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Games With Online Multiplayer Sell More
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Corporate News, Downloadable Content, Internet, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360,
A research paper from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has been released that suggests that games with online support can be crucial to a game’s retail success. Not surprisingly, another way to boost sales is to create a quality game (defined as those with a 90+ score on Metacritic), with these well-reviewed titles outselling the average release well above 5-to-1.
While making good games typically means making good money, naturally, it is a bit surprising to see the report indicate that sales can be doubled by dropping in an online mode. With online games selling twice the number copies that offline titles do, it’s curious to note that over half of games released don’t offer even basic online support.
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| Ars Technica
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Heavenly Sword Boss Battle Video
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, PlayStation 3, Sony, Trailers,
Sony’s PS3-exclusive Heavenly Sword hits stores next week, but if you really can’t wait that long, check out this new GameTrailers video. We realize that video footage is no substitute for the real deal, but this one shows off some more of the counter-heavy arena fighting you saw in the demo. Even better, you get some crisp direct feed footage of the big showdown with evil King Bohan’s slow-witted blob of a son. And yes, the game still looks gorgeous.
Read More | Playstation.com
Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai has been speaking out about the PlayStation 3 including the reported development troubles some studios have had and Sony‘s commitment to the Japanese market.
Regarding the difficulty in development Hirai said he’s seen this before when the PS2 drew similar criticisms early in its lifecycle and that it doesn’t concern him. He said to The Official PlayStation Magazine that, in fact, he welcomes the news:
If they came back and told me, ‘PS3? We can do this in a heartbeat,’ that would be worrying because what it is telling me is that we’re not pushing the envelope from a technology standpoint.
In another interview with a Japanese website he said that developers working on cross-platform games ought to take advantage of the PS3’s extra capability to give PlayStation owners extra value. For example, “[W]ith the PS3, you’ve got the Sixaxis controller, or you could utilize the extra capacity provided by Blu-ray to add more levels, put on interviews with the developers or have your videos able to play in 1080p.” He said he understood why developers were choosing to work cross-platform considering the cost of making modern games.
Later in the same interview he tried to reassure Japanese gamers that they weren’t being overlooked:
Just because the foreign market is bigger than the domestic one, we don’t intend to take strategy of just making what would have been considered previously as ‘Western games’ and saying ‘We’ve got no choice but to do this’ to our Japanese users. If we did that, there’d be no point in having the Japan Studio.
Read More | Develop via Game | Life
Bloomberg: Wii Still Dominant in Japan
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Corporate News, Culture, Hardware, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360,
In what has become a regular occurrence, Nintendo’s Wii handily outsold its closest console competition three-to-one in Japan for the month of August. However, it is interesting to note that the gap between the Wii and PS3 has lessened. In June, Nintendo’s console outsold the PS3 six-to-one and four-to-one in June and July, respectively.
Bloomberg reported the final August numbers as follows: Wii at 245,653, PS3 at 81,541, and the Xbox 360 lagging behind at around 11,000. The Wii’s August numbers bring the console to a whopping 3.4 million units sold in that country since its launch last year.
Read More | Next Generation
Lair Playable on PSP Via Remote Play
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Action, Adventure, Hardware, PlayStation 3, Portable/Mobile, PSP, Sony,
A PlayStation 3 and PSP owner has discovered that Liar is playable via the PS3’s Remote Play feature on the PSP. This is the first time a Blu-Ray based game is able to take advantage of the feature and is reportedly quite responsive and playable. It has even been suggested that in light of all the flak Lair has taken over its Sixaxis controls, the use of the PSP’s analog stick is actually preferable.
What’s most curious about the revelation is that it is a revelation at all. This sounds like something Sony would have jumped all over, especially once the disappointing reviews started pouring in.
Read More | PSP Fanboy
New Folklore Videos Show Gameplay and Story Bits
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Adventure, PlayStation 3, Sony,
New videos for the upcoming PS3 game Folklore show some interesting footage of the game’s combat including some idea of how the epic boss fights will unfold. The game has a remarkable style and art direction that is visible here especially in the brief pre-combat cinematics.
Folklore looks a little like Kameo crossed with Fable and Pokemon as players control one of two characters who use the game’s “folks” as summoned creatures to do the grunt work of fighting foes. A follow-up to Genji, developers Game Republic are promising better Sixaxis controls and an online mode.
Folklore is scheduled for a North American release on October 12.
Click to continue reading New Folklore Videos Show Gameplay and Story Bits
Haze Goes PS3 Exclusive, Gets New Gameplay Video
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Sony, Ubisoft, Xbox 360,
The video above, showing some of Ubisoft‘s shooter Haze, reveals some of the combat tactics in play later in the game once your character has joined against his former employer.
While the video looks nice and showcases some of the game’s more intriguing facets, even more intriguing is the announcement that the game is now slated to be a PS3 exclusive. Originally haze was to be a timed exclusive, hitting the PlayStation 3 first and then coming later to the Xbox 360 and PC. Now it seems that developer Free Radical is only working on the PS3 version, although Ubisoft isn’t conting those version out completely, saying only, “The official statement on PC and Xbox 360 is that these platforms are not confirmed.”
Read More | GameSpot
July NPD: Wii Reigns Supreme, Xbox 360 Edges Out PS3
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Portable/Mobile, PSP, Sony, Wii,
According to the latest NPD report, the video game industry generated almost a billion dollars of sales in the month of July. Nintendo’s Wii led the charge with an absolutely astounding 425,000 units sold. The Wii was followed by the PS2, which sold 220,000 units. The Xbox 360 sold 170,000 units, once again beating the PS3, which sold 159,000 units. On the portable side of things, the Nintendo DS sold a whopping 405,000 units, while the PSP moved 214,000 units. Overall console sales are up almost 43% from this period last year.
All of this begs the question: Where are people finding the Wii in such great numbers? I haven’t seen one in a store since the beginning of the year, but somehow Nintendo keeps selling hundreds of thousands of them every month.
Read More | Next Generation
Killzone 2 Footage Shows the First-Person Cover System
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Sony, Trailers,
New footage of a developer demo for Killzone 2 showcases, in addition to the very grey but attractive graphics, the ‘Lean and Peek’ cover mechanic. Essentially it works like the cover system in games like Rainbow Six Vegas or Gears of War, but doesn’t compromise the first-person perspective to do so. It maps the left shoulder button to the cover snap (like hitting ‘A’ in Gears) but pulls low cover up to cover about half the screen and still allows for blind fire as well as snap-up firing. With high cover you use the analog stick to lean out and take your shots. Check out the video above for the full scoop.
Sony Believes PS3 Price Drop Helped Boost Sales
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: PlayStation 3, Sony,
Sony has examined the most recent NPD numbers and, happy with what they saw, are attributing their 61% jump from the previous month’s numbers to the PlayStation 3 price drop they announced just prior to E3. They are quick to point out that anticipation for some actual exclusive titles like Heavenly Sword and Warhawk may have helped drive interest in their slow-out-of-the-gate console.
Despite the predictably upbeat tone of Sony’s blog post, some have had a less than enthusiastic response to July’s NPD numbers since many analysts predicted that Sony was going to beat the Xbox 360‘s sales in July largely because of the price drop. That the PS3 was still unable to overtake the 360 in sales in spite of a comparatively more affordable price has some worrying that Sony just doesn’t have enough market draw to convince consumers to take the plunge. What is plainly obvious now is that Sony drastically overestimated the price the market would bear: It’s wallet-busting PS3 has lagged in sales from the beginning while Nintendo’s $250 Wii has flown off store shelves consistently for almost a year and as soon as the price went down on the PlayStation, it saw an improvement in units moved.
Read More | PlayStation Blog
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