Author Archive
Sales Charts: European Sales Charts 23-29 July
Many people are under the impression that the lovely Dr. Angela Merkel is the leader of Germany. WRONG. Nintendo own Germany. Nintendo dominate last week’s German charts, with 9 of the top 10 spots taken by DS and Wii games. Even Eidos’ Pony Friends makes the grade. Pony Friends! Amazing. And it’s a similar story in Spain, just without the Pony Friends. Click through for both charts.
GERMANY
1) Pokemon DIamond
2) Pokemon Pearl
3) More Brain Training
4) Brain Training
5) Pony Friends
6) Civ IV: Beyond The Sword
7) The Settlers
Mario Party 8
9) Harry Potter & OMG does he die at the end?
10) Animal Crossing
SPAIN
1) Pokemon Diamond
2) Pokemon Pearl
3) More Brain Training
4) Big Brain Academy
5) Pro Evo 6 (PS2)
6) Brain Training
7) Wii Play
Pro Evo 6 (PSP)
9) SingStar Pophits Bundle
10) Fifa 07
[charts courtesy of GfK]
Changed Our Mind: Ziff Davis No Longer Courting 1UP, Mag Buyers
You know the Ziff Davis Group? They own 1UP, EGM and Games for Windows Magazine. If so, you probably also know Ziff have been trying to offload their gaming group for a while now. With no success. Nobody wants it! At least, not under their conditions: Ziff will only sell the group as a whole, print AND online, but buyers only want the online stuff. Well, Ziff now have a new CEO, Jason Young, who’s decided to scale back that particular operation:
…while the sale process has been a very sharp focus over last 12 months, now that becomes less of a focus. The clearer focus is now on operating the business ourselves.
Quite the about-face, that. Time to roll up those sleeves, Ziff.
Young Appointed Ziff Davis CEO, Game Group Sale ‘Less Of A Focus’ [Gamasutra]
They Hunger: Left 4 Dead Flees 2007 For 2008
Think we’re all on the same page as far as Left 4 Dead goes. It looks wonderful. Like it’s going to fulfil any of your zombie apocalypse fantasies left unfufilled by Frank West’s daring exploits. Well, don’t get too excited. Valve reckons Turtle Rock’s game won’t be done until 2008. Good news is they reckon early 2008, bad news is that’s still next year. Still. Valve are involved. You had to expect this.
Left 4 Dead slips to 2008 [Eurogamer]
You Can’t Stop Progress: Newfangled Wii Straps In The Wild?
NintendoWorldReport are reporting (this is yet to be confirmed) that the Wii Remote’s wrist strap is now onto its fourth version. And this one’s all-new. Instead of the little sliding clip, it now appears the straps have a cute little lockable clip with cute little lockable jaws. Yeah, it’s overkill, but let’s also call it progress.
New Wii Wrist Straps Circulating [NintendoWorldReport, via Go Nintendo]
Date Of Release: Heavenly Sword: September 12
Sony have announced that Heavenly Sword is going to be released in North America on September 12. For the numerically challenged, that’s in five weeks. Pretty exciting! This is the first PS3 game I’ve actually looked at, looked into, and thought “yes, yes, I may actually part with money for this”, so here’s hoping it lives up to the hype. Or at least gives the hype a run for its money.
Heavenly Sword Date Set [IGN]
Systems Restored: Midway Backs Down, Stranglehold Now Region-Free
See? Sometimes it pays to whine, and whine loudly. Midway’s decision to region-lock Stranglehold was decidedly uncool, and gamers, understandably, were pissed. So pissed that Midway have seemingly reversed the decision, a moderator on the official Stranglehold boards saying that both the regular edition and the collector’s edition (the one with Hard-Boiled) are now region-free. The collector’s edition will only be available in North America, but you can always just go ahead and import it. Well done, Midway. You’re now back at the status quo on this one.
Topic: PS3 Versions to be Region Free!! [Official Stranglehold Forums]
Gallery: Dante ARTFX Statue
He was shown off a little at Comic Con, in a glass box tucked away in a corner, but here for the first time in all his full, girly-man glory, is Kotobukiya’s Dante ARTFX statue. He stands 11″ tall, and comes with interchangeable weapons so you can swap between Ebony, Ivory and Rebellion. See which goes best with his pout. Completists should note Dante’s shifty brother Vigil will be the next in the series.
Adowable: Headcrab Arts & Craft
It’s your one year anniversary. What do you buy the man who has everything? Nothing. You make him stuff! Like a Half-Life headcrab! That’s what the lovely vintagelust did for her beau, cutting and sewing and stitching until she’d come up with this cuddly, albeit brain-eating, creature from beyond the stars.
vintagelust [girl_gamers, via Dtoid]
The Best Things In Life Are Free: Yes, The New Codemasters Games Are Free
Didn’t quite believe the news yesterday, so thought I’d check with Gametap. Surely they couldn’t be offering all of Codemasters new/upcoming titles, games like Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, Clive Barker’s Jericho, DiRT and Overlord, for free? Seems they are, with Gametap confirming today that yes, as long as you’re willing to put up with the odd commercial here and there, you can play them all for free on their ad-supported section.
We all like to bitch and moan about the negative effects of advertising on gaming. I know I do. Let’s pause then for a second and give thanks for a rare instance where it’s actually going to help you out.
Marco…: Manhunt 2 Nowhere To Be Seen
How confident are Take-Two and Rockstar their appeal against Manhunt 2’s ban will be lifted? If you’re going off the basis of their release schedule (which I’m not, but you lot have your own set of impulses and driving forces), then the answer is not very. The game’s nowhere to be seen on Take-Two’s release schedule, for either this fiscal year or next. Not even a Q4, or a TBA, nothing. Maybe they’re just letting it lie low, recover its strength away from the harsh, unforgiving media spotlight. Then again, maybe they’ve had a gutfull of the bad press and have buried it in a hole in the desert where nobody will ever, ever find it.
Manhunt 2 Falls off Take 2’s Radar [IGN]
Clips: World In Conflict Singleplayer Trailer
Think they want us to know that World in Conflict isn’t just multiplayer skirmishes. That it’s got a singleplayer campaign too, one with detailed characters (these guys are reportedly the in-game models), and a so-cheesy-it’s-great late-80s trailer.
Take Two: Avary Writing, Directing Wolfenstein Movie
Shocktillyoudrop are reporting that Roger Avary, he of Rules of Attraction and Silent Hill, is both writing and directing a film adaptation of id’s Return to Castle Wolfenstein. He’ll be reuniting with Producer Samuel Hadida, who picked up the rights to the game a while back and who worked with Avary on Silent Hill. This should be easier on Avary, and us, than Silent Hill. Surely you can’t screw up a lone GI fighting hordes of Nazi mutants and sexy assassins? Can you?
Avary Accepts Wolfenstein Mission [ShockTillYouDrop.com]
What Do You Think, Spain?: Spain Loves Wii & PS3, Hates 360
Those Spaniards are a temperamental bunch. No half-measures there, you either love a console or you hate it with a fiery, latin passion that only a Spaniard can manage. Take these want/do not want stats compiled by Spanish analysts, The Cocktail Analysis, for example: they asked 1,022 18-55 year-olds, both senors and senoritas, which consoles they own, and which they are intending to buy. 34% gave a blank stare, 31% either own or would buy a Wii, with 30% either owning or intending to buy a PS3. That leaves 4.5% of those polled opting for the 360. You go ahead and insert your own excitable Spanish phrase in at the end, I’m done.
Wii, la preferida por los españoles [The Cocktail Analysis, thanks Redfield!]
Real News: Smash Bros. To Feature Singleplayer Side-Scrolling Experience
Smash Bros as a multiplayer game is pretty great. As a singleplayer game, though…it’s a little malnourished. Best way to fix that? Throw in a singleplayer, story-driven “side-scrolling action game”: .
..we’ve managed to create a complete side-scrolling action game. It’s storyline isn’t overwrought–it’s hastened along by a bunch of quick movies.The Adventure mode also emphasizes character development. You’ll see many famous characters persevering under the weight of their personal histories, shouldering their unique burdens… It’s really something you won’t see anywhere else.
Character development? Side-scrolling? Adventure? Character development? Hah! Alright, this should be…well, it’ll be pretty interesting to see what they do with this, actually.
What is the Subspace Emissary? [Smash Bros Dojo]
Give Me Just A Minute While I Clarify…: Call Of Duty 4 Beta Not US-Only After All?
First we’re told by Activision that the Call of Duty 4 beta is US-only. Now Infinity Ward are telling us it’s not! Well…it is, but only for a little while, until they can get it all sorted out and get everyone else onboard. An IW rep has told us:
As for who is eligible for the Beta, there was some confusion caused this week stating that the Beta would be US-exclusive, however that statement was premature, because we have not finalized final details on who would be involved in the beta at this point. In order to get started, and kick off the beta we will begin in the United States, but are looking to go International and currently sorting out those details.
His bold. Not mine. So it’s US-only for now. Everyone else, go fix yourself a cup of tea, play some Mario Strikers, and in a few weeks everything will hopefully be hunkey-dorey.
Clips: More Left 4 Dead Footage
This time from QuakeCon. Runs for about six minutes, which is more than enough time to convince me that I’m going to need to play this with the lights on.
Shifting Units: Simple 2000: The Japanese Hardware Chart
Sure, the supply of the Wii in Japan may be stabilizing, but what about its demand?. Last week’s charts saw it drop from 109,854 to 86,786. This week it’s down to 77,169. Could Japan’s love affair with the Wii be coming to an end? And could its former love, the PlayStation, be back in the frame? The PS3 shifted 28,829 units last week, more than double its sales from the week before. Crazy days in Nippon.
DS Lite : 150,494
Wii : 77,169
PSP: 35,068
PS3: 28,829
PS2: 11,757
Xbox 360: 3,872
GB Micro: 263
GBA SP: 228
GC: 102
DS Phat: 90
GBA: 41
[courtesy of Media Create and their shiny new website]
Highly Scientific: Is Your 360 A Winner? Check
So there are two kinds of 360 on the market. There are the ones without the new heatsink. These have a tendency to…die horribly. And there are those with the new heatsink, which seem to work a lot better. Which one have you got? Ben Heck can help you, with his highly scientific methodology. First, get a camera. Then put your camera on top of an overturned 360. Then take a picture. If you can see your DVD drive, you’re fresh outta luck. If you can’t see it, you’ve got a new heatsink in there and your luck reserves are in good shape.
See if you have the new Xbox 360 heatsink without voiding the precious warranty [Ben Heck]
Kings Of Steel: Guitar Hero Going International
And the Guitar Hero news just will not stop. Neversoft and Activision have decided to expand Guitar Hero’s appeal by “adopting local music content for specific European tastes”. Seems most GH sales have been in North America, with Europeans largely unimpressed by the whole thing, so they reckon chucking in a few more appropriate artists might lure them to part with their Euros. Expect some Meshuggah, Rammstein, Helloween and Manowar, then. Though some Spanish guitar would also be rad. Just to sex things up a little. In case Manowar haven’t sexed things up too much.
GHIII Wooing International Gamers [IGN]
Old Folk’s Home: Take-Two Hardly Pleased By All-Pro Football Reception
Take-Two, this just isn’t your day. Or year. Despite having the very best intentions with their All-Pro Football 2K8 game (namely giving Madden some, any, competition), things haven’t gone too well. Yeah, it looks like the same old NFL2K game, but without NFL teams it’s all fallen a little flat. Like, nobody’s buying it. Prompting CEO and President Ben Feder to state during a conference call today that:
We’re not terribly pleased and not disappointed. We’re watching closely and are going to react proactively when Madden comes out. We know we’re in competition with them.
You keep at em, Ben! I don’t like your chances of taking on the combined might of EA Sports AND the NFL license with a bunch of retired players on made-up teams, but hey. Keep at em.
Take-Two Conference Call [Take-Two]
