Monthly Archives: January 2009

Gears of War 2 global product manager Guy Welch announced that the man-shooter has sold over 4 million copies in its first two months on the market.

This figure is double that of the first game, which sold 2 million during that period.

“The original Gears of War was the fastest-selling next-generation game of 2006, selling more than 2 million units worldwide that Holiday, and now well over 5 million copies sold to date,” said Welch.

“With Gears of War 2, the game has sold over 4 million units in the first two months, doubling the pace of the original.”

Thanks, GameDaily.

By Mike Bowden

The latest Media-Create figures are in and they show that everyone has experienced a sharp slump in sales.

For example, although still heading up the pack, DSi sold less than half of what it did the previous week. 360 and PS3 also followed suit falling by around 50 percent compared with the week before.

Last week’s here. Full list below:

• DSi 78,201
• PSP 60,495
• Wii 41,243
• PS3 28,144
• DS Lite 23,429
• Xbox 360 10,554
• PS2 6,628

By Mike Bowden

EEDAR issued a statement post NPD statement proclaiming that although Wii figures didn’t hit the expected 3 million mark, it doesn’t mean to say that demand for Nintendo’s family console is slowing down.

“These Wii figures are not any indication that is demand slowing down,” said the PR mail.

“The Nintendo Wii is going through supply just as quick as they have before and these numbers merely reflect the large disparity between supply and demand. We still believe the Nintendo Wii would have sold north of 4 million units have supply and demand been in equilibrium.”

Full statement after the break.

For all our NPD news, go here.

By Mike Bowden

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Edge has published what can only be described as a veritable graph-orama.

There are fat graphs, thin graphs, multicoloured graphs: it’s all about the graphs.

Hit the link for NPD 2008 in graph format.

By Mike Bowden

Sony has issued a statement focusing on all aspects of its business, saying that last night’s NPD figures showed “continued momentum” for the PlayStation brand with 3.6 million units sold for the year.

“PS3 also generated one of its strongest months in software unit sales in the U.S., with almost 6 million units sold in December. For the calendar year, PS3 software unit sales increased 116%,” says the statement.

SCEA Senior VP of marketing and PSN, Peter Dille added:

“The PlayStation brand has had a solid calendar year with total PS3 hardware sales up 40% and total PS3 software sales up 115%.”

“We remain confident in our momentum into 2009 as we continue to deliver to our consumers the best entertainment content and technology out there,” he said. “And we delivered on that promise this past year with one of the best software line-ups in the industry, a dramatically expanded PlayStation Network with the launch of the video delivery service and the beta of PlayStation Home, as well as extended hardware offerings with the PSP 3000 and Uncharted 160GB PS3 bundle.

“We also hit a remarkable milestone for the PlayStation 2 platform in North America with 50 million units sold. It’s truly an amazing testament to the power and legacy of our brand.”

Full statement after the break.

For all our NPD news, go here.

By Mike Bowden

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In the wake December’s NPD results, NoA exec VP of sales and marketing, Cammie Dunaway has said that the company’s yearly Wii sales of 10.17m – a feat matched by no other company in US history – is down to the fact that Nintendo expanded the “definition of what a video game can be.”

“Our type of entertainment has now moved to the point where there is no longer a question that if you offer consumers an expanded definition of what a video game can be, and deliver that idea with quality and affordability in mind, millions of new people will start playing video games,” said Dunaway

“Concepts like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band never would have seemed feasible just a few years ago, and now they’re driving growth for our the entire industry.”

Nintendo enjoyed an unbelievable year with DS being the first unit ever to break the 3 million barrier and the company practically cleaned up both the 2008 software charts and seeing Wii Play top the December software list with another four titles in the top ten.

By Mike Bowden

In response to last night’s NPD results, Microsoft has issued a statement whereby the company says December 2008 was “the biggest month for Xbox 360 in history.”

The firm also added that that sales were up 38 percent on the previous month, and offered that it outperformed PS3 2:1 for the third month in a row.

Microsoft also boasted that “Xbox 360 has generated more life-to-date dollars at retail for third-party publishers than the PS3 and Wii combined.”

For all our NPD news, go here.

Full statement after the break.

By Mike Bowden

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December’s NPD figures show that PlayStation 3 sales have risen 90 percent from November 2008 and total sales for the year are up 40 percent compared with 2007.

However, although the console has seen steady growth throughout the year, combined sales for the holiday season (November and December) are down from 1.26 million in 2007, to 1.1 million in 2008.

In contrast, Xbox 360 holiday season sales have seen a ten percent increase, with 2.03 million consoles sold in Nov/Dec 2007, compared with 2.27 million in 2008.

As with all things sales performance wise however, Nintendo has almost doubled its holiday season sales when compared last year, with 2.33 units sold for Nov/Dec 07, compared with 4.19 million Wiis in 2008.

By Mike Bowden

According to the NPD annual software charts for 2008, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV 360 outsold GTA IV PS3 by nearly 2:1.

The open world action title sold 3.29 million copies on 360 and just 1.89 million on Sony’s console where GTA games have traditionally resided. In fact, last year’s release was the first simultaneous multiplatform release for the franchise.

GTA IV 360 could see a resurgence in sales as platform exclusive DLC, Lost and Damned, becomes available later on this year.

All of videogaming247′s December NPD coverage can be found here.

By Mike Bowden

NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier has said in light of the latest NPD hardware numbers, Nintendo DS has broken a record by being the first console in history to break 3 million unit sales in one month.

“The NDS captures the top-spot for hardware sales this month, marking the first time that any hardware system has sold in excess of 3 million units in any single month,” said Frazier.

More records were broken as The NPD Group revealed that the industry as a whole saw a 19 percent increase on 2007, which in itself is an industry first.

“While industry growth has not continued at the blistering pace we saw during the second and third quarters, December’s 9% increase over last December brings the year in 19% ahead of last year, and sets a new record for total industry sales,” Frazier continued.

However, that wasn’t all. December 2008 was the first month in which total industry revenue topped $5 billion dollars.

“This month marks the first time that industry revenue has topped $5B in any single month. In 1997, annual revenues were $5.1B, and now a single month has realized that level of sales,” Anita Frazier concluded.

Cigars all round.

By Mike Bowden

According to the latest NPD figures, Nintendo has the top four best selling titles of 2008, with Wii Play heading the charts with 5.28 million copies sold for the year.

Just behind is Mario Kart Wii with 5 millions units, then Wii Fit with 4.53 million and finally SSBB with 4.17 million copies sold through 2008.

The 360 has four titles in the top ten whilst only GTA IV represents PlayStation 3 in total software sales for the console, for the year.

Full list below:

1. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 5.28 million
2. WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 5.00 million
3. WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 4.53 million
4. WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 4.17 million
5. 360 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV – TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE – 3.29 million
6. 360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD – 2.75 million
7. 360 GEARS OF WAR 2 – MICROSOFT – 2.31 million
8. PS3 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV – TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE – 1.89 million
9. 360 MADDEN NFL 09 – ELECTRONIC ARTS – 1.87 million
10. NDS MARIO KART – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 1.65 million

You can find the NPD December 2008 software and hardware sales through their respective links.

The NPD software results are here Wii Play and has pipped Call of Duty World at War 360 to the number one spot in the final US sales figures for 2008.

The full list is as follows:

1. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 1.46 million
2. 360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD – 1.33 million
3. WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 999K
4. WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 979K
5. WII GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD – 850K
6. 360 GEARS OF WAR 2 – MICROSOFT – 745K
7. 360 LEFT 4 DEAD – ELECTRONIC ARTS – 629K
8. NDS MARIO KART – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 540K
9. PS3 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD – 533K
10. WII ANIMAL CROSSING: CITY FOLK – NINTENDO OF AMERICA – 497K

Click here for total software sales for 2008 whilst NPD hardware numbers are here.

By Mike Bowden

The December 2008 NPD hardware results are in and as the analysts predicted Nintendo had a great month, but it was in fact DS and not Wii that sold over 3 million units.

However, as anticipated, 360 has outsold PS3 by a ratio of 2:1.

The results are as follows:

• Nintendo DS 3.04 million
• Wii 2.15 million
• Xbox 360 1.44 million
• PlayStation Portable 1.02 million
• PlayStation 3 726K
• PlayStation 2 410K

Software sales for December 08 can be found here whereas software sales for the whole year can be found here.

By Mike Bowden

After the break you can see a whole host of Nintendo’s Pikmin remake for Wii.

According to Nintendo’s Q1 release schedule, Pikmin Wii is due out February 6 in Europe.

The colourful strategy title is part of the company’s GameCube remakes called “Play-on-Wii”- which is basically old games redesigned to use the Wii mote.

Check them out.

By Mike Bowden

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The Major‘s confirmed that the Live Season feature in FIFA 09 where player’s stats are affected by the form of their real life counterparts has fallen in price.

“The English Barclay’s Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga and Mexican Primera Division are now 420 points each, down from 560 Points each, while the package of all six leagues, originally 1600 points is now 1200 points,” says the piece.

So there you go.

By Mike Bowden

Microsoft has laid out its complete January song schedule for its casual karaoke title, Lips.

There will be nine tracks released in total – three per week – and next week you can download “Hate That I Love You” by songstress Rihanna and “Take A Bow” the following Friday for 180 MS Points.

Here are all the tracks listed by week (priced at 160 MS Points unless stated):

January 16

• “When I Grow Up” — The Pussycat Dolls
• “You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin’” — The Righteous Brothers (180 pts)
• “Erase/Rewind” — The Cardigans

January 23

• “Hate That I Love You” — Rihanna feat. Ne-Yo (180 pts)
• “Thnks fr th Mmrs” — Fall Out Boy
• “Look What You’ve Done” — Jet

January 30

• “Sunday Morning” — Maroon 5
• “Take A Bow” — Rihanna (180 pts)
• “Water Runs Dry” — Boyz II Men

Some new pics of Square Enix’s space RPG Star Ocean: The Last Hope have surfaced and the whole thing’s looking very bright and colourful.

The fourth iteration in the Star Ocean series is currently pencilled in for an Xbox 360 release later this year.

Check them all out after the break.

By Mike Bowden

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Capcom has revealed a Resident Evil 5 limited edition box set for PlayStation 3 in Italy, France and Spain.

The Steel Book box set contains two discs – one DVD, one Blu-Ray – and some exclusive art cards.

We want this, so we’re asking Capcom if the rest of Europe will be getting it.

Check it out below.

Update: Capcom has released a 360 packshot too (after the break) and has confirmed that all major European territories will get the limited edition.

By Mike Bowden

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Konami has announced the arcade racer remake, GTi Club+ is now available for download on PSN.

To whet your appetite, the company has also released loads of brand new images to stare at and wish you were playing the game instead.

GTi Club+ was released on the EU PSN on Dec, 4 last year.

Images after the break.

By Mike Bowden

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Eurogamer has announced that the latest ABC Electronic audit confirms that the site had over 3.7 million unique users in November last year. That’s more than double 2007’s figure for the same month.

“The results are particularly pleasing as both the UK site increased significantly to 2.3 million unique users during the month, and our more established European editions showed impressive numbers too,” Eurogamer MD Rupert Loman said.

“With over 750,000 unique users in Germany, over 250,000 in Portugal and almost 200,000 in France the European network is really doing well.”

He added, “If you were to take into account GamesIndustry.biz as well the business is now reaching well over 4 million unique users per month.”

Full release after the break.

By Mike Bowden

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