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Madden ‘07 Out Now for Every Platform Imaginable
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Sports, Wii, Wireless, Xbox, Xbox 360,
It’s that time of year again! Time to go out, be a good little drone, and pick up a copy or three of this year’s Madden iteration. This year you’ll be able to pick up the ubiquitous franchise on PC (Windows), Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, DS, PSP, GBA, and yes, even your mobile phone (hey, where’s my BeOS version??!?). And of course, when the Wii and PS3 launch in a few months, you can get your Madden on with them too.
The good news is the console versions at least seem to be garnering fairly respectable reviews across the board - IGN.com, Gamespot, and 1up.com all give the franchise fairly high marks (7.7 - 8.5) for its notably improved graphics, online play and added features like Create-A-Player. The bad news, of course, is that you probably won’t be able to play the game online for more than about a year and will have to fork out another $60-$70 next year to keep playing.
Still, the popularity of Madden is absolutely staggering - analysts predict that the title could become a million-seller within as little as 5 days, and could earn EA about $210 million in revenue for the year (about 7% of its total annual revenue of $3 billion). Click below for the Reuters news brief.
Read More 
| Reuters
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Get a New DS Lite from Gamefly for $50 or Less
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Hot Deals, Nintendo DS,
As far as promotions go, this one is just about too good to pass up. Gamefly.com, the video game equivalent of Netflix, is offering free DS Lites to those members that get 5 or more of their friends to join. The only catch, as far as the rules go, is that your friends that join must be paying members for at least a month. Given that Gamefly’s rental plans start at about $10.00, this means that you could sign up a few of those “imaginary friends” you still talk to from time-to-time, and get a DS Lite for about $50.00 (assuming, of course, you’re vigilant about cancelling your accounts once you’re done). Of course, if you also have 5 real friends that might be interested in joining Gamefly, all the better.
As an added bonus, even new members can participate in this promotion. So, if you sign up today (I’ll love you forever if you use my link below!! 😉 ) then you can instantly start e-mailing other friends that might be interested and start earning your free DS.
Read More | Gamefly.com
Star Wars: Lethal Alliance by Ubisoft Announced for DS, PSP
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Adventure, Corporate News, Nintendo DS, PSP, Ubisoft,
Many Bothans died to bring you this game - just in time for Christmas (Dec 2006), Ubisoft will be releasing Star Wars: Lethal Allaiance. Taking place between the two trilogies, you’ll be playing as Twi’Lek Rianna Saren and her ‘droid in a mission to find the plans for the Empire’s secret weapon, the Death Star. The release states:
Ubisoft is honored to announce this exciting and innovative Star Wars game, the first original game in the legendary franchise built to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of both the PSP system and the DS.
Translation: It’ll be 3D, just expect more refined graphics for the PSP and some touch-screen control mechanics for the DS.
This marks Ubisoft’s third Star Wars outing - Revenge of the Sith for the GBA and DS and Apprentice of the Force for the GBA being their previous releases. Given the recent success Ubisoft has had in the platforming genre with games like the Prince of Persia trilogy, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some solid Force-based action.
Read More | Ubisoft Press Release
George Harrison Chat Transcript Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii,
Attendees of Nintendo’s virtual summer camp, Camp Hyrule, were able to chat with George Harrison, Nintendo’s Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications. GoNintendo has posted a full transcript of the online chat. One eager gamer tried to pry pricing and release date information from Harrison, but of course, he refused to answer.
Other interesting points from Harrison include the revelation that the excitement generated at E3 caused third party publishers to start more new Wii projects for 2007. In addition, it was revealed that the Wii version of Twilight Princess would not be able to utilize the Gamecube controller; those looking for a “pure” version of the game will need to buy the Gamecube version of the game. Harrison also discusses Nintendo’s marketing efforts around the Wii, and the unfortunate fact that Game Boy Advance owners will see declining releases into 2007.
Display Your Inner Geek, Win a DS and New Super Mario Bros.
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
For all 5 of you out there that are huge Mario fans but don’t already have New Super Mario Bros, Nintendo is taking pity on you. By submitting a photo or video that shows your love for Mario and proclivity for public embarassment, you can win not one, but TWO DS Lites and a pair of NSMB cartridges to go with them.
You’ve only got 11 days to submit (the contest ends on August 25th), so start rummaging through the closet for your old photos and/or convincing your hot girlfriend to pose with your original Gameboy now.
Read More | Nintendo Contest @ Buzznet
Nintendo Leads Game Sales Growth In July
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360,
NPD recently reported that video game sales in July rose 22 percent year over year, and hardware sales increased 46 percent, according to Reuters. The continued growth in the video game segment has largely been attributed to sales of the Nintendo DS and software. Essentially continuing the pattern established in June, the DS sold through an impressive 377,000 units compared to PSP sales of 162,000 consoles. PSP sales overall declined, indicating that perhaps Nintendo’s console is taking market share away from Sony, despite their protests to the contrary. Sony’s Playstation 2 again outsold the Xbox 360 for the month.
On the software side, EA’s cross-platform NCAA 2007 moved the most units, but Nintendo’s DS titles New Super Mario Bros., Brain Age, and Big Brain Academy followed close behind. Video games overall could decline in the next couple of months before the release of the Nintendo Wii and the Playstation 3, but signs point towards strong growth year over year.
Read More | Reuters
4 Million Worldwide Train Their Brain
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Culture, Nintendo DS,
Nintendo announced that worldwide sales of their unique DS title Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day has sold over 4 million units worldwide. According to the press release, 3 million copies have been sold in Japan, 600,000 in the Americas, and 500,000 in Europe. The sales figures in Japan are phenomenal, reaching sales heights that few actual game titles reach. The American and Europe figures are also impressive for a non-game title; while not yet a million seller in the US, Brain Age does seem to be drawing a different demographic to the DS. Finding unique ways to expand their core audience has been a large part of the handheld’s success, and Nintendo will certainly hope to continue this with the launch of the Wii this holiday.
The full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading 4 Million Worldwide Train Their Brain
The Force Is Strong With These Blocks: Lego Star Wars II Demo Out
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Adventure, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360,
The original LEGO Star Wars was a rare treasure—an action game that oozed style and creativity and was easy enough for kids but enough fun for any gamer. Based on the new trilogy (Episodes I-III), the game LEGO-ized scenes from the movies and even improved on them in some instances. (Thank you, Traveller’s Tales, for NOT including voice work!)
So how do you make a sequel that’s even better? Well, for starters, you base it on the original trilogy, but from the looks of it Traveller’s Tales has also improved the gameplay in several ways, including things like adding greater freedom of movement to the vehicle-based missions and a create-a-character mode. But don’t take MY word for it (insert Reading Rainbow jingle here). You can now download a demo of the game for your PC to tide yourself over until September 12th.
And may the Force be with your ‘net connection.
Read More | 3D Gamers.com via Opposable Thumbs @ Ars Technica
Japan Goes Crazy for the Nintendo DS
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,
As picked up by all the major news sites, the Nintendo DS is now officially the fastest selling game console ever sold in Japan. In about 20 months, Nintendo sold 10 million units of their handheld wonder. To get a grasp on a number like that, take the following over-simplified mathematical explanation—since launch, the DS has averaged a sustained rate of one console sold every 6 seconds in Japan for the past year and a half. Even more impressively, the DS has seen a recent upswing in sales (thanks to the release of the DS Lite), selling 2.34 million units in the past two months, for an average of about 1 DS sold every 2 seconds.
It should also be noted that, unlike some of their competitors, Nintendo has based these numbers on consoles sold, not consoles shipped, meaning that all 10 million of these units really are sitting in the hands of Japanese consumers. Now, with about 8% of Japan’s population owning a DS, it should be interesting to see how long Nintendo can sustain this astounding sales rate.
See the press release linked below for more amazing figures on world-wide sales, straight from the source.
Read More | Nintendo Press Brief
Mario Hoops “Dunk of the Week” Video Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo DS, Screenshots, Sports,
While Mario Hoops has recently shipped in Japan, US gamers won’t see a localized version until September. For those anxious to see the game in motion, Nintendo has launched the “Dunk of the Week” on their official web site for the game. The release of preview videos echoes the marketing leading up to the release of New Super Mario Bros., where new power-ups where shown from week to week. This week’s dunk features Donkey Kong hitting the basket for 59 points – this isn’t a basic basketball game.
Read More | Mario Hoops
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