[sek929]

I'm actually happy some games are getting delayed, god knows I have plenty of gaming left this Fall anyways.

[sek929]

Oh, any PS3 users out there (snicker) with WaW can look for GhostRider13D on PSN if you want to play Nazi Zombies.

[Dakar V]

So... you're playing it on two systems?

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by KCrosbie 

Jesus, I bet that prestige edition costs between $150 and $200. Those night vision goggles look sweet.

They look sweet? I dunno, I can't believe anyone would pay $150 for it. An extra $10-$20 for some added content makes sense to me, but that is just obscene.

[Chuckit]

You can't buy night-vision goggles for $10. Special editions are supposed to mean added profit, not taking a huge loss.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

You can't buy night-vision goggles for $10. Special editions are supposed to mean added profit, not taking a huge loss.

No, but that wasn't what I was referring to. $10-$20 for in-game content or smaller bonuses makes sense to me. $100 for some novelty night vision goggles does not. It's not like you can use them with the game or anything...

In other words, the Hardcore Edition makes sense. The Premier Edition is obscene.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

So... you're playing it on two systems?

My buddy's roommate is on vacation in AZ, he has a 42" LCD and a PS3 that he's letting us play on.

[Dakar V]

Man, your eyes will be bleeding for a week when you go back to a small SD.

[Dakar V]

Spencer: Project Natal will 'feel like a new generation has arrived'
Let the hyping begin.


Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing - Forza 3 - Jalopnik
Blech.

[jokell82]

I like the technology behind Natal, but I think it will be even more annoying than the Wii for games. I don't want to have to run with a fake gun in my hand to play Halo: Natal. I'm a lazy ass - that's why I play video games.

[Dakar V]

I might have mentioned somewhere, but the concept of holding a virtual steering wheel is more annoying than just having a steering wheel peripheral. And yes, this is entertainment, the last thing it should feel like is work (Playing good online multiplayer is challenging enough without having to worry about body fatigue).

[KCrosbie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

And yes, this is entertainment, the last thing it should feel like is work (Playing good online multiplayer is challenging enough without having to worry about body fatigue).

You out of shape lazy ass!

[angelmb]

Spencer: Project Natal will 'feel like a new generation has arrived'

What happened to the "Wii is GAMECUBE 1.5" talk… no complain now?

[Dakar V]

Woo boy.

[TheoCryst]

Woo, finally got my 360 and a copy of Halo 3 (Pro system + game + extra controller = $215. I love the MS company store!). Now I just need a Gold membership, and I can start pwning n00bs.

Related note: is there a "MacNN GamerTags" thread somewhere? I'll find it if there is, I was just curious if I should continue wasting time at work looking for it.

[Stogieman]

Because I'm nice. Here you go.

http://forums.macnn.com/77/gaming/380997/psn-tags/

[boy8cookie]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Because I'm nice. Here you go.

http://forums.macnn.com/77/gaming/380997/psn-tags/

That's the PSN tag thread... intended?

[TheoCryst]

Originally Posted by boy8cookie 

That's the PSN tag thread... intended?

I was looking for: http://forums.macnn.com/77/gaming/33...box-live-tags/

And why couldn't I find it? Because it was stickied, just like the PSN one. Hahaha...

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by angelmb 

What happened to the "Wii is GAMECUBE 1.5" talk… no complain now? [/IMG]

Hardware-wise it still is. If the Wii had the 360 or PS3 quality visuals with its control scheme it would have been a much different conversation.

[Brien]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

Hardware-wise it still is. If the Wii had the 360 or PS3 quality visuals with its control scheme it would have been a much different conversation.

Yeah, I'm imagining that if the Wii had 360-quality graphics, other things being equal, there wouldn't be a "war" this time around.

[angelmb]

Going from your current 360 gaming console to 360 + Natal gives you still 360 1.0 hardware. To say "a new generation has arrived" is slightly Hippocratic cause and as of writing, given the GAMECUBE 1.5 fallacy Nintendo haters from the media and some game studios liked to spread, gaming console generations were all about the CPU & GPU power.

May they realize there is not such a need to keep throwing new hardware to give you more and more enhanced visuals… heck, I was playing today with a friend's XB360 to PES 2009 and SEGA Virtua Tennis and it has such a high resolution Vs. a moderate display size (24 inches) that make it hard to follow the ball on screen, which in turn makes the gameplay more hard; with Virtua Tennis it is easy to guess were to ball is but with PES it is really weird.

[Chuckit]

The difference is not only the graphics. The Wii's CPU is clocked at less than 1/3 the speed of the 360 and it only has one core — it's like a tangerine iBook versus a top-of-the-line Mac Pro. Hence you get weird comments like Miyamoto's lament that they couldn't do voice chat in Super Mario Bros. because it would be too taxing on the system.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by angelmb 

Going from your current 360 gaming console to 360 + Natal gives you still 360 1.0 hardware. To say "a new generation has arrived" is slightly Hippocratic cause and as of writing, given the GAMECUBE 1.5 fallacy Nintendo haters from the media and some game studios liked to spread, gaming console generations were all about the CPU & GPU power.

What MS is doing is hypocritical, but not for the reason you think. By not releasing a new console that hardware wise was a "xbox 360.5" and just adding Natal to future bundles, they're not leaving all their previous owners behind.

What is hypocritical is that they're using motion control where I imagine it was probably dismissed in the past, and now they're pursuing Nintendo's casual audience.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

The difference is not only the graphics. The Wii's CPU is clocked at less than 1/3 the speed of the 360 and it only has one core — it's like a tangerine iBook versus a top-of-the-line Mac Pro. Hence you get weird comments like Miyamoto's lament that they couldn't do voice chat in Super Mario Bros. because it would be too taxing on the system.

Or go online in the new 4 player one they're releasing.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by TheoCryst 

Woo, finally got my 360 and a copy of Halo 3 (Pro system + game + extra controller = $215. I love the MS company store!). Now I just need a Gold membership, and I can start pwning n00bs.

Halo 3, eh? Sweet deal, though. Working for Satan does have its perks. (I keed, I keed)

[Dakar V]

Strap in folks, I may go quintuple here.

Friday Morning News Bukkakke


Three guards suspended for nearly blowing up planet with PSP

three security guards who were recently suspended without pay from the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, TN. Their misconduct? They brought gaming devices "with transmitting capability" (the original article specifically mentions the PSP) into the plant's "protected zone," where cell phones aren't even allowed, because THAT'S WHERE THEY MAKE NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

Reminds me of smuggling my GameBoy into middle school.



Dyack: Industry making more games than consumers can handle

He's still banging the drum and elaborating on his point, saying that the single console would help reduce a glut of games overwhelming the consumer.

This makes complete sense -- if you ignore that there's more TV than you can possibly watch, more DVDs and more books.
Just a reaffirmation that gaming has arrived as its own blockbuster industry.




Xbox Live update detailed: Games on Demand, Netflix queue/Movie Party, and more

we'll hit what won't be in this update: Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm support, along with Zune video and 1080p Instant On video functionality. Those are coming in "future Xbox Live updates" Microsoft assures us.

It's actually a pretty substantial update, it just lacks the heavy hitters from their E3 presentation.




Microsoft retail stores coming this fall

We knew these brick-and-mortar shill shacks were coming back in February, but CNET is reporting that the first stores will open this fall, with some locations being opened right next to Apple stores.

Bless them, we wish Microsoft the best against Apple. However, all we want to know is if we'll be able to drop off our Xbox 360s at the store and have it replaced like we would at an Apple retailer? If so, we're totally going to spend one day counting the number of people bringing in a defective RRoD or E74 unit to be replaced.

Gamasutra - News - Microsoft's Greenberg: We're Less Than Halfway Through The Console Cycle

"Our console sales for the first half of the year actually grew 20 percent from January to June versus the same six months last year,"

That's actually rather impressive given that as far as titles released this year, it's been way weaker 6 months (Both in terms of sales and star power). Price cut FTW?

[Dakar V]

NPD Sales for June 2009

Consoles:
-DS: 766K132K (+20%)
-Wii: 361K71K (+24%)
-Xbox 360: 240K65K (+37%)
-PS3: 165K34K (+26%)
-PSP: 164K64K (+64%)
-PS2: 153K36K (+31%)


Software
1. Prototype - Xbox 360 - Activision Blizzard - 419.9K
2. UFC 2009: Undisputed - Xbox 360 - THQ - 338.3K
3. EA Sports Active Bundle - Wii - Electronic Arts - 289.1K
4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10* - Wii - Electronic Arts - 272.4K
5. Wii Fit - Wii - Nintendo of America - 271.6K
6. Fight Night Round 4 - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts - 260.8K
7. Fight Night Round 4 - PS3 - Electronic Arts - 210.3K
8. Mario Kart Wii - Wii - Nintendo of America - 202.1K
9. Red Faction: Guerrilla - Xbox 360 - THQ - 199.4K
10. inFamous - PS3 - Sony - 192.7K


Strong month for the 360 and EA titles on the Wii.
Conspicuously absent: Ghostbusters.
Inconspicuously absent: Wii Play
Also: The Conduit

Some joystiq analysis:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/16/ju...-sales-charts/

The superhero battles end with Prototype the clear winner, the Xbox 360 version taking the top spot across all formats this month. Interestingly, the PS3 version didn't make the top 10 at all; the PS3-exclusive inFamous squeaked in at number 10 on the charts. (Note: inFamous sold 176K copies in May.)

Yes, Wii Play has finally been thwarted, having stayed on the charts for a whopping 29 months. That must be a record of some sort, right? Perhaps everyone and their moms finally have that extra Wii Remote?

Stephen Totillo does he thing for kotaku:
NPD Instant Analysis: Things You Should Note - Sales - Kotaku

And how did EA do it? Not with a game for teenage boys. Not with a first-person shooter. Not with an M-rated gorefest. But with EA Sports Active, a fitness game targeted at grown women, many of them likely to be moms. And they did it with Tiger Woods PGA 10, the definitive sports game for dads. That's the Wii audience for EA... all grown up!

It looked like Prototype, Infamous and Red Faction Guerilla, three open-world games released within weeks of each other, would cannibalize each other's sales. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't. But none appears to have flopped, as versions of all three made the top 10. People like open-world an consume a lot of them, despite those games being among the longest games out there. Could the allure be that they give so much bang for their buck? Or is their open-worldness something most consumers don't notice? A genre connection that's invisible to those buying based on commercials and boxart?

[jokell82]

Taking inFamous' first week of sales as well and it's a pretty good matchup between it and Prototype. I wish the 360 owners could play inFamous, because it really is a much better game.

Also, The Conduit sales fizzle in late-June debut

Once again, Sega places its hopes and dreams in the untapped hardcore Wii market, and once again it just doesn't pay off. With the June NPD sales figures comes a sad truth for those who've been hyping The Conduit since it first reared its head last April: according to those figures, the conspiracy-infused FPS sold just under 72,000 copies between its June 23 launch and the NPD cutoff date of July 4, placing it at number 25 on the U.S. top sellers list.

Sure, The Conduit hasn't been out for a full month yet, but that sales total has got to be a disappointing figure for Sega, whose last two adult-themed Wii releases, MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill, made even smaller impacts during their respective launch months (we suppose there's a little silver lining in The Conduit performing slightly better). We've contacted both Sega and High Voltage to find out how they're feeling about the game's somewhat underwhelming sales figures.

Hawkeye - anything to say about that one?

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

NPD Sales for June 2009

Software
1. Prototype - Xbox 360 - Activision Blizzard - 419.9K
2. UFC 2009: Undisputed - Xbox 360 - THQ - 338.3K
3. EA Sports Active Bundle - Wii - Electronic Arts - 289.1K
4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10* - Wii - Electronic Arts - 272.4K
5. Wii Fit - Wii - Nintendo of America - 271.6K
6. Fight Night Round 4 - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts - 260.8K
7. Fight Night Round 4 - PS3 - Electronic Arts - 210.3K
8. Mario Kart Wii - Wii - Nintendo of America - 202.1K
9. Red Faction: Guerrilla - Xbox 360 - THQ - 199.4K
10. inFamous - PS3 - Sony - 192.7K

Conspicuously absent: Ghostbusters.

I'm surprised but not really. There's a lot of glitches and bugs with this game (especially in multiplayer). I'm still waiting for a patch from Atari to fix the 2 glitched achievements.

[Dakar V]

Yeah, it's not too surprising. Informed gamers know its rental length and I imagine the uninformed are wary of movie games. Didn't know about the glitches though, guess I'll wait til they get patched before I rent.

Edit: I imagine software sales will keep dipping from here on out, saving money (due to the weak economy) for the upcoming blockbuster titles.

[Dakar V]

Another great editorial from Totillo.

33 Months Of Motion Control, The Wii's Hidden Struggle - motion control - Kotaku

That's Nintendo's hidden stumble, this struggle for the motion-sensitivity of the Wii Remote to prove itself the equal of traditional button and stick controls, to say nothing of establishing itself as the superior option. Gamers groan at the flimsy motion controls mapped to action games. A shake of a hand replaces what could have been the press of a button. In game after game, motion control presents a different option, but one that seldom seems better.

Other Wii designers minimized their use of the Wii Remote's motion control even more. Chart-topper Super Smash Brothers played without it. Blockbusters Mario Kart Wii and Guitar Hero tucked it away in shells shaped like wheels and guitars, doing little to convince anyone that motion control was a must.

A new Zelda down-played it. A new Mario limited its motion-control element, as have so many Wii games, to the occasional vibration of a player's right hand. This fall's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, made in the two years since the last Wii Mario, uses motion control no more than the last.

One wonders if the companies have noticed Nintendo's struggles with motion control amidst the Wii's triumphs. The use of arm and body movements to play games has not proven a game-changer in and of itself. By making games more appealing a wider audience, its been a component of a bigger change. But it's also been a red herring.

Designers borrowing ideas from Wii Sports had had better success drawing from the game's accessibility than strictly from its motion controls. The simplicity of its design made Wii Sports approachable, streamlined and friendly, the least intimidating game many people had played since Pac-Man.

[Chuckit]

I wonder if the Natal team read that editorial and was like, "Well, ****."

[Dakar V]

Well, Natal isn't a total loss, because part of its reason for existing is for the illusion of catering to the non-gamer.

[Dakar V]

Gamasutra - News - Exclusive: U.S. Year-To-Date Console Top 5s Reveal 2009's Victors So Far

[Chuckit]

Wow, the second-best-selling Wii game is more than two years old. Only one game from the past year in the top five.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Wow, the second-best-selling Wii game is more than two years old.=

That's because the damn thing is a hardware bundle.

I wouldn't mind seeing how many buy WiiPlay vs. the standalone controller.

[Dakar V]

Totillo's analysis

The Wii news can be viewed in positive or negative lights. On the one hand, it suggests that no 2009 Wii offerings — not Punch-Out!, not Boom Blox Bash Party, not Sega's trio of hardcore-oriented originals — could garner top-level sales. But it also is a sign that the Wii, more so than its competitors, has managed to cultivate evergreen games that sell year after year.

The Mortal Kombat / NBA Jam Crossover We Never Saw - Mortal Kombat - Kotaku



Man, that would have been awesome.


I know we haven't talked about the Beatles: Rock Band, but since there has to be some fans around...
The Beatles: Rock Band Track List Expands To 25 - The beatles: rock band - Kotaku

"Back in the U.S.S.R."
"Can't Buy Me Love"
"Day Tripper"
"Eight Days a Week"
"Get Back"
"Here Comes the Sun"
"I Am the Walrus"
"I Feel Fine"
"I Saw Her Standing There"
"I Want to Hold Your Hand"
"Octopus's Garden"
"Paperback Writer"
"Revolution"
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
"Taxman"
"Twist and Shout"
"Within You Without You"
"Yellow Submarine"
"With A Little Help From My Friends"
"Birthday"
"I Got a Feeling"
"Dig a Pony"
"Do You Want To Know A Secret"
"I Wanna Be Your Man"
"And Your Bird Can Sing"

[jokell82]

Had to happen eventually:

Rock Band, Guitar Hero Revenues Down 49% - Rock Band - Kotaku

The bubble had to burst sooner or later. Digging through some NPD numbers from the past few months, Gamasutra's Matt Matthews has found that the amount of money made from copies of Rock Band and Guitar Hero is down 49%.

That's compared to the revenue collected from sales of retail copies of both titles at the same time last year. There are a number of very good reasons for this: games have been heavily discounted in recent months as they age/take up floor space, and an increasing number of competing SKUs - we're looking at you, Activision - have diluted the marketplace.

So this is bad news, right? Well, it's bad if you're Activision, the publishers of Guitar Hero. See, the sales of physical copies of these games tells only half the story.

MTV are making a ton of money off Rock Band DLC. The sale of over 40 million tracks since launch has helped the franchise pull in over a billion dollars. So a decline in boxed copies of Rock Band hurts, sure, but Harmonix's commitment to a constant stream of downloadable content is translating into a constant stream of revenue for MTV Games.

But Guitar Hero? Well, Activision seem to prefer packaging content at retail (Guitar Hero Metallica & Aerosmith, for example), and are either unwilling or unable to match Rock Band's DLC output, offering only three tracks here, three tracks there. Which means a downturn in retail revenue hurts Activision a lot more than it hurts MTV Games.

Activision just released Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, and they have Band Hero and Guitar Hero 5 coming this year (not to mention portable releases). They're really shooting themselves in the foot with all these releases. It's just music gaming overload, and as much as I love Rock Band I don't have time for every single one of these games.

Plus the Neversoft versions suck pretty hard.

[Dakar V]

What's hilarious is the retail packages are probably a better value for the consumer than $1.99 tracks (albeit if you love every track on the retail disc). I looked over GH:WT downloadable stuff, and I'm floored by how little of it I actually care for.

Yeah, of course Activision is killing themselves here, both from oversaturation and brand dilution.

I dunno, I think the Beatles thing will probably be the last big mover in the genre, barring some unforeseen innovation.

[jokell82]

Better value, yes, but the best tracks I have for RB2 are all downloadables. The Boston tracks are by far my favorite to play on drums. With the downloads I have a choice - and I never would have chosen "Visions", which is by far the worst song written in the history of music.

I will be buying Rock Band Beatles, and probably RB3 when it comes out, just because there are things in RB2 that I think can be better. But beyond that I don't see myself buying any other music games unless they are ridiculously cheap.

[Dakar V]

You know, maybe I have to revise my opinion a bit. Activision is hurting Rock Band far worse than its hurting itself. It's absolutely mugging and exploiting the genre, but since Rock Band isn't doing so as well, Activision reaps all the profits. Eventually, the mainstream will be tired of it, Activision will all but drop GH (or at least its budget) and Rock Band will be left with the crumbs.

[jokell82]

I think we'll see when Rock Band Beatles comes out. I think Activision has had a big leg up on retail sales because of the sheer amount of product they have released. Since RB2 has come out, Activision has released GH:WT, GH:Metallica, GH:Smash Hits, and 2 portable games. They've also got GH:Van Halen coming out soon. With that many titles released it's pretty easy to outsell the competition.

I also think that the people playing Rock Band are very loyal to the brand. The Harmonix quality really surpasses Neversoft, and for the people that actually "care" it makes a big difference. There are very few people who only buy the Guitar Hero series because they hate Rock Band, but there are many people who have sworn off the Guitar Hero series lately in favor of Rock Band. And apparently the Rock Band players are much more likely to buy downloadable songs, which could sustain the series a lot longer than simple retail sales could.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

I think we'll see when Rock Band Beatles comes out. I think Activision has had a big leg up on retail sales because of the sheer amount of product they have released. Since RB2 has come out, Activision has released GH:WT, GH:Metallica, GH:Smash Hits, and 2 portable games. They've also got GH:Van Halen coming out soon. With that many titles released it's pretty easy to outsell the competition.

Right, but that's the point for them.

Originally Posted by jokell82 

I also think that the people playing Rock Band are very loyal to the brand. And apparently the Rock Band players are much more likely to buy downloadable songs, which could sustain the series a lot longer than simple retail sales could.

The 'hardcore' if you will. Let's just say I'd be surprised if they made up a large chunk of the profits overall.

[Dakar V]

Thursday News

In defense of Sony
Epic Honcho Says Money Woes Made PS3 Cut Impossible - PS3 - Kotaku

Epic's Mark Rein says a PS3 price cut everyone's whined for would have made a bad year worse for Sony.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Rein, the Epic vice president, said Sony has "their own financial issues to solve and lowering the price of the console would probably have made their situation worse,"

Holy jesus Sony is hurting
Gamasutra - Features - NPD: Behind the Numbers, June 2009

[jokell82]

As much as I like my PS3, it gives me great pleasure to see Sony being knocked down a peg. I'm not sure if even Nintendo was as arrogant in the Super Nintendo days as Sony has been for the past couple of years.

That said, they've got some nice exclusives coming up - Uncharted 2, new Ratchet and Clank, and God of War III. I wonder if any of these can give them a bump in hardware sales. Heavy Rain also looks good, but new IP doesn't seem to be much of a system seller these days.

[Dakar V]

Yeah, Sony was arrogant, but were being devious too. Devious in tying Blu-ray to their console, arrogant in thinking people would buy it no matter what the price.

I just don't care about Sony exclusives, probably because I really don't follow them.

[KCrosbie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Yeah, Sony was arrogant, but were being devious too. Devious in tying Blu-ray to their console, arrogant in thinking people would buy it no matter what the price.

I just don't care about Sony exclusives, probably because I really don't follow them.

Amen!

[boy8cookie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I just don't care about Sony exclusives, probably because I really don't follow them.

Coming from a PS2 to an xBox360, the only thing I really miss exclusive to playstation is the Ratchet & Clank series. That game is/was the best of its kind, by far.

[angelmb]

PS2 39% down?. Time for SONY to export the PS2 to the outer space cause I guess everybody else got one here in Planet Earth.

[Dakar V]

Friday News (360 Edition, apparently)
The last edition you'll be getting for a week, as I'm going on vacation. I'll be around to post occasionally, however.

Nintendo won't make Wii MotionPlus a new standard

Unseen 360 Clip Shows Avatars Playing Games (And A Dreamcast?) - Xbox 360 - Kotaku
I just like the pic


Netflix Party Play in Action - Xbox Live - Kotaku

Hands On With Xbox 360's New Dashboard - Xbox 360 - Kotaku

Xbox Division Sees 66 Percent Slide in '09 Profit Despite 11 Million Units Shipped - Microsoft - Kotaku

For the fiscal year, Microsoft's revenue from the Xbox 360 and from PC gaming was down $161 million, which the company mainly attributed to price reductions on its consoles over the past year. It was partially offset by increased revenue from Xbox Live and the rise in consoles shipped - 11.2 million in 2009 against 8.7 million in 2008. As a sign of the troubled global economy, foreign currency fluctuations were also singled out for a 1 percent revenue decrease in the fiscal year.

Edit: One more

http://kotaku.com/5322047/xbox-360-a...ampunk-goggles