Monthly Archives: June 2009

NPD analyst Anita Frazier confirmed last night that the Tiger Woods franchise has now generated more than $500 million in US sales.

“Tiger Woods video games have sold over half a billion $ at U.S. retail life-to-date,” said Frazier via Twitter.

The news comes in the wake of sobering US sales figures for May, which saw year-on-year revenue decline 23 percent to below $1 billion.

More on Gamespot.

THQ’s released Homefront’s reveal trailer, presumably to keep it away from E3 media clusterfuck, and very shooty it is too.

It’s a Kaos Studios project, set in a US occupied by the frickin’ North Korean reds.

No date. After the break.

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Microsoft responded to last night’s May NPD figures, which showed an overall year-on-year decline in the US trade of 23 percent, by saying 360 was the only machine in the market experiencing growing sales.

The machine has seen a 22 percent year-to-date increase over 2008 in 2009, although it saw a 6.2 percent monthly drop compared to May last year.

Microsoft also took the opportunity to trumpet 360′s Metacritic scores, counting a current-generation-leading total of 142 Xbox 360 games garnering a score of 80 or above.

More from Gama.

Nintendo confirmed that Wii has now sold more than 20 million units in the US last night, speaking in response to May’s NPD figures.

The machine has reached the “major milestone” after 31 months in the American market.

The firm also split out DSi and DS sales in its statement, revealing that of the 633,000 DS systems sold in the US last month, 390,000 were for the newly-released revamp.

Get the full hardware figures here. Press release after the break.

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Run for the hills. The dream’s over. Start making boats out of matchsticks, or something. Japan’s surrendered. Flee. Flee.

Data for the week ending June 7. We missed a week here. Blame E3. Here’s the last one. You get the idea.

• DSi – 38,783
• PSP – 29,070
• Wii – 17,177
• PS3 – 10,173
• Xbox 360 – 6,625
• DS Lite – 5,664
• PS2 – 4,096

America’s tough comps got even tougher last night, as NPD announced a butt-puckering 23 percent decline in overall games revenue for May on a year-over-year basis.

Sales were down to $863.3 million from $1.12 billion in May last year, the first time the total monthly industry figure has fallen below $1 billion since August 2007.

Hardware was down to $302,500, a 30 percent drop.

Software revenue fell to $448,900, a 17 percent decrease, while peripheral sales slid 5 percent to $112,000.

“The video games industry continues to struggle with difficult comparisons to last year, and this is the first month that industry sales have dipped below $1 billion since August 2007,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

“May is typically one of the lowest revenue-generating months in any given year for the industry in general.”

Great result for THQ’s UFC Undisputed in the US in May, with the 360 game clearing nearing 700,000 units for first place in NPD’s software chart. With the PS3 version included, the title sold more than 1 million copies in the US last month.

Wii Fit and what now looks to be an astute move from EA in Sports Active came second and third respectively.

Top ten:

• UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ, Xbox 360, 679.6K)
• Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii, 352.8K)
• EA Sports Active (EA, Wii, 345.8K)
• UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ, PS3, 334.4K)
• inFamous (Sony, PS3, 175.9K)
• Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo, DS, 168.9K)
• Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii, 158.3K)
• Punch Out!! (Nintendo, Wii, 156.9K)
• X-Men Origins Wolverine Uncaged Edition (Acti Blizz, Xbox 360, 120.7K)
• Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii, 109.8K)

Nintendo platforms were dominant in the US last month, while Xbox 360 led a lacklustre race against PS3.

Stats:

• PS2 – 117K
• PlayStation 3 – 131K
• PSP – 100.4K
• Xbox 360 – 175K
• Wii – 289.5K
• Nintendo DS – 633.5K

Assassin’s Creed 2: Black Edition has been announced and other than the obvious black packaging, it comes with some goodies inside.

Each disc will have a “unique authentic holographic signature”, three in-game bonus missions, a 64-page leather style hardcover book with parchment-finish full of concept art and interviews, some behind-the-scenes interviews, the soundtrack, and an Ezio figure.

It will set UK gamers back £69.99, and while it hasn’t been announced in North America yet, you can expect to pay around $80-90.

Via Kotaku.

Atlus announced today via a lovely mailer that Shin Megami Tensei: Persona for PSP will be released in North America this fall.

The remake has a completely redone localization along with content never before seen in the US.

Gameplay enhancements and additions have also been added to the RPG, as well as a two-disc soundtrack.

Great news, that.

Almost seven minutes of unseen Duke Nukem Forever footage popped up on the Jace Hall Show.

If you are interested in seeing more of what you may never be able to play, go hit up Shack to watch.

It’s not the best footage, but at least it’s something.

Reggie Fils-Aime feels it’s ironic that Microsoft and Sony are just now introducing motion control into the market three years after Wii.

“We have been very familiar with that technology,” said Fils-Aime regarding Natal. “I have personally seen a lot of iterations of similar technology. Our first reaction is that it is ironic that, three or four years ago, the prevailing industry opinion was that prettier pictures or more horsepower were the waves of the future. And now it’s clear from both of our competitors that physical activity in gaming is the wave of the future.

“It’s also ironic that, for Nintendo, the future is here. The future is now.”

Like Iwata, Fils-Aime said that Nintendo is taking a wait-and-see-approach to the competition and will judge whether each one is a success or not come launch before taking the next step.

“We have pioneered many interface options that people take for granted today,” he told Kotaku. “We’ve looked at similar technology and will continue to look at other technology for the future. What’s different, I think, for us, is that the experience is what drives us down a particular path, not simply how nifty the technology is.

“When we looked at this technology and other technology, we decided that the best way to drive immersion and precision as well as creating an environment for publishers to flourish was the Wii remote coupled with the nunchuck.”

Don’t look for any of this talk to end until both Microsoft and Sony release the new peripherals.

More through the link.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter Gathering Hall will have its doors flung wide come July 3 at the Lazarides Gallery in London.

Three floors of space should be plenty of room for you to mingle and enjoy the free sodas, art, and people playing Monster Hunter on Ad-Hoc.

Hours of operation are from 10am to 8pm, seven days a week and will remain so until September 1.

The Gathering Hall is open to everyone providing they own a PSP and a copy of Monster Hunter.

More over on Capcom Unity.

GameStop just keeps getting exclusives, and the latest is the Halo 3: ODST Collector’s Pack.

It not only includes the game, but also features a wireless Xbox 360 controller full of ODST labeling for $99.

Joystiq says the Collector’s Pack will be made available in other regions, but US consumers can only get it at GameStop.

Hit the links for more details.

During an interview with Valve bossman Gabe Newell, he was asked why no word on Half-Life 2: Episode 3 has surfaced.

Apparently, there is a good reason for it, but Newell wouldn’t say what it was.

“I get a ton of email everyday saying why aren’t you talking about Episode 3?” he told G4. “And there are very good reasons why we’re not talking about Episode 3, which I can’t talk about yet, but I will.”

Maybe another protest group should form over this. One moaning about how new HL2:E3 info should be released.

We’d sign up.

More through the links.

Thanks, BigDownload.

Home users who have been reveling in Xi will now be able to solve the mystery behind the virtual world.

After you have played all the mini-games, go to the Xi hub, experience the conclusion, and enjoy because that’s it. Once you finish you can’t go back, so make sure you have completed everything you want to complete.

The space may be closing, but it will remain open for a few extra weeks to give those whowant to experience it more time.

More over on the US PS Blog.

Harmonix and MTV announced today that Green Day will be landing on Rock Band July 7.

The first bit will be a three-pack consisting of 21st Century Breakdown tracks 21 Guns, Know Your Enemy, and East Jesus Nowhere.

“We are excited to be working with MTV and Harmonix,” said Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. “They are leaders and visionaries in the world of music and video games, and Rock Band is a really cool way for fans of all ages to experience our music.”

Additional Green Day songs and projects will be announced at a later date.

Press release is below.
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BioWare’s Casey Hudson has revealed that certain choices in Mass Effect 2 could result in a bloodbath at endgame.

“At the beginning of the game, you start to get an idea of something really scary, really dangerous, that you’re going to have to do at the very end of the game,” he told NowGamer. “To get ready for that you’re going to have to build up your crew, build the best team that you can, build up your ship, and then when you think you’re ready you’re gonna go in and do it.

“If you don’t do a lot of the stuff, or make the right kind of choices, the ending will be a bloodbath, and the people that you brought with you will die, and it’ll be a great ending, but it’ll be that kind of ending.”

Previous squad members from the original game will make an appearance, but you won’t be able to recruit them.

“All the squad members that you pick up are completely new characters”, he continued. “Some of them from races that have never been in your squad before. It’s going to be larger squad, a lot more varied and very, very different kinds of characters.”

More through the link.

Shane Kim has said that when Project Natal launches it will be as big of a deal as when Xbox 360 hit the market.

“Conceptually, the launch of Natal will be like the launch of Xbox 360,” he told Kotaku at E3. “It’s going to be that big. We’re not just going to ship it when the hardware and software are ready. We have to make sure that there are enough content experiences that are really good.

“That’s similar to how you would think of the launch of a new console. It’s got to have a great launch line-up. That’s the same thing here.”

Kim also told the site that the company’s focus will not be the current generation of casual gamers.

“We’re not focused on this generation’s casual gamers or even PS2 people who haven’t upgraded. This is about the 60 percent of households were a video game console doesn’t exist… the problem is that the controller is a barrier for some people and now with Project Natal we completely eliminate that.”

More through the link.

Microsoft has decided to change the name of its Xbox Live Community Games to Xbox Live Indie Games, reports Gamasutra.

The company’s reasoning is so that gamers can have a better “understanding and discoverability” of independent titles via the service.

Makes more sense really.

Expect the change to occur sometime after July.