This sounds grim. Speakers at the upcoming London Games Conference are forecasting that in three years' time, retail would have been outstripped by digital distribution. Not only that, but 40% of the companies in the games industry will be caught unprepared for this shift in consumer choice.

The London Games Festival is set to return for its fourth consecutive run this year beginning on October 24th, 2009. Lead organizer ELSPA has revealed the details of the event, promising "something for everyone." And by everyone, they do mean EVERYONE. Even your parents.

While it won't be another year before we see the judges of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) weigh in their votes for the best video games of 2009, the group has already confirmed a place and date for the upcoming event - the London Park Lane Hilton on March 10, 2009. More in the full article.

It's official: BioShock (Microsoft Xbox 360, PC) is a necessity for gamers. Or at least, 2K Games announced that the genetically enhanced title is proven to be a must-have gift for this holiday season. With plenty of Game of the Year awards under its belt, 2K is confident in BioShock. The biggest honors the game received await at the full article.

IO Interactive has just revealed who will be behind the musical score of their upcoming title Kane & Lynch: Dead Men for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and the PC. It's none other than British Academy Award-winning composer Jesper Kyd who has etched his reputation on the cacophonous atmosphere of the Hitman franchise.

Kyd's work on Hitman Contracts won Best Original Music at the BAFTA Games Awards and his stylish symphonic hybrid score for Hitman: Blood Money was awarded Best Original Score by IGN. He was also nominated for Best Original Video Game Score at the MTV Video Music Awards and has received Special Achievements awards from other major game publications such as Gamespot.

Kyd's work on Kane & Lynch: Dead Men's musical score is described by IO Interactive as "dark and foreboding", but at the same time "graphic and unforgiving," as the game's theme would suggest.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men's storyline revolves around an unlikely partnership between two very different game protagonists. Together, Kane and Lynch must use their unique skill sets to form a cohesive tandem in a fight that leads them to a path of redemption and revenge. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is set for release in November of 2007.



Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PC)]
Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3)]

With the London Games Festival well underway, The British Academy for Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) concluded its British Academy Video Game Awards night leaving Nintendo with complete bragging rights for one full year. Nintendo's Wii Sports held up against all competition in six categories and was crowned king in Casual, Gameplay, Innovation, Multiplayer, Sports, and Strategy and Simulation.

Microsoft's Crackdown took three titles home, while SCEE's God of War 2 and Capcom's Okami snagged two apiece. The Best Game Award went to 2K Games' BioShock, while on user-voted front, the PC World Gamers Award went to SEGA's Football Manager 2007. Sims creator Will Wright was inducted to the Academy Fellowship, where he joins the likes of Steven Spielberg and Charlie Chaplin.

The full list of winners begins at the full article!

Buy: [ Wii Sports ]
Buy: [ Crackdown ]
Buy: [ BioShock (Games for Windows), (Xbox 360) ]
Buy: [ Football Manager 2007 (PC) ]

The father of all things Simlish will now be "up there" among the likes of Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, and Charlie Chaplin. The Sims creator Will Wright is to be inducted into the BAFTA Fellowship - it's an award given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to certain icons in the industry for their creative work.

What's more is that Mr. Wright is the first ever in the video games industry to be given this accolade. With games likeSpore (which is going multiplatform, BTW) in his developer's resumé, we're not surprised. Will Wright getting the Fellowship establishes the fact that BAFTA now recognizes video games as a substantial part of popular culture.

And who begs to disagree? We're sure most of you believe that videos games really do have a lot of impact and contribute a lot to the greater concept of art and moving pictures. Academy Chariman Hilary Bevan Jones states:

Will's immense, creative body of work and his continued contribution to the industry make him a most worthy recipient of the Fellowship and being such a pioneer, we are thrilled that he will be the first person to receive this honour.

The awards ceremonies are to take place in London on the 23rd of October.

 

With 2007's London Games Festival arriving in two weeks' time, organizers have mapped out the game-centric celebration starting October 22 until November 2, 2007. Though the London Games Festival will also coincide with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), it will also return with a bigger collection of consumer-related events.

First up in the organizers' lists is the Video Games Live! concert which is set to take off at opening day. It will be followed by the British Academy Video Games Awards on October 23, coupled with a session presenting Guy Debord's Game of War as part of the London Games Fringe.
 
Dare to be Digital takes flight on October 24 - apparently also the first day of the GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival to kick off in Nottingham. Dare to be Digital is the London Games Festival's bid to expose the next generation of game developers to PR and marketing, where budding game design students can showcase their projects for attendees to see.

The London Game Career Fair, the London Gamer Geeks Quiz Night, and the Computational Brain fill the rest of the day's events. Attendees can apply for a position in the industry, try their hand at game trivia, or take a peek into the future of game interactivity: controlling games through thought.

Modding get-together Dorkfest - Console Hacks follows on October 25 with technology demo Eyes on the Game close in tow. The two events continue to delve into technology in relation to gaming, with Dorkfest showcasing mod projects made by the craziest folks to even have held a solder gun, and Eyes on the Game presenting how games can be controlled with eye movement.

Zero Gamer and Sense of Play 07 top the closing day schedule for attendees, where participants can flex their neurons and partake in a healthy discussion of how game design is viewed - from both outside and inside the game industry. The refreshing eye-opener will also be coupled by a London Games Fringe spectacle: developer and publisher media showcase of their upcoming games.

Expect London Games Festival 2007 to sport more consumer-related events and business-to-business sessions when it starts on the 22nd.

IO Interactive's upcoming multiplatform title Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) has finally been dated. All platform versions of the game will reportedly be in stores beginning November 23.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men tells the story of the titular characters Kane and Lynch as they go up against Kane's old bosses to save Kane's family and maybe get their hands on a huge fortune in the process. Players will control Kane while his psychopath partner Lynch will be controlled by either the game's AI or a second player in co-op mode.

The co-op feature is limited to offline co-op, but judging by the amount of action we've seen from the game's various trailers, it should be one hell of a way top spend an afternoon. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is also in the running for a Best Game award in this year's BAFTA Awards.

So many gaming events, so little time: it's time once again for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) gaming awards, and the nominees for the awards up for grabs are revealed after a few months of deciding on which games should make it into the shortlist.

Not surprisingly, a Wii title managed to grab the most number of nominations, seven in all. Nintendo's Wii Sports was nominated for the awards for Best Game, Gameplay, and Innovation, just to name a few. Other games vying for the title of Best Game are Xbox 360's Bioshock, Gears of War, and Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, PC platform's Crysis, and a PlayStation 2 title Guitar Hero II.

43 game titles from different platforms will go neck to neck in grabbing all 13 titles. Wish your favorite games (which made it into the shortlist) best of luck!

Check the Read link for the complete list of nominations!