The sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum now has an official title – Batman: Arkham City — and will launch on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 in Fall 2011. There go your fears of deleterious franchise annualization! Of course, we might just go mad waiting so long for the follow-up to one of 2009’s best games.
As you may have guessed from a handful of internet domain registrations, the sequel will take place in “Arkham City”, a “heavily fortified” mini-city deep inside Gotham City. Warner Bros. Interactive hasn’t offered further details on the game’s plot or new features, but a pair of gorgeous Game Informer covers (September issue) hint at a more brutal tone and reveal some of the villains Batman may encounter. You’ll spot a very patriotic Two-Face, and a possible romantic interest in Catwoman.
The official Batman: Arkham City website is up now, though it only displays the initial teaser trailer from the VGAs at the moment.
Continue reading Batman: Arkham City coming to PC, PS3 and 360 in Fall 2011
Batman: Arkham City coming to PC, PS3 and 360 in Fall 2011 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Konami recently elected to make an announcement about one of its oldest franchises in a fairly unconventional way — by adding the teaser image seen above to its Facebook fan page. As you’ve probably sussed out, the publisher announced alongside the image, “we’re bringing DDR to the PS3.” We’re wondering how long they’ve been holding onto this announcement, considering the relative age of the box art and straight chubby PS3 seen in the teaser.
Almost no details surfaced about which iteration of the series would hit the console, or when we can expect it — however, the announcement does mention the title will have a “launch party” on August 12. We’re not sure if it means “launch party” in the traditional sense, or if they’re only planning on “launching” the game’s heretofore absent details. We’ve contacted Konami to figure out which kind of party we’re dealing with, and whether or not we should bring snacks.
Dance Dance Revolution stepping to PS3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
UK Sales of the new Xbox 360 surpass launch sales of PS2 and PS3 Slim; match those of original Xbox 360.
Get the full article at GameSpot
Nintendo balance board-based fitness titles reach million mark in Australia.
When it comes to sales, the Nintendo Wii is by far the most popular console in Australia, with the company recently confirming more than 1.79 million units had been sold Down Under since its launch in December 2006. The Xbox 360, by comparison, has sold one million units across both Australia and New Zealand, while the PS3 has an install base of 770,000 units in Australia alone. It seems that all the Wii fans in Australia are also keen on their fitness, with new figures released recently by Nintendo showing that 1 million Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus games (including the balance board) have now been sold in the country.
That figure means more than half of the Wii owners in Australia have a balance board. The 1 million figure also does not include sales of the Wii Fit Plus software-only offering, with the retailing for A$29.95 without the balance board.
Wii Fit isn’t the only first-party Nintendo title experiencing strong sales in Australia. The Wii Play bundle (which comes with a nunchuck peripheral) has now sold more than 900,000 units, while Mario Kart Wii has sold more than 600,000 units. Last year’s Wii Sports Resort has now hit the 500,000-plus sold mark.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
Hoo-doggy! Look at them critters go! While video game hardware sales were down 20 percent month-over-month in May – yeah, we’re looking at you, handheld sales – software sales were up! Sure, you’re right, they’re only up 4 percent month-over-month and the industry is down 5 percent in total, but can’t you just relax and enjoy the vista? Red Dead Redemption sold 1.5 million units across both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms this month and Super Mario Galaxy 2 came in at 560 thousand units on the Wii. Even dear old Alan Wake made the grade, though his sales aren’t listed. Find them all after the break.
Of course, these numbers come courtesy of the monthly NPD report, which lists the top 10 selling games (stored after the break) and the hardware sales for North America. The DS continues its free-fall after dropping 37 percent last month, losing another 13 percent. Notably: It’s still the best-selling console this month! The Wii is up 21 percent after a 50 percent dip last month, and the Xbox 360 is up 5 percent after last month’s 45 percent drop.
Unfortunately, Sony is bringing up the rear, with the PS3 down 15 percent and the PSP down 10 percent. However, NPD’s Anita Frazier notes that “The PS3 platform has enjoyed the greatest percentage growth, with platform sales across hardware, software, and accessories up 32 percent for the month, and 28 percent year-to-date.” A reminder that it’s not always as simple as hardware sales.
- DS: 384K down 57K (-13%)
- Wii: 335K up 58K (+21%)
- 360: 195K up 10K (+5%)
- PS3: 155K down 27K (-15%)
- PSP: 59K down 7K (-10%)
Continue reading May NPD: Red Dead rustles up top spots, Super Mario Galaxy 2 takes third
May NPD: Red Dead rustles up top spots, Super Mario Galaxy 2 takes third originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Much like Hulu Plus on Xbox requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription on top of the $9.99 monthly fee, some language found on the Hulu Plus site says that only PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to use the service on PS3.
The HTML source for the Hulu Plus “Devices” page includes specific instructions for the PS3, which are presumably meant to be displayed when the service goes live. The instructions describe how to redeem a code in the PlayStation Store to download the client (which means that Hulu isn’t planning to release this as a disc-only service like Netflix — yay!) with the following caveat: “Note: you must be a subscriber of the Playstation Plus Network.”
While this seems pretty clear on the surface, the fact remains that neither Hulu nor Sony have intentionally told the public anything. Sony’s Patrick Seybold told Joystiq that “We’ll have more info on how and when Hulu Plus will be coming to PlayStation 3 soon.” It’s quite possible that the specifics of the agreement are still being worked out.
Hulu page: Hulu Plus on PS3 will require PlayStation Plus originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
You won’t need to swallow a little computer to sound robotically awesome in Rock Band 3. Audio signal processing company iZotope, Inc. has announced that it’s providing pitch correction technology to the music game, as initially revealed to Joystiq in an interview with Harmonix. The game will use iZotope’s real-time pitch detection and correction to make you sound less like yourself and more like someone who can hit a damn note occasionally. And for those of you who are already vocally gifted, the use of vocal processing is optional.
This is the beginning of a new initiative for iZotope, who hopes to offer audio effect and processing middleware to more game developers, targeting the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms.
Rock Band 3’s pitch correction provided by iZotope originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Peripheral manufacturer Power A had a major presence at E3 this year, residing in a massive booth taking up a fair amount of real estate on the main show floor. The company’s product showcase was highlighted by three controllers which are due out later this fall for the PS3 and Wii. If you’re a visual learner, you can check out a few images of each of these controllers in the gallery posted below. Otherwise, click past the jump to read our thoughts on these devices.
Continue reading Hands-on with three new Power A peripherals
Hands-on with three new Power A peripherals originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
The hypnotic charms of Pac-Man: Championship Edition are being packed into a downloadable Mini for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. According to a Namco representative, the Mini should become available sometime this fall. Barring a delay, it would arrive alongside the new game in the series, Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX, which is slated for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.
We got a chance to play the PSP game at a Pac-Man 30th Anniversary event in Los Angeles and found it to be identical to the XBLA version, right down to the in-game trophies. The d-pad certainly gives this handheld version the edge, and the colorful visuals look great on the PSP’s screen. It should be a perfect distraction during your dull train commute, provided you don’t mind missing your stop. And the next one. And the next one. And just one more.
Pac-Man Championship Edition coming to PSP and PS3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
The Nielsen Company has released the results of a recent survey designed to gauge gamer awareness of Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s PlayStation Move. Among the 2,400 gamers surveyed, 21 percent are currently aware of Natal, while 23 percent are aware of the Move. Things look a little better when restricting the results to those who actually own and play the 360 or PS3, with 39 percent of 360 gamers aware of Natal and 42 percent of PS3 gamers aware of the Move.
Of the gamers aware of the Move and Natal, those who actually own the respective console show more intent to purchase. 42 percent of 360 owners plan to purchase Natal, compared to only 35 percent of total gamers aware of the device. PS3 owners show a nearly identical 41 percent with intent to purchase, compared to 28 percent of all those aware. Strangely, even though both Natal and Move have publicly known launch windows, a surprisingly high number of respondents — nearly 40 percent — don’t know when the products will be available.
Also noteworthy, respondents show a wide disparity as to what they believe the hardware prices will be. To the 6 percent who think Natal will be less than $25: you’re going to be disappointed.
Nielsen: Majority of gamers in the dark on Natal, Move originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Recent Comments