Black Friday sales for the video game industry were excellent. Nintendo sold 1.8m systems for the week ending November 29 while machines from rivals Microsoft and Sony combined to sell about 1.1m units.
Software sales were quite strong as well, but the vast majority of the spike this week is simply from the fact that Americans spent $10 billion ($30/per American if every American shopped) on Black Friday according to various reports, and a lot of that went to video games.
Last year, Black Friday week sales were strong as well, but Wii, DS, and Xbox 360 saw significantly better sales this year. PS3 had the weakest Black Friday to Black Friday growth, at 13%, and PS2 declined.
Sony's machines accounted for about 1 out of 3 video game machines sold (31%) during Black Friday week in 2007, this year that ratio is down to about 2 out of 9 (22%) as the shares for Microsoft and Nintendo increase.
Although Wii had a smaller percentage incr... More »
Capcom's John Diamonon answered the following question today via PS Blog: You’re probably thinking, “What the flock is FLOCK!?”
Well, today you’re going to find out because we have a little surprise for you in the free issue of Qore today.
Below are a couple of videos that show some of the quirky and original gameplay you’ll see in the game.
I want to introduce you to one of my co-workers, Robby Zinchak. Don’t let his young looks fool you. He’s an up-and-coming associate producer extraordinaire who’s ready to answer all your questions regarding this truly unique, downloadable game. Just don’t ask him to show you his ID. (Just kidding Robby.)
Hi! This is my first time posting here, so I figure I should introduce myself first My name is Robby, and I’m the Associate Producer on FLOCK! here at Capcom. As mentioned previously on this blog, the new episode of Qore (avail... More »
Sr. Producer Rusty Buchert of Sony Santa Monica Studios shared the following today via PS Blog:
Hi all, it’s Rusty again from the Santa Monica Studio. We are getting ready to launch Everyday Shooter PSP on the PSN store today, and we are really thrilled about how it has turned out. Between Jon Mak, Backbone Entertainment and us, we have Jon’s thoughts about how everything went on getting this made. Hope you all like what we’ve done.
First things first: the seaweed is gone, but the hashbrowns are still in the freezer.
So Rusty wanted me to write a little blog post about Everyday Shooter for PSP. I don’t really know what to talk about so I guess I’ll start chronological and see where that goes.
I actually tried porting Everyday Shooter to PSP way back around December 20th, 2007, and stopped around December 27th, 2007. Here’s an old video I found from back then:
Tonight, X-Play brought you the release date for Killzone 2, the highly-anticipated FPS from Guerrilla Games and Sony!
That date: February 27, 2009 for the United States. There is no word on other territories yet. There were a lot of rumors about the 17th, but it will be 10 days later. Get your pre-orders in!
X-Play also revealed two new weapons: the Bolt Gun and the Flamethrower, which can both be seen in the following video:
The end of the video also sports the official announcement of the release date if you don't believe me!
Below is another Killzone 2 video interview on the game's robust multiplayer component including details about the games innovative "Warzone" gametype!
The "Warzone" gametype, which can be seen in the video, rotates through all the available gametypes as the match plays out. It could start as a team deathmatch game that transitions t... More »
The answer is no, they are not. In fact, they are doing pretty well for the difficult position that they are in at this point in time.
What Sony really needs to focus on right now is profit, and NOT the fanboys nor the console war. A lot of PlayStation fans out their feel the need for Sony to drop the price of the PS3 so it can “beat” the 360 in the console war, and in my opinion that is selfish.
Sony is currently losing profit on every PS3 sold and the only thing they need to focus on right now is making profit. If you factor in all the obstacles in front of the PS3, you would come to the conclusion that the PS3 is doing rather well for it being the most expensive console on the market especially with the economic recession and Sony’s lack of marketing.
Now look at all of these challenges the PS3 is going through and then look at the PS3’s sales. You cannot deny the fact that the PlayStation brand is the strongest in the industry.
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Per Grace Chen (Senior Manager, PlayStation Store) today:
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the weekly PlayStation Store update.
Qore Qore Annual Subscription ($24.99)
Qore: Presented by the PlayStation Network is a monthly interactive video production covering the world of PlayStation. Qore provides its audience with exclusive behind-the-scenes access to developers and their games, from both the SCE Worldwide Studios and the third-party community, where the audience member can freely navigate through the content.
File size: 1.34 GB
Qore Episode 07: December, 2008 (free)
Episode 07 (December 2008) of Qore: Presented by the PlayStation®Network is being offered to all PSN account holders, 18 and older, for free! (*PSN registration required. user responsible for internet fees.) Download now to see what all of the excitement is about!
File size: 1.34 GB
Bluepoint Games President Andy O'Neil was pleased to reveal today that Blast Factor for PlayStation 3 will offer PS3 trophies as of this Thursday.
To quote: Hey All! We’ve had a lot of email over the last few months asking about Trophies for Blast Factor, so I’m very pleased to announce that a new updated version of Blast Factor with that sweet Trophy goodness will be winging its way to your PS3 this Thursday!
We’ve had a lot of fun putting the Trophy challenges together, and we reckon that we’ve got a good selection for Blast Factor fans of all abilities. Watch out though, there are a couple that are going to be a challenge to even the most hardcore of Blast Factor players!
We’ve added 25 Trophies in total across the original game and the 2 expansion packs, with around 15 Trophies in Blast Factor: Basic Research and its 90+ levels, and 10 Trophies split between the Multiplayer expansion and Advanced Research with its addition of... More »
There can be no doubt that sales of the Xbox 360 in the US have remained strong over the last 12 months, surprising many who had claimed that 2008 would be the year of the PlayStation. With the holiday season fast approaching sales can only go one way - up.
Back in late 2007, Microsoft was heading into the festive season having wrapped up Halo 3 and Gears of War - both huge system sellers that helped the Redmond giant put it’s stamp on the year as having the most consumer £/$’s spent on its platform.
But many questioned whether Microsoft could continue its dominance through 2008 - with only a few anticipated titles on it’s schedules for the year ahead such as Fable II and Too Human (lol?).
Tell that to those crazy folks below though - This was spotted during Black Friday sales in the US as bargain hunters stalked Xbox 360 Arcade units. Only in America...
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