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Wii Makes Toys R Us Holiday Hot Toy List
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Wii,
Reuters today is reporting that for the first time, Toys “R” Us has included a video game system on its “hot toy” list for the holidays, Nintendo’s Wii. Toys “R” Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh cited the mass appeal of the console, stating that “the Wii system appeals to young kids as well as adults.” Another factor in the toy seller’s selection was having sufficient stock of the item during the holidays, which seems to indicate that Nintendo will be making their target allotments of the Wii during the holidays. Other toys occupying the list include the new TMX Elmo and Lego’s Mindstorms NXT.
Read More 
| Reuters
Gallery: Wii Makes Toys R Us Holiday Hot Toy List
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Survey Says: Rumble Important To Gamers
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Market research company Ipsos Insight released the results of a survey conducted on behalf of Immersion Corporation indicating that gamers prefer to have vibration feedback in their gamers. Immersion, of course, is the current holder of a number of patents for vibration function in controllers, and recently won an injunction against Sony for their use of rumble technology. Some have suspected that this may be the reason that Sony’s Playstation 3 controllers will not feature rumble support.
So, the ground-breaking news from this survey is that 72 percent of gamers believe that vibration feedback enhances their game experience “most of the time.” According to their report, 74 percent of gamers were also unaware that Sony had removed rumble support and 58 percent were disappointed. Somewhat shockingly, 5 percent of the gamers polled would not buy a PS3 if rumble was not included. While many people like the rumble feature, it is hard to believe that this would end up being a deal breaker, despite Immersion’s wish that this would be true.
Ipsos also makes some interesting conclusions about the rumble/vibration feature. They claim that gamers are “unaware that this capability must be present in the console to experience vibration feedback with any gamepad controller…” Ipsos doesn’t seem to be aware of the genesis of the vibration feedback function. First, there is no indication that this support has been removed from the Playstation 3. Second, if this kind of support had to be built into the console then rumble could never have been added after the fact to the Nintendo 64 or the original Playstation. Certainly, one would have a hard time adding interactive rumble to a game that previously didn’t support the feature, but vibration feedback falls into the realm of support for software and the peripherals, not the base console itself.
Still, the survey does feature some interesting numbers about next generation console adoption. Separating the numbers from the vibration bias, it does appear that fewer previous generation console owners are going to be adopting the Playstation 3. The survey showed that among those owners, the marketshare numbers shift to 48 percent Playstation 3 owners, 37 percent Xbox 360, and 15 percent Wii. Ipsos doesn’t indicate if the option to purchase one or more consoles was given. Overall, the survey gives some interesting material for discussion, but given the relatively small sample size and the focus on vibration feedback, it is hard to give the survey a lot of weight.
Read More | Ipsos
Gallery: Survey Says: Rumble Important To Gamers
Gran Turismo HD: Attack Of The Microtransactions
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Driving, PlayStation 3,
Word from Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the Gran Turismo series, indicates that gamers may end up shelling out a lot of money if they want to have a complete set of cars and tracks in the upcoming Gran Turismo: HD. According to translations posted on the Beyond3D forums, Yamauchi spoke to Famitsu about the implementation of micro-transactions in the new game. There will apparently be two versions of the game: Gran Turismo HD: Premium, which will include 2 courses and 30 cars. Another version, Gran Turismo HD: Classic will start with no cars; cars can be purchased for 50 – 100 Yen, and each course will cost 200 – 500 Yen. The game will include 750 cars and 50 tracks, meaning that a gamer looking at getting all the available content would be spending hundreds of dollars. Should this information turn out to be correct, it would appear that Sony has definitely taken the microtransaction economic model to heart.
Read More | Beyond3D Forums
Gallery: Gran Turismo HD: Attack Of The Microtransactions
Still No Correlation Between Review Scores And Sales
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Reviews,
The latest issue of the Susquehanna Financial Group’s Video Game Journal again visits the correlation, or lake thereof, between a game’s review scores and game sales. Gamasutra reports on the expanded study, which looked at a sampling of 1200 Playstation 2 titles to determine if there was a statistical correlation between review scores and the titles ultimate NPD sales. The ultimate result indicates that there is an even lower incidence of correlation than previously reported, with “only 15.8% of the movement in game unit sales” explained by game ratings, according to the report. To some degree, this makes sense. There would seem to be many other factors that impact how well a game sells, some of which is going to be dependent on marketing, publisher support, and whether the game is a part of a franchise, a licensed title, or original IP. It also seems unlikely that the video game industry would be different than other media formats. Film, book, album, or television show financial success doesn’t seem to track with critical reception, so why should video games? If critics in any field could be hitmakers, the entertainment landscape would be much different than it is now.
Read More | Gamasutra
Gallery: Still No Correlation Between Review Scores And Sales
Xbox Live Helps Recover Stolen Xbox 360
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Internet, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
The networking features of the Xbox 360 apparently helped police track down a stolen Xbox 360, according to a news report from KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa. The victim, James Gardner, had his Xbox 360 stolen; fortunately, he had an Xbox Live subscription. Eventually, the Xbox 360 was connected to the Internet and police were able to track the IP address for the user. From there, they traced the system back to the store where it was purchased; the store had an address for the person that traded in the system, and that address was apparently accurate. This let the police track down the alleged thief and recover Gardner’s Xbox 360. West Des Moines police are currently pursuing charges.
Read More | KCCI
Gallery: Xbox Live Helps Recover Stolen Xbox 360
Reactions To PS3 Announcement
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Dean Takahashi at Mercury News has put together a preview of the story to be published about what the PS3 delay and hardware shortage may mean for Sony and the rest of the industry. The most significant impact seen, of course, will be in the European territory. Missing the holiday launch there means that Microsoft and Nintendo will have a great opportunity to grow marketshare over the next six months. Takahashi was also able to talk with Sony’s new director of communications, David Karraker, particularly about why Sony sat so long on the news. Karraker laid the blame on Kutaragi’s management style, saying that Kutaragi, “pushes his internal teams to hit the numbers. When it became clear we couldn’t hit the numbers, Ken revised it.” Karraker also reiterated that the shortage is solely tied to blue-diode lasers and not any other component, and stated that production of the console will start at the end of September.
Overall, this holiday is not going to be a rosy one for Sony. While every single console manufactured will definitely be sold, they can expect a huge consumer backlash because of availability issues in all three territories. The US Playstation 2 launch suffered huge shortages, and back then, Sony launched with roughly 500,000 units. Now, Sony is releasing even fewer into the US market, and it is unclear whether the company will really be able to sustain production levels if they can’t resolve their diode issues.
The other immediate impact would seem to be next week’s Tokyo Game Show. While Sony has been boasting about the number of playable titles at the show, game selection largely becomes meaningless if nobody can get a console to play on. What could have been Sony’s final public demonstration of the potential of the Playstation 3 before launch will now be tainted with Sony’s inability to provide hardware to the gaming public.
Read More | Mercury News
Gallery: Reactions To PS3 Announcement
The guys at the Game|Life blog over at Wired Magazine were able to get their hands on the freshly released Tingle RPG for the Nintendo DS. The game, roughly translated as Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rose-Colored Rupee Land, features the Tingle character from the Legend of Zelda series. According to the preview, this could very well be the best RPG to feature as its main character a 35-year-old man in green fairy tights. The gameplay is unique, and there seems to be a decent amount of humor in the game, as one might expect. It is highly unlikely that the game will see a US release, which could be a shame. While the game itself might have too much Japanese use for an import gamer, a localized version might have been just quirky and unique enough to attract a cult following.
Read More | Game|Life
Gallery: Tingle RPG Impressions
Yet Another Special Edition Nintendo DS
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo DS,
Yet another special edition Nintendo DS Lite has been announced for Japan; this time, the latest version of Winning Eleven for the DS will be offered in a special set including the game, a black DS with an image traced into the cover, and a special carrying case. The full set will be available for 21,840 Yen, and stores in Japan are currently taking reservations. If the set follows the general pricing fortunes as the other limited editions in the US, expect to pay a heavy price premium on the unit. Limited edition pre-orders for the Final Fantasy DS sold for over $300.
Read More | Game Watch Japan
Gallery: Yet Another Special Edition Nintendo DS
Japanese Black DS Sells Out In An Hour
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo DS,
The Onyx Black DS Lite launched in Japan today, and as expected long lines resulted in stores selling out within an hour of opening. Famitsu reported from three separate locations in Japan, and in each, hundreds of people lined up to purchase the new black DS console. At one point, the lines reached 500 as gamers sought to grab the hardware before it sold out. Those looking for a copy of Final Fantasy III to go with their new console were out of luck, however, as the game completely sold out in the previous week. The US will finally be able to get their hands on the black and pink DS Lite consoles on September 13.
Read More | Famitsu
Gallery: Japanese Black DS Sells Out In An Hour
DS Software Takes Every Spot On Japanese Top Ten
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo DS,
The Media Create software sales numbers for the past week in Japan have been released, and every single title in the top 10 was for the Nintendo DS. A posting on the NeoGAF forums has the translated software titles. As expected, the Nintendo DS Final Fantasy III remake debuted in first place, with over 500,000 units sold. New Super Mario Bros. continues to run up sales as well, taking second place. The two Brain Age titles made the list, as well as the unusual Cooking Navi. In hardware sales, the DS Lite again dominated, running up 163,274 units sold versus the PSP’s 29,945 in second place. The Playstation 2 is still selling respectable numbers, while the Xbox 360 just can’t seem to catch on. Still, having the entire top ten software sales go to the Nintendo DS is just unprecedented.
Read More | NeoGAF Forums via eg Japan
Gallery: DS Software Takes Every Spot On Japanese Top Ten
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