lost in games

Finally the fall dashboard update for the 360 has been given a date and it’s in winter! It will be on the 4th of December. Unfortunately the much desired high definition video rental service for Europe will not be included in this one. The service will allow you to download movies or shows on your HDD and there is a timeframe of 14 days to watch it. However, once you begin watching it you have 24 hours until it deletes itself from your HDD. Although i am not too sure whether here in Cyprus we would have been able to use it anyway due to movie rights issues i am disappointed that it’s not coming this holiday season.

One great addition in the update is the fact that there will be a Virtual Console kind of shop which will allow you to purchase original xbox games. Early titles include Halo, Fable , Psychonauts and Fahrenheit and the games will cost 1200 MS points which is almost 14Euros.

I woke up this morning and saw the blue light coming out of my Wii. There is a new check Mii out channel on Wii which allows you to have a look, rate and copy Miis created all over the world. You can also post you own created Miis. Hehehe, i am going home to copy some Miis!!

Destructoid

Upon the first load, the channel asks you to pick a Mii to serve as your “artisan,” as sort of signature for any Miis you might choose to share. After that you can choose between two main sections. In the Posting Plaza, you can check out a random assortment of Miis from your region or around the world, and also the most popular Miis as picked by other users. Any Mii you like can be given the “I like it” seal of approval, or be copied and imported directly to your Mii channel. You can also post your created Miis in this section for evaluation.

In the Contests area, you can upload Miis based on certain assigned themes — the first contest asks for your best “Mario without his cap.” Once the contest is done in six days, you’ll be able to pick out your favorite entries and view the results.

Once again Europe gets a second class citizen treatment compared to our NTSC counterparts. The PAL version of Zack & Wiki will be delayed until 2008 with no reason given according to a Kotaku report. After the not so great Metroid Prime 3, the only game coming out this holiday season to the Wii worth getting excited about is Super Mario Galaxy.

Real shame.

Just read that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on the PS3 will be delayed until the 2nd quarter of 2008 which means between April and June.

The following statement was released today by publisher Konami’s Japanese operation:

October 31, 2007 - KONAMI announced today that “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS”, the latest in the METAL GEAR series, is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2008.

KONAMI had initially intended to release “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS” this winter and has been working on the production of the title. KONAMI has decided to delay the title’s release in order to make further improvements to the quality of the game and provide even greater enjoyment for more customers worldwide.

KONAMI will continue its efforts to make “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS” meet everyone’s expectations.

Further information regarding the release date will be announced as soon as possible.
Title: “METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS”
Expected Release Date: the second quarter of 2008
Genre: Action
Platform: “PLAYSTATION 3″

This is a game first released on the Gamecube then the PS2 and recently the Wii. It seems that people appreciate an excellent port and especially when it is such a great value for money (not to mention when there are not a lot of good games on the console). On play.com the sale price is just STG25 (EUR38.99) and in the US it is USD30. Although i played it on the Gamecube i also got it for the Wii after reading the reviews. I played a bit but then unfortunately i then gave it up. It is fantastic game for those who have not played it before and the Wii Edition is probably the best of the three versions. If you own a Wii and have not played Res4 before then do yourself a favour and go out and buy it. One of the very best!

Update:

Like i mentioned above the game was released at a lower price point by Capcom because it is an older game with new motion sensing controls fitted on to it. However i just had a look at the Micromania website and they are selling it as a full priced game at CYP35. It is a significant price difference so have it in mind.

Although Halo 3 only came out in late September its effect on the hardware and software sales was immense. According to the NPD figures in September the 360 pushed the Nintendo consoles aside and climbed to the top spot in the US. It will also be interesting to see September and October in Europe where we had the Halo 3 launch and then the PS3 price cut.

As for the software sales the 360 wins hands down with 4 titles in the top 10. People who bought the Wii are simply not buying any games for it even though the installed base is bigger than the 360’s. Only two titles in the top 10 and one of those two is Wii play which is an extra Wii remote with minigames.

NPD Hardware Sales in the US in September (total)

Microsoft Xbox 360: 527.8K (6.8 million total)
Nintendo Wii: 501K (4.5 million total)
Nintendo DS: 495.8K (13.2 million total)
Sony PlayStation 2: 215K (39.3 million total)
Sony PSP: 284.5K (8.6 million total)
Sony PlayStation 3: 119.4K (1.87 million total)

Software sales in the US in September

1. Halo 3 (all three SKUs - Xbox 360) – 3.3 million
2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – 282K
3. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) – 224K
4. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) – 205K
5. Skate (Xbox 360) – 175K
6. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) – 173K
7. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) – 167K
8. BioShock (Xbox 360) – 150K
9. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS) – 141K
10. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – 139K

The massive success of Halo 3 is blamed for the worst October weekend in years according to Advertising Age. “Total industry ticket sales were only $80 million for the Oct. 5 weekend the film opened, a whopping 27% below the same weekend the year before…”. Movie industry insiders are looking for a link to the Halo 3’s launch which had a sales figure of US$300million.

Although i am not too sure about Halo, a hardcore game, having such an effect on mainstream entertainment i am interested to see the long term effects of gaming on other forms of entertainment as it goes mainstream and draws more of people’s income and time.

After much speculation and rumours Bungie and Microsoft have parted ways. Microsoft will retain an equity interest in the developer which means that cooperation will stil be close. Bungie will also continue to support Halo with downloadable content while Microsoft will keep the intellectual rights to the Halo francise.

Bungie is known mostly for its Halo series and it appears the people there wanted the independence to make other games as well. Microsoft was probably under the option of either refusing and risk losing all Bungie employees or agree to let the company go and have first rights to publishing any new games developed by Bungie.

I believe Bungie is not a one game company as many people believe. Let’s not forget that they were behind the now classic Marathon game and the Myst series. They want to do more than just Halo related products. I for one applaud the company’s bold move to riskier territory and new products instead of sticking with the Halo cash cow.

Good luck Bungie.

PSP Slim appears to have captured the Japanese hearts. The redesigned console has sold 580.000 since its release on 20th of September. That’s in just two weeks. The console was boosted from the release of two Final Fantasy titles, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and FF Tactics.

What is remarkable is that it has outsold the PSP’s original launch in 2004. It seems like there is some life left in this little baby which i have to admit it is growing on me. Some solid titles (Jeanne D’Arc at the moment) for it lately have brought it back in my gaming calendar.

According to a Seattle based blog Bungie and MS are on the verge of announcing that the two companies will be going their separate ways. MS has responded to the claims not be saying that they are not true but just that no such thing has been announced.

Where there is smoke there is fire? Is Bungie looking ahead to the post-Halo era? Stay tuned.