Games Toaster

GameStop opens midnight for Halo 3

Gamestop say they will open 14 of its 46 in the Republic and Northern Ireland at at midnight on Tuesday for the European release of Halo 3.

The retailer are to have midnight openings at Henry St, Stephens Green, and Clare Hall in Dublin, along with their outlets in Belfast, Derry, Limerick, Drogheda, Wexford, Tralee, Letterkenny, Mallow, Midleton, Killarney, and Bangor.

Other retailers, such as HMV, GAME, and Smyths, are also likely to have midnight openings in at least the main cities.

A Microsoft spokesperson told us this evening that, in Ireland, "Michael Finucane from Game stop says that pre-orders are running at twice the rate of Halo 2", while a statement released this afternoon says the company worldwide is "running off 81 games per second to ensure that they meet global demand for this title".

"It is fantastic to see the level of interest shown by Irish gamers, all of whom are eager to be one of the first people in the country to get their hands on what is set to be the must have game this Christmas," said Orla Sheridan, country manager at the entertainment and devices division of Microsoft Ireland.

GAME: Ireland & UK sales boosted by PS3

Retailer GAME says that the PS3 pushed sales up; pictured: a customer handing over cash at the PS3 midnight launch at GAME on Dawson Street in Dublin.

PlayStation 3 has accounted for over 40 percent in growth in sales at the games retail giant GAME according to a statement released today by the firm.

GAME have stores around Ireland but it is hard to tell what trends are exclusive to the State or the island as the company treats the UK and Ireland as the one market.

Derry computer games studio launches

Dark Water Studios, a start-up independent games developer, launched this week in Derry.

Dark Water are already working on an unnamed PC multi-player game which is partly funded by Northern Ireland’s Department of Enterprise. The company also says it is in the early stages of prototyping a next generation console and PC title.

The venture is headed by Mike Brown, with technology manager Paul Houbart and lead animator Rory Fellowes – together they bring over 50 years of experience to Dark Water. Currently employing ten people their aim is to expand to 25 by the end of the year.

The company is understood to be an unofficial spin-off from Instinct Technology, a Derry-based games middleware firm previously called Torc Interactive. 

"Our aim is to bring together the cream of available game-creation talent; by drawing from Northern Ireland's existing talent pool by using the quality of life offered by this unique location to attract the cream of overseas talent and by making good use of the opportunities for outsourcing and remote working which modern technology allows" commented Brown.