Critical Reception: Frontier Developments’ LostWinds
Gamasutra Columns :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
This week’s edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to LostWinds, a $10 WiiWare launch title that critics describe as “Better than a lot of $49.99 Wii games.”
Saling The World: GTA IV, Mario Kart Lead US, Luminous Arc 2 Tops Japan
Gamasutra Columns :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
Gamasutra’s latest “Saling The World” charts see Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart predictably leading U.S. sales, as Square-Enix’s The World Ends With You sells out, and Luminous Arc 2: Will debuts on top in Japan.
New XNA Creators Club Online web site coming soon
Xbox Scene :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
From the XNA Team Blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2008/05/17/new-xna-creators-club-online-web-site-coming-soon.aspx ): [QUOTE] Next week, the XNA Creators Club Online site will be shut down for a short time in preparation for the launch of our new site featuring the Community Games on Xbox LIVE Beta (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3545/sponsored_feature_democratizing_.php ). We’re excited about the new design and functionality of the improved XNA Creators Club Online web site, and we eagerly look forward to your return! In the meantime, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause during the outage [/QUOTE]
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Sony Games :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
This game inspired by the next movie in the Narnia series has the Pevensie children travelling back to Narnia, which is now ruled by another evil tyrant.
Kim ‘very happy’ Microsoft never launched a handheld
Xbox Scene :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
Speaking to eurogamer.net (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=140526 ) at the Microsoft Gamer’s Day, Xbox boss Shane Kim talked about a handheld Xbox: [QUOTE] “I’m very happy we didn’t get into it, because launching a handheld platform is like launching another Xbox 360,” he said. “You have to be fully committed, as an organisation, from a resource standpoint, to doing that.” “Frankly we’ve got a lot on our plate with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. We don’t have any experience in that space. Our content assets don’t naturally lend themselves to driving success in that particular market. So we’re happy to let Sony and Nintendo slog it out.” [/QUOTE] Full Story: eurogamer.net (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=140526 )
Rocketmen: It Came from Uranus
Xbox Live Marketplace :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
The next chapter of Capcom’s Rocketmen: Axis of Evil has arrived! Rocketmen: It Came from Uranus, an expansion to the original digitally-distributed title, is now available on Xbox LIVE for 400 Microsoft Points.
April NPD: 360 188k, PS3 187k, Wii 714k
Xbox Scene :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
From gamasutra.com (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18678 ): [QUOTE] Hardware numbers were up 26 percent to $426.2 million, with the Xbox 360 continuing its slim lead over the PlayStation 3 after two months behind. As above, the DS and PSP saw sales fall behind the previous month, but the Wii held on to its lead, easily outselling both consoles combined. Wii – 714.2K (from 721K) Nintendo DS – 414.8K (from 698K) PSP – 192.7K (from 297K) Xbox 360 – 188.0K (from 230K) PlayStation 3 – 187.1K (from 257K) PlayStation 2 – 124.4K (from 216K) On the software side, April sales were up 68 percent to $654.7 million, with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. The title sold a combined 2.85 million in its five days on the market, with the Xbox 360 version nearly selling double the PlayStation 3 version. [/QUOTE] Full Story: gamasutra.com (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18678 )
“Ask A Ninja” Episodes on Marketplace
Xbox Live Marketplace :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
These world-famous podcasts were made popular over the Internet, and now, celebrating ninjas, Ninja Gaiden II presents “Ask A Ninja” on Xbox LIVE.
Microsoft’s Take on April 2008 NPD Numbers
Xbox Scene :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
From majornelson.com (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/05/15/april-npd-numbers-according-to-us.aspx ) (FYI: MS owned blog): [QUOTE] Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has sold 10.1 million units in the U.S., making it the first current generation gaming console to break the 10 million barrier in the U.S., and contributing to global sales of over 19 million. (April NPD data) By the numbers: Xbox 360 is the most significant contributor to industry spending and growth *188,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold in April. (April NPD data) *Xbox 360 has a record-setting attach rate of 7.6 games per console, the highest attach rate in history for a console at this point in its lifecycle. (April NPD data) *Consumers have spent more than $9.7 billion on the Xbox 360 experience. (April NPD data) *Xbox 360 titles accounted for $186 million of all third party game sales this generation, or 53% of share. (April NPD data) *Xbox 360 games accounted for three of the top ten games in April, and secured the #1 spot with “Grand Theft Auto IV.” (April NPD data) *Not only are we selling more games, games play better on the Xbox 360. Xbox 360 has 91 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher, compared to just 50 for PS3 and 22 for Wii. *Grand Theft Auto IV” on Xbox 360 snags top spot in April, boosts LIVE memberships to over 12 million *In its first five days on the market, the Xbox 360 version of “Grand Theft Auto IV” sold 1.8 million units, outselling the other platform’s version by nearly 2:1 in the U.S., and making it the top selling game in April. (April NPD data) *Gamers eager to experience “Grand Theft Auto IV” online helped boost Xbox LIVE global membership totals to over 12 million this month. Fueled by an unparalleled combination of access to friends and family, the best online gaming features and the best entertainment content, the Xbox LIVE service has doubled in membership in only one year’s time. *Microsoft sales data shows Xbox 360 consoles saw a 54% lift week-over-week as a result of “Grand Theft Auto IV,” and retailers are reporting that roughly four out of every 10 Xbox 360 consoles sold included the sale of a copy of “Grand Theft Auto IV.” (Microsoft internal data) *Beginning this fall, Xbox LIVE will be the only place gamers can go for exclusive “Grand Theft Auto IV” episodes. *Grand Theft Auto IV” marked the beginning of what promises to be another landmark year for the Xbox 360 platform, with an all-star games line up in 2008 including “Gears of War 2,” “Fable 2” and “Viva Pi?ata: Trouble in Paradise.” Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming months. [/QUOTE]
Xbox.com and Indiana Jones Sweepstakes
Xbox Live :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
Enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win one fo five limited-edition Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Xbox 360 consoles.
Analysts Unmoved By 360’s 10 mln US Milestone
Xbox Scene :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
From next-gen.biz (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10485&Itemid=2 ): [QUOTE] On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that Xbox 360 has sold over 10 million units in the U.S. SVP of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick stated, “History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle.” But analysts quizzed by Next-Gen question the logic behind the “first to 10 million wins” idea. Mike Hickey with Janco Partners says that he sees “little significance” in Microsoft’s announcement, calling it little more than “a corporate catalyst for a press statement and a last-chance chest-pounding moment.” “It’s unclear to us if Microsoft considers the Wii console from Nintendo to be a competitive product, but we expect the Wii’s installed base will likely eclipse the Xbox 360’s installed base in CY08, and eventually win the console war by a wide margin.” Michael Pachter with Wedbush Morgan Securities simply called Microsoft’s announcement “spin,” adding, “Nintendo will pass them this month.” [/QUOTE] Full Story: next-gen.biz (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10485&Itemid=2 )
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Sony Games :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
This game inspired by the next movie in the Narnia series has the Pevensie children travelling back to Narnia, which is now ruled by another evil tyrant.
Analyst: Underwhelming 360 Sales May Force Price Cuts
Xbox Scene :: Saturday, May 17, 2008
From gamedaily.com (http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/analyst-underwhelming-ps3-and-360-sales-may-force-price-cuts/?biz=1 ): [QUOTE] In the wake of the April video game sales data, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich commented on what was admittedly even a surprise to NPD analyst Anita Frazier – that the hardware sales for both Xbox 360 and PS3 failed to reach 200K units during a month in which GTA IV was supposed to have driven console sales. “This would…be the first time that Xbox 360 sales dipped below 200K since July 2007, which ended up resulting in an Xbox 360 price drop the following month (August 2007). It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that Microsoft might follow a similar strategy as last year given that the Xbox 360 has dropped below the 50,000 units a week sold threshold mark,” remarked Divnich. [/QUOTE] Full Story: gamedaily.com (http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/analyst-underwhelming-ps3-and-360-sales-may-force-price-cuts/?biz=1 )
Everyday Shooter (PC)
Gaming Heaven :: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
“In 2005 Jonathan Mak began working on what he hoped would be an entertaining game with plenty of depth and ingenious design but after a portion of the development the result was, in his words “a complicated mess of rules and controls”. Well aware of what was happening Jonathan went back to the drawing board and thought about the games he used to love, and still does, top down shooters and their more recent evolutions. With these in mind development began again and the result is Everyday Shooter a title which was added to Steam this week for the excellent price of $9.”
Mario Kart for the Nintendo Wii Review
Futurelooks :: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I remember playing the first Super Mario Kart on the old Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The graphics were nowhere near as good as they are today, but the first Mario Kart really opened up a whole new world of racing games. As time went on, I progressed to extract a fair bit of enjoyment out of sequels like Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart DS. If you’ve ever played any of these shell-filled racers in the past, you’ll know exactly what to expect from the latest iteration in the series: Mario Kart Wii.
First Guitar Hero IV Details Shed
Primo Technology :: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Guitar Hero IV will follow closely in the footsteps of Rock Band, offering new instruments including a bass, microphone, and six-piece drumset that includes two cymbals. It is unknown whether or not the Guitar Hero IV instruments and Rock Band instruments will be cross-compatible.
