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Writing for MCV, Ubisoft managing director Rob Cooper has laid out his company's hopes for the UK game industry in the next decade. He writes a great deal on ELSPA's role in championing the industry to the UK government, specifically regarding things like tax breaks and game rating issues. Regarding an issue closer to gamers' hearts, Cooper discussed where games are headed in the years to come. "Where once fuzzy pixels danced around on the screen," says Cooper, "now we expect everything from the visuals and sound effects to the dialogue of our characters – along with the emotions they can portray – to be more finely tuned."

He cautions the industry however, noting that such finely tuned products require higher studio costs. He elaborates that there is "no point" in raising game budgets if they cause profits to dwindle or, more importantly for consumers, cause prices to become "horrifically high." We're inclined to agree.

It's an interesting piece, and definitely worth a read for anyone who enjoys a little inside baseball.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the best-selling game in the UK during 2009, according to data from ELSPA/GFK Chart-Track. That surely comes as a foregone conclusion to any devout follower of the weekly Chart-Track all-formats report, which has seen Modern Warfare 2 at the top of the charts for nine weeks in a row. Last year's Call of Duty installment, World at War, made the ninth spot in the top 10 for the past year.

Running up the field in second was FIFA 10, with FIFA 09 taking the tenth spot. Assassin's Creed 2 hung on to sixth place, with the rest of the all formats chart occupied by Wii titles. Check out the full all formats list, along with the top five for each console, after the break. The top 20 can be found on the ELSPA site.

Chart-Track/ELSPA reveal that new boxed game sales declined 18 percent in the UK during 2009, which is likely due to an amalgam of digital distribution and global financial issues (to put it lightly). As noted by GI.biz, the report does not include any sales information on used sales, Steam or other digital distribution networks. Thus, the 26 percent decline in boxed PC game sales during 2009 (a 22 percent decline in revenue) sounds tragic; however, considering the rapid adoption of digital distribution by PC users, it hardly gives the "full picture."

Boxed console games fared better with Xbox 360 and PS3 sales up a healthy 14 and 9 percent in unit sales, along with an increase of two and four percent in revenue, respectively. The year wasn't as kind to Wii games, with a drop of 10 percent in units sold and an 18 percent decline in revenue. Of course, as with PC, none of these sales include each console's digital distribution network, which certainly adds a couple extra pounds, especially after the holidays.

Citing "astonishing" first-day sales figures in the UK, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association has trumpeted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's debut as a sign that "interactive entertainment has completely come of age." Said Michael Rawlinson, Director General of the ELSPA: "These first day sales figures are astonishing and clear evidence that video games are now mainstream in the UK."

Smashing through the estimated 631,000 units sold by 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV, Infinity Ward's slick shooter grossed £47 million (roughly $78.3 million) in first-day sales, which ELSPA and GFK-ChartTrack pair with 1.23 million units sold. Sold to adults, of course! "So, as an 18-rated video game, it is important that this game is not played by children, and parents should be appropriately vigilant," said Rawlinson. "We ask everyone to make sure they check the packaging of games to ensure they are suitable for their players, especially as we enter the festive season when video games are one of the most popular gifts of the holiday."

We hope you don't take offense, people of the UK, but some of you have awfully high-pitched voices online.

The Change 4 Life ad campaign gathered early attention with the shocking connection between sedentary activities like games and "AN EARLY DEATH." Then it softened the message a bit with the more positive suggestion that "active" video games would be a healthy move. Now, the initiative is getting its exercise with vigorous backpedaling, as it will actually endorse a video game, giving permission to use its logo in advertising. Of course, that game is Wii Fit Plus.

"We are thrilled that active videogames are finally being recognised by the Government for contributing to a healthy, balanced lifestyle," ELSPA's Mike Rawlinson said. Rawlinson revealed that ELSPA has been working with the UK government since the first Change 4 Life ad to get some fairer recognition for games, and apparently the Change 4 Life folks finally got tired of hearing about it came to their senses.

ELSPA is assuring the UK public that the plan to make the new PEGI ratings legally enforceable won't be affected by the fact that there is currently no law with which to enforce them. ELSPA director general Mike Rawlinson told MCV that the government told the organization "that the timetable for the introduction of PEGI as the legal system of video games classification will not be adversely affected by this error."

ELSPA expects legislation to be passed in the general election following the Queen' speech this November, in order to fix the loophole that renders the Video Recordings Act unenforceable. In the meantime, "ELSPA will therefore advise our members to continue to forward games to be rated as per the current agreement while the legal issues are being resolved." Until then, nothing keeps retailers from selling anything to kids but common sense.

A recently discovered error means that the 1984 Video Recordings Act, which regulates the classification and sale of videos, never actually passed into law in the UK. The Times, which shrilly claims in its headline that children are now "unprotected," reports that "Officials in the Home Office had failed to notify the European Commission of the existence of the Act as they were required to do so under an EU directive." Of specific interest to gamers: the law regulates the classification and sale of video games as well. It is this law that would give the PEGI rating system its legal backing.

That means that, right now, the UK ratings system has as much legal force as the ESRB ratings system -- no legal force. ELSPA says that publishers should continue rating games as normal for now. If we see a spike in GTA sales next week, we're going to call your parents.

The UK publishing community is asking for sales information from the digital distribution networks, possibly using a service like GfK-ChartTrack to set up a download-only chart. The question is whether Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Valve and others are likely to share that information.

To push things along, some developers are revealing sales figures as a sign of solidarity with the new initiative. Developer doublesix announced its PSN game, Burn Zombie Burn, achieved 70,000 sales. Studio honcho James Brooksby said, "We're clearly delighted that Burn Zombie Burn is performing well. ... However, I do wish that all the platform owners would make their digital sales figures public. We feel this lack of transparency is hindering the development of these channels."

Considering these digital distribution networks have only really discussed sales rankings up until now, it would usher in a brave new world if they were to start releasing actual sales figures (whether to developers or to the public).

Source - Publishers ready for download chart [MCV]
Source - doublesix calls for transparency of sales figures [Games Press]

Nintendo is king of the UK retail gaming jungle, according to ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack data. The House of Mario holds the top four spots for titles sold on the isles during the first half of 2009.

1. Wii Fit
   
2. Wii Play
   
3. Mario Kart Wii
   
4. Professor Layton And The Curious Village
   
5. Killzone 2
   

Yes, surprisingly, Killzone 2 did take the fifth spot, beating out Resident Evil 5. ELSPA's director states that the figures indicate "gaming is now mainstream in the UK." And that a lot of people in the UK think they (or a loved one) need to lose 10 lbs.

[Via VideoGamer]

The UK-based Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) is trying to show that the PEGI system -- which it supported in the great BBFC ousting of '09 -- is by no means weaker than the BBFC ratings that used to be oversee the region. Speaking with MCV, the group took the opportunity to warn publishers: "Abuse [the] new system and risk your future." Publishers may face fines of €500,000 ($696K) if they lie on the questionnaire, which allows PEGI and the Video Standards Council to determine an appropriate rating for their games.

ELSPA's statement and teeth bearing are to ease concerns that PEGI won't be strong enough for the UK when it's implemented this holiday. ELSPA is essentially using a "see, we told them to play nice" tactic to save face, just in case the rating system it supported has an incident.

The UK-based Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, or ELSPA for short, has a new face on board. Seasoned game designer David Braben and his crack team of devs at Frontier Developments have joined the trade body, no doubt wooed by the organization's rumored regular meetings to play Twister.

Braben wowed early gamers with his influential space sim, Elite, as well as its 1993 sequel, Frontier. Braben's latest release strayed far from his roots, however, in last year's WiiWare platformer, LostWinds. In joining the ELSPA, Braben says he hopes to help the organization deal with such issues as piracy, ratings and used game sales "swiftly and efficiently." Still, given that the studio's current project, The Outsider, was first announced in 2006, and we're still waiting on Elite IV, we're not convinced speed is how Braben and company roll.

A recent survey conducted by YouGov for the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) revealed that most UK citizens want an independent body to issue game ratings. GI.biz reports that a majority of those surveyed also said that they would prefer to see games use the same rating standard as movies. The BBFC hopes to use this survey as leverage in its bid to become the UK's primary game ratings body. Currently, the BBFC only rates games with a certain level of mature content, though that may change thanks to last year's Byron Review.

The BBFC competes with Europe's PEGI ratings, which already appear on UK game releases. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) argues that the PEGI system is superior to the BBFC. Said ELSPA director general Mike Rawlinson, "Gamers no longer just play with their mates but play online, and we need a system that reflects this situation and protects their interests," adding that the PEGI system is the "right solution for child safety." Rawlinson further states that ELSPA will be promoting the PEGI system with a "multi million pound campaign" designed to get the word out to UK parents. Finally, he says that ELSPA has conducted its own research with YouGov that supports its argument.

The irony of all this, of course, is that this fight is being waged to make ratings less confusing.

ELSPA/Gfk-ChartTrack reveals that Mario Kart Wii was the top-selling game across the UK during 2008 in the "individual SKUs" category. EA's FIFA 09 (it's a soccer game) took the top spot in "all formats." MCV notes that Nintendo hardware holds six of the ten spots on the individual list and several slots on the all format list. Not exactly surprising, given how the region has embraced the Wii.

NPD will release its year-end report covering the US this Thursday. For now, check out the most popular titles among the masters of Marmite after the break.

Sure, LittleBigPlanet may have had a rough start at first, but it seems the wrinkles are smoothing out and things are on the up-and-up. In the UK, total sales for the awwww-inducing Sackboy sim have hit well over 200,000 copies prompting ELSPA (Electronic Leisure Software Publishers Association) to award the title with prestigeous gold status.

Edge notes that the healthy sales figure was due to a strong TV campaign which ran throughout the holidays -- such as commercial spots like the one embedded above. Sources also tell Edge that LBP is due any time now to receive Platinum status (300K copies sold and onward). Hometown heroes Media Molecule must be grinning ear-to-ear.