After a rough week for Game Group Plc the inevitable has happened and GAME has confirmed job losses at its Basingstoke headquarters.

A total of 46 roles roughly 10% of the workforce at the head office in Basingstoke have been cut. A spokesperon for GAME said:

“The proposed restructure will result in around 46 fewer roles at our central support centre in Basingstoke..Our proposed new structure will change the way that we operate and will enable us to be significantly more efficient in our relationships with suppliers and customers.

Amongst the layoffs,  there is a also a corporate restructure with several people taking new positions within the company. Former commercial strategy director Tricia Brennan became chief commercial officer, while the new channel director is the former managing director Tom Devine. The man who was in charge of the recent relaunch of www.game.co.uk Dave Hughes will leave the company in March.

GAME recently dodged a bullet after it was able to renegotiate credit agreements with major lenders and publishers allowing for it to get stock of the newest titles. However as rumoured it is selling it’s overseas business as has set a deadline of this Friday for companies to make an offer.

Source: DigitalSpy, MCV

Game Group Plc has been in the news everyday this week. For those not keeping track click here and here to get up to speed.

Today Game Group Plc released a press statement:

Having received support from its stakeholders and lenders, the Board now believes that GAME will meet its covenant tests for the period to 31 January 2012 when tested on 27 February 2012. The Board now expects that the loss before tax and non recurring items will be around £18m for the year to 31 January 2012.

Financing update:

Further to the announcement earlier today, the Board of GAME is pleased to announce that it has now concluded discussions with its lending syndicate and agreed revised terms for its facilities.

Under the terms of the revised facilities, the Group has agreed to operate within lower limits of its existing facilities than was previously available. These revised facilities will allow the company to continue to trade. The Group has also agreed to provide an updated strategic plan for review, and approval in part, by the lenders. This plan will cover all aspects of the business’s activities and strategy, including its overseas operations.

Ian Shepherd, CEO of GAME said “We’re pleased to reach agreement with our lenders, but should be under no illusions about the challenges in our market or the hard work that is required to deliver our strategic plan.”

So the saga of Game Group Plc hasn’t ended yet, but its future is far from secure. In the short-term for people (like me) who have an existing order with GAME for the Mass Effect 3 Collectors Edition, BioWare’s Community Coordinator Chris Priestly offers some reassurances:

Nothing is going to happen to Game before March.

They also now have the ME3 DLC listed on their site, so take that as a good sign.

While it’s hardly a ringing endorsement for the future of GAME, it is at least something.

Source: Game Group Plc, Bioware

After much speculation yesterday about GAME and their current financial troubles, Game Group Plc - The Owners of GAME and Gamestation issued a statement this morning:

In response to press speculation the GAME Group plc confirms that it is in ongoing dialogue with its lending syndicate to reach agreement on revised terms for its facilities. As part of these discussions, the lending syndicate is reviewing a strategic plan of the company which includes a review of its overseas operations.

A further announcement will be provided once discussions with its lending syndicate have concluded.

It’s also worth noting that yesterday EA boss John Riccitiello told investors,

“We are concerned with the financial condition of one of our major European retail partners, which could lead to both increased bad debt and lost sales.”

John Riccitiello isn’t the only concerned person at EA with CFO Eric Brown stating,

“We are focused on some isolated European retailer issues that have recently been announced. A negative outcome could adversely affect our Q4 results.”

On a personal note, I have had my up and downs with GAME but they are the exclusive retailer of the Mass Effect 3 collectors edition here in the UK, and I wouldn’t be happy if my pre-order which is about 6 months old was cancelled.

Source: GAME, MCV, CVG

Currently floating around the internet are various rumours regarding high street retailer Game. These vary from not paying staff(not true) to long existing pre-orders being cancelled (partially true based on Twitter rage) and not having stock of this weeks big releases(also not true).  However while these rumours were/are concerning the biggest worry is that Game has lost their credit insurance. What this means is that they may not have credit to purchase new stock with one anonymous source (does any news story ever have a named source these days) saying:

No credit from the agencies means no stock for the stores. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. You won’t find a new release this Friday

Obviously these rumours have been denied by Game but the original source of the story (MCV) has confirmed that Game

is facing challenges regarding its credit insurance and that its financial landscape has changed significantly since the beginning of the year..The chain admitted last month that it will struggle to meet EBITDA covenants requirements by February 27^th.

 It’s worth noting that Game trades and is a market leader in several locations worldwide. 

GAME territory	GAME market position
UK & Ireland	Market leader
France	Fourth
Spain	Market leader
Scandinavia	Market leader
Australia	Fourth
Czech Republic	Market leader

While a collapse of Game wouldn’t affect everybody, it would show that it is possible for a major dedicated games retailer to fail and could be the start of things to come.

Source: CVG MVC

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was one of last year’s top games and Sony looks to duplicate this success with the release of Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the Playstation Vita. The Uncharted series is known for its focus on utilizing high-tech motion capturing processes to bring as much realism to their story-line and characters. Sony Bend has released a brand new video highlighting their sophisticated process of translating their actor’s performances into the new game’s engine.

We’re fast approaching the launch of Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the new PlayStation Vita. Bringing these characters to life with all the nuances of personality, habits, quirks and mannerisms was Sony Bend’s first and most important job when they began work on the title. They have an awesome example in the Uncharted series and wanted to give the characters a level of depth that transcends the screen. 

These videos show just a glimpse of the process and how the team worked with the likes of Nolan North to bring this eclectic cast of characters to life.

 

Previews of Uncharted: Golden Abyss have already raved about the inventive choices the Playstation Bend team has made to fully utilize the Playstation Vita’s touchscreens and accelerometer. We’re only a few short weeks away from the Vita and Uncharted: Golden Abyss release date, I hope the video above helps to satiate any anticipation you may be feeling.

Today has provided an official reveal of a new set of characters confirmed for Street Fighter X Tekken featuring some interesting surprises.

After many teasing tweets by Street Fighter series producer Yoshinori Ono, the characters have been given the proper introduction for us to see. For the Street Fighter side, Balrog, Vega, and Juri were featured. Rufus and Zangief were shown in a Tokyo Game Show trailer last year but are shown full gameplay now. On the Tekken side, we got Asuka Kazama, Lili, Ling Xiaoyu, Paul Phoenix, and Marshall Law.

In another cinematic trailer, we also have the additional characters of Jin Kazama and M. Bison. We can expect gameplay of them in the future. While the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken will have bonus characters Kuro, Toro, and inFamous’ Cole MacGrath, they also shown the silhouettes of two more characters that can show off Pac-Man and possibly the box art figure from the original Mega Man.

Make sure to check out the trailers and screenshots below and get ready for the game to come out on March 6!

What’s cheesy and crunchy and rhymes with PlayStation Vita? Why, Cheesy Gordita of course!  Taco Bell is rolling out a promotion for the PS Vita later this month on the 26th. Not only will the winners get a sweet Vita bundle, but they’ll get it early.  There are three different ways to enter, Unlock the Box, Battle and Boast.  The first option is in the specially marked meal deal, just enter the code inside to see if it is a winner.  Or, there will be an Android app pitting you against your friends in some sort of battle; details were light, but somehow a winner or winners will win a Vita bundle. Lastly there will be an online contest where contestants will submit photos and the winner will be based on votes.

I definitely want a Vita, and I’ll be jumping at any chance to get my hands on one, especially if it’s going to be available early! I’ll be running for the border, thinking outside the box and yo quiero-ing on January 26th!

Source: PS Blog

The Ninja Gaiden series has been the long-standing king of action adventure games since the very first release on the NES back in the late 80′s.  There have been quite a few entries into the series since then, but none is more beloved than Ninja Gaiden for the original Xbox, which was eventually retooled for the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Tecmo Koei has just announced that they will be releasing Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus for the PlayStation Vita on February 22nd, 2012.

BURLINGAME, Calif. January 6^th, 2012 – TECMO KOEI AMERICA and Team NINJA announced today that NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA PLUS, a launch window title for the PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system, will be released on February 22^nd 2012.

The worldwide acclaimed action hit NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA that was developed for the PlayStation®3 is back and better than ever on the PlayStation® Vita. Combining the high speed unique action of Ninja Gaiden with the exciting new features of the PlayStation® Vita console, including the touchscreen, gyro sensor, and the rear touch pad, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus will become the definitive package for fans and action gamers worldwide. Toggling between 1^st and 3^rd person views, using the gyro sensor to target your enemies and shoot projectiles, and launching stronger Ninpo using the rear touch pad are only a few of the thrilling additions to the game.

The best kind of math

Since it kicked off in the Summer of 2010, I’ve been excited each month about the PlayStation Plus update.  Having only purchased my PS3 three months earlier, it seemed the most economic way for me to catch up on missed franchises while staying current with the newest releases. It has and continues to do this and more.  Month after month, great PSN games are either free or deeply discounted (50%+).  This month is no exception, Swords and Soldiers and the complete Back to the Future Series are free this month as well as several PSone Classics.

But the perks don’t stop there.  As a PS+ subscriber, you get to schedule automatic backups, trophy syncing, system updates and game installs.  You get 150 MB of cloud save storage and a lot of early and exclusive access to betas and game trials.

If you like a value and love PlayStation, PlayStation Plus is a no-brainer.  Get a subscription and you’ll see what I mean.

Source: PlayStation Plus

Street Fighter X Tekken has been anxiously awaited by some, moderately ignored by others. Designed by Capcom, the general consensus is that it will largely play like Street Fighter IV, with some Tekken and variable elements inserted. Character announcements have been coming every few weeks, but every once in a while, such in the case of Ultimate Marvel VS. Capcom 3, characters will leak out. Microsoft’s Xbox Live page for the game has happened to reveal two, Xiayou and M. Bison.

Thanks to the unintentional image, showing the pair teamed up with Heihachi and Dhalsim, we know the characters will be playable in the title, and likely from the start. Bison has been a major thorn in the Street Fighter universe since Street Fighter II, while Ling Xaiyou has been a chipper young girl in the Tekken series since Tekken 3. Drastically different characters, but they both help fill the roster for the game. While these two characters will be in all versions of the game, Sony’s iterations will have Cole (from Infamous), Kuro, and Toro filling out the roster.

Are you ready to psycho crush?

Source: Xbox Live via Shoryuken via Joystiq