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 »
IGN has gone through Famitsu's 11-page feature on Final Fantasy: Dissidia and translated several new details recently.
Square Enix apparently considered putting a FFXII character in the game, but were concerned it would solidify "the character's image and skills in players' minds and thus affecting the main FFXIII".
Famitsu also revealed that gamers will be able to choose a Memory Stick installation of 245, 373, or 528 megabytes. Finally, Ikeda, the main programmer for the game, says that the 245MB install will allow "smooth battles."
To quote: If all that isn't enough to make you wonder how Square Enix is fitting Dissidia on one UMD, here's something that should do the trick. Famitsu also reveals that Dissidia has a "Command Battle" mode of play.
Here, the normal action-based battle system is replaced with a menu system, allowing players who aren't so hot on action games to still engage in combat.
Prince of Persia Producer Ben Mattes took the time to answer several interesting questions regarding everything from combat to the game’s new art style on PlayStation 3. Here are some of them as follows:
Charliesdad asked: Wondering how you addressed the balance issues from earlier entries in the series. For example, Sands of Time was amazing, but going back to it recently the combat wore thin after a while (especially in the first big group fight) to be followed by long stretches of almost no combat. Does the new game fall on one side or the other or is there a middle ground that you all shot for and hit? And Demo tomorrow? Maybe?
Mattes: First, one of our main goals in combat was to make every fight grandiose and meaningful, to make every encounter feel more epic. Thus, we decided to make the new combat system a duel mode in which every enemy has special attributes, a unique personality, cool moves, and his strengths and weaknesses. ... More »
Mr305 has released an update to TweakDisplay, a plug-in that gives a set of 20 visual effects to your PSP. It also has a way excellent visualizer for your music!
This plug-in works with most homebrew out there, spicing them up with some psychedelic effects that'll definitely give you PSP gaming a new kick.
This plug-in's been brewing for months now and a lot of people finally got to get their hands on it when it was officially released yesterday, containing the following effects:
- Contrast Boost that mimics PSP-3000's improved contrast via Software.
- Brightness Boost with variable adjustment
- Physically Flipped XMB with natural keymapping (PSP 1000 Feels lighter than it is, if held this way )
- SUPER Stylish Music V... More »
Empire: Total War, is the new installment in The Creative Assembly’s Total War RTS franchise and will maintain the series 3D battles, grand turn based campaign map and rich historical flavor; while for the first time introducing 3D naval combat into the series.
Below is an interview with one of the game's developers:
WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank, and occupation!
Kieran Brigden, studio communications manager for Creative Assembly.
WP: Empire Total War marks the first time that the Total War series has had really intricate naval battles. Why have them now?
KB: Well, it's a combination of factors. One, we've wanted to do it for a while but the technology was ready now. Two, it's the period that's right for it. When you add naval battles to the game, you have to do it when it's interesting, enjoyable, and fun. The 18th century was the absolute height of cool naval warfare. You had thi... More »
In today’s economic climate, the need for more entertainment options at home is ever increasing.
With an estimated 65 percent of American households playing computer and video games, GameStop provides a great value for budget-wise consumers with 2,500 game gifts priced at $20 and under.
Press Release: Looking for Holiday Gift Ideas... GameStop Offers Its Top Picks
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, has affordable gift ideas for anyone on your holiday list. With more than 700 new titles due to release before the holidays, GameStop offers something for everyone.
“A new generation of gamers that includes younger children, older adults and women has emerged, and they are interested in casual, more social gaming experiences,” said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop. “While the traditional racing, sports and shooter games are still in high dem... More »
The PlayStation 3 and PS2 were the only platforms that didn't receive a significant boost this week as the end-of-year climb finally begins.
The DS and PSP platforms are both up nearly 20k units, the 360 almost doubled last week's effort from 8k to 15.5k, and the Wii is up 10k units from the previous week.
Defying the weekly gains for every other platform, the PS3 sold only 17.4k units this week, exactly (for our purposes) what it sold last week. As we look for continued increases in hardware next week, will the PS3 be along for the ride?
Today Kimmo Lahtinen of Housemarque shared the following via PS Blog:
Hi, my name is Kimmo Lahtinen and I was the programming lead for Housemarque on Super Stardust Portable. Super Stardust Portable is the PSP version of our previously released PS3 title Super Stardust HD with some nice additions we think you’ll enjoy.
And you’ll be able to enjoy them very soon. Super Stardust Portable will be available for download on the PlayStation Store on Thursday, December 4th for just $9.99!
If there is one word to describe the game, that would be ‘intense’. Your goal in the game is to simply destroy the waves after waves of enemies we throw at you and try to not get killed. If you’re not constantly on the edge of your seat when trying to blow up everything in sight with dozens of asteroids coming at you all the while screen is filled with explosions and fireworks, you should probably apply for a jo... More »
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