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New Survey Shows PS3 First, Xbox 360 Last
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
A new survey from recently the recently formed research company Interpret shows the Xbox 360 trailing in mindshare in the next generation console wars. Interpret’s survey targeted 2,000 online users; these users were then apparently weighted against 2004 Census data. In the data released to Next Generation, the weighted data shows 8.9 million consumers ready to pony up money for the PS3, 5.7 million would purchase the Wii, and 800,000 would buy the Xbox 360 at full price. It’s hard to attach much weight to the survey, though, without further information.
While Interpret LLC is a new company, its founders consist of veterans from ratings giant Nielsen; there is a lot of experience at the helm. But without more particulars, it is hard to judge if Interpret’s extrapolations are valid. There are some interesting points from the research; Interpret believes that while Microsoft has had tremendous success over the past year, the company has not been able to expand its audience beyond the hardcore gamer. It is also easy for gamers online to get an insulated view of the industry. Certainly, Sony has had a lot of bad news related to the Playstation 3, but a lot of this information will not trickle down to the mainstream audience. While this survey paints a bad picture for Microsoft, there is a huge gap between surveys, statistics, and the real world.
Read More 
| Next Generation
Gallery: New Survey Shows PS3 First, Xbox 360 Last
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Wii.com Updated With “Wii Experience”
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Wii,
Nintendo has updated their Wii sites worldwide with a set of eight new videos, titled “Wii Experience.” Nintendo is clearly playing off the double meaning of the title, and the eight videos show people in different countries and of different ages experiencing the Wii. The videos do a really good job of illustrating the wide appeal of the console; the camera hardly ever focuses on the gameplay, but it is clear that all of the people are playing various games from Nintendo’s Wii Sports. One thing that stands out from the videos is the joy that these people are experiencing when they play the games. Some of the players start out with tentative motions, but as they play further, their movements start to become more exaggerated. The site has some empty spots for future videos, so one can expect Nintendo to add more content as the Wii launch date gets closer.
Read More | Wii.com
Gallery: Wii.com Updated With “Wii Experience”
Nintendo of Japan has started airing the first Wii commercial, and it is a little abstract to say the least. Nintendo is probably intending this to act as a teaser for the upcoming release of the Wii. A loose translation of the commercial would be:
What is this?
This is a new remote.
The Nintendo Wii Remote.
One would expect the US advertising to be different than those in Japan, but since this is clearly just the beginning of a larger advertising campaign, it is hard to tell where Nintendo of Japan is going to go with these ads.
Gallery: First Japanese Wii TV Commercial
Japanese Blue Dragon Bundle Includes Limited Edition Faceplate
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360,
Japanese gamers purchasing the limited edition Blue Dragon Xbox 360 bundle in Japan will get some exclusive swag, including a limited edition faceplate and mini-figure set. As previously announced, the Core system bundle will be available on December 7, for 29,800 Yen, around $250 US. Gamers reserving the software package should also get some other exclusive Blue Dragon goodies as well.
In addition, it looks like gamers reserving one of the other core bundles will receive an exclusive Lost Odyssey RPG trial disc according to Famitsu. Also featured on the site is the box art for the Japanese release of Blue Dragon. With the Core system bundles priced at around 4,800 Yen ($40) higher than Nintendo’s Wii console in Japan, it looks like Microsoft is throwing everything they have at trying to crack the Japanese market. If Microsoft does not turn things around this holiday season, it becomes increasingly unlikely that they will make any impact in Japan.
Read More | Famitsu
Gallery: Japanese Blue Dragon Bundle Includes Limited Edition Faceplate
Pokemon Diamond And Pearl, Nintendo DS Top Japanese Sales Charts
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360,
The guys at the NeoGAF forums have translated Media Create’s sales numbers for the week ending 10/1. As expected, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl dominated the software chart. Diamond sold slightly better than Pearl. The two combined to sell 1,588,734 units over four days. Three PS2 titles made the top ten, including the latest in the .hack series, and Minna no Tennis. The rest were pretty much the standard stock list of DS titles gamers are used to seeing on the list.
On the hardware side, Nintendo moved 274,389 DS Lite consoles, trouncing the rest of the pack. The Playstation 2 came in second with 31,992 units sold, and the Xbox 360 nearly doubled sales to 2,195; The release of Dead Rising probably contributed to this.
Read More | NeoGAF
Gallery: Pokemon Diamond And Pearl, Nintendo DS Top Japanese Sales Charts
Mod Chip Resellers To Pay $9 Million
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Mods/Hacks, PlayStation 2,
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has reported that $9 million in damages has been awarded against Divineo and other defendants for DMCA violations. The violations included the trafficking of mod chips and the sales of the HDLoader software package, which allowed users to copy and play Playstation 2 games from a hard drive. According to reports on Gamasutra, Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court awarded $3,750,200 in damages against Divineo, Inc. and Canadian resident Frederic Legault. The judge also awarded $5,791,400 in damages against Divineo UK, Divineo SARL, and French resident Max Louarn.
Read More | Gamasutra
Gallery: Mod Chip Resellers To Pay $9 Million
Nintendo Wii Hits “Hot Dozen” Toy List
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Wii,
Toy Wishes magazine unveiled its list of the “Hot Dozen” toys for the 2006 holiday season, and this year’s list featured Nintendo’s Wii console. The Toy Wishes annual event helps launch the holiday season for toy makers and retailers, and being selected for the list can help smaller toys get a foothold in the market. Now, the Wii probably won’t need any help selling all of the consoles that Nintendo ships this holiday, but it is a testament to the broad appeal of the console that members of the toy industry feel confident in adding the console to the list.
Read More | MarketWatch
Gallery: Nintendo Wii Hits “Hot Dozen” Toy List
Flowers Instead of Mines: Updating Minesweeper In Vista
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, PC,
One wouldn’t expect a huge controversy over the built-in games in Microsoft Windows; most of the time, problems in the US arise from people spending too much time playing Solitaire. But there is an included game in Windows that has caused problems internationally, Minesweeper. David Vronay, Research Manager at Microsoft discusses on his blog the issues that Microsoft went through trying to make Minesweeper more palatable for countries where landmines are an ongoing issue. Part of the solution investigated involved turning the mines into flowers; this would turn out to require a long, cascading set of changes to support this. The attention to detail paid to a simple included game that has been a part of Windows for so long gives a little insight into the complexity of decisions that had to go into every part of Windows Vista.
Read More | Shell Blog
Gallery: Flowers Instead of Mines: Updating Minesweeper In Vista
Latest Japanese Software Sales Charts
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2,
The latest Media Create Japanese software sales for the week ending 9/25 have been released, and basically, the DS continues to dominate the charts. Sony’s Minna No Tennis held on to the top spot, though, continuing the popularity of the series. Final Fantasy III and New Super Mario Bros. took second and third, with essentially 500 sales separating the two. The Nintendo Tingle RPG is still hanging around the top ten. Hopefully, the game will be a surprising success and will encourage a US release.
There was no big shake up in hardware sales this week, either, with Nintendo moving 139,835 DS consoles to take the top spot. The PS2 pulled in second at 32,673, followed by the PSP at 23,118. The Xbox 360 managed to rebound from its sub-1000 showing last week to sell 1,109 units. Hopefully this will see a significant bump come November and December as the new bundles hit the market.
Next week, expect Pokemon Diamond and Pearl sales to hit the charts, and DS sales to jump as special edition consoles hit the market.
Read More | NeoGAF Forums
Gallery: Latest Japanese Software Sales Charts
Japan Again Goes Pokemon Crazy
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo DS, Role Playing Games,
It would be pretty safe to say that gamers should expect that Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS will debut at the top of the Japanese software sales list this week. Past releases have shown that new releases of the Nintendo DS will spawn large lines in Japan; a special edition Pokemon DS combined with the latest game in the franchise was enough to draw the Japanese out in huge numbers. At times the lines for the game and special edition DS reached over 5 hours long, with over a thousand gamers waiting in some locations. Nintendo’s Pokemon Centers in Japan also looked to be hosting special events for the game’s release as well. Famitsu has a bunch of pictures of gamers lining up to buy the game and the special edition DS, along with some images of the unusual promotions going on with the new release. The game is scheduled for a release in the US some time in 2007.
Read More 
| Famitsu
Read More | Famitsu
Gallery: Japan Again Goes Pokemon Crazy
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