Tom Petty, Go-Go's, Kelly Clarkson, and P!nk

Next week’s Rock Band 2 and LEGO Rock Band content updates include six tracks by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, taken straight from the band's upcoming 48-song album, The Live Anthology.  The album is comprised completely of live recordings and releases this Tuesday, the same day the DLC.  If you like Heartland rock, give their tunes a whirl.

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (Live)”
  
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (Live)”
  
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (Live)”
  
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (Live)”
  
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Live)”
  
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (Live)”
  
• The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed”
  
• Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent”
  
• P!nk – “Who Knew”

You know you have been playing too much Love Plus when...

Have you seen that video of the Japanese guy who spends much too time with his 'companionship' dolls? Well you can file this story under the same keywords: strange and sad.

Unfortunately the details are a bit short, as my Japanese reading skills are a little bit weak. But, according to the Boing Boing blog, the man -- who identifies himself online as SAL9000 -- has become quite enamoured with his virtual girlfriend in the DS game Love Plus, named Nene Anegaski. So, of course the rational thing to do when you love someone is get married right? Following his heart, SAL9000 is set to marry Nene Anegaski this coming Sunday.

The marriage will be celebrated with a trip to Guam (good thing Love Plus is on the DS and not a home console). SAL9000 plans to bring his DS around with him on his trip which he'll be documenting online on a few Japanese websites. He has apparently made use of an augmented reality tool which allows him to transpose the image of his virtual girlfriend onto scenes being recorded on his iPhone. 

SAL9000 is actually not the first person to fall in love with a virtual girlfriend from Love Plus, which has been out since September now. In fact, the problem is not unheard of in Japan it seems. Here is an excerpt from one man's experiences with his virtual girlfriend:

Koh, what do you and Rinko do together?

Koh: OK, this is pretty embarrassing. The DS has a mic and a touchscreen, so... one time, she asked me to say "I love you" a hundred times into the mic. I was on the airplane when she asked me that, so I was like, no way. There was also this part where you have to hold her hand on the touchscreen. If you touch her hand with the stylus, you get to hold her hand. And then there's the part where you have to kiss her.

Did you do it?

Koh: No, no! The girl's face shows up on the screen, and you have to touch her lips to give her a kiss. That's pretty weird.... this is embarrassing. I'm sweating right now just talking about it.

Yurie: Ew. Do people really do that?

Koh: I guess some people do.

You can read the rest of the interview over here.

Going beyond the tongue-wagging

There’s a nice treat in store for both Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero players this week, as one of the most recognizable rock groups of all time graces both games with their music.  That's right, we're talking about KISS.

The "KISS Track Pack," now available for download via Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network, and Wii Shop Channel, includes three songs from these music legends.

• I Was Made For Lovin’ You
• Lick It Up
• Modern Day Delilah

But the DLC alone isn't going to cut it for KISS fans, so a trailer and concert invitation has been prepared in anticipation for the "KISS Track Pack" release.  Have a look at the cast of Guitar Hero rock out to the new songs and sample some of the notecharts for your instrument of choice:

Bad decisions make for shame, says former employee

Makers of the forthcoming vigilante romp The Saboteur, Pandemic Studios, are shutting down, if you haven't heard. Following the news, an anonymous developer has posted on the NeoGAF forums, an occasional hangout for industry types, giving his thoughts on the decision.

Emotions have run high for many people since the announcement, for gamers, publishers and developers alike. Those familiar with Pandemic's work, for example, have said it's deserved on some level, as mismanagement has been abound at the company for years. The developer in question here, posting under the name Zeenbor, reveals this is indeed the case:

"The reason why the studio closed down has everything to do with the existing Pandemic management. From what we were told, Pandemic management was given free reign to do as they please. Time and time again, they dropped the ball with bad decisions (promoting/keeping people based on loyalty, no production accountability, misallocation of resources, poor milestone objectives, no mentoring, etc.). It's a true shame, as there was a lot of talent and passion at the studio."

One member responds later in the thread with, "Sad news dude. Although if I were you I don't know if I'd go around bad mouthing management no matter how true it is. The industry is pretty small and something like this could get back to you." Zeenbor's thoughts? "F*ck it":

"See, that's the problem with humanity. Everyone is looking out for themselves. I say f*ck it. The truth needs to be told.

Philosophy aside, I'd say the circumstances warrant the truth. A lot of misconceptions are going around and EA management is being ragged for something that isn't necessarily their fault."

He notes Pandemic was an expensive studio to maintain, and the last two games, Mercenaries 2 and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest weren't "up to snuff", as the community has attested to.

We wouldn't feel terribly bad either if it wasn't for The Saboteur, a game featuring a "street-tough Irish racing mechanic" out for revenge in Nazi-occupied Europe that looks to be full of flavour and awfully promising. "Zeenbor" says, continuing, it's definitely a shame:

"EA is totally sending Saboteur out to die. And it's a f*cking shame. It's easily Pandemic's best game yet. Of course, I am a bit biased having worked on the game for so long. If you were disappointed with Mercs 2 and LOTR (who wasn't?) and enjoyed previous Pandemic games, give Saboteur a shot."

Has the reformed pirate walked the plank?

Tales of Monkey Island is coming to an end with the final episode, Rise of the Pirate God, coming December 8.  But a big problem has come to light: the hero, Guybrush Threepwood, has disappeared.

It seems that the mightiest pirate to ever grace the Caribbean has vanished without a trace along with his wife Elaine Marley-Threepwood as a result of the events in The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood.  The inhabitants suspect Guybrush’s nemesis LeChuck (who has been thrice defeated in ghost, zombie, and demon forms) may have something to do with the missing couple, but even he is nowhere to be found.  The answer to these mysteries, including other lingering questions, shall be revealed in this last episode.  Or maybe they haven’t checked the water yet since Guybrush does have an uncanny talent for holding his breath underwater -- as long as 10 minutes.

Telltale Games is honoring the seemingly doomed pirate by offering the current four episodes of Tales of Monkey Island for $8.95 each.  Already bought an episode?  You also have the option of upgrading to get the remaining chapters at a discount price.  Either way, don’t miss out on the long-awaited continuation of the Monkey Island series.

Objection! Wait, this is a good thing...

Capcom has announced today that the Ace Attorney series will be available via WiiWare in 2010.  Phoenix Wright on the Wii?  Win!

The former DS exclusives will be released one at a time, starting with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in January, when Wright defends his childhood friend Larry Butz and inadvertently gains courtroom fame.  The second game, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: JUSTICE FOR ALL follows up in March, with TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS set for May.  Wii owners can also pick up the Ace Attorney bonus episode in May from the DS version, for an additional 100 Wii Points.

Each game will go for 1,000 Wii Points, or $10.00 USD, which isn't at all steep considering you'll be playing one of the most beloved handheld franchises to date; due to unexpected popularity in the West, the entire series has sold over 3.7 million units worldwide.  The touch screen features will likely be gone, unfortunately, unless Nintendo unveils a touch-sensitive television monitor peripheral between now and January 2010.  Otherwise, you're getting the same product as seen on GBA, from visuals to sound, without any Wii-exclusive content.

Now if anyone knows who those two cosplayers are, please send the Miles Edgeworth my way.

Featuring songs from the 'Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band' album

Harmonix and MTV released a new gameplay video today, featuring the second downloadable album for The Beatles: Rock Band, titled Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  It's not the full album, of course, as the game already has a few songs.  The DLC basically includes the remaining tracks, which you can buy individually or in a bundle for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (individual purchase for Wii).

As we previously noted, the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band DLC will be out tomorrow, November 17, for the 360 and Wii, then November 19 for PS3.  The "Complete the Album Pack" will include the following tracks:

• “Fixing A Hole”
  
• “She’s Leaving Home”
  
• “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
• “Within You Without You”
  
• “When I’m Sixty-Four”
  
• “Lovely Rita”
  
• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
  
• “A Day In The Life.”

"Super Guide" auto help feature unconfirmed

Remember when Nintendo announced the "Super Guide" system for New Super Mario Bros. Wii because it's supposed to be a hardcore and difficult game?  Well, you know, something to that effect.

Anyway, looks like Super Mario Galaxy 2 will also be a stab at attracting more hardcore gamers with its difficulty level.   Shigeru Miyamoto recently announced that the game will be "very difficult."  When asked whether Galaxy 2 will include the same auto-assist system, Miyamoto would not confirm either possibility:

"Well, as far as the challenge of Super Mario Galaxy 2 is concerned, I think it's going to be a really challenging game, but whether or not we are going to incorporate the Super Guide, I just cannot tell.  In general, wherever and whenever appropriate, I think we will want to incorporate that kind of thing, but I cannot commit to anything specific right now."

Now he's just playing hard to get.  Really though, would gamers prefer Mario Galaxy 2 do without (or with)?  Surely the mere option won't hurt anyone.  This is a Mario title, after all...

AFI punks up The Bangles

Next week's Rock Band 2 update is being dominated by punk rock group AFI.  First formed in 1991, AFI didn't really see success until 2003 when their sixth album managed to earn the #5 position on the Billboard 200 and eventually reach Platinum status.  The featured tracks have been taken from their "Sing the Sorrow," "Decemberunderground," and "Crash Love" albums.  

The Bangles round up the update with their number-one hit from the 1986 album "Different Light".

Here are the six songs that will be available for download.  Those colored in red will not be available in LEGO Rock Band:

• AFI - "Beautiful Thieves"
• AFI - "End Transmission"
• AFI - "Love Like Winter"
• AFI - "Medicate"
• AFI - "The Leaving Song, Pt. II"
• The Bangles - "Walk Like an Egyptian"

The "AFI Pack 01" lets you bundle the AFI content together for 680 Microsoft Points or $8.49 USD / £5.25 UK / €6.59 EU from the PlayStation Store.  Otherwise, individual downloads cost 160 MS Points, $1.99 / £.99 / €1.49 from the PlayStation Store, or 200 Nintendo Points.

More punk and indie content shall grace Rock Band Unplugged store as two tunes from Dead Kennedys and Sleater-Kinney are added:

• Dead Kennedys - "California Über Alles"
• Sleater-Kinney - "You're No Rock'n'Roll Fun"

Rock Band Unplugged downloads cost the usual $1.99, or £.99 / €1.49 for European players.

Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii players can get their goods on November 17 while PlayStation 3 and PSP owners must wait until November 19.  If you've got The Beatles Rock Band, another downloable album will also be available on those dates.

Darkside Chronicles videos feature cowboy costumes for all, and undead tofu

Capcom certianly has a peculiar sense of humor, which they love to share with gamers (lucky us).  The latest source of hilarity comes out of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, due November 17, exclusively for the Wii.

Two trailers have been released, showing off bonus outfits for Claire, Leon, and Krauser.  Our main heroes get some "American" style clothes, including biker and cowboy(girl) outfits; Krauser gets a mercenery outfit, complete with red beret hat.

Cleavage, cowboy hats.  This is Capcom, so we're not at all surprised by the emphasis on looking good while killing zombies.  Scrappy lookin' people belong in Left 4 Dead, and Capcom gets the unnaturally hot characters.

Next up, we have the new "Tofu Mode."  Confused?  Basically giant cubes of tofu become your enemies, wobbling toward you with murderous intent.  You'll have to shoot the tofu to survive; if that's not scary, we don't know what is.

Theoretically, you could eat the tofu in order to defeat them, but this tofu looks a bit... diseased.

Industry goes back into year-on-year decline after a solid September

The NPD Group has prepared its latest monthly report covering the North American video game industry sales for October 2009.  After the year's first month of year-on-year growth as a result of September 2009's sales, October 2009 unfortunately couldn't quite keep up the pace.  A 19 percent year-on-year decline in total industry revenue was reported, though October 2009's results still proved to be the third highest recorded by the NPD Group for the month.

October 2009 Industry Summary

Total: $1.07 billion USD
Console software: $572.73 million USD
Console hardware: $380.74 million USD
Console accessories: $118.88 million USD

Nintendo's Wii sees a return to form after being topped by the PlayStation 3 in September, and it's price cut to $199 USD certainly helped.  The competing PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms already saw their boost in sales thanks to similar reductions in price, though NPD's Anita Frazier notes that their momentum did not end up carrying over into October.

While 360 titles dominated both NPD's top ten as well as overall industry sales for October (making up 27 percent of total sales), Uncharted 2 for the PS3 emerged as the best-selling title of last month.  Many other new titles succeeded in landing in the software top ten as well, including Borderlands, Forza Motorsport 3, Wii Fit Plus, and NBA 2K10.  September's top-seller and key force behind the month's growth, Halo 3: ODST, unfortunately dropped in sales by quite a bit during October, though admittedly it's a tough act to recapture monthly sales of over one million units.

What will the NPD report bring for this month?  Titles to look for will definitely include Dragon Age: Origins and of course Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, already Activision's biggest game launch yet.

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" coming November 17

Bored of Abbey Road?  MTV and Harmonix will soon be releasing a second downloadable album for The Beatles: Rock Band, so hang in there a bit longer.  Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be hitting the Music Store on November 17 for Wii and Xbox 360, then November 19 for PlayStation 3.

A handful of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band singles are already playable -- “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Getting Better,” “Good Morning Good Morning" -- so the DLC just adds what's missing. 

With it, players will get the remaining eight songs, which can be purchased individually or as a pack ("Complete the Album Pack") on Xbox LIVE and PSN.

• “Fixing A Hole”
  
• “She’s Leaving Home”
  
• “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
• “Within You Without You”
  
• “When I’m Sixty-Four”
  
• “Lovely Rita”
  
• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
  
• “A Day In The Life.”

Yay, Beatles music is fun for all!  Anyway, the individual singles are priced at the usual $1.99 USD (£.99 UK, €1.49 EU) or 160 Microsoft Points on LIVE.  The "Complete the Album Pack," which gives you all the songs in a bundle, will go for $13.49 USD (£7.49 UK, €8.99 EU) or 1080 Microsoft Points.

The Nintendo Wii will also be getting these tracks, though as before, they're only available for individual download.  For the Wii, each single will be 200 Wii Points.

You can't unsee this

Activision has just released a new trailer for the upcoming Tony Hawk: RIDE. From what we were sent, it doesn't appear to be promoting anything specifically; it seems to simply be the product of an idea from a few disturbed individuals at Activision.

So, sit back and watch the secret desires of your Xbox 360 controller and a skateboard unfold. What did you think they were doing when you weren't looking?

Could be the end for Mirror's Edge, Brutal Legend and others

Running Electronic Arts (EA)'s Q2 financial numbers yesterday, we noted the company seemed like it would be moving away from "high risk" titles like Mirror's Edge, Brutal Legend, and others. This is further encouraged by CEO John Riccitiello's elaborating in a conference call, saying they've already cut anything all but assured to sell big:

"Electronic Arts has a core slate of games label and sports franchises that we will iterate on a either annual or bi-annual basis. And I think you know what those major titles are – all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition 2m units or more. After that, we’ve got The Sims and Hasbro, and frankly anything that doesn’t measure up to looking like it can pencil out to be in very high profit contributor and high unit seller got cut from our title slate from this point going forward."

Sadly, this sounds a lot like what Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said about its investments last year, which some outlets have dubbed the company the "McDonald's of video game publishing" for:

[The games we didn't pick up] don't have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million franchises. … I think, generally, our strategy has been to focus… on the products that have those attributes and characteristics, the products that we know [that] if we release them today, we'll be working on them 10 years from now."

Is this a return to the "old EA"? We sure hope not.

We'd asked directly if this meant the end for Mirror's Edge and the like; as of 9:30AM PST, we've received no response.

#1 publisher shows strong numbers, sees fit to restructure

Electronic Arts (EA) numbers for the second quarter of 2009 are in, and though most numbers are up, the company will be closing several studios and laying off 1,500 of its employees, 1,300 as part of a planned "restructuring" to be largely completed by March 31. The figures are up over the 600 cuts made during last year's second quarter.

GAAP, if you're not familiar with the term, refers to "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles." Simply put, it's the rules by which financial reports are written by, though for a multitude of legal reasons, non-GAAP and GAAP revenues are necessary to be filed and reported.

With that in mind, GAAP net revenue dropped $106 million from last year's quarter to $788 with $391m (versus $310) accounting for GAAP net loss. Non-GAAP net revenue was an all-time high of $1.147bn, up slightly over last year's $1.126; non-GAAP net income totaled $19m versus a $20m net loss the year prior.

Back to the lay-offs: EA states these are part of its plan to "narrow its product portfolio to provide greater focus on titles with higher margin opportunities." This could mean really bad news for fans of titles like Mirror's Edge, regarded as "high risk." EA has previously stated they would see the development of that series and others, and focus on quality and innovation in general, despite initially low numbers. Whether or not that has changed remains to be seen -- we've contacted EA for comment.

Yearly savings from the cuts are expected to clear $100m in addition to $130-150 restructuring charges.

Also announced is the acquisition of social media games company Playfish for $275m.

Following are the highlights of the quarter as compared to last year's:

• EA was the #1 publisher in North America and Europe fiscal year to date, with 21% segment share - up four points. EA had four of the top-ten games in both North America and Europe.
• Eight EA titles launched this quarter with a Metacritic rating of 80 or above, including: NHL(R) 10, The Beatles: Rock Band, FIFA 10, Battlefield 1943(TM), Madden NFL 10, NCAA Football 10, Dead Space(TM) Extraction, and Need for Speed SHIFT. Calendar year-to-date, EA has 17 titles rated at 80 or above.
• FIFA 10, with a Metacritic rating of 91 on the Xbox 360(R) and PlayStation(R)3, was EA's strongest European title launch in its history - selling 4.5 million copies in week one.
• Madden NFL 10 was the #1 title in North America for the quarter, according to NPD.
• Need for Speed SHIFT, with a 22 point increase in quality as measured by Metacritic, sold over 2.5 million copies in the quarter.
• Digital non-GAAP net revenue was an all time quarter high at $138 million - up 23 percent year-over-year.
• EA recently signed five new advertising partners - Johnson & Johnson, Doritos, Apple, Pfizer and Renault -- for $7 million in incremental advertising bookings.
• EA Mobile, the world's leading publisher of games for phones, delivered $50 million of non-GAAP net revenue in the quarter - up nine percent year-over-year. EA is the #1 publisher of games on the iPhone with seven of the top 10 games; and #1 on Verizon with eight of the top 10 games.

Let's blow stuff up

The latest entry for the long running Bomberman series has been released today, in North America. If you've played other Bomberman games, then you pretty much can guess the drill: you are a man, with bombs, that you throw and other dudes; people call you the Bomberman. You like to blow stuff up.

Bomberman Blitz features up to 8 player matches for online play. And in this in this new Bomberman game, if get prematurely exploded, you can still toss bombs from the sidelines.

The explosions will take place across 10 different arenas.

Not much else needs to be said, so check out these screenshots and the launch trailer:

Critically acclaimed indie game tries again after rough development

Cave Story Wii has had a rough development run.  The run-and-gun platformer about an amnesiac android's adventures on a floating island -- also inhabited by rabbit-y creatures, a cruel doctor, and the best flying toaster ever made -- was intended to be available at the end of 2008 but met with a huge delay that persisted for months with a smattering of updates here and there to keep fans posted.  Up until now, there had been no suggested release period.

Developer and publisher Nicalis posted a much anticipated update on their blog today.  Looks like Cave Story for WiiWare has recently been resubmitted to Nintendo for approval.  Nicalis will continue keeping fans up to date on the issue, with hopes that the verdict will come later this week.

It was recently revealed that the WiiWare version will feature a palette-swap of the game's android protagonist, Quote.  The Nicalis blog and the official Cave Story Twitter account also showcase the new Quote sprite, changing his usual red/green get-up to an odd yellow/blue outfit, as seen on the right.  Oddly enough, the sprite appearing upside-down on the blog, which may be hinting at a whole new mystery.  Entries from the game's Twitter feed point out that this new Quote has a purpose and was specially designed by the game's designer, Daisuke Amaya.

As before, Cave Story for WiiWare will feature Classic Controller support, a revised English localization, and updated soundtrack and visuals, plus an the option to play the game in its original 8-bit style -- chiptunes and all.  There are no details about extra content for this version, nor has a price point been set, though it was reported earlier to be between 500 and 1000 Nintendo Points, which isn't much of a bargain compared the PC version's pricepoint of nothing.  

You're free to try the game right now on several platforms or wait for what will be the de-facto version to hit WiiWare.  Either way, you're in for one of the best indie games ever made.

Dhani Harrison wants advanced peripherals, ability to teach how to play real music

Ever since the emergance of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the music gaming genre has grown more and more popular, especially within the casual/family market. Not trying to delve too much into the history of modern rhythm games, it started out with the ability of just playing guitar, followed then by the inclusion of drums and vocals in Harmonix's Rock Band, which was then applied to the Guitar Hero series with the launch of Guitar Hero: World Tour.

At this point, there is little the game developers can do to try and trump eachother in the gaming market, producing various spin-offs such as Van Halen, Metallica and The Beatles and downright gimmicks like the recent LEGO Rock Band. However, Dhani Harrison, who was consulted on the development of The Beatles Rock Band, is said to have stayed on to help the team with Rock Band 3, saying:

"I'm working on Rock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game.

"Give me a couple years, it's going to happen."

If Harmonix truly are making an experience which is the closest to playing real-life instruments, it will be very intruiging to see how Rock Band 3 shapes up, and how well it sells. The classic rhythm based formula has yet to let the developers down, but taking one step towards realism is maybe just what the genre needs, even it does mean a horde of angry Rock Band fans moaning about buying yet another peripheral.

Now with blocky LEGO goodness

With the recent release of LEGO Rock Band, Harmonix introduces some new methods of keeping your children's virgin ears pure.  Now while searching for downloadable content for LEGO Rock Band, songs considered "inappropriate" will not appear at all in the Music Store.

A rather small update this time as it is domineered by the debut of The White Stripes in the Rock Band series.  Their songs each come from three different albums: "White Blood Cells", "Elephant", and "Icky Thump".  If you'd like an English flair with your songs, rock group Kasabian adds a headbanger to their catalog while The Damned debut with some punk rock.

Here are the five tunes that will be available for download.  Those colored in red will not be available in LEGO Rock Band:

• The Damned - "Smash It Up (Part II)"
• Kasabian - "Club Foot"
• The White Stripes - "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
• The White Stripes - "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine"
• The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
  

"The White Stripes Pack 01" lets you bundle their three songs for 440 Microsoft Points, or $5.49 / £2.49 / €3.99 from the PlayStation Store.  All individual downloads go for 160 MS Points, $1.99 / £.99 / €1.49 from the PlayStation Store, or 200 Nintendo Points from the Wii.

Rock Band Unplugged fans continue on from their milestone 55 songs as No Doubt and Dropkick Murphys join the Unplugged catalog:

• Dropkick Murphys - "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"
• No Doubt - "Excuse Me Mr."

Downloads cost $1.99, or £.99 / €1.49 for European players.

Xbox 360 and Wii players get their content November 10 while PlayStation 3 and PSP owners get theirs on November 12.

Not the helpless princess anymore (finally)

After 23 years, Nintendo is finally getting with the times.  In the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks DS game, Princess Zelda will actually be adventuring alongside Link as his companion, not a victim who gets kidnapped every few years.

Instead of running around as a mysterious blonde man with a lyre (still don't get that), Zelda shall be accompanying Link as a spirit, with a unique ability to possess suits of armor called "Phantoms."  Of course, she'll remain Link's guiding voice, traversing Hyrule on a customizable train, solving the usual puzzles as the storyline gradually reveals itself.  Spirit Tracks also promises a closer look at Zelda as an iconic character who, until now, has never really been in the Legend of Zelda spotlight.

President Reggie Fils-Aime claims early victory over MW2 on one platform

Well, big shots in the industry tend to talk crap to each other indirectly, mostly using the media.  In most situations, we only hear about the slap fighting between Sony and Microsoft, but Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime wants in on the action.

Seems Fils-Aime was recently quoted during a video interview saying that New Super Mario Bros.Wii will outsell Modern Warfare 2 on one system by January 2010.  "On a single platform...absolutely," said Fils-Aime. "I say that unequivocally." 

Now fanboys are getting all flustered over the statement, claiming the man's full of himself -- among other things.  But Reggie said one platform, not all; with the way Modern Warfare 2 currently looks for PC, it's entirely possible NSMB Wii might outsell MW2 PC before January.

"It's going to be close," said Fils-Aime, expressing his own anticipation for NSMB. "Of course I'll play it...I play all the content out there."

There's no doubt NSMB Wii will do well.  Famed analyst Michael Pachter has already predicted the sales will "shock" most of the industry and community, while GameStop executive Tony Bartel noted it should be a top-seller this holiday.
 

Guitar Hero 5 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 help give the company a major boost

In spite of a "challenging overall software market", Activision Blizzard still manages to beat projections to achieve profitability and a slight growth to its U.S. marketshare for its third fiscal quarter ending September 30th.

The company's revenues during the third quarter slid slightly year-on-year to $703 million USD, but beat its own projection of $680 million USD.  Activision Blizzard has also managed to score profit of $15 million USD for the third quarter, a huge improvement from the $108 million USD quarterly loss posted last year.  Spurred by such results, Activision believes it remains on track for revenue of $4.05 billion USD by the end of the 2009 calendar year.

CEO Bobby Kotick attributes this turnaround in profit to the performance of its Guitar Hero, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Call of Duty franchises.  Blizzard's World of Warcraft also managed to deliver the goods during the third quarter.

Activision is certainly not unaware of the concerns raised elsewhere regarding the sustainability of its music game business, especially after the lukewarm reception to DJ Hero at launch.  Sales for music peripheral bundles in North America are also stabilizing, as fans who already have the relevant instrument controllers increasingly opt for software-only packages.  CFO Thomas Tippl not only believes things will be just fine, but in fact predicts even better holiday season sales for its lineup of music games than last year.  The company continues to count on an engaged fanbase on the PS3 and Xbox 360 to help carry its music games through.

Forget about the polar caps melting, the South Pole just got covered in a black void

Atlus confirms it will be localizing the latest title in the long-running Shin Megami Tensei RPG series, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, for North America.  Scheduled for release next March 10th 2010 for the Nintendo DS, Strange Journey once again blends the world of demonic folklore and mythology with one of science.

Like most of the classic titles in the series, SMT: Strange Journey is a dungeon crawling RPG that pits you against demons you can battle or negotiate with to join your cause.  Setting the stage of the story is a mysterious, growing, black void that appears at the Earth's southern pole in the near future.  The player is part of an elite team of explorers dispatched to investigate the heart of this void, dubbed the "Schwarzwelt", and it happens to be a universe filled with demons.

Yes, you do look like an armored space marine with guns, but your handy "Demonica environment suit" works into the gameplay itself.  Strange Journey is designed to take advantage of the DS' dual screens during both exploration and combat.  You'll also make use of suit upgrades to allow you to deal with the different situations you may encounter as you explore the mysterious world of demons.

As with previous SMT games, the player will be required to make choices throughout the game intended to reflect on their avatar's moral compass.  The decisions you make could effect the course of your strange, strange journey.

Madden NFL 2010 is the best-selling North American-produced title, and makes the global list

Industry sales trackers NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and Enterbrain collaborate once more to deliver their latest Top Global Markets report covering software sales across three major regions; North America, the United Kingdom, and Japan. According to their findings, all software markets suffered a 6 percent decline in unit sales combined for the three month period from July to September.

Of the three global markets, Japan proved to be the healthiest thanks to a 15 percent year-on-year increase in third quarter software unit sales. Year-to-date sales however dropped around 9 percent compared to the first three quarters of 2008.

North America and the UK suffered year-on-year declines in both quarterly and year-to-date software unit sales. The UK in particular faced the greatest drops, with third quarter sales down 19 percent and year-to-date sales declining 13 percent.

While North America and the UK still enjoyed great software unit sales from high profile releases like Madden NFL 2010 and Halo 3: ODST, it was Japan that produced the single best-selling title across all three regions, Dragon Quest IX. The DS RPG racked up lifetime sales of just under 4 million units since launch at the start of the calendar quarter, further underlining the series' popularity in Japan.

Persisting to invade wherever you go

When Taito released the awesome Space Invaders Extreme 2 (which we reviewed not too long ago), they weren't kidding around with celebrating the 30th anniversary release of the original Space Invaders. Taito decided to introduce a slimmed-down version of the game to the Japanese DSiWare today called Space Invaders Extreme Z (SIEZ).  It's perfect for DSi owners who are seeking to extend gameplay beyond the cartridge release, having a little bit of SIE2 wherever they go, or even for new players who want a taste of what they're getting into before buying the full game.

This time around, you're limited to Score Attack and Time Attack modes, where you vie for the highest score or lowest time respectively. SIEZ still retains major features from its counterpart including the Bingo Card system, Fever Times, bonus scoring methods, cannon levels, and the four power-ups.  But the familiarities end there as instead of shooting through branching stage paths, you take on three progressively harder courses dubbed Beginner, Normal, and Extreme.  And most of the enemy formations are different this time around with a few familiar ones coming in from Space Invaders Extreme 2 to have another chance at taking you down.

It would be criminal not to point out SIEZ features the amazing Moe-themed stage from the previous game, as shown here:

Space Invaders Extreme Z is available to download for 500 Nintendo Points if you have a Japanese DSi on hand.  No international releases have been announced yet but when your biggest hurdle is to translate the manual, there's no reason not to bring this little invasion overseas; Taito's been pretty cool with bringing their digital releases out of Japan.