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NPD: Nintendo DS, Wii Lead Hardware Sales
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360,
February’s NPD data has been released, and things look good for Nintendo. 1up has the details on video game sales for last month, and the Nintendo DS sold 485,000 units, the Wii 335,000. For the rest of the next-generation hardware, Microsoft maintained its sales pace by moving around 228,000 consoles, while the Playstation 3 saw a significant drop to 127,000. The PSP didn’t do much better against the DS, moving 176,000 handhelds.
The only bright spot for Sony would be that in the non-handheld category, the PS2 took second behind the Wii, selling 295,000 units, showing that their now last-generation technology still has plenty of legs at retail. Still, having their PS3 sales drop by nearly half over last month’s sales is a significant change; if new software from Sony can’t change course, the company may have to do something drastic to turn things around.
Microsoft should be pretty happy; while they didn’t lead the pack, the company will surely trumpet their increase in year-over-year sales. That, and having the number one game at retail for the month of February, Crackdown will also help. 1up’s article also further details the rest of the software charts for the month.
Read More 
| 1up
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God of War PSP Confirmed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP,
Internet rumors don’t always have the best track record, but it looks like the “accidental” leak of the existence of a God of War game on Ready At Dawn’s website has come true. Sony, of course, played dumb when responding to the rumors, but the God of War 2 packaging for the Playstation 2 confirms the game’s existence, and 1up has a shot of the teaser. At the God of War 2 launch event, game director Cory Barlog also apparently confirmed a version of God of War for the Playstation 3 (like this was in doubt) but also SIXAXIS and rumble support for the new game. It’s hard to tell if Barlog is just spitballing about features that he would like in the PS3 version of God of War 3 or this is an actual feature set, but that rumble is on the radar screen of Sony’s first party development teams is a good thing at this point.
Read More | 1up
IBM today announced that the company is now producing a 65 nm version of the Cell Broadband Engine in East Fishkill, New York. The Cell Broadband Engine, of course, powers Sony’s PlayStation 3, and the move to 65 nm promises to help Sony reduce the cost of their expensive console further. Sony has proven to be aggressive in attempting to increase profitability for the PlayStation 3, removing the expensive Emotion Engine chip in Europe at the expense of near-universal compatibility for Playstation 2 games. A 65 nm version of the Xbox 360 processor has been rumored for a while, with the alleged Zephyr revision of the console boasting the new CPU. While this announcement by IBM is a long way from a new CPU integrated in the PS3, this definitely puts Sony on the road to reducing power consumption and component costs for their hardware.
IBM’s full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading IBM Cell Manufacture Hits 65nm
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NPD Numbers Release Soon, Pachter Makes Predictions
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii,
NPD’s official video game hardware and software sales numbers for February should be released soon. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan has his predictions ahead of the data, as reported by Gamasutra. His predictions have the Wii leading the PS3 again, with an estimated 350,000 consoles sold verses the PS3’s 200,000. The Playstation 2 should still see strong sales numbers, with marginal declines year over year. The Wii numbers seem to reflect the short month along with Nintendo not meeting customer demand; 350,000 seems like a small number to ship into the channel. Pachter also analyzes software sales, pointing to Crackdown, Guitar Hero 2, and Virtua Fighter 5 among the leaders last month.
Read More | Gamasutra
Playstation 3 Home Beta Placeholder Site Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, PlayStation 3,
Following Phil Harrison’s PlayStation Home announcement at the GDC, Sony has put up a placeholder site for the beta trial of the service, scheduled to start in April. Right now, there is nothing but a splash page, but the site recommends that gamers keep checking in for sign up instructions when the beta program is ready to go. Those gamers that find long lists of legalese entertaining can also read the end user license agreement and the terms and conditions of the beta online.
Read More | Home Beta Trial
PS3’s Game 3.0: LittleBigPlanet
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Culture, Internet, PlayStation 3,
The main software title that Phil Harrison used to demonstrate what he believed to be the key differentiating factors for Game 3.0 was the Media Molecule title LittleBigPlanet. Scheduled for release in 2008, with a demo coming this fall, the title shows off an amazing visual design and overall look-and-feel, with impressive physics modeling as well. But beyond the normal gameplay, Sony’s hope for the title is that it will encourage community contributed content in the form of user-designed levels featuring custom designed environments. Overall, the game got a huge response from the GDC keynote crowd and looks to be one of the strongest console-exclusive titles coming to the Playstation 3.
Read More | 1up
Game 3.0: Phil Harrison At GDC
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, PlayStation 3,
Today’s GDC keynote presented by Sony’s Phil Harrison covered a lot of what Sony believes to be features of the Game 3.0 platform, centered mainly around the feature set that the company has laid out in the PlayStation Home service, but Harrison also talked up the downloadable content that will be available on Singstar for the PlayStation 3 and their big new game LittleBigPlanet. Some of those able to attend the event have been liveblogging the keynote, and are linked below.
Read More 
| 1up
Read More | Gamasutra
Read More | Mercury News
Read More | Joystiq
PlayStation Home Revealed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Internet, PlayStation 3,
Last night, Sony officially unveiled the PlayStation Home service, and it basically confirms a lot of what was said before. 1up has coverage of the new service, and from a high level, it is Sony’s attempt to tap into online game matchmaking, the success of Nintendo’s Mii avatars, and online content generation, all in one service. A high level description really doesn’t do the service justice for what a user can accomplish with the free online service, but 1up gives some great details about how PlayStation Home will operate along with a number of screenshots. More details are being revealed by Sony’s Phil Harrison at the keynote of the GDC.
Continued below…
Click to continue reading PlayStation Home Revealed
Read More | 1up
Sakaguchi: Blue Dragon In August, Lost Odyssey December, PS3 “Difficult”
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360,
Mistwalker head and Final Fantasy originator Hironobu Sakaguchi today spoke at the GDC and filled in the US audience on the release dates for their RPGs in the US. Blue Dragon, the epic RPG with character design from Akira Torayama will hit the US in August. According to 1up, Lost Odyssey will ship in December for both the Japanese and US territories, with the DS RPG Ash hitting during the holidays as well. Sakaguchi also reported discussed his team’s investigation of the PS3 as a development platform; according to IGN, his thoughts so far are “PS3 is difficult.” It is a little shocking to hear that the company is looking to the PS3 already, but without knowing the exact details behind the company’s agreement with Microsoft, it would be difficult to say when or if something from Mistwalker would appear on the PS3.
Read More | IGN (Sakaguchi on PS3)
Read More | 1up (RPG release dates)
Resistance Adds New Modes, Maps Via Download
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3,
Insomniac Games is preparing a couple of updates for their flagship launch title for the PS3, Resistance: Fall of Man. Speaking with IGN, the company indicated there would be a couple of releases. First, a patch release in March will fix a bunch of multiplayer issues and exploits and will add two new game modes, “Team Conversion” and “Assault.” In May, gamers will see a downloadable expansion that will bring two new multiplayer maps along with some exposition regarding the backstory for the Resistance universe. No mention was made of any new weapons, or a cost for the map pack, but the IGN interview does offer a little insight into the plans to extend the life of the game world.
Read More | IGN
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