Hirai and Reeves at PlayStation Day
Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai and European boss David Reeves will both attend an upcoming “PlayStation Day” in London to show off the company’s 2008 line-up.
Sony announced the event yesterday and sent invites to select press, promising “exciting new developments” for PS3, PSN, PSP and PS2.
The event takes place on 6th May and you can expect us to be present, going hands-on with various games, interviewing developers and - we’re currently discussing it with Sony - hopefully providing some sort of LiveText coverage.
Look out for more on PlayStation Day soon.
CRASH FRANCHISE RETURNS THIS HOLIDAY IN SIERRA ENTERTAINMENT’S CRASH BANDICOOT: MIND OVER MUTANT
Crash is Back with New Abilities and his Signature Bandicoot Hilarity; Sidekick Coco Fully Playable for the First Time
Sierra Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, today announced the upcoming return of everyone’s favorite marsupial hero, Crash Bandicoot, in Crash Bandicoot:® Mind over Mutant, the latest installment of the best-selling Crash Bandicoot® video game franchise. Developed by Radical Entertainment, a Sierra Entertainment studio, Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant is scheduled for release this fall on the Wii™ home video game system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system.
In Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant, a rejuvenated Neo Cortex is taking over the world one brain at a time! Cortex and N. Brio devise a new kind of evil – a text-messaging, do-anything device which controls both mutant and bandicoot minds. Armed with his quick-wits and lightening agility, Crash must free his friends, the titans and save the day!
“The Crash Bandicoot franchise has built a wide audience of loyal fans, appealing to both male and female gamers of all ages,” said Al Simone, senior vice president, Global Marketing for Sierra Entertainment. “The Crash series remains one of the most recognizable franchises in our industry and we’re excited to make this year’s family-friendly title appear at the top of every gamer’s wish list this holiday.”
Key features in Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant include:
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Mutant in your Pocket! - Not only does Crash gain the ability to control his enemies when he jacks them – now he can store his favorite monsters in his pocket, upgrade them and utilize their powers when they are most advantageous
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“Free-Romping” World Design - Wumpa Island becomes a “free-romping” environment, allowing players to travel and explore through intersecting worlds, with different gameplay options available depending on what creature you’ve brought along for the ride
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Girl Power! - Your co-op partner is Crash’s sister, Coco, playable for the first time in the cooperative mode. Not only does Coco make the game that much more inviting for girls to pick up and play, she also brings with her a new tactile “treasure hunt” ability
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New Abilities o Roll and Counter Combat System - Crash will have a fun, agile dodge move and “counter” move which will inflict extra damage on his enemies o Digging - Crash can now dig underground as real-life bandicoots really do; this will allow for Crash to unlock bonus items o Climbing - Crash can climb vertical surfaces and jump side-to-side to connected areas and dodge hazards
Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant is being developed by Radical Entertainment and will be available this fall at retail stores worldwide on Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Xbox 360®, PlayStation 2 system and PSP system. For more information, please visit www.crashbandicoot.com.
Madden NFL 09 Cover Athlete Announced
April 25, 2008 - A press release from EA announced today that Brett Favre, former Green Bay Packers quarterback and future Hall of Famer, will be the next athlete to grace the cover of the renowned Madden franchise. Madden NFL 09 marks the 20th anniversary of the series. “Madden NFL Football and Brett Favre are sports icons who have set the standard and revolutionized their positions within their respective genres,” said Dale Jackson, Executive Producer. “Brett Favre is a perfect fit for the Madden NFL 09 cover, as he epitomizes everything the franchise has stood for the past 20 years — longevity, excellence, and a love of football.”
The press release moves on to state that Madden 09 will sport 85 new features and gameplay enhancements, including a new tutorial mode labeled the Virtual Trainer. The game will also boast a “network-inspired broadcast presentation” and commentary by Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond. Also, Madden’s graphical features will be upgraded with more refined character models, realistic weather effects and grass, as well as exterior stadium views.
Lastly, the press release notes that a significant online structure will also be available, enabling players to compete online in leagues. Madden NFL 09 will be available for the original Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and DS.
PSP Stays at Top in Japan
April 25, 2008 - The PSP continues to dominate hardware over in Japan. For the week covering April 14 to April 20, Media Create’s sales charts put Sony’s portable at 85,421 units, besting the DS Lite’s 44,551 units and the Wii’s 44,241 units.
It wasn’t all good news for Sony, though. The PS3 fell yet again, down to 7,438 units for the week. The PS2 dropped down to 6,545 units, with the Xbox 360 completing Team Low Sales with 1,076 units.
The PSP’s success is, of course, attributed to Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, which sold an additional 123,855 units over the week. Capcom has already shipped two million units for the title, which will likely soon overtake its predecessor, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd, in overall sales.
Monster Hunter wasn’t first for the week, though. That honor went to Mario Kart Wii, which sold 201,508 units in its second week. Below Monster Hunter was the Nintendo and Red Company DS RPG collaboration, Bokura ha Kaseki Horida, which sold 35,363 units in its first week.
The rest of the top 10 was all older titles. Wii Fit took fourth with 32,445 units. Following it were Warriors Orochi 2 (Koei, PS2, 24,474 units), Pokemon Ranger Batonage (Pokemon, DS, 21,364), DS Handwriting Training (Nintendo, DS, 15,254), Deca Sporta (Hudson, Wii, 14,161), Smash Bros. X (Nintendo, Wii, 12,703), and Wii Sports (Nintendo, Wii, 11,669).
Sony unveils PSP video download service
Subscription/pay-per-view video service hits PSP this summer
Sony has just unveiled Go!View, a new video download service for PSP.
Created in conjunction with Sky, the new service will allow you to download and watch programs and films on your portable. Here’s the official blurb:
“This summer, PlayStation and Sky will launch Go!View, the first official PlayStation Portable video download service in Europe. Go!View will provide a wealth of programming from the worlds of entertainment, comedy, sport and movies for PSP owners to enjoy in addition to their usual gaming experience.”
“Go!View gives PSP users the chance to watch their favorite programs on either a subscription or pay-per-view basis. Once registered on the Go!View website, users will be able to easily download content to the PSP via their PC.”
No content, prices or exact release dates were offered, with “summer” as accurate as it gets for launch at the moment. More info as it develops.
Sony PSP Getting On-Demand Video Store This Summer
The Sony PSP is so much more than just a portable video game machine. It can be used as an MP3 player, an RSS aggregator, a media player, and a point of debate with Nintendo DS aficionados. The PSP will also soon be able to enjoy on-demand video through an online store courtesy of Go!View.
Sky of the UK has partnered up with Sony on the endeavor, which will see the PSP gain access to “all sorts of entertainment, from hilariously dry comedy to infamously drab sporting contests.” The video on demand service, however, isn’t quite as streamlined as most people would hope.
Despite the fact that the PSP has no trouble hopping onto a Wi-Fi network, the downloads of the videos will have to first be done through a computer and then the files can be transferred to the PSP. Wouldn’t it have been nicer to get a direct download?
Three more PS1 Games on PSN
With the new PSN store online now, Sony Japan are back to growing there ever so lasting PS1 list on PSN. This week three new titles will be available via PSN. The three new titles are Athena no Kateiban: Family Game, Magical Drop F and, Spyro 2 Ripto’s Rage. I myself have only heard of one of these titles, but I’m sure there are Japanese gamers out there familiar with the other two.
Japan PSP sales of last week: Still good?
Two weeks ago, the PSP utterly destroyed every other console in terms of sales by selling more units than every other console (PS3, PS2, X360, Wii, DSL), combined. Just last week, the PSP just missed the bar of continuing the double sales, with the PSP taking 49.59% of the market by selling 121k units.
So, did a similar selling trend occur for another week?
Well, the answer is no. The PSP is still the number #1 selling console on the market overseas, but did nowhere near as well as it has the past few weeks, selling 85,721 units ( about 35k less), but still claiming 43.87% of all consoles sold.
Also, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, the title mostly responsible for the burst in PSP sales in Japan, has dropped to become the number #2 game, outsold by Mario Kart Wii, selling over 1/2 a million in its first week out. The Wii, however, did not see a real boost in console sales.
Here are your official numbers:
- PSP: 85,721
- DS Lite: 47,158
- Wii: 46,296
- PS3: 8,232
- PS2 6,834
- Xbox 360: 1,147
total = 195,388
Flooze Will Flow with the Return of Pipemania Across a Multitude of Gaming Platforms
The Popular Puzzle Game is Sure to Please New and Seasoned Gamers Alike
With a new twist to classic favorite, Empire Interactive will heat up the puzzle game jenre with the summer release of Pipemania for the Nintendo DS, Wii, PSP, PlayStation 2 and PC. As they race against time, puzzle game fans of all ages and experience will be able to enjoy hours of brain-teasing fun in this frantic series of quests and puzzles that uses updated gameplay mechanics to build on one of the most poplar franchises of all time.
“The current generation of gaming platforms presented a great opportunity to re-create Pipemania with all-new features that are sure to challenge players of all ages and skill-level,” said Karim Farghaly, vice president of sales, Empire Interactive. “We are certain new and old fans alike will find it hard to put down the mayhem packed into the new installation of Pipemania.”
Pipemania is a fast-paced puzzle game in which players lay down a pre-ordained set of pipes on a tiled grid in order to keep the Flooze, a constant flowing substance that speeds up with progression, moving through the pipes as long as possible without overflowing. Players will need to be fast with their fingers and utilize quick and forward thinking, precise coordination, and keen awareness if they plan to survive the time constraints, pressure and accuracy needed to navigate through the game. There is no chance for players to let their guard down, as complication increases with new elements as players progress through the game.
Pipemania tests players’ skills in five different game modes - world, arcade, bonus, multiplayer, classic, and best of the all - the original Pipemania game. Players will navigate through more than 70 levels with seven different themes in order to build their Island World. The frantic puzzle game offers hours of entertainment with enhanced visuals, new play mechanics, multiple attacks and damages, various Floozes, and an army of characters for players to help and hinder along the way. The entire game can be played in single player or in co-op for competitive play between two players.
The original version of Pipemania was released in 1989 and followed by Pipe Dreams in 1991. It has been ranked as one of the most popular games of all time and delivered exceptional sales with more than 4 million units worldwide, making it one of the most successful puzzle games in history.
March NPD figures: PSP sales up 18%
According to NPD sales in February, the PSP has continued to show a strong continuation of sales. More specifically, the PSP sales jumped 18% compared to last March, selling 297,000 units worldwide. Sure, the 18% jump may be a little modest, and it’s nowhere near as astounding as sales figures in Japan have been the past few weeks or so, but they numbers are still respectable, beating out the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Playstation 2 in sales.
Another piece of news to note is that PSP software, yes, software, secured two spots on the top 10 selling games of the month, something that hasen’t really been seen up to this point. It would be safe to say already that Final Fantasy 7 - Crisis Core and God of War - Chains of Olympus will outsell every other PSP game released last year.
in other news, the Wii and DS blew away all other consoles, and the Playstation 3 took a backseat last month to the Xbox 360, but only by 5,000 units.
Here are the NPD sales figures for the month of March:
US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - MARCH 2008
Software: $945.6m (+63%)
Hardware: $551.3m (+46%)
Accessories: $220m (+58%)
Total Games: $1.7 billion (+57%)
TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - MARCH 2008
Wii–721,000
Nintendo DS–698,000
PlayStation Portable–297,000
Xbox 360–262,000
PlayStation 3–257,000
PlayStation 2–216,000
TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - MARCH 2008
Title / Publisher / Release Date / Units
1) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) / Nintendo / March 2008 / 2.7M
2) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2* (360) / Ubisoft / March 2008 / 752.3K
3) Army of Two (360) / Electronic Arts / March 2008 / 606.1K
4) Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) / Nintendo / Feb. 2007 / 409.8K
5) God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) / Sony / March 2008 / 340.5K
6) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) / Square Enix / March 2008 / 301.6K
7) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) / Activision / Oct. 2007 / 264.1K
MLB 2K8 (360) / Take-Two Interactive / March 2008 / 237.1K
9) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* (360) / Activision / Nov. 2007 / 237K
10) Army of Two (PS3) / Electronic Arts / March 2008 / 224.9K
*Includes Collector’s, Limited, Legendary, Bundles (Guitars) Editions
