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April top performer Splinter Cell: Conviction drops out of NPD top-20 report as Capcom’s Lost Planet 2 narrowly misses top 10.

Yesterday, the NPD Group released its US retail sales recap for May, revealing a software sales column that contained bittersweet news. On the one hand, game sales grew 4 percent from a year prior to $466.3 million. On the other hand, that 4 percent climb was substantially below analysts’ expectations of double-digit gains.

Lost Planet 2 was frozen out of the top 10.

The top performer for the month was Take-Two’s Red Dead Redemption, which combined to sell more than 1.5 million units on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Other games fared worse than expected, as Super Mario Galaxy 2 shifted just 563,900 units during the month and UFC 2010 lived up to downplayed expectations, selling just over 400,000 units on Microsoft’s and Sony’s consoles.

Today, NPD offered an expanded look at May’s software sales charts, revealing the fate of two of the more high-profile releases during the month that failed to crack the top 10. Capcom’s Lost Planet 2, which received a critical drubbing following its May 11 launch, managed an 11th-place finish on the Xbox 360, though the PS3 version failed to make the top 20. United Front Games’ PS3-exclusive ModNation Racers also turned in a lackadaisical performance, moving into the top 20 at 18th.

Notably, April’s chart-topping Xbox 360-exclusive Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction failed to surface in the top 20. However, a handful of other top performers from last month did, including Pokemon HeartGold (13th), God of War III (14th), Just Dance (15th), Super Street Fighter IV (17th), and Wii Sports Resort (20th).

TOP 20 US NON-PC GAMES – MAY 2010
RANK / LAST MONTH / TITLE / PLATFORM / PUBLISHER / RELEASE DATE / SALES*
** / 1 / Red Dead Redemption / X360 / Take-Two / May-10 / 945,900
** / 2 / Red Dead Redemption / PS3 / Take-Two / May-10 / 567,100
** / 3 / Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Wii / Nintendo / May-10 / 563,900
** / 4 / UFC 2010: Undisputed 2010 / X360 / THQ / May-10 / 221,100
** / 5 / UFC 2010: Undisputed 2010 / PS3 / THQ / May-10 / 192,300
8 / 6 / Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board / Wii / Nintendo / Oct-09
3 / 7 / New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Wii / Nintendo / Nov-09
** / 8 / Alan Wake / X360 / Microsoft / May-10
2 / 9 / Pokemon SoulSilver / DS / Nintendo / Mar-10
** / 10 / Skate 3 / X360 / EA / May-10
** / 11 / Lost Planet 2 / X360 / Capcom / May-10
13 / 12 / New Super Mario Bros. / DS / Nintendo / May-06
4 / 13 / Pokemon HeartGold / DS / Nintendo / Mar-10
5 / 14 / God of War IIII / PS3 / Sony / Mar-10
9 / 15 / Just Dance / Wii / Ubisoft / Nov-09
18 / 16 / Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel / Wii / Nintendo / Apr-08
10 / 17 / Super Street Fighter IV / PS3 / Capcom / Apr-10
** / 18 / ModNation Racers / PS3 / Sony / May-10
16 / 19 / Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 / X360 / Activision Blizzard / Nov-09
6 / 20 / Wii Sports Resort / Wii / Nintendo / Jul-09

* = Sales only available for top 10 SKUs

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Looking for a wider range of environments to get your customizable Lost Planet 2 character knocked around in? According to a recent Capcom press release, two new maps for the game’s competitive multiplayer component will go on sale on the PlayStation Store for $4.99 on June 1, and on Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 on June 2.

The map pack will include “Frozen Wasteland,” a renovated version of a map from the original Lost Planet, and “Dockyard Battle,” a 16-player arena modeled after the factory level from Episode 4 of the game’s campaign. We were hoping for a multiplayer version of the railway cannon level, but … well, that would lead to some awfully one-sided battles, wouldn’t it?

Two more Lost Planet 2 multiplayer maps coming next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 27 May 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Next week, you’ll have another platform on which to experience Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney’s verbal dueling. Capcom has announced that the iPhone version of the first Phoenix Wright game, originally revealed in December, will be released on the App Store at a price of just $4.99. It’s even got the fifth case, which was only available in the WiiWare port as DLC. If you’ve never played Phoenix Wright, passing it up at such a bargain price is a crime, punishable by our disappointment.

This is the rare iPhone port that won’t be ruined by the platform’s lack of buttons — gameplay consists entirely of clicking through menus and occasionally pointing a cursor at an area of the screen. Capcom has even streamlined these controls further for iPhone, with a “flick interface” that allows players to swipe through inventory menus. There’s something satisfying about the idea of playing Phoenix Wright with your outstretched index finger.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on iPhone next week for $5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 May 2010 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Following painful fiscal year, publisher outlines new emphasis on cutting production time, creating new franchises, and revitalizing current brands; Monster Hunter Portable 3 to sell 3M.

Capcom is coming off a mostly abysmal fiscal year in which net income fell a precipitous 73.1 percent to ¥2.17 billion ($23.8 million). Revenues also slid substantially during the April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 period, falling off 27.3 percent to ¥66.84 billion ($734 million). Today, the publisher announced its plans for the current fiscal year, outlining a new strategy that emphasizes cutting down on development time, creating new franchises, and revitalizing current brands.

No word on whether Mega Man Online will join the illustrious 8-bit MMOG ranks.

To the first point, Capcom said that it hopes to shorten the launch cycle of franchise titles by relying more heavily on outsourcing and ramping up hires at its internal studios. Capcom also said that it would be taking a more “rigorous” approach to overseeing its overseas partners, saying that it hopes to better meld “overseas input” and “Capcom input” to increase international sales.

As for creating new franchises, Capcom said that it has allocated 20-30 percent of its development budget to creating additional brands. Unfortunately, the publisher offered no further information on new franchises in development.

However, Capcom did tease an extension of a current brand. In describing its efforts to better capitalize on the PC game market, Capcom said that is engaged in a joint development deal with Korea-based Neowiz Games on Mega Man Online. No details on this project were offered, and it was equally unclear whether Mega Man Online bears any relation to Mega Man Universe, a name which Capcom registered with the US Patent & Trademark Office in April.

Capcom saw tepid sales from two of its biggest blockbuster-hopefuls last year, Dark Void and Bionic Commando, the latter of which sold 700,000 units worlds on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Explaining the two games’ lackluster performance, Capcom said that the issues were caused by “inadequate know-how about supervising outsourced operations and overly optimistic plans.”

Looking ahead to its current fiscal year’s headliners, Capcom is expecting a far better performance. The publisher expects its top-selling game for the year to be Monster Hunter Portable 3, which is slated to sell some 3.6 million units upon its launch in Japan later this year. Dead Rising 2, which is expected to come to the US on August 31, is projected to sell 3 million units worldwide, while the critically panned Lost Planet 2 is forecast to sell some 2.2 million units. Capcom expects to sell 2 million units of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 upon its spring 2011 launch.

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