Industry sales were slightly down during April, despite the presence of three million selling titles on the console software charts

The NPD Group's official console gaming industry sales figures for the month of April are out and despite the lower sales total compared to March, last month saw the release of what will be the first of 2008's gaming blockbusters.  Grand Theft Auto IV barely launched before the end of last month, but it's has already shattered interactive entertainment industry records, and NPD has its official tally of the carnage it caused duuring the last five days of April alone.

First off, April's console hardware sales as a whole were down compared to March.  Only Nintendo's Wii managed to maintain momentum, selling over 700,000 units during both months.  The rest of the console platforms took a dive in sales, including the DS which took the biggest hit; sales for the handheld dropped by over 280,000 units.  However, the DS managed to stay in second place.  In fact, despite the overall drop in sales, the rankings for all the consoles otherwise stayed the same as they did during March.  The PlayStation Portable in particular continued to beat the Xbox 360, as well as Sony's other home console platforms including the PS3.

April's software top ten chart on the other hand sees not one, but three million sellers.  Technically two are Grand Theft Auto IV on its different platforms, but each form a one-two punch that's hard to ignore.  Particularly noteworthy is the popularity of the Xbox 360 version versus its PS3 brother; GTA IV sold approximately 850,000 units more on the 360.  Perhaps the prospect of exclusive downloadable content (DLC) proved over Xbox Live proved to be a bigger draw for GTA fans than expected!

Analysts and fanboys alike meanwhile expected the only game released during April which would provide anything even close to competition for GTA IV was Mario Kart Wii.  The Mario Kart series enjoys great tenure, and to its credit Mario Kart's first Wii entry fared quite well against Rockstar's latest and greatest.  It couldn't beat GTA IV of course, but it was the only other software title which sold over a million copies last month.  The rest of the software top ten didn't come close to selling even half a million units each.  Unfortunately that includes Super Smash Bros. Brawl, despite moving an estimated 2.7 million copies during March; as skeptical gamers may have speculated, sales for the Wii brawler fell sharply only after a month.

April 2008 US Games Industry Summary

Total sales - $1.23 billion USD
Console software - $654.7 million USD
Console hardware - $426.2 million USD
Console accessories - $154 million USD

April 2008 US Hardware Sales

1. Nintendo Wii - 714,000 units
2. Nintendo DS - 415,000 units
3. Sony PlayStation Portable - 193,000 units
4. Microsoft Xbox 360 - 168,000 units
5. Sony PlayStation 3 - 187,000 units
6. Sony PlayStation 2 - 124,000 units

April 2008 US Game Software Sales

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 1.85 million units
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 1.12 million units
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 1 million units
4. Wii Play Remote bundle (Wii) - 360,000 units
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 326,000 units
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3) - 224,000 units
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - 202,000 units
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time - 202,000 units
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 152,000 units
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) - 141,000 units

Because everyone likes ninjas wielding sharp objects.

Indeed, everyone does like bonuses because Amazon.com is throwing one in if you pre-order Ninja Gaiden II through them.  It's actually all quite clear on the site's Ninja Gaiden II order page. 

If you pre-order through Amazon, they're going to throw in a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Card.  Put it toward a future game purchase, if you'd like, or get something nice for your mother.  It's a gift card, the possibilities are endless!

The purchase will qualify for Amazon's free Super Saver Shipping of course, being over $25 and all; that also means you'll get the game later than someone who chooses the pricier (quicker) shipping options.  But if you're that eager to get your hands on the game, you'll probably want to head to your nearest game store, not a website.

Go ahead and click.  Ryu Hayabusa demands it -- and we cannot resist his sexy ninja charms.

Get your berserker rage on and go take out that punk Robo-Loki

After years and years and years of development, it looks like the game Too Human is actually going to be released at some point in 2008 for the Xbox 360. 

If you don't know about the game, and the game could be described in a short sentence, the sentence could possibly read: Too Human is a upcoming action RPG from Silicon Knights, where you fight neo-cyborgs in an alternate Earth pre-history where the Norse gods exist.

A video emerged from the depths of the Internet today showing some hot tag-team action. Check it out:

This game looks like it will be pretty fun. Any title that has a LVL 49 "Angelic Skull Splitter Staff of Rising Bellow" gets high marks in my book.

Rumors of a slimmer 360 are brewing.

Microsoft has been up to quite a lot, and it looks like the Xbox 360 is getting a much needed revamp for next year.

No confirmation has been given regarding a slimmer console, but Microsoft has been on a mission to reduce production costs for the 360.

The Taiwan Economic News has reported that the first wafers with 65 nm GPUs are now ready to join the 65 nm Xenon CPUs.  Still, there's no word on whether the GPUs and CPUs will get a die shrink.  Apparently, Microsoft isn't comfortable with making any sort of changed until they're more certain of the manufacturing process.

However, the TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.) is going to start producing the Valhalla chip, which will be the foundation of the Xbox 360's mid-cycle alteration, which has been dubbed "Xbox 2.5" or "Xbox 540" for Fall 2009.  The new chip will give Microsoft the opportunity to redesign the 360 casing if they wanted to go for a sleeker, slimmer look, following in the footsteps of Sony's PS2.

Rumors are also suggesting that Microsoft is looking for a more efficient cooling method, which will hopefully be an even cheaper alternative.  And by "cheaper" I hope they mean cost, not quality.  I'm not sure consumers would be too happy if the new Xbox 360 had worse heating issues than the current ones.

No, still no word on an internal Blu-ray drive.  I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Rockstar's latest is now the "Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours" and the "Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours"

Take-Two and Rockstar proudly boasted that Grand Theft Auto IV was the biggest launch event yet in the history of modern interactive entertainment, thanks to blockbuster sales of 6 million units (ringing up $500 million USD at cashiers) across multiple launch territories in just one week.  Immortalizing of such details was initially limited to the publisher's press releases (and of course news outlets), but now GTA IV's first day sales performance officially makes the Guiness World Records history books.

For selling 3.6 million units and earning $310 million USD on day one, GTA IV will be honored with both the "Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours" and the "Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours" honors in one fell swoop.  Those are some serious achievements right there, handily beating the previous title holder, Halo 3, which earned $170 million USD on launch day.

While GTA IV is selling like hotcakes, analysts still caution that its lifetime sales will potentially be lower than those for its predecessor, GTA: San Andreas.  Lifetime-to-date sales of the PS2 entry currently stand at around 21.5 million units.  A key reason for this scenario would be the natural decline in sales following a title's first week on the charts; indeed, Chart-Track today confirms that despite remaining top dog in the United Kingdom, second week sales for GTA IV in the PAL region were already 77 percent lower than they were during launch week.  Of course, we don't expect to GTA IV to be limping past pole position, and thus far it's the Xbox 360 version of the game pulling the cart.  Will the PS3 version catch up anytime soon?  Either way, GTA IV remains a winner.

Analyst predictions for the eighth-gen

Analyst Evan Wilson at Pacific Crest Securities - a company which specalizes in technology research, among other things - says we'll see the eigth generation of video game consoles come 2010.

This is about right, since the Playstation 2, for example, was released in 2000, and its successor in 2006 (the Xbox was ahead of the game, with a four year gap, Nintendo is at five with its consoles). However, I don't put too much stock in this guy's view, as he did once claim (late last year) a second redesign of the DS was complete, with no comment from Nintendo (and a year later, they've flat-out denied it).

Would you be ready for a new set of consoles in two years? Myself, I'm still playing original Playstation and Sega CD games, and drooling over a few modern titles like BioShock. My list of games to play/buy is far too extensive. Please, game companies, no more!

Potential acquisition has Rockstar VP considering

As you might know, EA Games has been attempting to take over Take Two Interactive, who in turn own Rockstar Games, producers of the famed Grand Theft Auto series, among other titles (yes, there are others). Naturally, this has vice president of Rockstar and GTA creator Dan Houser thinking over the potential outcome.

The attempt to acquire Take Two hasn't been pretty, going from a friendly "hey, how about this much?" to a somewhat gruesome "we're paying this much now and there ain't much you can do about it." But what a lot of us may not be aware of is Rockstar is home to its own share of volatility.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Houser reveals quite a bit about the Rockstar working environment, and sometimes it ain't too pretty (former online producer for the company Jeff Williams wrote in a now deleted blog post awhile ago the arguments in the office meant 'screaming at the top of your lungs and throwing objects around the office' [types of arguments].' The question, I suppose then, is if EA (a decidedly more corporate and structured space, as it seems) would be right for this kind of envrionment (and don't get me wrong, it isn't always screaming matches).

But Houser actually seems pretty cool about the whole thing, calling EA CEO John Riccitiello "the real deal" and saying the acquisition would make his company a "much smaller fish in a much bigger pond," also noting, "I'm not someone who has any kind of problem with that." I guess you could take that a few ways, one implying more freedom to do what they like, being one division in a field of many, while also having more resources available. Houser also stated he probably wouldn't be looking to EA for approval on game content. The really ironic and amusing part of all this is EA turned down Houser for a job in the late 1990s (just a few short years before the release of Grand Theft Auto III).

Enemies, friends, and sexy ladies revealed!

I'd have said sexy dudes as well, but unless you count old Murasama or flaming pants-Genshin as sexy (or have a thing for monsters with wings), you're out of luck.

So here, they are, all the main characters from the next Ninja Gaiden title (minus Ryu Hyabausa, who's already received his fair share of attention). Click the thumbnails for a larger view.

Genshin (Overlord of the Black Spider Clan)

[image2 width=250 height=140]

Muramasa

Video: Ninja Gaiden 2

Elizabet (on a mission to steal an important artificat from Ryu's village, setting off potentially apocalyptic events)

Video: Ninja Gaiden 2

Zedonius

Video: Ninja Gaiden 2

Volf

Video: Ninja Gaiden 2

Joe Hayabusa

Video: Ninja Gaiden 2

Alexei

Video: Ninja Gaiden 2

Sonia (aka Chesty LaRue. CIA employee, pals with Ryu)

[image1 width=250 height=140]

This one in particular makes me think they should do an anime-style Ninja Gaiden title next. Anyone?

Take Two: "[it's] extremely well-suited to film"

Evidently the success of 2K Games' sci-fi shooter-ish masterpiece thing has been such that it warrants a film production. And not just any film production, a Hollywood film production. Dun dun dun. The film is set to be directed by Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski under Universal Pictures. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think about that. Either he's got a whole demented side to him just waiting to be unleashed with the right project, or BioShock is gonna get butchered good. (Update: He also directed The Ring.) Apparently Verbinski is a big BioShock fan though (thank God):

"BioShock fans appreciate the depth and complexity of the game," Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games, noted. "And our partnership with Gore Verbinski will introduce the world of Rapture to an even wider audience. In addition to his impressive body of work, Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of BioShock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project."

John Logan, writer of Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeney Todd, is being considered for the screenplay.

Take-Two Interactive, owners of 2K are pumped. Check out this quote from its chairman Strauss Zelnick:

"BioShock has been hailed as one of the most highly cinematic and richly plotted titles in interactive entertainment, making it extremely well-suited to film... Our ability to attract a major studio and unparalleled creative team speaks volumes about the strength of our BioShock franchise."

I'm imagining they'd be pretty protective of something like this, so here's hoping it is in the right hands.

As for how this will fit in with the BioShock storyline, that's hard to say. The sequel is planned for next year, so the film could be released before or after, really. It would be interesting if and how the sequel's storyline would be changed to complement the film.

It was the craziest launch yet in the history of interactive entertainment, that's for sure

Microsoft is already giddy over the release of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360, and for the time being their console's version of Rockstar and Take-Two's blockbuster action adventure appears to be enjoying greater success than the PlayStation 3 edition.  GTA IV thus far has sold 6 million units worldwide for some massive damage, netting some $500 million USD in sales; first day sales alone were 3.6 million units.  That's well over Take-Two's original estimate of $400M USD, and certainly a new record for the gaming industry.  U.K. sales figures were already posted here, and are included in Take-Two's report.

Approximately 60 percent of all GTA IV sales during launch week were for the Xbox 360 version, according to data culled by Microsoft.  Additionally, the game's launch last week helped push 360 console sales in the U.S. up by 54 percent compared to previous weeks, and over 40 percent of new 360 consoles were purchased alongside a fresh copy of GTA IV.

We already know that GTA IV is the hottest game on Xbox Live, and Microsoft is ready to share the stats to back this.  Over 2.3 million Xbox 360 gamers have played the game over Xbox Live since its release last week; XBL saw the patronage of around one million concurrent users over the past weekend.  XBL gamers have played GTA IV online for an average of four hours per session, setting another XBL record for the most time played.  In total, Xbox 360 gamers have unlocked over 12 million achievements (worth over 100 million gamerscore points) in GTA IV.

Xbox 360 shooters lose their spot at the top; how long will GTA IV's reign on the charts last?

Grand Theft Auto IV began shipping early last week, and it's already making waves across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment were quick to tout the immediate benefits GTA IV's release brought to their respective platforms.

Xbox 360 and Xbox Live director of product management Aaron Greenberg already expected GTA IV to drive new XBL memberships, predicting Rockstar and Take-Two's title to become the most played XBL title in due time.  In fact, last week GTA IV managed to do just that, with the highest number of unique users seeing multiplayer action. Losing its title as Xbox Live champion is Call of Duty 4, while Halo 3 continues to follow close behind Activision's tactical shooter.

The Xbox 360 version of GTA IV is set to bolstered with unique, downloadable episodic content which stands to not only cement its popularity at retail, but over XBL as well.  GTA IV will be sticking around on the XBL charts for a while.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (2008/4/28 - 2008/5/5)

1. GTA IV
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Halo 3
4. Guitar Hero III
5. Gears of War
6. Rock Band
7. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
8. Iron Man Demo
9. FIFA 08
10. Forza Motorsport 2

They could be closer to reality than expected, but Microsoft won't confirm anything

An OEM subsidiary for hardware giant Asus, Pegatron Technology, has reportedly landed orders from Microsoft itself to commence production of Xbox 360 consoles featuring built-in Blu-ray disc drives (BD-ROM).  According to the Economic Daily News (EDN), these Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360 consoles could be made ready for shipment as early as the third quarter of this year.  This wouldn't be the first time that word of built-in Blu-ray drives for the Xbox 360 emerged from production sources in Taiwan, though today's tidbit does provide a clearer timeframe as to when they could become reality.

While Microsoft is not adverse to supporting Blu-ray devices for its operating systems, the company has been less accomodating towards establishing Blu-ray as a key component in its console business strategy.  We can imagine Microsoft will remain mum on the subject for now, if not shoot it down altogether as it previously has.  The rumor will certainly be all the stronger if we do happen to come across updated details on potential Xbox 360 hardware revisions down the line.

Dan Houser: "I’ve unfortunately been exposed to [violence] my entire life"

I think most of us could agree way too much attention is paid to Grand Theft Auto IV. This is not to say it's a game unworthy of a significant amount of attention, because it is. But there's a difference between significant, and 'Oh God I'm drowning in GTA IV news, somebody please saaaave meee.' So, with that in mind, I've chosen to write this little piece in spite of the already enormous amount of attention the game is receiving because I feel this particularly topic is worth paying attention to, overhyped or not.

One of the things I do love about the Grand Theft Auto games (their 3D selves anyway), is the things they force society to face and analyze. No matter your take on violence, for example, it's pretty hard to be playing one of these games and not at some point think 'wow, so this is my culture.' This, of course, presuming you're not some braindead teenager (damn dirty kids!) playing the game because it's 'teh koolest' and/or you're not supposed to.

Anyway, Rockstar VP and co-writer Dan Houser sat down with New York Magazine (the city which the game is based on, if you don't know by now) to discuss many of the perspectives surrounding the game, the most interesting of which I found regarded the violence (sidenote: the first thing he says in the interview is "fuck all this stuff about casual gaming." At this, I can't help but laugh). This is what Houser had to say on the issue (if you think of it as one):

"If you don’t like any violent content in your entertainment, then I apologize because I do. And I’ve unfortunately been exposed to it my entire life. I agree that the world would be a greater place if all of the guns and all of the bombs disappeared, but that certainly is not in the agenda. If we equally got rid of a lot of books that talk about violence, okay. But if we don’t like these games because they've got content that we’re happy to see in movies and TV shows, then what you’re saying is you don’t like the medium because we don’t have a George Clooney type sticking his face in front of the camera. There is nothing in the game you would not see in a TV show, or a movie a hundred times over, so I don’t understand what the conversation is about. We set out to make games that felt like they could culturally exist alongside the movies we were watching and the books we were reading, and hopefully we’re getting close to those goals."

I really do admire his passion on the subject and for his games - from the rest of the interview, you can tell how much he cares about GTA IV. But yeah, it seems what he's saying is the game, and in a way, himself are both just products of their environment. Though another perspective to take (and maybe both apply) is that simulating real life provides the ideal set of circumstances within which to criticize it, or at least provoke thoughts on it, any thoughts. We all know most people hate it when others preach, and I think this is why films like The Godfather are so successful, because rather than shoving a view down your throat, they simply present what actually happens and let you do what you want with it. I wouldn't say The Godfather glorifies violence (though some less tasteful movies certainly do), and I wouldn't say GTA IV does either. In fact, just by giving the player to opportunity to exploit violent potential in the game, doesn't that reflect society in the most ultimate sense? In these respects, the game succeeds as well as great mob movies in its own way, and in some other ways, surpasses them.

Well, it's certainly going to sell like crazy during its first month

The hype around Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is not diminishing even with the official launch of the game earlier today at midnight.  It doesn't take a market analyst to know that the game will leave its mark in the annals of 2008's gaming history, but said analysts might be able to provide a better estimate over just how big that mark could get.

For example, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter explains to GameSpot that Take-Two stands to sell at least 4 million copies of the game (for both console platforms) during its first week alone, growing to 6 million by its fourth week in the market.  While Pachter believes the Xbox 360 edition of GTA IV will outsell the PS3 release by a "three-to-two" ratio, sales between the two versions should be more evenly split come December.

By the end of December 2008, Pachter predicts sales for GTA IV could well hit 11 to 13 million units.  After its first year, sales should slow somewhat, making for an overall "lifetime" sales number of 16 to 19 million units.  This will actually be a little lower than the 21.5 million unit lifetime-to-date sales garnered by GTA: San Andreas.  Time will tell, naturally!

Take-Two itself is confident GTA IV sales will beat all these expectations, and then some.  The publisher appears to be betting on first week sales figures of $400 million USD, or about 6 million copies of GTA IV sold.  This is already being compared to Halo 3's stellar launch week revenue of around $300 million USD through selling 5 million units.

"Stop the f***ing cab!"

I've made a point to keep away from videos and reviews so I wouldn't develop any preconceptions of GTA IV, yet I can tell you that the several hours spent on this game after the purchase were enjoyable.  Niko Bellic, a fresh-off-the-boat Eastern European quickly stole my heart; he is easy to empathize with, and you'll invariably find indifference a difficult thing when thrown into his new life in Liberty City, USA.

Of course, you're allowed to be an absolute jerk too, if that's your thing.  In between (and during) missions, you're given free reign over the streets of New Yo-- I mean, Liberty City.  Mind the cops though, because they're just plain pesky. 

In case you haven't heard, those familiar stars at the top right of your screen now create a threat area around Niko based on how much havok you've created.  The more stars you accumulate, the bigger the radius of this threat-circle, the further you will need to run before you can shake the police on your tail. 

The city is a harsh place - at least, that's what Rockstar wants us to believe.  All the drivers seem as crazy as you are, and the citizens put up quite a fight.  CITIZENS BEAT ME UP!!  And when you're in a tense situation, civilians make a point of giving you a hard time.  Example?  I was participating in a high speed chase, and suddenly the streets were flooded with people (luckily, plowing through the mobs didn't add to my stars).

Also keep in the mind the cab drivers are terrible at their job and talk way too much.  Skipping through the painful ride will close money, so be prepared to mug a few.... thugs.  Yeah, that's right, mug some hooligans.  Anyone familiar with the franchise can expect a wide array of vehicles to choose from on these cluttered streets, and each car will have a different feel as your drive (your default car is pretty crappy).  Rest assured that there will always be the little GPS voice guiding you; however, the game does tell you in the tutorial that the suggested route may not always be the fastest one.

The city itself is stunning, and the people at Rockstar have really outdone themselves.  If nothing else, GTA IV is stunning, a huge graphical jump from GTA: San Andreas.  Try not to stare too much at the buildings/water/sky/people in the wrong place because the psycho civilian drivers won't hesitate to flatten you.  Seriously, these folks in Liberty City are way tougher than the gangsters of Los Santos.

And, after less than 4 entertaining hours, I've assessed that this is not a game for your baby cousin so keep him away from the controller.  Then again, as with any GTA, the game is only as bad as you wish it to be.  Niko is, at best, a victim of circumstance, and at worst, a pawn of your sick antics.

So have fun dicking around, gamers, and I'll see you online.

It may be worth noting that the Xbox 360 version does come with a 1 month trial of LIVE Gold.  It probably won't work if you've already got Gold membership, so feel free to share with a friend.

What records will Rockstar's latest break?

The gaming industry will not be the only eyes watching tommorow's hotly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Guinness World Records, already records is sharp enough to realize that the latest addition to Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive's action-adventure game series is bound to shatter at least sales records. What new milestones will GTA IV hit?

The official website for the Gamer's Edition of Guinness World Records provides a handy summary of the accolades the organization has already bestowed upon the franchise:

• First Full "Sandbox" Action-Adventure - GTA III
• Biggest Selling Game of 2001 - GTA III
• Biggest Selling Game of 2002 - GTA: Vice City
• Best-selling Playstation 2 game of all time - GTA: Vice City
• Best-selling PSP game of all time - GTA: Liberty City Stories
• Largest in-game soundtrack - GTA: San Andreas
• Largest Voice Cast in a video game - GTA: San Andreas
• Most Guest Stars In A Video Game Series - Grand Theft Auto Franchise

Should exclusives be troubling to readers?

Speaking of suspected illegitimate game coverage, Variety's Ben Fritz had something to say about IGN's recent exclusive first review of Grand Theft Auto IV. While quite distinctly giving the benefit of the doubt, he asks this:

"I'm not saying that "GTA IV" doesn't deserve a 10, or "Mass Effect" its 9.75. But how can we trust a videogame review when the outlet running it has been given a major commercial favor -- one that's worth money -- from the publisher of the game? You never see a paper or TV station getting special access from a movie studio or TV network or book publisher to run an "exclusive review." Imagine the L.A. Times or Roger Ebert touting their "exclusive review of 'Iron Man.'" Absurd, right? So why do we tolerate it for a videogame?"

It's an entirely legitimate point, and for the sake of fairness in the industry, there's really no reason one publication should be granted access to a game earlier than any other. Though an even earlier review was removed courtesy of Rockstar, it's still somewhat suspicious.

Fritz says in the name of striving for this fairness, "any self-respecting publication with a "Grand Theft Auto IV" review ready should be running it now" (so as to defy the agreement between company and publication).

In all honesty, I find it more than just a little disheartening something as seemingly innocent as gaming can't even remain uncorrupted. It's games, people. Games. You know, those things you'd pop in the plastic box thing hooked up to your TV as a child and play for hours on a Saturday morning? Those were the good days. Now we have multi-million dollar budgets, retailers and developers dying left and right, companies buying out coverage and media outlets gladly happy to accept. Oh video game industry, where did you go wrong?

All I have to say is, thank gosh for Metacritic, where probably only 50% of the reviews are tainted.

Entertainment and Devices Division maintains profitability since fiscal Q2 2007

Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division reports a revenue of $1.57 billion USD for the third quarter of its 2007 financial year, a 68 percent increase from the $936 million USD scored in the previous year.  Despite this, actual profits earned by the Entertainment and Devices Division were more modest, ringing in at around $89 million USD.  The Entertainment and Devices Division encompasses the businesses for the Xbox 360 console, PC gaming and Zune digital audio player product lineups; the division's third quarter profit can likely be attributed to the losses incurred as a result of servicing Xbox 360 consoles for hardware failures.

Microsoft Corp. as a whole earned $14.5 billion USD, and the company was quick to attribute much of its overall revenue to the Xbox 360 console.  While Microsoft previously claimed retailers were experiencing a shortage of Xbox 360 hardware, lifetime sales for the console have nevertheless managed to grow 74 percent to 19 million units from one year ago.

Humans in Burnout? Preposterous!

I'm not as crazy about the Burnout franchise as some other games, but I do know it's a whole lot of asphalt-burning, metal-crunching fun.

Criterion has taken the next step by announcing the addition of motorcycles to the game, via an update this August.  The update has been codenamed "Davis" (don't ask, I have no idea why).

Motorcycles will get their own modes and challenges, along with maps to better suit the smaller, two-wheeled vehicles.  No telling how these bike crashes will look in slow motion Showtime mode, though the good people at Joystiq are hoping to see some flailing rag dolls.

Then again, who doesn't love rag doll physics?  Hilarity ensues!

On top of motorcycle racing (crashing, and burning), the August update will also be introducing night time driving.  I can only imagine the visibility issues with this one, but it'd be great if they let you use high beams to blind the hell out of an opponent.

The corporation partners with Companions in Courage Foundation

For all Microsoft's capitalistic behaviour, there's also a lot of philanthropy in the corporation too. It's quite a contradiction, one perhaps as bewildering as it is admirable.

Case in point: the multinational corporation has partnered with the Companions in Courage Foundation to put Xbox 360 kiosks in kid's hospitals all over the U.S. Similar to the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, part of this foundation's goal is to provide children who are going through a very fragile time with some relief, and to hopefully help them get through their illness. The efforts with Microsoft are just one way in which they offer this; movie and internet services are also available, allowing kids to enjoy their favourite films and to stay in touch with family. There's also the "Video Conference Pod" which allows them to meet celebrities online.

A few events celebrating the initiative will happen today at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center of Seattle and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in California. President of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft, Robbie Bach will be at the Seattle event to commemorate the first group of kiosks, as well as the special Xbox LIVE network set up just for the children.

“Microsoft is committed to keeping kids entertained in a variety of ways within a safer gaming environment, so partnering with Companions in Courage to offer children in hospitals a way to connect through something as universal as games is a natural fit for the work we do,” Bach said. “The goal for this program is to give these kids a chance to have some fun and just be kids.”

Cynthia Sparer, executive director of Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian had a comment to offer:

“It’s extremely gratifying to witness the joy and excitement of these children and teens when they have a chance to break away from the normal hospital routine, and make new friends while playing video games. We are grateful that our partnership with Companions in Courage helps us meet the needs of our patients and allows kids to be kids even when they’re sick.”

It's certainly a very thoughtful way for a game company to help those in such positions, and proof positive video games have the power to do a lot of good.

Anyone willing to donate for the cause can visit http://www.cic16.org for more information.

New game gets a new name

Unintentional rhymes aside, Silent Hill V will no longer be known as such.  Instead, it has been dubbed Silent Hill: Homecoming.

It's somewhat appropriate, considering the franchise is getting a fresh start with a new developer, The Collective.  The American game development company has brought us"classic" titles such as Buffy the Slayer (2002), Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), and Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (2006).  Apparently, they cancelled Dirty Harry to make Silent Hill V-er.. I mean Homecoming.

The game features a new protagonist as well.  The story follows Alex Shepherd, who is returning to his hometown in search of his brother.  An investigation of his brother's mysterious disappearance inevitably takes him to Silent Hill, also known as the happiest place on Earth.

Does anyone else feel really uncomfortable about all of this?  Anyone who really knows me can tell you I'm an SH fanatic, I mean, Pyramid Head and Henry Townshend?  What a couple of lookers.  Can The Collective really live up to Team Silent's legacy?  I am praying that they do.

On a more relevant note, Silent Hill: Homecoming will be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 in Europe toward the end of September.  Most are assuming that North America will be seeing its release around the same time.

Built from the ground up, Sonic Team has some interesting features in store

Official Nintendo Magazine detailed the latest facts about the upcoming multiplatform Sonic Unleashed in their latest issue, thanks to an interview from lead designer Yoshihisa Hashimoto.

First off, it was originally going to be the third title in the Sonic Adventure sub-series, but was since canned in favour of an all-new title built from scratch. This was done with the goal in mind of offering a completely new take on Sonic (there's still hope yet!).

According to Cubed3, the storyline is such that the seven Chaos Emeralds are misused by Dr. Robotnik (Eggman, if you prefer) and "something changes inside Sonic's body" (can't say I'm looking forward to the story). The plot will also see our hero travelling around the world. Sonic in Tokyo? Let's hope so. The environments will feature dynamic changes from day to night and apparently at night gamers will be able to slow down and manipulate objects. Sounds kind of vague, but possibly awesome.

The moves will feature some old, some new. The old includes the beloved "Spin Dash" and homing attacks. The new features something called "quick step" which will allow Sonic to quickly move left or right, and "Sonic Boost", which provides a quick speed boost. "Sonic Dash" is another, but no details have been given. Finally, for the Wii version, the Nunchuk will be used, though we don't know for what as of yet.

Regarding previous reports, looks like Sonic Team has nailed just about everything on Destructoid's checklist for how not to screw up this next title, aside from the new character thing, who is apparently a werewolf, but that can be forgiven, can't it?

Sonic will be unleashed late this year (I just had to go there). For those who haven't seen yet, here's the trailer for the in-game footage:

Built from the ground up, Sonic Team has some interesting features in store

Official Nintendo Magazine detailed the latest facts about the upcoming multiplatform Sonic Unleashed in their latest issue, thanks to an interview from lead designer Yoshihisa Hashimoto.

First off, it was originally going to be the third title in the Sonic Adventure sub-series, but was since canned in favour of an all-new title built from scratch. This was done with the goal in mind of offering a completely new take on Sonic (there's still hope yet!).

According to Cubed3, the storyline is such that the seven Chaos Emeralds are misused by Dr. Robotnik (Eggman, if you prefer) and "something changes inside Sonic's body" (can't say I'm looking forward to the story). The plot will also see our hero travelling around the world. Sonic in Tokyo? Let's hope so. The environments will feature dynamic changes from day to night and apparently at night gamers will be able to slow down and manipulate objects. Sounds kind of vague, but possibly awesome.

The moves will feature some old, some new. The old includes the beloved "Spin Dash" and homing attacks. The new features something called "quick step" which will allow Sonic to quickly move left or right, and "Sonic Boost", which provides a quick speed boost. "Sonic Dash" is another, but no details have been given. Finally, for the Wii version, the Nunchuk will be used, though we don't know for what as of yet.

Regarding previous reports, looks like Sonic Team has nailed just about everything on Destructoid's checklist for how not to screw up this next title, aside from the new character thing, who is apparently a werewolf, but that can be forgiven, can't it?

Sonic will be unleashed late this year (I just had to go there). For those who haven't seen yet, here's the trailer for the in-game footage:

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Wii, DS, Smash Bros. Brawl tops lists, and Xbox 360 also beats analysts' expectations

It's not Christmas all over again for the video games industry, but nevertheless the NPD Group's latest monthly US retail sales report reveals that March 2008 was still damn good for gaming. The console games industry as a whole racked up $1 billion USD in sales, a 57 percent increase over March 2007's results, with around $945.6 million USD coming from software alone. March 2008's console hardware sales leapt 46 percent compared to the same month last year, hitting $551.3 million USD.

Nintendo remained the big winner last month in terms of console hardware sales; Wii sales in particular jumped to 721,000 units, no doubt thanks to the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. DS sales were also stellar at 698,000 units. The popularity of handheld consoles continues as the Sony PlayStation Portable takes third place with 297,000 units in sales; the gap between second and third place was certainly wide indeed.

Vindication would once elude again Wedbush Morgan industry analyst Michael Pachter, who earlier this week suggested the PlayStation 3 would trump the Xbox 360 in sales. In fact, Microsoft's console would barely beat out the PS3 to secure third place in the monthly hardware race. Sony's PS2 meanwhile returned to last place after beating both the PS3 AND Xbox 360 in February. PS3 sales actually dropped slightly as well during March, though not as badly as the PS2's did.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is already a record setter for Nintendo of America, being its fastest selling game yet. It's no surprise then that Brawl ended up being the best selling console software title last month with 2.7 million units in sales. Devil May Cry 4 disappeared off the charts completely, as much of the software top ten was also comprised of new releases. For example, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and Army of Two for the Xbox 360 would nab second and third place, respectively, though neither title managed to break 1 million units in sales like Brawl did.

Sales would prove to be more modest for the rest of the top ten software. Even the hotly anticipated Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII "only" managed to sell 301,600 units, beaten by the God of War himself on the PSP. Call of Duty 4 and Wii Play don't seem to want to go anywhere in the meantime; the latter title in fact is still quite cozy in the top five.

March 2008 US Games Industry Summary

Total sales - $1.7 billion USD
Console software - $945.6 million USD
Console hardware - $551.3 million USD
Console accessories - $220 million USD

March 2008 US Hardware Sales

1. Nintendo Wii - 721,000 units
2. Nintendo DS - 698,000 units
3. Sony PlayStation Portable - 297,000 units
4. Microsoft Xbox 360 - 262,000 units
5. Sony PlayStation 3 - 257,000 units
6. Sony PlayStation 2 - 216,000 units

March 2008 US Game Software Sales

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 2.7 million units
2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (360) - 752,300 units
3. Army of Two (360) - 606,100 units
4. Wii Play Remote bundle (Wii) - 409,800 units
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) - 340,500 units
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) - 301,600 units
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 264,000 units
8. MLB 2K8 (360) - 237,100 units
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) - 237,000 units
10. Army of Two (PS3) - 224,900 units

Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Street Fighter: The Movie (The Game): Rise from your grave!

We all know launch time is a terrible time for a system. Developers are just getting used to the hardware, budgets are generally most limited around this time, and well, it's all a big risk -- who's to say the console will do well? As a result, it's not unexpected to walk away with one killer app, if that. 1UP examined the console launches for all the big systems, asking which were the worst games for each. I've highlighted a few of the comments below.

Nintendo Entertainment System: Donkey Kong Jr. Math

Game Boy: Super Mario Land

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"The random Egyptian theme and the cheap, floaty controls made this entry in the Mario series feel more like a Chinese pirate version or a ROM hack of the original Super Mario Bros. [It] feels like you're playing it in some surreal nightmare where you're more concerned about your couch coming to life and eating you than you are with those turtles that explode when jumped on."

Now, this I see differently. Yes, all of these things are basically true, but that's why it was so great, much like Majora's Mask, I suppose. Super Mario Land is sort of like the Mario equivalent of Bart's Nightmare, and ain't nothin' wrong with that.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System -- Gradius III

Nintendo 64 -- Cruis'n USA

"Not only was Cruis'n a port of a two year-old arcade game, it was a lousy port. Running down cows, perhaps the only enjoyment you could take from Cruis'n USA, was removed so people would not be offended by the explosion of livestock into cartoony chunks of meat."

Game Boy Advance -- Super Mario Advance

"..when every move in Mario Advance elicits some inane catchprase, the little Italian stereotype loses all of his charm. And fans of Toad must have been very upset to hear the little bugger punctuate each of his actions with a kidney-stone-passing scream. For Toad's sake, we hope Dr. Mario is a urologist."

Nintendo GameCube -- Wave Race: Blue Storm

"A sequel to the excellent Wave Race 64, Blue Storm dropped the breezy charm of its predecessor in exchange for overly touchy controls and a total reversal of the laid-back fun of its N64 father. The passing of the franchise to American-based NST is what spelled doom for the franchise, as they've made a habit out of sucking the life out of various Nintendo franchises like hungry vampires."

Nintendo DS -- Feel the Magic: XY/XX

"How can a game where the Blue Man Group helps you score a chick possibly be bad? [The] game premises include everything from vomiting up goldfish to shooting scorpions off the back of your girlfriend. But all points for originality are immediately deducted on account of just how frustrating and overly touchy (pun partially intended) Feel the Magic is..."

Nintendo Wii -- A Boatload of Crappy Licensed Kids' Games (no explanation needed)

Sega Genesis -- Altered Beast

"..spend more than five minutes with Altered Beast in any modern context and you'll find it's too embarrassing to go on -- with the game or your life, depending on your mood at the moment."

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Jeez. Altered Beast in my opinion always will be a classic. Somehow the graphics still hold up today in their own right, the music is creepy, the game is tough, you can transform into a frickin' bear and shoot stuff at ants and whatever else, and the cut scenes are downright nightmare-inducing (especially if you're a child). What more could you ask for? This game had such a particular and haunting atmosphere, and I've never seen anything like it since.

Sega Saturn -- Clockwork Knight

Sega Dreamcast -- Mortal Kombat Gold

Sony PlayStation -- Street Fighter: The Movie

Sony PlayStation 2 -- The Troubled RPG Trio (Evergrace, Eternal Ring, and Summoner)

"People who claim to have played all three cannot give accounts of specific games; instead, their memories are a haze of swords, experience points, and large, empty landscapes."

Sony PSP -- Ape Escape Academy

Sony PlayStation 3 -- Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire

Microsoft Xbox --  Mad Dash Racing

Microsoft Xbox 360 --  Kameo: Elements of Power

I don't agree with half this stuff; honestly a lot of it feels like the writer is just being harsh for the sake of being harsh, making stuff up as he goes. And this isn't meant out of disrespect, it's just like, how can you trash Altered Beast, Super Mario Land, Wave Race, and Kameo in one feature? All of these games are renowned (more or less) in the gaming community. Gah! But you know, to each his own.