launches as well, although details appear to be ambiguous for the time being. You can read all about it from the source below while re-acquainting yourself with its 720p HD IPS LCD using our hands-on from MWC. Update: It looks like the Optimus 4X HD is launching in Europe June 11 starting with Germany, and not in 11 locales as we initially reported. Furthermore, no "surprise" in store -- this was a flub within the translation.
Samsung Galaxy S III tops UK pre-order records, shows that British love their quad-core
The British clearly didn't waste any time once pre-orders opened up for the Galaxy S III, which just broke through pre-order records for at least one carrier and one retailer in the country. Carphone Warehouse's chief commercial officer Graham Stapleton says that the quad-core, 4.8-inch flagship is the quickest-moving pre-order of the year "so far," while Vodafone UK adds that the new Galaxy is its most pre-ordered Android device to date. Without hard numbers, though, it's difficult not to couch the successes in relative terms: both are using conditional language that makes clear neither record is absolute and that they might be eclipsed by companies with a knack for building early demand. Even so, that pride in early results suggests the third time is indeed the charm and that Samsung won't have much trouble filling its own pop-up stores with customers at the end of the month.
Jony Ive's knighting ceremony
Apple designer Jony Ive was knighted today in a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace, according to a BBC News UK report. It's an honor he said was "absolutely thrilling." Ive's knighthood was announced late last year and the ceremony took place on Wednesday. The famed Apple designer shared some small talk with Princess Anne, who was doing the knighting. You can watch the short ceremony on the BBC's website.
LG lines up Optimus 4X HD for launch in Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and Poland
While there's already plenty of excitement around other quad-core Android phones, LG will join the party soon when its Optimus 4X HD launches in a few European countries next month. Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and Poland are all on deck in June, where this latest Optimus variant will bring a 4.7-inch 720p HD IPS LCD, Tegra 3 CPU (benchmarked and seen in white here) and 2,150mAh battery coupled with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. On the software front, LG is touting its ability to take and share notes with "Quick Memo" (as seen in the Optimus Vu, now updated with the ability to include hyperlinks) as well as new "Media Plex" video playback controls. We got our hands all over this one during MWC 2012 a few months ago so until it drops in your neck of the woods, check out our gallery and video for a closer look or the press release after the break.
PSA: Nokia Lumia 900 available from Phones4U in the UK from today!
Remember when Nokia said that overwhelming demand had postponed the UK launch of the Lumia 900? Forget it, Phones4U let us know that it received an early shipment of the Finnish flagship and will offer them to customers today instead of next Monday. It's available on Vodafone, Orange and O2 and will set you back between £20 and £40 each month depending on your plan, either in both Black or White, the latter exclusive to the independent seller.
Jonathan Ive gets a knighthood
The UK's New Year's Honours list is out, and there's a familiar (well-muscled) figure on it. Apple's design lead Jonathan Ive has received the honorary title of Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE). Ive was honored as a Commander of the British Empire in 2005, but now he can legitimately call himself "Sir Jony." Ive is a 19-year Apple veteran and has long been considered one of the company's key leadership assets, with Steve Jobs referring to him as a "spiritual partner." His design sensibility and expertise has shaped Apple's aesthetic; visitors to Hamburg's design museum can still see examples of every Ive-designed product on exhibit through the middle of next month. Congratulations to Sir Jonathan! Correction: While the title itself is referred to as an honor (or honour), it is not "honorary" in the sense used to refer to an honorary degree or title.
