Altered Beast (Arcade)
It just won’t stay dead.

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Research has shown the testosterone levels of gamers playing competitive increase when they beat a stranger, but decrease when they beat a friend; a finding which suggests that can produce the same biological effect as real warfare.

In general, it’s thought to be advantageous for people to release excessive testosterone when engaged in combat with strangers, as its affect on aggression can offer an advantage.

However, when competing against friends or family it doesn’t make sense for the body to produce excessive amounts of the hormone, so levels remain low.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/research-shows-gamers-are-more-aggressive-to-strangers”>
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Future, the publisher of several video magazines – including Edge – has issued a trading statement ahead of its full year results release in November, noting that it expects its financial performance to weigh in “towards the lower end of market expectations.”

The company anticipates revenue to show a modest decline, but the statement noted that in the current conditions that was “particularly encouraging in a media sector that continues to experience very significant advertising and newsstand challenges and reflects the underlying strength of our special-interest business, our continuing focus on operating performance in each segment and our ability to mitigate revenue disappointments swiftly.”

However, the company’s US business, which comprises around 30 per cent of the total group revenue, is expected to post a loss, and new hire John Marcom Jr – with experience from the Financial Times, Time Inc, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal – has been drafted in to turn it around.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/future-expects-results-at-lower-end-of-expectations”>
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Sony Online Entertainment has announced that its in-house testing facility, the Usability Lab, will be made available to external companies for a variety of projects.

The facility will offer services including usability testing, heuristic evaluations, focus groups and product evaluations, and has been used on SOE’s recent MMO release Free Realms, which has notched up over 5 million players since launching in April.

“New product development lends itself to a host of potential obstacles, many of which could be overcome with pre-emptive testing,” said Paul Venuti, Director, Development Services, Sony Online Entertainment.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/soe-opens-up-usability-lab”>
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Microsoft is to invest more than KRW 23 billion (USD 19 million) into South Korea’s online gaming industry.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the money will be divided among 25 local development and game operation companies, and used for training, marketing and development assistance.

“When Korea’s online game technologies are combined with Microsoft’s development software, platform and sales channels, we expect a great synergy will come out in the next-generation game market,” said Microsoft Korea manager Kim James Woo according to a JoongAng Daily report.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/microsoft-invests-in-south-korean-online-development”>
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David Jaffe, God of War director and founder of his current studio Eat, Sleep, Play, has been revealed as one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Game Connect: Asia Pacific event.

He’ll be reflecting on his career in video so far, particularly his time at Sony Computer Entertainment America where he was responsible for bringing Kratos to life.

Jaffe will be joined by Vicarious Visions director Tim Stellmach, principal designer on System Shock and Thief, who’ll be discussing choices in game design.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/david-jaffe-to-keynote-gcap-09″>
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Microsoft has issued a statement downplaying the Halo 3: ODST “Unreadable Disc” reports that surfaced last week.

“We are aware of a very small number of people who are reporting they can’t play the game,” the platform holder told Eurogamer.

“We are looking into it, but at this point it doesn’t appear to be a widespread issue.”

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/microsoft-halo-3-odst-disc-error-not-widespread”>
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More than two billion apps have now been downloaded from the App Store by users, Apple has confirmed.

These downloads have been accumulated from 85,000 apps available to more than 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch consumers. The total number of developers currently registered for Apple’s iPhone Developer Programme has now reached 125,000.

“The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone,” said CEO Steve Jobs. “The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/app-store-downloads-top-2-billion”>
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Ubisoft’s sales numbers for the Nintendo DS platform are down this year compared to 2008, as part of the global slowdown following the economic collapse.

According to the publisher’s UK For Everyone boss, Mark Slaughter, Ubisoft’s aim this year is to defend the market share established by the Imagine range of for girls as the company builds up to another busy Christmas period.

In an interview looking at the success of the Imagine range, and the challenges of bringing it to market, Slaughter explained that the company’s big marketing spend, combined with strong retailer relationships, were two factors that helped the to cut through a crowded DS marketplace last Christmas.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/ubisoft-ds-market-has-declined-this-year”>
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Following the first part of our look at Ubisoft’s incredibly successful Imagine range of for girls, in which For Everyone boss Mark Slaughter looked at the origins of the brand and how it’s evolved, in the concluding part he’s joined by kids’ brand manager Rachel Grant to explain how the titles are marketed.

Specifically they discuss the importance of pulling the diversity of the range together, and talk about how they’re using key TV properties to promote interaction with their target audience.

<a href="http://www.industry.biz/articles/imagine-marketing-interview”>
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