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Recently we all saw Retro studios redesign their website with a new look, only weeks before E3.
Now this week we saw...
WorthPlaying writes: "For the first time handheld gamers will have the freedom to unleash their inner rock star anywhere, anytime with Guitar Hero: On Tour offering the most diverse set list of master tracks in a Guitar Hero game, including classic rock, alternative and pop favorites. Guitar Hero: On Tour has sold in excess of 300,000 units in North America in the first seven days since its launch."
From Strategy Informer: "In the US, there are cheers from around the country. The latest Madden has been released. If American Football games aren't your cup of tea, then maybe it's the latest edition of NASCAR. Often that results in a disinterested grudge from us Brits. The last US-sport game I played was Madden on the Mega Drive. It kept me interested, but purely because pocket money was short and review samples a distant dream. With a copy of NASCAR 09 to review, tentative steps were taken. Those apprehensions were not unfounded."
Observations on Final Fantasy Tactics: A2: Grimoire of the Rift. What's up with the protagonist's ridiculous outfit? They get progressively worse with each Final Fantasy game.
VGChartz reports that their estimated worldwide hardware and software chart for week ending June 27th, 2008 is as follows:
Hardware Totals: [Last Week #]
Wii: 502,764 (+47%) [342,103]
DSL: 419,009 (-1%) [424,588]
PSP: 198,617 (-4%) [207,524]
PS3: 158,971 (-6%) [169,094]
360: 130,926 (+5%) [124,253]
PS2: 100,514 (0%) [100,064 ]
Top 10 Software Worldwide:
1 Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii) 477,134 5,963,306
2 Wii Sports (Wii) 454,272 25,183,415
3 Battlefield: Bad Company (360) 332,108 332,108
4 Wii Fit (Wii) 273,475 5,226,326
5 Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) 208,027 208,027 [NEW]
6 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 185,818 2,064,591
7 Wii Play (Wii) 178,228 13,244,292
8 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 172,632 6,019,683
9 Derby Stallion DS (DS) 172,224 172,224 [NEW]
10 Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii) 164,210 164,210 [NEW]
Other New Releases:
11 Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3) 145,565 145,565 [NEW]
12 Rock Band (Wii) 131,480 131,480 [NEW]
13 Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS) 116,172 116,172 [NEW]
15 Big Beach Sports (Wii) 73,305 73,305 [NEW]
27 Pachislot Series Vol 12: CR Neon Geneses Evangelion (PS2) 49,225 49,225 [NEW]
36 Higurashi no Nakukoru ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan - Tatari (DS) 42,804 42,804 [NEW]
40 My Weight Loss Coach (DS) 36,607 36,607 [NEW]
45 Beijing 2008 (PS3) 32,504 32,504 [NEW]
47 Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono (PSP) 31,818 31,818 [NEW]
Software Totals: [Last Week #]
Wii: 2,957,295 (+59%) [1,855,951] Tie Ratio: 4.93
DSL: 2,459,361 (+33%) [1,848,866] Tie Ratio: 3.50
360: 1,545,390 (+25%) [1,235,643] Tie Ratio: 6.75
PS3: 1,151,709 (-11%) [1,301,139] Tie Ratio: 4.44
PS2: 595,325 (+1%) [590,226] Tie Ratio: n/a
PSP: 450,756 (-16%) [539,645] Tie Ratio: 2.07
This extensive gameplayer article tackles the sequels that should be announced at E3 2008.
"Sometimes the game industry seems so submerged in established franchises and straight-off-the-conveyor-belt sequels it seems impossible that any new IP has a chance of being noticed. But for every twenty Christmas cash cows that infest store shelves with their mediocrity, there is that one sequel we deeply yearn for ? that great game that demands another shot at the big time but is bewilderingly ignored. Maybe it has merely become lost in the forgotten back catalogue of a now defunct publisher or perhaps it has been buried beneath the egotistical loggerheads of past-it developers, given up on and stuck in developmental hell. Unable to find the light as fans yell from their couches? encore! Encore! Encore!"
Kombo writes: "The Nintendo Power rumor has been solved. Well, maybe it has and maybe it hasn't. We all know about the infamous Nintendo Power rumor with the sword in the purple bubble that many believed to be Kingdom Hearts 3 for Wii. At the time, it appeared that was the most logical and feasible reason when looking over the hints given in the magazine itself. But, what if those hints were truly nothing to gaze at and just incoherent ramblings of the Nintendo Power staff? Well, I think the answer to the riddle has been solved."
VGChartz reports that their estimated numbers for Japanese hardware and software chart for week ending June 21st, 2008 was as follows:
Total Hardware: [Last Week #]
PSP: 60,410 (+4%) [58,203]
Wii: 59,994 (+41%) [42,643]
DSL: 51,920 (+40%) [37,032]
PS3: 18,483 (-20%) [23,037]
PS2: 8,148 (+21%) [6,730]
360: 3,530 (+53%) [2,313]
Top 10 Software:
1 Derby Stallion DS (DS) 172,224 172,224 [NEW]
2 Teiruzu obu Shinfonia-Ratatosuku no Kishi (Wii) 164,210 164,210 [NEW]
3 Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS) 116,172 116,172 [NEW]
4 Pachislot Series Vol 12: CR Neon Geneses Evangelion (PS2) 49,225 49,225 [NEW]
5 Higurashi no Nakukoru ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan - Tatari (DS) 42,804 42,804 [NEW]
6 Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono (PSP) 31,818 31,818 [NEW]
7 Wii Fit (Wii) 30,491 2,286,066
8 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 28,420 573,334
9 Mobile Suit Gundam: Operation: Troy (360) 27,940 27,940 [NEW]
10 Mario Super Sluggers (Wii) 27,482 86,313
Other New Releases:
12 Devil Kings X (PS2) 25,166 25,166 [NEW]
13 Bleach: The 3rd Phantom (DS) 25,053 25,053 [NEW]
14 Spice and Wolf (DS) 19,373 19,373 [NEW]
19 Disgaea: Prince of the Demon World and the Red Moon (DS) 17,343 17,343 [NEW]
20 The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match (PS2) 16,728 16,728 [NEW]
Software Totals: [Last Week #]
DSL: 589,365 (+154%) [231,940] Tie Ratio: 4.34
Wii: 308,240 (+73%) [177,735] Tie Ratio: 3.48
PS2: 130,269 (+61%) [80,920] Tie Ratio: 5.66
PSP: 116,181 (-30%) [167,071] Tie Ratio: 1.94
360: 48,988 (+445%) [8,985] Tie Ratio: 4.64
PS3: 47,888 (-47%) [89,926] Tie Ratio: 2.70
Bandai Namco published a batch of new Dragon Ball DS screenshots. Check them out.
Chrono Trigger was announced earlier today, and is scheduled for a Winter, 2008 release in Japan, however Square Enix has plans to release the game in North America, as the game's official website appears in the North American domain, too.
In the wake of mixed emotions following the announcement of Chrono Trigger, and based on a breakup letter from an ex girlfriend, VG Colosseum presents an open letter to Square.
Squaresoft,
Remember when I used to call you that? Before all this Sqare Enix stuff happened? Way before Squeenix? Those were wonderful days. I loved you and I thought you loved me back. I played Final Fantasy 2 and you gave me Final Fantasy 3. I played Secret of Mana and you gave me Chrono Trigger. It was an amazing relationship...
VGChartz reports that their estimate for American hardware and software chart for week Ending June 28th, 2008 is as follows:
Total Hardware: [Last Week #]
Wii: 239,077 (+49%) [160,520]
DSL: 160,429 (-4%) [167,666]
PSP: 65,830 (-5%) [69,654]
360: 59,799 (+4%) [57,574]
PS3: 49,319 (-11%) [55,163]
PS2: 33,834 (-0%) [33,897]
Top 10 Software:
1 Wii Sports (Wii) 239,077 12,544,386
2 Battlefield: Bad Company (360) 221,508 221,508 [NEW]
3 Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) 208,027 208,027 [NEW]
4 Rock Band (Wii) 131,480 131,480 [NEW]
5 Wii Fit (Wii) 129,286 1,184,239
6 Wii Play (Wii) 105,386 6,460,729
7 Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3) 82,538 82,538 [NEW]
8 Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) 67,586 67,586 [NEW]
9 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 63,003 2,471,311
10 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 58,178 701,965
Other New Releases:
12 Alone In The Dark (360) 41,419 41,419 [NEW]
13 Mega Man Star Force 2 (DS) 38,618 38,618 [NEW]
Software Totals: [Last Week Total]
Wii: 1,350,177 (+33%) [1,015,736] Tie Ratio: 6.15
DSL: 1,287,664 (+29%) [1,000,642] Tie Ratio: 4.27
360: 1,065,635 (+24%) [858,619] Tie Ratio: 9.10
PS3: 599,688 (-4%) [622,508] Tie Ratio: 6.46
PS2: 321,895 (-7%) [346,634] Tie Ratio: n/a
PSP: 231,626 (-4%) [242,078] Tie Ratio: 3.96
Chrono Trigger DS - Official Website
It began as a rumor and was confirmed along the way: The dream of many Square Enix fans has finally come true. The company has just announced that a Chrono Trigger remake will be coming to the Nintendo DS.
The remake is to be released sometime during Winter, 2008.
According to 2ch, JUMP magazine shows a scan of Chrono Trigger DS, it's unclear if it's a port or a remake. Coming Winter 2008.
In honor of their 20th anniversary, in the latest issue of Nintendo Power, the writing crew went through 8 Nintendo systems - NES, SNES, Game Boy Color (Game Boy), N64, GameCube, DS and Wii - and picked out the cream of the crop. The writers have picked out the best titles of each system and have listed the top 20 picks in their eyes.
VGChartz estimates that the European / Others hardware and software charts for week ending June 28th, 2008 was as follows:
Top 10 Software:
1 Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii) 430,503 430,503 [NEW]
2 Wii Sports (Wii) 202,404 9,533,781
3 Wii Fit (Wii) 113,698 1,756,021
4 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots (PS3) 99,220 789,292
5 Battlefield: Bad Company (360) 96,29 96,297 [NEW]
6 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 84,312 2,074,548
7 Wii Play (Wii) 64,275 4,324,819
8 Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3) 63,027 63,027 [NEW]
9 Big Beach Sports (Wii) 57,592 57,592 [NEW]
10 Brain Training (DS) 48,58 6,494,57
Other New Releases:
18 Beijing 2008 (PS3) 32,504 32,504 [NEW]
21 Beijing 2008 (360) 27,646 27,646 [NEW]
32 My Health Coach: Manage Your Weight (DS) 21,415 21,415 [NEW]
35 Robert Ludlum's Bourne Conspiracy (360) 19,112 19,112 [NEW]
45 Robert Ludlum's Bourne Conspiracy (PS3) 14,358 14,358 [NEW]
Software Totals: (Last Week #)
Wii: 1,298,878 (662,480) Tie Ratio: 4.29
DSL: 582,332 (616,284) Tie Ratio: 2.18
PS3: 504,133 (588,705) Tie Ratio: 3.41
360: 430,767 (368,039) Tie Ratio: 2.99
PS2: 143,161 (162,672) Tie Ratio: n/a
PSP: 102,949 (130,496) Tie Ratio: 0.29
And hardware totals reported earlier: [Last Week #]
DSL: 206,660 (-6%) [219,890]
Wii: 203,693 (+47%) [138,940]
PS3: 91,169 (0%) [90,894]
PSP: 72,377 (-9%) [79,667]
360: 67,597 (+5%) [64,366]
PS2: 58,532 (-2%) [59,437]
EA announced today that almost every gaming platform will get tailor-made content depending on the unique characteristics and capabilities of each system.
Click through for all the details!
Gaming Console Network's Editor Aaron Espinoza questions where the gaming giant Nintendo goes from here on out. Nintendo already has created something innovative and fresh with the Wii and DS, but what can they do next after the novelty wears thin?
Sony marketing concentrated on the fashion and trendiness aspects and targeted at the affluent 20ish male demographic. By the standards of anything that had gone before it was a massive success, but we know now that they were actually under-performing.
Back this time last year, it emerged that new studio Red Fly was planning to release a quirky little DS game featuring some characters known as the Mushroom Men. The whole thing was still on the drawing board though, and little more has been revealed about the game since.
Until now that is. Today, the studio has spoken out a bit more about the game - now titled Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi - and what exactly it is mushroom men get up to when they're not lurking in dark, damp places.
Super Smash Bros kicks off its stay in the charts at #1. Battlefield Bad Company also enjoys a surprisingly strong debut, entering the charts at #2 (and #7), while Metal Gear Solid 4 drops from 1st to 5th, beaten out by such titles as the two above and...Big Beach Sports.
MCV: 360, PS3 and Wii under fire as CEO calls hardware pricetags 'prohibitive' to new audiences
A special episode this week as Gambus Kahn goes on another rant about Final Fantasy, announce a brand new contest and of course discuss the latest games including Alone in the Dark, Battlefield Bad Company and Don King's Prizefighter.
MGS4 has already sold more than one million copies throughout Europe, boosted by No1 chart entries in Germany, Spain and Sweden, according to the latest data from Media Control GfK and Dataspelsbranschen.
Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, Square Enix's PSP exclusive Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, LucasArts' Lego Indiana Jones and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV made top ten appearances in all three charts, while Brain Training, Wii Fit and Wii Play recorded multiple entries.
Taking its cue (arguably) from the fun of Cooking Mama, what separates Cooking Guide from other non-game software is that it is distinctly utilitarian in its approach. What Cooking Guide has done in both the UK and Japan is realise the culinary needs of consumers and has balanced them out against their restrictions (such as the imposition of a large celebrity cookbook) to create a product that puts the consumer's need to have good food on the table in front of them without worrying about lack of culnary knowledge or skill first via the use of a helpful and intuitive interface.
Square Enix has updated the official website of Dragon Quest V and released a brand new promotional video.
From Strategy Informer: "The first six months of 2008 have been undeniably great. We've seen the release of such anticipated hits as Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4; there has been hardly a system or genre that hasn't seen its fair share of quality titles released and the near future looks to be no different. With so many high quality titles on the horizon, one must wonder if some stick out more than others. The list below is just a scant portion of the various interesting titles gamers are anticipating in the months to come."
Final Fantasy IV (DS) - 9.0
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (DS) - 7.0
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (DS) - 8.5
We Love Golf! (Wi) - 8.5
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii) - 7.5
The Incredible Hulk (DS) - 7.5
Civilization Revolution (DS) - 7.5
Rock Band (Wii) - 8.0
Carnival Games (DS) - 4.5
The Incredible Hulk (Wii) - 3.5
Video games are known to improve hand-eye coordination but can they help someone quit smoking or lose weight? Hot on the heels of Nintendo's 7974.0S smash success, "Wii Fit," game makers are introducing new titles with a healthy focus, such as French game publisher Ubisoft's "Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking" that hits on Nintendo DS in November.
Over 10 million smokers worldwide have turned to Allen Carr's Easyway books, clinics or DVD in order to stop smoking but now smokers wanting to quit can instead play 14 mini-games.
The games, designed by Ubisoft's (UBIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) Quebec studio and Allen Carr's team, focus on why people smoke rather than why they shouldn't.
Destructoid writes: "Atlus and Amazon teamed up recently giving fans the chance to pick which bonus poster would be included with Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja when ordered through Amazon.com. The votes have been tallied and the winning image is of Izuna drinking some milk while showing off her giant ta-tas. I was kind of leaning towards the other poster with Izuna and the other girl taking a bath (which one Dtoider thought had a giant headless penis in it)."
VGChartz writes: "Metal Gear Solid 4 was the top selling title for the second week in a row, but Wii was the top selling console this week. PS3 sales dropped to the point where Xbox 360 was able to outsell it slightly.
Metal Gear Solid 4 remained the top selling non-bundled game for this week, but it is dropping rather quickly after a stellar debut at over 500,000 units last week. Following closely was Wii Fit which topped a million units in lifetime sales this week. Hardware sales roughly paralleled those two games ? the drop in Metal Gear Solid 4 was accompanied by a large drop in PS3 sales, while the increase in Wii Fit sales accompanied a large increase in Wii sales.
Year over year trends continue to indicate that this year is trending to be the biggest ever for the videogame industry in the Americas. All hardware except for the ancient PS2 was up from this time a year ago.
.........6/21/08........6/23/07....YoY Change
Wii....185,689.......108,739..........+71%
DSL..167,666.......143,944..........+16%
360....57,574........50,884...........+13%
PSP...69,654........63,863...........+9%
PS3...55,163.......20,980...........+163%
PS2...33,897........60,583...........-44%
Notes:
- Grand Theft Auto IV has sold to about 32.5% of all Xbox 360 & PS3 owners in the Americas, with a total of 5.5 million copies.
- Halo 3 is owned by over 49% of all Xbox 360 owners in the Americas.
"The general reaction of a game critic anytime he finds out he's being assigned a game based on a movie is something along the lines of, "Great, this is going to be awful. I wonder if there are going to be any nice things to say about this title, or if I'll just spend three pages ranting about how every aspect is broken. I'll never get those ten hours of my life back; curse whoever first thought it would be a good idea to release a game alongside every single 'family friendly' movie ever produced." Surprisingly, that has not been my reaction with Kung Fu Panda. The game looks great, plays very well, and would be a fine title for any young gamer looking to enjoy the adventures of his or her favorite fighting mammal for just a bit longer."
Eurogamer talked to Call of Duty: World at War developers Treyarch in London earlier this month, finding out about their aims, the perils of WWII shooters and what they think of their grandmas. Questions by Oliver Menne and Kristian Metzger, directed by Dietrich Töllner.
Welcome to New Releases for the Week!
Highlights this week include Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Xbox 360/PS3/Nintendo Wii/PS2), Gears of War Refresh (Xbox 360) and Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (Nintendo DS).
Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of June 29, 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!
This Nintendo DS install requires some specific gear that lets you load software onto the DS. Before you load the distro, you will need a few pieces of hardware. The first is the GBA Movie Player (GBAMP), a device that works like the old GameShark devices for video game consoles and lets you load and run software onto the DS. Then, you'll need a CompactFlash (CF) card, which pops into the GBA Movie Player slot.
- Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii): about 120k (about 170k)
- Derby Stallion DS (DS): about 120k
- Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS): about 70k (about 110k)
- Hisshou Pachinko Pachislot Series Vol. 12: CR Neon Genesis Evangelion -Shito Hutatabi- (PS2): about 30k (50-60k)
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna Vol. 1: Tatari (DS): about 22k (35-45k)
- Gundam Operation Troy (360): about 20k (30-40k)
- Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono (PSP): about 17k (about 25k)
- Sengoku Basara X (PS2): about 16k
- Bleach: The Third Phantom (DS): about 14k (about 40k)
- The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match (PS2): about 13k (about 20k)
- Disgaea: The Prince of Dark World and Red Moon (DS): about 11k (about 35k)
- Battle Field: Bad Company (360): about 9k (about 15k)
- Our TV Game Exam (DS): about 8k (about 55k)
This month's Nintendo Power issue features an advertise for the next issue, which is supposed to reveal a new game. Now, notice NP's description:
"We'll kick off the next 20 years of Nintendo Power with more big reveals, including a top-secret cover story fit for a king. It's got a lot of heart. Just kidding. It's Mother 3. Please look forward to it."
A new SimCity for Wii and DS.
Reuters: Nintendo is banned everywhere but the classroom at Tokyo Joshi Gakuen school in Japan as the ubiquitous DS consoles become the latest tool in English instruction.
Junior high school teacher Motoko Okubo has used the handheld DS and textbook software since May in weekly sessions focusing on vocabulary, penmanship and audio comprehension. With years of games such as Super Mario on the prohibited list, she says students weren't expecting the Nintendo welcome.
