…in record sales. So far, after all the hype and advertisement for the Wii Music, it’s sold below 81,000 in Oct. But I really think that with the current economic crises, people are more tempted to use their money for food than for games, honestly.
When the NPD Group released its October sales figures yesterday, one title was noticeably absent from the top 10–Wii Music. For weeks, cash-flush Nintendo has been heavily hyping the title, the last of the “Big Four” nontraditional properties–along with Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit–conceived to appeal to nongamers. It even brought out legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto to show off his latest creation to the US press.
Unfortunately, it seems not even a media blitz aided by the charms of the creator of Donkey Kong could spark Wii Music fever. According to raw NPD data, Wii Music sold just under 81,000 units in the 11 days after it went on sale on October 20. The number is merely a fraction of the 687,700 units Wii Fit moved domestically in a similar period when it went on sale on April 19.
Though many will blame the discordant live jam session at Nintendo’s E3 2008 conference for Wii Music’s lackluster debut, there are two more likely reasons. First and foremost, the rhythm genre is saturated, with Rock Band and Guitar Hero duking it out for supremacy as Rock Revolution, Ultimate Band, and others struggle to catch up.
Eternal Sonata (トラスティベル ～ショパンの夢～, Torasuti Beru Shopan no Yume?, Trusty Bell: Chopin’s Dream) is an original role-playing video game created by tri-Crescendo, one of the developers of Baten Kaitos and Baten Kaitos Origins. The Microsoft Xbox 360 version of the game was released on June 14, 2007 in Japan, September 17, 2007 in North America, and October 19, 2007 in Europe. The game will also be released for the Sony PlayStation 3 with additional content as Trusty Bell ~Chopin no Yume~ Reprise (トラスティベル ~ショパンの夢~ ルプリーズ) on September 18, 2008 in Japan, and a North American release will be available later in the fall. A European release is anticipated due to listings on various retailer and manufacturer websites, but no first-party information as to a EU release date has been published.
The game is centered around the romantic pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 39. The story envisions a fictional world dreamed by Chopin during his last hours that is influenced by Chopin’s life and music, and in which he himself is a playable character, among others. The game features a selection of Chopin’s compositions played by pianist Stanislav Bunin, though most of the in-game music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba. The game’s battle system centers around musical elements and character-unique special attacks. Light and darkness plays a part in the appearance and abilities of enemies on the battlefield, as well as the types of magic that can be cast.
Haze is a first person shooter game by PS3 developed by Free Radical Design. Although I dissed PS3 by saying XBOX360 rules hands down, i have to give it to PS3 for games that really piqued my interest. For example, Haze is one perfect game that I would like to get my paws on.
In the game, Mantel soldiers make use of Nectar, a performance-enhancing pharmaceutical drug that grants the user enhanced speed, accuracy and strength. Mantel uses this drug to control the minds of its soldiers. When administered, “Nectar” can control–among other things– what a soldier sees, similar to the effects of a hallucinogenic drug. It makes enemies the only real thing soldiers see, and drowns out the surrounding images of death and destruction. An overdose of Nectar is dangerous, with loss of mental control and death being its possible side-effects.
As revealed in a E³ 2007 trailer, Rebel soldiers may go in to a Play Dead state just before they are killed, allowing them to regenerate health. In addition, they have been given the capability to exploit Mantel’s dependence on nectar by attacking the nectar injector, extracting nectar to use on throwing knives from dead mantel troopers and using the injector to create nectar grenades. They can also steal a Mantel trooper’s gun, and bury grenades in the ground as mines.
Gone are the days when sales are boosted only during holiday seasons. Analyst found that the gaming industry has now matured with March being a month where sales are steadily hiking even without any holiday season in tow in what is called, the “perfect sales storm”.
The NPD Group’s freshly released gaming industry sales figures for the month of March handily trumped analysts’ expectations, as US retailers sold nearly $1 billion in game software, and another $551 million in hardware.
Though the numbers have barely had time to sink in, one analyst has already pulled a few lessons from the data dump. Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich (formerly with the simExchange prediction market) called the month a “perfect storm” for new game releases, with something for everyone.
“Super Smash Bros. Brawl fulfilled the needs of the casual, social, and sub-13 year old markets,” Divnich said in a note to reporters. “The hardcore gamers seeking heavy action and strong multiplayer support had Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Even Army of Two played its role by attracting in consumers with its flashy marketing campaign and catchy theme song!”
The success of these games further shows that the gaming business has reached a certain level of maturity, according to Divnich.
“The industry is finally large enough to support numerous AAA titles during an off-season month,” Divnich said, “and going forward, publishers need not fear a PS3/Xbox 360 title hindering their Wii title (or vice versa). March has proven that the PS3/Xbox360 and the Wii can co-exist perfectly together.”
The marriage between Ubisoft and Gameloft has spawned DS’ version of Assassin’s Creed. Frankly, I am not sure about playing the game in such a little screen but I guess it works for those on the go.
Last July, Ubisoft unloaded the entirety of its holdings in mobile-game developer Gameloft in an effort to refocus the reportedly $112 million in funds on other growth opportunities. However, as noted by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot at the time of the transaction, the two companies would remain in cahoots, though now only at an operational level.
It now appears that one of the offsprings of that relationship will be the Nintendo DS edition of Assassin’s Creed, as revealed by box-art scans obtained by enthusiast blog Go Nintendo. The game–which has yet to be officially announced, though retailer listings and its appearance on Nintendo’s 2008 release lineup have all but confirmed it–will apparently be a prequel to its console counterparts, and go by the subtitle Altair’s Chronicles. In the course of telling the story of the titular medieval murderer, the game will allow players to use the DS stylus to “interrogate informers” and pickpocket strangers.
Altair’s Chronicles will be the second version of Assassin’s Creed developed by Gameloft. The France-based developer also created the mobile edition of the game last year–a demo of which is available on Gameloft’s Web site–as well as the Xbox Live Arcade revamping of the classic platformer Prince of Persia.
It is confirmed that Resistance 2: Rise of Men is coming out.
As is the case with most batches of platform-launch games, critics weren’t especially kind to the titles that debuted alongside the PlayStation 3. According to Metacritic, the most consistently well-reviewed launch title for the platform was Resistance: Fall of Man. Developed by Ratchet & Clank creators Insomniac Games, the title blended science fiction and Harry Turtledove-esque alternate history, portraying an alien invasion of England in the 1950s–after World War II didn’t happen.
According to industry-research group NPD Funworld, Resistance was a solid seller, moving nearly 791,000 copies domestically as of November 2007. Little wonder, then, that as rumored, the acclaimed game is getting sequel treatment. The February edition of Game Informer reveals that yes, Insomniac is hard at work on a sequel, tentatively titled Resistance 2.
According to the magazine, Resistance 2 will support two campaigns, multiplayer battles of up to 60 people, and eight-person online co-op play. Unconfirmed reports say the game will support three character classes–including a heavy weapons, special operations, and the all-important medic. It will also incorporate vehicles, including the alien-built Stalker, which will have cloaking abilities.
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