Newspost for 01-12-07
Industry and multi-console news:
- I've been ignoring the reports from NexGenWars and VGCharts because they never agree and I have no way of knowing which might be more accurate. But now official NPD data is out, saying that 1.1 million Wiis and 687,000 PS3s were sold in the US in 2006. The 360 has sold 4.5 million units in the US since launch as of December 31.
- Naturally, that won't ever settle anything. Sony insists they shipped one million PS3s in 2006, and Wedbush Morgan analysts find other discrepancies in the NPD report. Nintendo says they've shipped 2 million to the US, and Wiis are hard to find anywhere. So where are those 900,000 units?
- NPD also reports that the game industry made $12.5 billion last year.
- And here are the top selling games for 2006.
- The Guiness Book of World Records has added high video game scores to their 2007 edition.
- Nyko has a video showcasing all their new accessories for the PS3, Wii, DS and more.
- Sega has sent a letter to YTMND requesting all Sonic related content be removed. Unintentionally ironic legal notice of the day: "The Sonic the Hedgehog series is one of the world's most popular game series and continues to be exploited and distributed." Yes, Sega. Yes it does.
PC news:
- Namco Bandai's Tales of Eternia Online will be shut down in March.
- Sony has announced a January 30 release date for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.
- Casual game developers worry that Vista will make business harder for them. One issue is Vista's parental controls, which could be set to block unrated games. Most casual games aren't rated by the ESRB because of the added cost.
Nintendo news:
- Famitsu has issued a correction saying that the Konami games reported as cancelled.. aren't. Thank God, we still have New Action Adventure Game 2 to look forward to.
- Top down shooter Radio Allergy is coming to the Gamecube in February, because apparently shmups are the only games allowed to continue on a console once it's no longer the current system.
- That recent "your kids can see porn using their Wii" news story featured a comment from what they claimed was a kid on his blog, who turned out to be an adult in Kotaku's comments section. The guy even specified he was an adult in the comment, and the reporter just cut it off.
- An Ebay seller is auctioning off three life-sized chocolate NES carts.
- New screenshots for SSX Blur highlight some basic tricks.
- Go Nintendo has new magazine scans for It's a Wonderful World
- Play Asia has a chart explaining which versions of the Gamecube Freeloader work in which country's Wiis.
- Now that they've got their replacement straps, 2 Old 2 Play decides to test how much their old straps can really take.
Sony news:
- As with the Wii titles, the Konami PS3 games reported as cancelled are, in fact, still alive with TBA release dates.
- Final Fantasy XII's UK release date has been pinned down to February 23.
- The Magic Box says that Square will have a surprise Final Fantasy announcement later this year to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary (which happens to be December 18, 2007). What they're going to say or when they'll say it is a mystery.
- Concrete details on the Euro PS3 launch should arrive by the end of January.
- A leading porn director who originally wanted his movies on Blu-ray is supporting HD-DVD because no Blu-ray production facilities would cooperate with him. He says they all told him that Sony would pull their licenses if they made porn films. Historical note: It's been said that porn is one of the reasons VHS succeeded over Sony's Betamax.
- The European version of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops will have exclusive new features.
- EGM claims that Guitar Hero: 1980s Edition is headed for the PS2 this spring. That seems rather soon for a game that hasn't been officially announced, buy EGM simply says "trust us." Ehh..
- Another article about how so many stores can't get rid of their PS3 stock. I do my best to avoid most of the Sony doom and gloom stories here, but sometimes that's all anyone will talk about.
Microsoft news:
- A post on Evil Avatar cites "inside sources" claiming that Microsoft is finalizing a deal to buy Capcom. I don't buy it in the least, but I mention it here in case someone comes to you claiming it as fact later.
- I don't get this. Major Nelson claims Gears sold 3 million and the 360 outsold the Wii and PS3 combined. He cites the NPD numbers, but the figures as reported by Gamespot don't match what he's saying at all. Either the guy needs a lie down or he's making things up.
- Bill Gates has called the 360 a "general purpose computer."
- Next week's Xbox Live Arcade title will be Heavy Weapon.
- A job posting suggests that someone is working on creating a Go game for Xbox Live Arcade.