The UK’s games trade body UKIE has announced that a beta version of its PC Download Chart will launch in February.

The chart comes thanks to both UKIE and “Disney Interactive Studios, Focus Multimedia, Get Games, Green Man Gaming, Mastertronic, NCsoft, Sega, Square-Enix, Ubisoft, Warner Bros and other top PC game publishers and digital distributors.” This is the first time a digital chart has been attempted.

After this PC chart is established the body will move on to PSN and Xbox Live charts.

Jo Twist, CEO of UKIE said:

Having this digital data alongside our UKIE Games Charts for boxed products will allow the games industry to lobby government even more effectively and allow our members to make informed and fact based commercial decisions.

It will certainly be interesting to see exactly how well digital downloads are doing. I rarely buy disc-based PC games, and I’m sure many other are like me- so I’m expecting big numbers. Let us know what you think below.

• New Video Game Releases: Jan. 9 – Jan.15
• RipTen Review: Trine 2 (XBLA)
• Gotham City Impostors Is Not Your Average FPS (Hands On)
• Limbo Officially Coming To PC And PSN
• Carmageddon: Reincarnation Coming 2012
• Warner Bros Announce New Batman Game: Gotham City Impostors

Warning: The Watercooler is the best thing you will see on the Internet today, mainly because it is the best thing I saw on the Internet yesterday. Be advised that The Watercooler is not necessarily videogame related (it usually won’t be), and is often silly, controversial, and/or not safe for work (NSFW). If this type of content frequently offends you, please be aware that I just warned you — if you still click through and get offended, it will be your own stupid fault. Otherwise, please continue…

Long-time RipTen fans will remember that The Watercooler was, back in the day, the stomping ground of our very own Dan “The Man” Landis. Well now it’s my turn- and I just had to start off with a UK edition. Every weekday at 6 o’clock on Channel 4 here, there’s an episode of the best animated series of all time, The Simpsons. At the end of last year, this was happening just before it:

It’s fucking weird, and they never said why they did it- but it’s also really funny. And now I really want to watch The Pimpsons.

Think you have something that could be Watercooler material? Send it to me via email: sam@ripten.com or on Twitter: @greeneggsnam. If your submission gets featured, you will win a prize package full of pride and accomplishment.

• The Watercooler: Family Feud Trolling
• The Watercooler: Kids These Days
• The Watercooler: Serj Orders a Coffee
• The Watercooler: Treasure Map
• The Watercooler: Bruce Lee 2: Return of Bruce Lee
• The Watercooler: Politically Correct Pulp Fiction

With the launch of Soul Calibur V imminent, Namco Bandai are looking for players who hope to become the best in the UK.

You heard me correctly, there are people out there who not only play Soul Calibur, but also get good at it. It might sound odd to us “normals,” but it certainly seems that there are people out there buying Soul Calibur games for more than just looking at Ivy’s chest.

The first 200 gamers to get to the Chapel Bar in Islington from 12-6pm on Saturday 4th February will get themselves in to the game’s UK launch party, “where some of the world’s biggest fighting game champions will be in attendance.”

There are more details to follow, but the fights that take place at this even will lead on to the UK finals on March 16th “at a so far secret location with a whole host of exciting prizes up for grabs.”

So put down your good, proper 2D fighting games and try out this new 3D one. What’s the worst that could happen?

• RipTen Review: SoulCalibur V (Xbox 360)
• Soul Calibur V Coming in 2012 (Trailer)
• New Soul Calibur Confirmed
• Watch Ezio Swing Swords In This Soul Calibur V Trailer
• New SoulCalibur V Trailer – ‘Nuff Said
• SoulCalibur V Gets a New Set Of Screens

It looks like we’re going to be having a very Dovahkiin Christmas.

Skyrim has outlasted Modern Warfare 3 for the top spot in the UK sales charts at last. And no, Modern Warfare 3 isn’t even #2.

#2 would be Just Dance 3.

Modern Warfare 3 comes in at #3.

Here’s the full UK sales list pulled from GamesIndustry.biz:

Last Week This Week Title
1 1 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
3 2 Just Dance 3
2 3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
4 4 FIFA 12
8 5 Saints Row: The Third
6 6 Battlefield 3
5 7 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
11 8 Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games
13 9 Need For Speed: The Run
7 10 Professor Layton And The Spectre’s Call
15 11 Batman: Arkham City
10 12 Mario Kart 7
14 13 Forza Motorsport 4
9 14 Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
12 15 Super Mario 3D Land
New 16 Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo
17 17 Zumba Fitness
16 18 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5 – 7
New 19 Sonic Generations
20 20 ABBA: You Can Dance

For more on Skyrim be sure to check out these 150 Ultra quality screens and the RipTen Review.

• Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Records with $775 Million in Sales Worldwide
• Bethesda Announces Skyrim Has Uber Successful Launch, Ships Way Over 9000 Copies
• Modern Warfare 3 Tops Skyrim in UK Charts
• Addicted to Skyrim? You Need An Intervention (Video)
• Mod Tools Coming for Skyrim Next Week
• Geeked Out: Bored in Math Class? Play Skyrim on Your TI-84

Those who bought their 3DS consoles before the price drop in the UK and Japan will be getting a slew of free GameBoy Advance games on Friday.

The full list of free games is as follows, as revealed by a “Spotpass” notification on regional Nintendo 3DS consoles:

Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare Inc. Mega Microgames, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Wario Land 4, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity.

Wario Land 4, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity are all new reveals, so get all excited about those, why don’t you. I know Justin Berube is jizzing his pants with glee as he reads this. Especially as one of the best Zelda games is appearing- Minish Cap. If you’ve not played it get on that, yo.

Via Joystiq

• FREE Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D CD Offer Expires Tonight
• Club Nintendo Adds Three New Rewards
• New Zelda Themed 3DS Headed To The USA
• Zelda 25th Anniversary 3DS Headed To Europe
• New Zelda Title Coming to 3DS, Majora’s Mask Remake Being “Considered” As Well
• Nintendo 3DS New Info Online Presentation Happening Friday

The UK charts are in, and guess what- Modern Warfare 3 did pretty well.

Interestingly the RPG (and therefore nerd-fest) Skyrim has made number 2 in the charts, ahead of even Battlefield 3. There have been adverts in big numbers for all three but it seems people fancied a bit of swords and sorcery this week in the UK.

The charts are below, and as usual I’m slightly annoyed that Zumba Fitness and Wii Party are still beating the likes of Rage and Forza 4. Stupid British people, buy good games.

1. CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3
2. THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
3. BATTLEFIELD 3
4. FIFA 12
5. JUST DANCE 3
6. UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION
7. MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLING ZOO
8. BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY
9. ZUMBA FITNESS
10. WII PARTY
11. SKYLANDERS: SPYRO’S ADVENTURE
12. FORZA MOTORSPORT 4
13. MICHAEL JACKSON: THE EXPERIENCE
14. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2012
15. KINECT SPORTS: SEASON TWO
16. LEGO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
17. RAGE
18. PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2012
19. TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN
20. F1 2011

• Skyrim Tops Sales Charts In Time For Christmas
• Blockbuster Extends Rental Promotion to Gamers for the Holidays
• UKIE to Launch PC Download Chart
• TorrentFreak Ends 2011 With Its Top 10 Most Pirated Games
• Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Records with $775 Million in Sales Worldwide
• Get Modern Warfare 3 for 99p When You Trade in Battlefield 3 to GameStop UK

Sometimes it feels like gamers really are treated awfully by the companies who facilitate them.

Our old friend Patrick Steen has pointed out on his new site (it’s not as good as Ripten and he should have stayed here, obviously) that the cost of repairing an out-of-warranty Playstation 3 is £135 in the UK. Which is stupid when the cost of a new PS3 is £199.

This is a problem that’s hit close to home for me recently. The disc drive on my own 40Gb PS3, which I’ve had for 3 years, just stopped working. So of course, I went to find out the cost of a repair, since the paltry 3 month warranty was obviously over.

It really is £135. Sony whines:

“This figure reflects the cost of repairing a PS3 to the high standard required and includes a door-to-door courier exchange service and other general administrative costs. SCEUK does not profit from this service; in fact, it operates it at a loss in order to offer customers with out-of-warranty PS3s the best price possible.”

As Patrick points out, Sony must be pretty inefficient when Nintendo and Microsoft repair for around £70. Eventually my PS3 got fixed- by an independent- for £60ish. Why does it cost Sony so much more? It’s difficult to believe Sony’s explanation above but that’s all we have to go on.

It becomes all a bit suspicious when you look at the price of a new PS3 Slim- £199 (RRP). Is the gigantic repair cost a scheme to get people to buy brand new PS3s, since they offer better value for money? You do get a new controller, after all, and a brand new console.

If you’re savvy enough you can even get the PS3 for just £165, the same it would cost you to get your model repaired and buy a new controller off the shelf.

With the Red Ring of Death and Yellow Light of Death issues on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 respectively still in the memories of gamers, it seems a little short sighted to have such an outrageous repair cost. What do you think- should Sony focus more on improving repair costs? Perhaps build more reliable machines? Feel free to share your stories and comments with us in the comments below.

• RipTen Review: BurgerTime World Tour (XBLA)
• RipTen’s Resistance 3 Beta Key Giveaway!! (Finished)
• Sony Starting “PSN Pass” Program, First Up – Resistance 3
• PS3s Being Traded In 200% More Than Usual in UK
• Pyramid Head Sculpture Now for Sale! Rape Sold Separately.
• RipTen Review: Killzone 3

Jo Frost, best known as TV’s ‘Supernanny’, has blamed the London Riots on violent video games.

Frost, who has a PhD in video game psychology, said:

“Research shows that within 15 minutes of playing one of these games young men become highly aggressive and lack empathy in normal situations. It is not too fanciful to suggest it’s a short step from being immersed in this war-like world to taking that nightmare mindset on to the streets with all the consequences of anarchy and violence we saw rip apart cities.”

Oh wait, that was wrong. Her doctorate isn’t in video game psychology. It’s a PhD in total bullshit. The (and I stress this point) completely unqualified TV presenter makes excellent use of the words “research shows,” however- providing absolutely no evidence for her claim but still sounding smug in the process. She went on:

“I felt for a moment as if we had stumbled into a real-life violent video game of the kind that so many of those involved are addicted to. These horrific games where points are given for burning, shooting and killing, where the graphics are so realistic you believe that they’re real scenes of carnage, where those who play fantasise they have the power of life and death, are so brutal they completely desensitise anyone taking part.”

Wait, was GTA not real? I genuinely thought I was killing that Russian guy. I’ve been in hiding all this time for nothing?

Best of all, though, is this little nugget:

Shopkeepers should demand proof of age and where they ignore this and break the law by selling them to children they should be fined.

Perhaps 30 seconds of research would have led her to the law that means this already happens.

Via Dtoid

• DS “R4″ Cart Banned in UK
• UKIE to Launch PC Download Chart
• The Watercooler: Anything But The Simpsons
• Are You a Bad Enough Dude to be the UK’s Top Soul Calibur V Player?
• Skyrim Tops Sales Charts In Time For Christmas
• UK and Japan 3DS “Ambassadors” Get Their Free Games On Friday, Includes Zelda: Minish Cap

The Star Wars-themed Xbox 360 and Kinect bundle we reported on last week has been given a price for the UK market.

It’s £349.99 ($570).

How much?!

• Rumors Say The Next Xbox Will Play Blu-rays, But Not Used Games
• Xbox TV is Coming This Holiday Season – It Will Broadcast Live TV
• Kinect Star Wars and Theme Based Bundle Delayed
• Jersey Shore: Kinect is The First Hardcore Kinect Title (Hands On)
• Avatar Kinect Now Available as Part of Kinect Fun Labs!!
• Kinect Sales Hit 2.5 Million in 25 Days!

Call of Duty: Black Ops has taken the crown for top selling game of all time in the UK.

Sales from the launch to June 25 hit 3,722,411 in the United Kingdom, with Modern Warfare 2 at 3,702,410.

Activision’s UK MD Andrew Brown said:

“This is an outstanding achievement for the development team at Treyarch and the amazing Call of Duty community.”

He (and Bobby “Literally has cash injections” Kotick) probably rubbed their hands with glee as well, while rolling in liquefied dollar bills.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Preorders are Outperforming Modern Warfare 2′s
• Black Ops Sells 5.6M Units in One Day – Beats Modern Warfare 2
• Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Records with $775 Million in Sales Worldwide
• Seven Million People Bought Call of Duty: Black Ops On Launch Day
• Black Ops Pre-order Sales Outperforming Modern Warfare 2
• Call of Duty Map Packs Sell Over 20 Million Units

Ian Shepherd, CEO of UK retailer GAME, has said that despite repeated claims from software publishers that pre-owned games hurt them, the trade-in market can only be a good thing.

Publishers have even begun implementing features to prevent pre-owned players from having the full game (passes for online play, for example), but Shepherd says that even they are coming round to the idea that trade-ins are going to stay.

He said:

“I think, through conversations with developers and platform owners, that there is a growing realisation that a healthy pre-owned marketplace is good for the whole industry.

“It has made the mint marketplace more affordable and has kept people in that marketplace. There has been endless debate over pre-owned versus mint, but my view is that a healthy pre-owned and trade-in marketplace – which we are largely the people who are involved in driving – is good for the whole industry.”

Via MCV

• How DICE Is Addressing the Top 10 Battlefield 3 Issues
• New Shadows of the Damned Screens Look Scary Good – Release Date Pushed Back
• New Ocarina of Time 3DS Features Announced
• GDC11: Bungie’s Next Game Confirmed to be an MMO
• British Academy Video Games Awards Nominees Announced
• Riccitiello: Digital Sales to Beat Retail by the End of the Year

The Nintendo 3DS has broken Amazon UK’s record for console pre-orders, as well as Nintendo’s own record.

With at least twice as many 3DS pre-orders as Wii pre-orders, the record has been well and truly thrashed.

David Yarnton, General Manager of Nintendo UK, had this to say:

“The reaction to Nintendo 3DS has exceeded our wildest expectations… Glasses-free 3D entertainment has truly arrived. It’s almost certain that the number of Nintendo 3DS consoles sold on Friday will exceed the number of 3D televisions sold in the whole of 2010.”

Considering how expensive 3D televisions are here, that statistic is hardly surprising, but congratulations to Nintendo anyway. Who got hold of one yesterday, UK Ripteners? I haven’t yet as I’m still reeling at the price, and I’m still not done with Pokémon White yet. Any thoughts? Leave a comment below.

• UK and Japan 3DS “Ambassadors” Get Their Free Games On Friday, Includes Zelda: Minish Cap
• GameStop Reveals Super Mario 3D Land Pre-Order Bonus
• GameStop Offering Pokémon Rumble Blast Pre-Order Bonus
• Nintendo: 3DS Day-One Sales Highest of Any Handheld
• Namco: 3DS One of the Most Important Launches in Gaming History
• Nintendo to Ship 900,000 3DS Units in Europe – Aiming for 5m Sales in Year One

Warner has finally decided to let the bat out of the bag (see what I did there?) and let us in on when Rocksteady’s Arkham City would released.  The game will release October 18th in the US and the UK on October 21st.

The game, which was teased in 2009, sees the crumbling of Arkham Asylum and the spillage of criminals into the streets. The city is eventually sealed and is dubbed Arkham city.

Hugo Strange and Two-Face are the two big villains for the game, as well as Harley Quinn and Joker returning from the Arkham Asylum. Catwoman also has some involvement in the title. Warner also released some new screens as well.

Check out the new screens below:

• New Batman Arkham City Trailer Shows Us Some Actual Gameplay
• New Batman: Arkham City Screens/Artwork Displays a Patriotic Two-Face, Sexy Harley Quinn
• Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes Fighting Crime This Summer
• Gotham City Imposters Delayed
• Gotham City Impostors Is Not Your Average FPS (Hands On)
• Arkham City Requires Online Pass To Unlock Catwoman

Fourty-four games have been named as nominees in this year’s GAME British Academy Video Games Awards.

The nominations are below, and it’s a mighty list, with some heavyweight contenders. It’s interesting that when you put them into a list like this, it seems like there were shedloads of great games last year. Super Meat Boy of course being the best one by far.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood leads with 7 nominations, and Call of Duty: Black Ops and Heavy Rain follow it with 6 each.

Action
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alan Kertz, Kristoffer Bergqvist
Electronic Arts/DICE

BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Steve Caterson
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio

Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Artistic Achievement
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Ken Feldman, Cecil Kim
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Best Game
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
FIFA 11
Development Team
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo

Family
Dance Central
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix

Kinect Adventures
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Good Science Studio

Kinect Sports
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Rare

Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games

Toy Story 3
John Blackburn, Jonathan Warner, Jeff Bunker
Disney Interactive Studios/Avalanche Software

Gameplay
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Adam Puhl
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Development TeamElectronic Arts/BioWare

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo

Handheld
Cut the Rope
Development Team
Chillingo/Zeptolab

God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games

Professor Layton and the Lost Future
Akihiro Hino
Nintendo/Level 5 Games

Sonic Colours
Development Team
SEGA/Sonic Team

Super Scribblenauts
Joseph M Tringali, Marius Fahlbusch, Jeremiah Slaczka
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/5th Cell

Multiplayer
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alan Kertz, Kristoffer Bergqvist
Electronic Arts/DICE

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Development Team
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

Original Music
Alan Wake
Petri Alanko
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy

Fable III
Russell Shaw
Microsoft Games Studios/Lionhead Studios

Heavy Rain
Normand Corbeil
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

James Bond 007: Bloodstone
Richard Jacques
Activision Blizzard UK/ Bizarre Creations

Mass Effect 2
Jack Wall
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koji Kondo
Nintendo/Nintendo

Social Network Game
Bejeweled Blitz
Jon David, Heather Hazen, Jason Kapalka
Popcap Games/Popcap Games

Farmerama
Tobias Reisberger, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier, Marten Schröder
Bigpoint/Bigpoint

FIFA Superstars
Development Team
EA Sports/Playfish

My Empire
Development Team
Playfish/Playfish

Zoo Mumba
Tobias Reisberger, Eduard Röhrich, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier
Bigpoint GMBH/Bigpoint GMBH

Zuma Blitz
Isaac Aubrey, Jon David, Jason Kapalka
PopCap Games/PopCap Games

Sports
F1 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Codemasters Birmingham

FIFA 11
Development Team
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada

Football Manager 2011
Development Team
SEGA/Sports Interactive

Gran Turismo 5
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Polyphony Digital Inc

International Cricket 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Trickstar Games

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Shingo Takatsuka, Naoya Hatsumi, Jon Murphy
Konami/Winning Eleven Productions

Story
Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy

BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Fallout: New Vegas
John Gonzalez, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

Mass Effect 2
Development TeamElectronic Arts/BioWare

Strategy
Civilization V
Jon Shafer, Dorian Newcomb, Brian Wade
2K Games/Firaxis

Fallout: New Vegas
Josh Sawyer, Frank Kowalkowski, Justin Reynard
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment

FIFA Manager 11
Development Team
EA Sports/Bright Future

Napoleon Total War
Development Team
SEGA/Creative Assembly

Plants vs. Zombies XBLA
George Fan, Matt Lee Johnston, Ty Roberts
PopCap Games/PopCap Games

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

Technical Innovation
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo

Use of Audio
Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy/14.05.10

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal/19.11.10

Battlefield: Bad Company: 2
Stefan Strandberg
Electronic Arts/DICE/05.03.10

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch/ 09.11.10

DJ Hero 2
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK LTD/Freestylegames/22.10.10

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games/21.07.10

BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital
Mush
Henry Hoffman, Ahmed Zaman, Matthew Dennis, Katherine Killick, Greg O’Brien
(Angry Mango)

Sculpty
Druhin Mukherjee, Fabien Roussot, James Long, Fraser Littlejohn, Ronan Suess
(Team Tickle)

Twang
Jocce Marklund, Annette Nielsen, Linus Nordgren, Marcus Heder, Thomas Finlay
(That Game Studio)

GAME Award of 2010
(The only award to be voted for by the public)

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Dance Central
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix

FIFA 11
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada

Halo Reach
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Heavy Rain
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

Limbo
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games

Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo/Nintendo

• UK Retailer: “Pre-owned Marketplace Good for the Industry”
• UKIE to Launch PC Download Chart
• The Watercooler: Anything But The Simpsons
• Are You a Bad Enough Dude to be the UK’s Top Soul Calibur V Player?
• Skyrim Tops Sales Charts In Time For Christmas
• UK and Japan 3DS “Ambassadors” Get Their Free Games On Friday, Includes Zelda: Minish Cap

Test Drive Unlimited 2 has beaten Dead Space 2 to the top of the UK chart this week, making a successful debut.

After just a week on sale Test Drive Unlimited 2 has nabbed the top spot from last week’s top entry Dead Space 2, with previous chart-topper LittleBigPlanet 2 dropping all the way to 10th place.

01. Test Drive Unlimited 2 (Namco Bandai)
02. Dead Space 2 (EA)
03. FIFA 11 (EA)
04. Call Of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
05. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
06. Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (Nintendo)
07. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)
08. Mario Sports Mix (Nintendo)
09. Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition (Take-Two)
10. LittleBigPlanet 2 (SCEE)

Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem has also made a strong appearance this week, climbing to 6th place.

• Dead Space 2 Retains UK Sales Chart Lead
• UKIE to Launch PC Download Chart
• Modern Warfare 3 Tops Skyrim in UK Charts
• Dead Space 2 climbs to first place in UK chart
• Test Drive Unlimited 2 Audi and Multiplayer Trailers
• Fallout: New Vegas Number One in the UK

Lee Kirton, Head of Marketing at Namco Bandai UK, has made the strong statement that the 3DS is “one of the most important launches in gaming history.”

“We are very confident of the Nintendo 3DS. We also have a strong line up of titles, including Ridge Racer 3D, Duel Pen Sports and Pac Man/Galaga,” he said. “We see it as one of the most important launches in gaming history and we’re very confident of all of our new titles.”

Big words, but what do you expect from a Head of Marketing? They don’t get those sorts of jobs by shying away, you know. What do you think? Is the 3DS really that important? Let us know in the comments.

Via Destructoid

• Are You a Bad Enough Dude to be the UK’s Top Soul Calibur V Player?
• UK and Japan 3DS “Ambassadors” Get Their Free Games On Friday, Includes Zelda: Minish Cap
• Nintendo 3DS Breaks Amazon UK Pre-Order Record
• 3DS North American Launch Lineup Revealed
• Nintendo Confirms 3DS Launch Titles
• Full 3DS Release List Revealed

Dead Space 2 has remained atop the UK chart for the second week in a row.

The game shot to the top spot upon release last week, beating out even the mighty FIFA 11.

Nintendo’s offerings – Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem and Mario Sports Mix have failed to chart this week, taking 11th and 12th places.

01. Dead Space 2 (EA)
02. FIFA 11 (EA)
03. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (UBISOFT)
04. Call Of Duty: Black Ops (ACTIVISION)
05. LittleBigPlanet 2 (SCEE)
06. Just Dance 2 (UBISOFT)
07. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (EA)
08. Art Academy (NINTENDO)
09. The Sims 3 (EA)
10. Wii Fit Plus (NINTENDO)

• Test Drive Unlimited 2 Nabs Top Spot on UK Chart
• UKIE to Launch PC Download Chart
• Modern Warfare 3 Tops Skyrim in UK Charts
• Dead Space 2 climbs to first place in UK chart
• Fallout: New Vegas Number One in the UK
• Mafia II Tops UK Charts

Activision have recommended that their studio Bizarre Creations be closed down.

Coddy Johnson, Activision Worldwide Studios’ chief operating officer, said:

“I want to be clear, our first choice was to try and keep this group together and find a buyer for the studio.

“This decision comes after a few months of exhausted examination of a number of different options across the board.

“We of course care about this team. We’re offering the studio as many resources as possible, including counselling, external placement services and external career fairs.”

Johnson told Develop that the company had “explored a lot of leads… But unfortunately, so far we’ve not been able to find any interested parties. So we’ve made as a last resort, a recommendation to the team for closure.”

Blur’s disappointing sales were noted as a key fact in the decision. Ripten extends its sympathies to those employed at the studio should it close down.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Overtakes Modern Warfare 2 as UK’s Biggest Selling Game
• Activision Could Close PSN CoD: Black Ops servers
• Was Bizarre Creations A Ticking Time Bomb?
• Codemasters Offer Potential Recruitment for Bizarre Staff [Update]
• Activision Reportedly Shutting Down Bizzare Creations
• James Bond: Blood Stone Launch Trailer

Codermasters are finally bringing the successful F1 license to an internet browser near you, and are hiring people to help further this project. The project itself is described as a “service-based online game”, and the team (should they hire one) will be based in Warwickshire HQ. Codemasters Online VP David Solari stated;

“F1 is incredibly popular in many countries, particularly in places where online gaming is either already big or rapidly growing such as India, Brazil, Korea and China, the potential is clear. We have proven F1 is a major games brand and what we have planned will build upon that”

F1 2010 became Codemasters most successful game when it hit shelves last September, and was the 17th best selling game of 2010, so it’s no surprise that they’re trying to expand the franchise in this direction.

Let us know what you think of this upcoming project below, or let me know on twitter -@iamaaronalex

Source: MCV

• RipTen Review: F1 2011 (Xbox 360, PC)
• F1 2011 Screens Look Fast and Sexy
• F1 2011 Coming In September – F1 2010 Now 50% Off
• Ubisoft’s PC DRM Leaves Anno 2070 and Driver: San Francisco Unplayable
• Ubisoft Servers Offline Next Week, Some PC Games Unplayable During Transition
• New Motorstorm RC Trailer Details Competitive Online Play

UK Xbox owners who don’t have a ‘Gold’ subscription will be able to access all of the features of such an account this weekend – free.

From Microsoft:

All Xbox LIVE Free members will be upgraded to Gold – giving you access to the complete Xbox LIVE experience, including online multiplayer games, instantly-streamed movies and music in Zune , voice chat, Video Kinect and great social features like Twitter and Facebook to share your achievements with your friends.

What a great way to celebrate this week which has no special holidays or events whatsoever.

• Forza 4 “American Le Mans Series Pack” Available Today
• Rumor: Microsoft to Allow Real Money on Xbox Live this Year
• Xbox Dashboard Update Takes Color Out of Your Life; Microsoft Working on Fix
• Xbox 360 System Update Coming Tomorrow
• Call of Duty Elite Releasing Third Xbox 360 Map, PS3 Owners Still Waiting for First
• Stephen “Stepto” Toulouse and Microsoft No More