New-game purchasers of EA and DICE’s modern-day military shooter granted two bonus day-one multiplayer maps, second freebie pack due later in March.
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Original Guitar Hero shop named as the latest casualty in publisher’s sweeping cuts; Van Halen developer also shuttered.
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Capcom’s online action-role-playing franchise will attempt to boost the Xbox’s flagging Japanese fortunes this summer with a PC MMORPG port.
When Capcom changed Monster Hunter Tri from a PlayStation 3 exclusive to a Wii exclusive, the stated reason for the change was the “high development cost of titles for PS3.” Development for the Xbox 360 is apparently not quite as expensive, as Capcom today announced that it would be bringing the Monster Hunter series to Microsoft’s console.
That said, Monster Hunter’s debut on the 360 won’t be an all-new game. Instead, Capcom is porting over a pre-existing PC massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Monster Hunter Frontier. Released in 2007 in Japan for Windows, the title will launch on Xbox Live this summer in the island nation. According to gaming blog Kotaku, the game will have a ¥1,400 ($15) monthly fee on top of an Xbox Live Gold subscription, and will enter closed beta testing in May.
Unfortunately, Capcom did not reveal any further information on the game other than its Japanese launch plans. Whether Monster Hunter Frontier will ever arrive on Western 360s is still unclear. Despite repeated entreaties, Capcom never exported the PC MMORPG outside of Asia.
Check out the official Trailer for Monster Hunter Frontier.
After debuting on the PlayStation 2 in 2004, the Monster Hunter franchise has become a particularly profitable franchise for Capcom in Japan. After the series spawned a sequel on the PS2 and debuted on the PSP, the company said it was “growing into the flagship products of Capcom.”
Newer installments have been similarly successful in Japan, where Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP racked up 3.5 million sales. Most recently, Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii topped the Japanese sales charts and managed to sell a million copies in its first month and change on shelves.
The series’ debut on the Xbox 360 represents the latest in a long line of attempts from Microsoft to build the console’s business in Japan. The system launched there in December of 2005, but started slowly. Microsoft targeted sales of 1 million Xbox 360s well within the system’s first year on shelves, but only managed to make that milestone last April. The 360’s start was so sluggish that Microsoft saw fit to “re-launch” the system, heavily promoting Japanese-developed role-playing games like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon.
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Nintendo king of US hardware and software rankings with Wii, New Super Mario Bros.; PS3 edges out 360, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort get silver, bronze.
Today, the NPD Group released a somewhat dreary report that revealed overall US game sales decreased 8 percent in 2009. However, it simultaneously revealed that domestic game sales were better than expected during the industry research firm’s December reporting period. Last month, NPD found that combined domestic sales of non-PC software, hardware, and accessories increased 4 percent year-over-year to $5.53 billion.
Part of the reason for the increase was the extended five-week reporting period, which lasted from November 29, 2009, to January 2, 2010. Both game hardware and accessories saw double-digit increases of a respective 16 percent ($2.19 billion) and 15 percent ($760.2 million). The top console for the month was the Wii (3.81 million units), followed by combined sales of all DS handheld models (3.31 million units).
In third place was the PlayStation 3 with 1.36 million units–nearly double the number of consoles Sony sold in December 2008. Right behind the recently discounted $299 machine was the Xbox 360 (1.31 million), which saw the price of both its models–the $199 Arcade and $299 Elite–far below what they were during the last holiday shopping season. Rounding out the hardware chart were the PSP (654,700 units) and the $99, nine-year-old-plus PlayStation 2 (333,200 units).
“There are a lot of hardware records this month,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. “The PS3 realized its biggest month of sales ever, and the first time sales have exceeded 1 million units. The Wii and the DS also had their biggest sales months ever, and in fact the two platforms hold the top two spots in sales of any hardware device in a single month. Overall, it was the biggest month of sales for hardware on both a dollar and unit basis.”
Software was the one game-industry sector that saw a decline in December, falling 7 percent to $2.58 billion–and still beating analyst expectations. Nintendo was king of the software chart too, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii selling 2.82 million units–more than the 2.75 million units Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold between the 360 (4th, 1.63 million) and the PS3 (5th, 1.12 million). The multiplayer platformer has now sold 4.21 million units domestically–still behind Modern Warfare 2’s 8.82-million-unit haul on US consoles.
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the fourth best-selling game of all time,” declared Frazier. “In fact, three of the top 10 games of all time are Call of Duty games.”
But while Activision’s shooter has grossed over $1 billion worldwide since its release in November, December saw holiday shoppers scoop up Nintendo games en masse. Six of the top 10 game-software products for the month came out of the Mario Factory, including Wii Fit Plus (second, 2.41 million units), the Wii MotionPlus pack-in Wii Sports Resort (third, 1.79 million units), the Wii Remote pack-in Wii Play (sixth, 1.01 million units), Mario Kart Wii (seventh, 936,100 units), and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story for the DS (10th, 656,700 units).
Besides Modern Warfare 2, the only other third-party software games in the December software top 10 concerned killing the alive and undead. The Xbox 360 edition of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II landed in eighth place with 783,100 units, followed by Electronic Arts and Valve Software’s Left 4 Dead 2 and its 728,500 units.
“Six of the top 10 games totaling 20.8 million units for the year were on the Wii platform as compared to four last year at 19 million units,” said Frazier. She also noted that “software sales in December were more concentrated among the top games this year than last. This year, 20 percent of sales came from the top [games], whereas last December it was just 12 percent.”
Frazier continued, “Madden NFL 10 had a big month selling 1.5 million units across all platforms, besting last December’s performance of the ‘09 game. December’s sales made up some of the lost ground realized out the gate when the title came to market in August.”
THE NPD GROUP’S DECEMBER 2009 US GAME INDUSTRY SALES
Category / Total / Change
Video Games: $5.53 billion +4%
Video Games Hardware: $2.19 billion +16%
Video Games Software: $2.58 billion -7%
Video Game Accessories: $760.2 million +15%
Hardware Sales (in units sold)
Wii: 3.81 million
Nintendo DS: 3.31 million
PlayStation 3: 1.36 million
Xbox 360: 1.31 million
PlayStation Portable: 654,700
PlayStation 2: 333,200
Game Software (in units sold)
1) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, Nintendo) – 2.82 million
2) Wii Fit Plus (Wii, Nintendo) – 2.41 million
3) Wii Sports Resort (Wii, Nintendo) – 1.79 million
4) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360, Activision) – 1.63 million
5) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, Activision) – 1.12 million
6) Wii Play with Remote (Wii, Nintendo) – 1.01 million
7) Mario Kart Wii with Wheel (Wii, Nintendo) – 936,100
Assassin’s Creed II (360, Ubisoft) – 783,100
9) Left 4 Dead 2 (360, Electronic Arts) – 728,500
10) Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS, Nintendo) – 656,700
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Nintendo’s mushroom-munching plumber sells nearly 1 million in one week as Wii sells 106K to lead hardware.
Nintendo began the week on the right foot, when Famitsu publisher Enterbrain announced that New Super Mario Bros. Wii had set a console record with 936,734 units sold from December 3-6, the game’s first four days of availability. Fellow stat-tracking firm Media Create has now corroborated those figures, placing Nintendo’s latest platformer at the top of its November 30-December 6 chart with 934,739 units sold.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii wasn’t the only game to land with a big splash during the week. Sega’s Phantasy Star Portable 2 for the PSP debuted in second with 286,896 units sold. The finish just outpaced fellow PSP title Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus, which sold 222,985 units. Koei’s Samurai Warriors 3 for the Wii landed in fourth, achieving first-week sales of 121,182.
Having topped Media Create’s November 23-29 chart, Level 5’s Professor Layton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny sank to fifth with 85,034 units sold. Two other best-selling DS titles, Tomodachi Collection and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver, landed in sixth and eighth with respective 74,951 and 63,026 tallies. PokePark Wii: Pikachu no Daibouken opened in seventh with 63,760 units sold, while the PS3 edition of Assassin’s Creed II was the final new release to chart, landing in 10th with 48,748 units sold.
The Wii handily secured top billing on the hardware charts during the week, selling 106,555 units in Japan. Sony’s PSP shifted 67,880 units, a figure bolstered slightly by the PSP Go’s 3,412 sales, while the PS3 finished third with 57,782 units. Nintendo’s string of handhelds came next, with the DSi LL, DSi, and DS Lite selling a respective 53,791, 51,635, and 8,367 units. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 rounded out the chart, selling 5,314 units and 2,277 units each.
JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF NOV. 30-DEC. 6, 2009
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1) New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Wii / 934,739
2) Phantasy Star Portable 2 / Sega / PSP / 286,896
3) Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus / Namco Bandai / PSP / 222,985
4) Samurai Warriors 3 / Koei / Wii / 121,182
5) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Flute / Level 5 / DS / 85,034
6) Tomodachi Collection / Nintendo / DS / 74,951
7) PokePark Wii: Pikachu no Daibouken / Nintendo / Wii / 63,760
Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver / Nintendo / DS / 63,026
9) Wii Fit Plus / Nintendo / Wii / 51,849
10) Assassin’s Creed II / Ubisoft / PS3 / 48,748
Hardware:
Wii – 106,555
PSP – 67,880
PS3 – 57,782
DSi LL – 53,791
DSi – 51,635
DS Lite – 8,367
Xbox 360 – 5,314
PSP Go – 3,412
PS2 – 2,277
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The bigger, larger and more enormous Nintendo DSi LL continued to outsell the competition in its second week on the market in Japan, another 67,000-plus hardware units sold. It’s a stark contrast to competitor Sony’s most recent PSP revision.
While the PSP continues to sell well in Japan—another 38,000 handhelds sold—the PSPgo managed to move less than 4,000 units in the past week, according to sales tracker Media Create. That puts it in Xbox 360 territory, perhaps an indicator of Japanese consumer hardware acceptance for the download-only device.
Sony’s PlayStation 3, on the other hand, continues to move at a good clip, with hardware sales way up from the week prior. It managed to be outsold by the Wii this week, but by a mere 115 units. Media Create’s numbers are after this.
Modern Warfare 2 sells 1.78 million copies in its first week of sale in the UK, grossing £67.4 million.
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Irish gaming site claims musician behind Rockstar Vancouver’s juvenile delinquency simulator will be starting up work on sequel soon.
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The next time you fire up Uncharted 2: Among Thieves—if you haven’t done so already—expect to update your copy of the PlayStation 3 game, fixing various issues. You should probably update, if you want to play this weekend.
Because the Danish Trophy description has finally been fixed. Wait. I mean… Because this weekend, the Naughty Dog folks will be offering up twice the in-game cash in multiplayer games, also giving you a chance to shoot the team behind Uncharted 2 right in the virtual face, showing them how much you appreciate their hard work.
“Double Cash Weekend” runs from Friday, October 30, 2009 11:00 AM PST to Monday, November 2, 2009 11:00 AM PST.
It may also give you the opportunity to kill scores of T-800s whatever those glowing eyed, glowing hearted skeletal monstrosities that Naughty Dog is showing off in the teaser image offered alongside the update info at the PlayStation.blog.
UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Celebrates Halloween with a Title Update and a Double Cash Weekend [PlayStation.blog]
Classic PS2, PC adventure game will be resurrected on Sony’s portable next year, offer multiple endings to murder mystery solved by murder victim.
In March 2001, Konami shipped Shadow of Destiny for the PlayStation 2. More than eight-and-a-half years later, the Japanese publisher announced it is working on a PSP port of the adventure game, which received solid reviews on the PS2 and decent marks on its PC port in 2002.
Despite the diminishing returns from critics, Konami is keen to promote the forthcoming PSP port, which it says will arrive next year. Shadow of Destiny will stick to the original’s storyline, which casts players as a young man who must find his own murderer. To do so, he must solve puzzles and time travel between the 16th century and the present day, picking up clues that lead him to the killer.
As was the case with the T for Teen-rated original, Shadow of Destiny will have multiple endings determined by player’s choices in the game. It will be released sometime in 2010, although no specific quarter is named. For more on the original, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.
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