Monthly Archives: June 2009

SCEE president Andrew House told OPM’s Tim Clark at E3 that we’re going to see people buying PS3s as an “upgrade” from less powerful consoles later this cycle

“If you look back at previous lifecycles, like PS2 versus N64, we have lots of data that suggests that lots of people bought into N64 as their entry level gaming device, and were happy to upgrade to a more powerful machine later in the lifecycle when the price point was right for them,” he said.

“I think we’re going to see this later on PS3, and the fact that it’s a Blu-ray player as well and that there’s a [greater] wealth of network based experiences than are perhaps available on the device they already have will add to the proposition. I think that will definitely be a factor in the marketplace.”

There’s a full interview here.

FIFA producer David Rutter is sick of the EA hating. He wants it to stop, goshdarnit.

“It does upset me that people bad-mouth EA, and I used to be one of those people,” he told MCV.

“But the fact that I am allowed to spend so much money on making good gameplay, without having to do anything gimmicky, to me speaks volumes of the work Peter Moore and other people in the organisation are doing.”

You heard the man. Peace and love. More through there.

EA Sports boss Peter Moore told Kotaku at E3 last week that its two major fighter franchises are now to alternate annual releases.

“It gives us a rhythm of a fighting game every year,” Moore said.

“That’s the plan. If you think of 2010, we’re bringing MMA. In 2011, Fight Night Round 5.”

MMA was announced at E3, the first title in the new IP coming next year.

More through there.

Here we go again. Speaking on his blog, Capcom’s Chris Kramer has hinted that Resident Evil Portable, the PSP title announced in Sony’s E3 press conference last week, is a complete departure from other games in the series.

“I’ve managed to sneak a look at a very early game design document for this title and all I am allowed to say is: Wow. Totally different for a Resident Evil game,” he said.

Kramer added that the title is an “all-new title created specifically for the PSP platform, with the PSP Go in mind.”

The mind boggles. Link for more.

Let’s have some freakin’ online shooter performance stats. Mr Zipper Interactive, speaking in the video after the break, reckons the game of MAG Sony had running at E3 was running at “30 frames per second” in “basically what’s a lag-free environment”.

The shooter was demoed with 256 players at the show.

Hit link. Watch video.

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Apple’s dropped iPhone 3G to $99 in advance of launching a new model, the iPhone 3GS, later this month. The “S” stands for “speed”.

The news came at Apple’s WWDC keynote in San Francisco today, which featured almost nothing to do with games. Gameloft did show a new racer, though.

Get more from Engadget.

CVG’s posted a ton of pics from the E3 showfloor last week. Just in case you were wondering what it looked like.

Because we were. And now you know. This post’s going nowhere. Hit the link, end the pain.

Kotaku’s posted a couple of clips from a Miyamoto interview they did at E3 last week, in which the Nintendo dev boss hints that games involving Iwata’s Vitality Sensor may be on the cards.

He also says he’s not sad any more. He was sad, if you recall, during the GameCube era. The sadness has now passed.

Get both videos after the break.

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Codemasters released yet another video for Overlord II today, showing initiates in the evil game how they might progress “going forwards”.

The game’s out for PS3 and 360 on June 26.

Thanks, Kotaku.

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Lazard Capital’s Colin Sebastian reckons that online games will generate upwards of $11 billion of revenue this year, thereby making up 25 per cent of total industry earnings.

“We estimate that online video games will generate more than $11 billion in revenues this year, up from $3 billion in 2005, and account for roughly 25% of industry game sales worldwide,” said Sebastian.

“In this respect, we continue to believe that the Internet is emerging as an important growth driver and content platform, weaving together communication, information, commerce and entertainment.

“In addition, 2009 may be remembered as the year in which the pace of change in media consumption accelerated, while 2010 and 2011 may bring improved monetization and mass market adoption of web-based applications and digital content, in particular interactive entertainment.”

Thanks, Gama.

In other analyst news: Webush Morgan’s Michael Pachter said earlier today that he believes the US will see a 50% decline in hardware sales for May. NPD results are in this Thursday.

To celebrate the game’s excellent E3 display, Eidos has released some new Just Cause 2 screenshots that are full to the brim with explosions.

Just as well we like digitally destroying things, then, isn’t it?

Kotaku has them. Check them out. You won’t regret it.

VG247 met up with master games designer Tim Schafer at E3 last week, who told us he feels that 2009 is Brütal Legend’s year.

“This has been a great year for us. I’d thought we’d never get there,” he said when asked about how he sees Brütal Legend fitting in alongside the myriad of shooters and rhythm action games on show at the LACC.

“We’d be showing it and I’d walk up and there’d be this huge game on a billboard and I’d be like, ‘I wonder if we’ll ever get there, we’ll probably never get there,’ and now this year there’s Brütal Legend up there.

“I really feel like this is Brütal Legend’s year, and it really feels like it does stand out among the other games,” said Schafer.

Brütal Legend is out for Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year. That is, if Activision’s move to block the game’s release doesn’t bear fruit.

Check out a brand new trailer featuring the keeper of the sacred beer tree.

DoubleFine and EA have put out a new Brütal Legend trailer featuring Lemmy, Ozzy and none other than the keeper of the sacred beer tree.

We can’t wait for this one. Click below to found out why.

Brütal Legend should be out for PS3 and 360 later this year.

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The only word here is “wow”. EA’s Fight Night Round 4 looks better and better and the screenshots below are a testament to that.

We’ve played the demo so much now that we’ve knocked The Pac Man down four times in a round. We’re that good.

Can’t wait to do it to Gatti, Morrison and Barrera at the end of June when the game releases for Xbox 360 and PS3.

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Gold & Silver, the Pokemon remakes on Nintendo DS, will not only be a case of updated visuals, you’ll get a nifty little Pokemon Walker to boot.

The ‘PokeWalker’ (pictured above) apparently gains experience as you walk about. It’ll transfer the data to your DS via infra-red and can be used to catch other Pokemon as well.

The full skinny is over at AndriaSang.

BioWare lead writer David Gaider has told Gama at E3 that Dragon Age is a more traditional RPG and the company is returning to its Baldur’s Gate roots in terms of theme and story.

“Mass Effect is great – it’s more cinematic – whereas with Dragon Age, we’re definitely going to something that’s a little more traditional,” he said.

“There’s nothing wrong with traditional. We’re looking at our Baldur’s Gate roots.”

“I know they whip that out in the marketing a lot, but Baldur’s Gate II was my first game. I think nothing compares to your first,” added.

“For me, it was this wonderful experience where we were working with a tried and true engine, which is a great place to be because you can start creating content and test it right from the beginning.”

Full, four-page article through the link.

Dragon Age: Origins releases for PC and consoles later this year.

Joystiq has some face time with Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus at E3 and the initial prognoses is: it’ll keep you fit. Again.

An interesting snippet:

The next game we tried was the “platformer” level described at the keynote. Basically a series of gauntlets involving swinging wrecking balls, sliding platforms, and jumps, it reminded us less of Super Mario Bros. and more of the diabolical Sasuke/Ninja Warrior show — not at all a bad thing. In this game, players run in place on the Balance Board, straightening your legs to jump like in the first game’s ski jump event. After each successful run, you’re put into a harder level.

Full thing plus screenshots, through the link.

Ex-Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki has laid into Platinum Games’ Hideki Kamiya by saying if he’d made Bayonetta whilst at Tecmo, people would have thought him stupid.

“If I made a similar game as a game I made in the company I quit, people would say, ‘What an idiot, can’t he make anything else?’ Well, that is more or less the opinion I have for, uh, that Bayo-something game,” said Itagaki to 1UP at E3.

Of the character design, Itagaki weighed in: “Covered in hair, is she? I dunno, Mr. Kamiya must have a lot going through his head. Well, in any case, I would first recommend laser eye surgery. I’m sure he’s not that strapped for cash, right?”

Hack’n'Slash warz, ftw.

Sega’s Bayonetta is out for PS3 and 360 later this year.

More rambling through the link.

Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter has issued a note hailing Microsoft as the winner of this year’s E3 claiming that Microsoft had the most “impactful presentation of the three console manufacturers.”

“Much of the big news of E3 had been leaked well before the event, with many stories previewing motion technology introduced by Microsoft and rampant leaks in advance of Sony’s new PSP Go,” says the research note. “Nintendo managed to keep most of its big announcements a secret ahead of the show.”

“We thought that Microsoft had the most impactful presentation of the three console manufacturers, with an expanded offering of traditional games (Halo Reach, Final Fantasy XIII, Metal Gear Solid Rising) and the new motion controller Project Natal. The company also showcased the new Rock Band Beatles game, and trotted out several big name celebrities.”

“Sony’s presentation was full of content, although somewhat long, with major announcements of the new PSP Go and a new Final Fantasy XIV game exclusive.

“We were surprised at the $249.99 and €249.99 price points, and think that after a rush of fanboy purchases, sales of the device may stall. Sony did not cut the price for the PS3 or for the existing PSP 3000.”

Full thing after the break.

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Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter just put out his May sales predictions for the US market, and if he’s right there’s going to be a lot of wincing later this month.

“We estimate sell-through of 300,000 Wii, 140,000 Xbox 360, and 100,000 PS3 consoles (a 50% year-over-year unit decline for these consoles in May),” he said in a note.

The analyst is estimating another 17 percent drop in revenue, year-on-year, with overall sales down to $450 million compared $540 million in May 2008.

May’s NPD releases this Thursday.