Alert Shoppers: Fight Night Champion, Beyond Good & Evil HD

The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending March 5th, 2011.

Games Released in the United States:

Nintendo Wii:
- Bit.Trip Flux (online)
- Chuck E. Cheese's Sports Games
- Rango: The Video Game

Xbox 360:
- Beyond Good & Evil HD (online)
- Fight Night Champion
- Rango: The Video Game

PlayStation 3:
- Fight Night Champion
- Rango: The Video Game

Nintendo DS:
- Busy Scissors
- Mahjong Journey: Quest for Tikal
- Minute to Win It
- Puzzle Expedition
- Rango: The Video Game

PC:
- Fate of the World (online)
- The Flying Dutchman
- Perfect World International: Genesis
- Rift
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution

EA's Fight Night series sequel Fight Night Champion debuts on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America this week, joining the multiplatform animated film tie-in  Rango.

A remake of Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil headlines downloadable offerings on the Xbox 360, while Wii owners will soon see the final entry in Gaijin's Bit.Trip rhythm-action series.

Games Released in Europe:

Nintendo Wii:
- Bit.Trip Flux (online)
- uDraw Pictionary
- uDraw Studio

Xbox 360:
- Beyond Good & Evil HD (online)
- Fight Night Champion

PlayStation 3:
- Fight Night Champion
- Hyperdimension Neptunia

Nintendo DS:
- Hidden Photo
- Hollywood Files: Deadly Intrigues
- Lost Identities
- Pokemon Black Version
- Pokemon White Version

PC:
- Rift
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution

Nintendo's latest Pokemon series sequels Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version make an early English-language debut in the UK this week, arriving two days in advance of their scheduled stateside release date.

Games Released in Japan:

Xbox 360:
- Fight Night Champion

PlayStation 3:
- Fight Night Champion
- Samurai Dou 4

Nintendo 3DS:
- Shanghai 3D Cube
- Super Monkey Ball 3D

Nintendo DS:
- Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue
- Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Red
- Tobidase! Kagaku-kun Chikyuu Daitanken! Nazo no Chinkai Seibutsu ni Idome!

PlayStation Portable:
- Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy
- Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto - Ginga Bishounen Densetsu

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Konami Announces No More Heroes: Heroes's Paradise for PS3 Move

Konami has just announce No More Heroes: Heroe's Paradies for Sony PS3 Move to be released in 2011. No More Heroes:Heroe's P aradise will be a HD remaster of the Nintendo Wii Classic. 

Players will be treated to new game modes like "Rebout Mode" where former foes can be challenged again and "Viewer Mode" allowing players to re-watch cut scenes in HD.  Asides from new modes, Konami will be improving the A.I and the level of control. The Sony PS3 version will also have additional boss characters that was not available in the original.

[Playstation Blog]

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PS3 Leads Japanese Hardware Sales Again

Sony PS3 beating the competition in Japan is becoming a trend if not the norm

A 13,000 increase in weekly sales saw Sony’s home console overtake Nintendo DSi, which took second place ahead of PSP-3000.

Sony’s handheld platform managed to outsell Nintendo’s when taking into account sales of all models, despite the fact that PSPgo sales dropped more than half during the portable’s second week on the market. Sony needs to lower the price of the PSPGo, I really do not understand their logic.

Weekly hardware sales (previous week):

PS3 - 48,925 (36,061)
DSi - 37,421 (37,517)
PSP – 33,784 (34,911)
Wii - 31,810 (28,888)
PSPgo - 13,992 (29,109)
DS Lite - 5,515 (6,902)
Xbox 360 – 4,679 (6,047)
PS2 – 2,066 (1,966)

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NPD September: PS3 on Top surprise surprise

The combination of a new hardware model and lower price made PlayStation 3 the best-selling home game machine in the U.S. for the month of September 2009 for the first time ever, the NPD Group reported today. Sony was able to sell 491.8K units 32.4K units short from unseated the Nintendo DS with 524.2K units.

Total sales of videogames in the U.S. were $1.28 billion dollars, up 1% from last September.

U.S. Hardware Sales, September 2009:

Nintendo DS 524.2K

PlayStation 3 491.8K

Wii 462.8K

Xbox 360 352.6K

PSP 190.4K

PlayStation 2 146.0K

Top 10 Software Sales, September 2009:

1. Halo 3: ODST (360, Microsoft) 1,520,000


2. Wii Sports Resort (Wii, Nintendo) 442,900


3. Madden NFL 10 (360, Electronic Arts) 289,600


4. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS, Nintendo) 258,100


5. The Beatles: Rock Band (360, MTV) 254,000


6. Madden NFL 10 (PS3, Electronic Arts) 246,500


7. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360, Activision Blizzard) 236,000


8. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3, Square Enix) 212,500


9. Guitar Hero 5 (360, Activision Blizzard) 210,800



10. The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii, MTV) 208,600

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PS3 is top selling console in September -- for first time ever?

EEDAR's analyst Jesse Divnich predicts 400,000 PS3s were sold in September, edging out both Wii and Xbox 360 sales (375k and 370k units respectively) .Wedbush Morgan mega game analyst Michael Pachter has also published his September video game sales preview for the US market.

Pachter estimates PS3 console sales of 410,000 units, a 76 per cent increase year-over-year. This should be enough to topple both the Wii (390,000 units) and Microsoft's Xbox 360 (350,000 units).

"We believe that the recent round of price cuts may benefit the PS3 the most in coming months, given that unit sales last year were only 1.5 million for the September -- December 2008 period," claimed the handsome man. "The Xbox 360 has outsold the PS3 for the past 13 months, likely due to a higher perceived value proposition.

"We think that the PS3 will outsell the Xbox 360 in September, and may continue to do so for the rest of the year. Microsoft has the ability to lower price yet again, but we anticipate the introduction of a more feature-packed Xbox 360 in early 2010 (likely with a 250Gb hard drive) at the same $299 price point; we think that Microsoft will cut price only if it begins to lose significant market share to Sony."

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Wii Price Cuts Get 'Very Strong' Response

The recent $50 Wii price cut has given Nintendo’s console a notable sales boost ahead of the holidays, especially paired with the recent launch of Wii Fit Plus.

Although it's a little too soon for specific figures, "The consumer response has been very strong to the price reduction," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime tells the Financial times.

"There are literally millions of consumers out there who want a Wii and had been on the sidelines," he says. "They’d been waiting for that little nudge to go out and pick it up - the price decline, the sampling, the launching of key software like Wii Fit Plus - we believe it’s what’s pushing them over the edge to get into the category."

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Nintendo the 'World's Best Company' to work for

Nintendo is the best company in the world, according to new rankings from the publication BusinessWeek.

Nintendo topped other notable and respected companies including Google, Apple, and Amazon.com. Technology, telecommunications, and internet companies peppered the top 40 list, which also included construction, petroleum, medical, and other industries.

The "World's Best Companies/Global Top 40" list was compiled for BusinessWeek by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, which ranked companies by not only their sales, market cap, and value, but also more abstract traits like a focus on innovation, strong leadership, and a clear vision for the future, BusinessWeek said.

Not only is Nintendo kicking it's competitors ass in sales it looks like it's the place to be if you want in on the video game business.

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Japanese Charts: PS3 Sales Decline Pokemon Sells like Gold & Silver

Sony saw a dip in PS3 sales to a respectable 51,055 units shipped. For the second week in a row, Pokemon Soul Silver and Pokemon Heart Gold led Japanese charts, as the new slim PlayStation 3 hardware experienced a mild decrease. Total sales of Pokemon Souls Silver & Pokemon Heart Gold where 443,133 units. Microsoft is still trying to gain some sort of traction in Japan with only 4,965 total units shipped.

Tales of Vesperia for Sony PS3 also made the top three with 216,593 total units falling 6000 short from the number one spot. Sony sales will spike tremendously this holiday season due to the release of a 250GB PS3 bundle, Uncharted 2, and Final Fantsy XIII in Japan. From the looks of it, Sony may be making some serious head way to catch up with the Xbox 360.

DSi 66,073
PS3 51,055
PSP 21,073
Wii 16,698
DS Lite 13,555
Xbox 360 4,965
PS2 2,723

LW	TW	Title	Publisher	Platform	Weekly Sales
1	1	Pokemon Soul Silver	Pokemon Co.	DS	222,579
2	2	Pokemon Heart Gold	Pokemon Co.	DS	220,554
NEW	3	Tales of Vesperia	Namco Bandai	PS3	216,593
NEW	4	Jikkyou Pawapuro Pro Yakkyuu Portable 4	Konami	PSP	104,377
NEW	5	SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu Goddess of Destiny	Square Enix	DS	91,547
3	6	Tomodachi Collection	Nintendo	DS	72,629
NEW	7	Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4	Konami	PSP	50,697
NEW	8	Ys VII	Nihon Falcom	PSP	33,349
4	9	Dragon Quest IX	Square Enix	DS	32,603
NEW	10	Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars	Namco Bandai	DS	30,786

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Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes for PS3 & Wii

Today at TGS Developer Capcom, announced two new games, one of which happens to be a PS3 exclusive, and the other a new IP for the Nintendo DS. The games announced were, Ghost Trick a supernatural Puzzle Mystery for the DS, and the second game announced was, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, also know as Devil Kings in the US. Devil Kings has always appeared on the Playstation platform, and this new installment would be the third in the franchise, and Capcom has made some much need adjustments to the series.

Capcom have also recruited Hiroyuki Kobayahi as Producer, from the Devil May Cry series. The story mode for both the Wii & PS3 version will remain the same, and for the first time Devil Kings will have online co-op play, which is exclusively on the PS3. Devil Kings 3 is set to release in North America and Europe in 2010.

Via:[Press Release]

Press Release:


Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, Ghost Trick Coming to North America and Europe in 2010
TOKYO, JAPAN — September 24, 2009 — Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, announced today that two titles on display at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show will be coming to North America and Europe in 2010. New Capcom titles Sengoku BASARA™ Samurai Heroes and Ghost Trick (working title for North America and Europe), displayed to the Japanese gaming public for the first time in Tokyo, will be making the transition to western gamers next year.

Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, the latest in Capcom’s popular samurai action series, makes it first appearance on both the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™. Set during a tumultuous period of Japanese history, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes allows players to take up the swords of more than a dozen fierce samurai warriors in huge battles against hundreds of opponents. Players will be able to unlock playable characters, as well as supporting generals who will make it easier to command and lead armies with the ultimate goal of re-writing history to rule all of 16th century Japan. The action is fast-paced and stylish, taking combat cues from producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi’s other big series, Devil May Cry®. The game’s main campaign will be the same on both gaming platforms, with the addition of online co-op for the PlayStation 3.

Ghost Trick combines mystery, logic puzzles and the supernatural into a new experience on Nintendo DS. Part adventure game, part puzzle game, Ghost Trick’s gameplay will challenge player’s brains while its distinctive art style and character designs courtesy of members of Capcom’s Ace Attorney® series, will please the eye. In Ghost Trick, players become Sissel, an amnesiac ghost who must use his ghostly powers to protect the lives of several people while attempting to uncover the secrets behind his own untimely demise. Sissel can “possess” items within the world, such as flicking a switch to shock an unwary assassin or floating a bike through the air to scare mortals and even rewind time by four minutes to prevent further deaths.

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Will No More Heroes on land PS3?

With the industry buzzing about another motion control device being delivered to the masses via Sony PS3. No More Heroes, game designer Goichi Suda has stated:"I originally didn't want to make another No More Heroes," The game was supposed to be a one off dealio, but when the title did well, sequels do happen." Luckily for Nintendo Wii fans there will be another No More Heroes on the horizon.

"It's not just that," Suda explains. "I wanted to revisit Travis Touchdown. I wanted to write the continuation of his story." NMH lead hero Travis Touchdown is joined by more characters and boss battles this go round in No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle. The title has been in development for about a year and a half and is shooting for an early 2010 release.

"Right now, I don't think I'll make another one, though," says Suda. "This game does wrap up Travis' story nicely." But so many movies are in trilogies — a point that movie buff Suda is quick to concede.

With the introduction of Sony's new motion controls, it would not be too far stretch to see No More Heroes ported over to the PS3. "I'm not playing platform favorites," says Suda. "For me, No More Heroes is about two handed controls — the way you play. But I do very much think of the game as being a Wii title." There you go motion control fan boys, one of Nintendo's Wii most highly rated game may jump to the dark side.

It would be very interested to see how ports will be handled for the PS3 and 360. I do not see many developers having challenges with Xbox 360 Natal but I am slightly concern about the current challenges with ports in general for the PS3. Porting a Wii game in theory should be a fairly easy affair but I am no game developer I just play one online.

Via:[Kotaku]

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Wii drops console price to $199

It's official, Nintendo has cut the price of the Wii to $199.00 On the heals of Sony's recent price cut and introduction of the PS3 Slim price cut to $299,00 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite dropping to $299.00 with additional $50.00 off. Nintendo was obviously under press to follow suite with it's motion control cash cow.

Nintendo Wii, is falling into place as the entry level of choice for new gamers. With these recent price cuts, this will open the doors to many future Xbox 360 and PS3 owners.

Via:[USAToday.com]

Via:[press release]

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NetFlix wants world domination?

Netflix is riding the wave on the Xbox 360, many media players comes with Netflix, and, of course, on your computer. It probably comes as no surprise that the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, says that he wants Netflix on the PS3 and the Wii one day.

"Eventually we want to be on all the game consoles, all the Blu-ray players, all the Internet TVs. So we are working in parallel with all of those efforts. Currently our Xbox deal is exclusive and we haven’t characterized it more than that."

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Square Enix's Wada Sees New Nintendo Console coming 2011

Nintendo looks like they will be upgrading the Nintendo Wii match the competition with HD graphics and more horse power. Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada expects Nintendo to release a new console by 2011.

Wada told the Financial times he feels Microsoft's Project Natal is "fantastic and could become standard," the exec feels new motion control devices from Sony and Nintendo are unlikely to have a major impact.

"Present game machines already have a lot of functions: they are a network terminal, a Blu-ray or DVD player, and a gaming machine," said Wada. "Compared to these three pillars, the [new motion] controllers are quite limited, so the impact may be small. They are an extension of the gaming function."

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Wii Shovelware expanding to PS3?

There is one thing we know for sure ever since the Nintendo Wii debut it brought with it an avalanche of shovelware-- games made on the cheap and released half ass to make a quick buck.

With Sony's new Motion Control(MoCo) arriving this coming Spring 2010 and Natal in the Fall 2010, Capcom has chimed in on the potential of seeing some Wii games ported to the PS3.

"Speaking to other developers in Japan," Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi tells game site 1UP, "I've heard a few of them say they were delighted by the Sony motion controller because they can just port over their Wii titles to the PS3."

Multiplatform ports for the PS3 has been a hit or miss affair. But we can all assure that you cannot fuck up a Nintendo Wii port? Or can you?

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Nintendo Wii Price Drop Coming Soon

During the month of August, the internet was increasingly dominated by leaked retail flyers showing console price drops. Or, at least it was until Sony unveiled the $299 PlayStation 3 Slim on August 18 and Microsoft announced the $299 Xbox 360 Elite on August 26, confirming the leaks.

With the PS3 and 360 Elite now just $50 more than the Wii and with Nintendo experiencing their first sale slump, analysts have been predicting that it isn't a question of if Nintendo will drop its console's price, but when it will. The answer to that question may have been solved today, when Kotaku reported it had obtained an advance copy of a Toys R Us flyer (pictured) which will be included in newspapers starting on Sunday, September 27. In the retailer's distinctive font, the flyer declares "Wii Price Cut! $199.99 (Was $249.99).

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The Love Affair is Over Wii see sales Decline 39%

Sales of the Nintendo Wii has slumped and analyst is predicting the trend to continue. With Sony and Microsoft enjoy the benefits of the newly implemented price cuts, Nintendo may be facing the pressure to cut the price of the Nintendo Wii very soon.

Wii sales were 227,400 during August, down 39 per cent year-on-year, and the downward spiral is set to continue next month, unless Nintendo offers fresh deals or lower prices to consumers.

"With the core PS3 and Xbox 360 models priced only USD 50 higher than the Wii, we expect year-over-year sales of Wii hardware to continue their annual declines until the company either changes its bundle or lowers price," said Pachter.

"Wii unit sales are 50 per cent below last year’s level over the last five months, and we think that September sales will repeat the pattern."

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Bonk: Brink of Extinction Announced

Hudson Entertainment announced the early 2010 release of Bonk: Brink of Extinction for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, a side scrolling adventure featuring next generation graphics mixed with a retro gameplay style. Bonk: Brink of Extinction will be for Microsoft Xbox LIVE, Sony PS3 PSN and Wiiware.

Many may not remember this classic from back in the day but initially made for NEC’s TurboGrafx-16 console in 1990, Bonk’s Adventure was a platform adventure title which gathered lots of Game of the Year awards. Bonk’s Revenge and Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure followed up the classic title on TurboGrafx-16. Nintendo also featured Bonk in the Gameboy title named Bonk’s Revenge and Super Bonk for the SNES.

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Nintendo Wii Most Reliable Game Console

SquareTrade, the largest independent warranty provider in the world has declared the the Nintendo Wii is the most reliable console on the market. Squaretrade compared malfunction rates the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox360 and the Sony PS3 and found that the Wii is the least likely to turn into a mini Chernobyl. The Nintendo Wii had a failure rate just one-fourth of the Sony PS3 and one-ninth of the Xbox 360.

SquareTrade also provide great news for all Xbox 360 owners, the study found with the introduction of the "Jasper" chipset in late 2008 has helped solved the Infamous RROD problem which has plague Microsoft since the debut of the Xbox 360.

Now many may argue that people obviously play their Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 way more than people play their Wii. The Ps3 and 360 has a steady and still growing community of hardcore gamers so they tend to play a lot more. The Wii tends to lean and cater towards a more, casual, family-based demographic.

After accounting for usage, the Wii still ranked the least likely to fail, with a 0.31 percent failure rate per day of use. The Ps3 on the other hand failed 75 percent more frequently and the 360 lagged far behind with a 435 percent(not a typo) the failure rate of the Xbox 360.

Via:[advfn]

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Sega serving up the goods at TGS 2009

With GamesCom out of the way, there's still another games event on the calendar: the Tokyo Game Show. For this year's TGS, Sega will be showing off a pretty balanced lineup that includes handheld sequel Valkyria Chronicles 2, the PS3 and Xbox 360 RPG End of Eternity, and PS3 exclusive Yakuza 4. Here's the complete list:

* The House of the Dead Overkill (Wii)
* Bayonetta (PS3/X360)
* Chin Sports (Wii)
* Let's Make a Pro Soccer Club! 6 Pride of J (PSP)
* Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP)
* End of Eternity (PS3/X360)
* Puyo Puyo 7 (Wii, NDS, PSP)
* Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP)
* Yakuza 4 (PS3)

Note that according to Andriasang, Yakuza 4 isn't listed at the official site but is included in press materials Sega handed out hence its inclusion.

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Wii Internet Channel is Free as in free

Nintendo Makes Wii Internet Channel Free, and better yet Offers Refunds

Nintendo sent a message to Wii owners late last night announcing the Nintendo Wii Internet Channel would no longer cost 500 Wii Points to purchase and if you had spent money to add the channel to your library, you're being offered a refund that can be applied to any NES game in the Virtual Console marketplace.

You won't be able to purchase an NES game until the promotion begins in late October.

The news also comes with word that the Internet Channel has been updated with a newer version of Adobe Flash, allowing users to access more websites than before. Many are reporting Facebook loads properly now, in addition to improved accessibility for a number of video-based websites.

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