The Nintendo DS has remained the best-selling hardware format in Japan for another week, with combined sales of all versions totalling 36,459 units.

However, after a particularly poor week of software sales, hardware figures were down almost across the board, with DS sales down by almost 5000 units.

The PSP-3000 was the best-selling single hardware format this week, on 29,766 units. Combined sales with the PSPgo kept it in second place overall on 31,592 units - a drop of nearly 6000.

The PlayStation 3 remained in third place, despite sales falling by nearly 10,000 units to 28,973. By comparison Wii sales fell by only around 5500 units to 25,345.

Although it didn't have a single title in the software top 50, the Xbox 360 was the only format to buck the trend of the week with sales rising by a modest 500 units to 3218.

PlayStation 2 sales dipped slightly to 1425 units.

Japanese weekly hardware sales:

PSP: 29,766
PlayStation 3: 28,973
Wii: 25,345
Nintendo DSi XL: 19,372
Nintendo DSi: 13,738
Nintendo DS Lite: 3,349
Xbox 360: 3,218
PSPgo: 1,826
PlayStation 2: 1,425

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...hardware-chart ...

The latest NPD figures have shown that software sales in the US increased by 10 per cent in March.

Leading the way in those sales was the PlayStation 3, which contributed the most of all of the platforms to overall dollar sales.

Sony's God of War III was the best selling game of the month, with sales of 1.1 million - a 32 per cent increase on God of War II - and a further three PS3 titles made it into the top ten best sellers - Final Fantasy XIII, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and MLB 10: The Show.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier noted that although Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 dropped out of the top ten in March, the title has now become the second best selling game of all time, after Nintendo's Wii Play.

"Thanks in large part to its multi-platform launch on Xbox 360 and PS3, Final Fantasy 13 is the best launch for any item in the franchise. The next closest was Final Fantasy XII, a PS2 exclusive, which launched and sold 896K units in Nov '06. FFXIII sales in its introduction month were 48 percent greater than that of FFXII," Frazier added.

"In its first month of sales in the U.S., Battlefield: Bad Company 2 bested the launch of Battlefield: Bad Company by +170 percent. Even considering that the first was launched later in its introduction month while BC2 enjoyed nearly a full month of sales, the increase is impressive."

The top ten best sellers in March were as follows:

01 God of War III (PS3) - 1.10 million
02 Pokemon SoulSilver (DS) - 1.02 million
03 Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) - 828,200
04 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360) - 825,500
05 Pokemon HeartGold (DS), 761,200
06 Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360) - 493,900
07 New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii) - 457,400
08 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3) - 451,200
09 Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board (Wii) - 429,600
10 MLB 10: The Show (PS3) - 349,200

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...st-selling-sku ...

Nintendo has pronounced itself pleased that inventory of its hardware platforms in the US have seen some improvements, leading to another month of market-leading numbers in March.

While the industry overall grew by 6 per cent, Nintendo's DSi XL and Wii consoles sold more than 1.2 million units combined, with the latter picking up after supply issues in the post-holiday period.

"Demand for Nintendo fun continues unabated," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive VP of Sales & Marketing. "We're glad so many people are able to get their hands on our systems as we prepare for the May launches of Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii and Picross 3D for our Nintendo DS systems."

Meanwhile Microsoft's reaction to the March results focused on the percentage of units sold on the Xbox 360 console for the top-selling game - Battlefield: Bad Company 2. In total gamers bought 826,000 copies for Microsoft consoles, amounting to 65 per cent of total sales of the title.

A statement from the platform holder also noted its life-to-date lead in third-party sales was still intact, having contributed $191 million in the month of March - more than any other console.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ardware-supply ...

The US games industry grew 6 per cent in March, according to the latest NPD figures.

In line with predictions, revenue increased to $1.52 billion, with a busy month of software releases leading to a rise in software sales of 10 per cent on last March to $875.3 million.

Hardware sales were down 4 per cent on last year to $440.5 million, however hardware prices declined by 16 per cent over the year.

Accessories sales increased 11 per cent to $206.8 million.

According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, March saw the first non-holiday year-on-year increase of sales since February 2009, and the month was the third best non-holiday month ever recorded.

Nintendo led the way with hardware sales, with its systems accounting for 59 per cent of all that was sold in March.

The DS was the best selling console with over 700,000 units sold, while the Wii followed behind with sales of 557,500.

The achievement prompted a buoyant response from Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway, who said: "Demand for Nintendo fun continues unabated. We're glad so many people are able to get their hands on our systems as we prepare for the May launches of Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii and Picross 3D for our Nintendo DS systems."

Hardware retail sales were as follow:

Nintendo DS - 700,800
Nintendo Wii - 557,500
Xbox 360 - 338,400
PlayStation 3 - 313,900
Sony PSP - 119,900
PlayStation 2 - 118,300

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rcent-in-march ...

It may be the core consumers that are currently championing the potential of Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s PlayStation Move – but it could be non-gamers that benefit the most from the new hardware.
Publishers and developers that specialise in fitness titles and other non-games software have said that their chosen genres could be key to the success of the forthcoming motion controllers.
“The non-games sector will benefit more than any other sector from Natal and PlayStation Move,” said Simon Prytherch, managing director of NewU Fitness First developer Lightning Fish Games.
“These devices are suited to non-core audiences. A key feature of these devices is the ability to accurately monitor user performance.
“We will see new ways of interacting and new genres emerging as creative minds get to grips with the technology.”

Avanquest sales director Steve Powell added: “The launch of new hardware will open up the more hardcore gaming platforms to family-based games, and I’m sure we’ll see self-improvement titles amongst these.
“There will be plenty of buzz around the new hardware releases, which may also encourage hardcore gamers to try something different.”
Firms are already looking to tap into the Wii Fit market on other platforms.
EA is developing the next EA Sports Active title for PS3 and iPhone, while Rare is rumoured to be working on a Natal-based fitness game.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/38567/Nata...-fitness-games ...

Hideo Kojima has revealed that the Western version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be the 'uncut' version, much to his disappointment.

Kojima revealed on Twitter last night that the PSP Metal Gear had a scene removed from the Japanese version in order to keep it from getting an 18 rating equivalent in the country.

Kojima says that the PSP is supported by a younger audience and so during Peace Walker's production the staff made the effort to avoid 'grotesque' scenes.

However, there's "a certain scene", a "standard element" that's "absolutely necessary for MGS," that apparently could not make it under a 15 rating equivalent in Japan, so they had it removed.

The European and North American versions of the game are the original version without the adjustments made for the Japanese version.

Kojima expectedly isn't happy about the need to remove content from his game. He wrote: "There's tolerance for fantasy games, but for games where you show war or real violence between people, you apparently can't complain about anything. With this, it seems impossible to communicate something through games."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Hideo Kojima has revealed that the Western version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be the 'uncut' version, much to his disappointment.

Kojima revealed on Twitter last night that the PSP Metal Gear had a scene removed from the Japanese version in order to keep it from getting an 18 rating equivalent in the country.

Kojima says that the PSP is supported by a younger audience and so during Peace Walker's production the staff made the effort to avoid 'grotesque' scenes.

However, there's "a certain scene", a "standard element" that's "absolutely necessary for MGS," that apparently could not make it under a 15 rating equivalent in Japan, so they had it removed.

The European and North American versions of the game are the original version without the adjustments made for the Japanese version.

Kojima expectedly isn't happy about the need to remove content from his game. He wrote: "There's tolerance for fantasy games, but for games where you show war or real violence between people, you apparently can't complain about anything. With this, it seems impossible to communicate something through games."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Crysis 2 developer Crytek has for the first time revealed an interest in the burgeoning mobile game market – but the group’s CEO fears for the future of the App Store.
Cevat Yerli told Develop that “the social and mobile spaces are certainly something we’ve been looking at for a while now”, though the studio co-founder balanced his optimism with a large quantity of caution on the future of App Store games.
“I think the App Store changes the perception of game prices, which I really don’t like. It’s pushing out games at such a low price that it distorts the perception of what a game should be priced at,” he said.


“iPad and iPhone are both doing a real disservice to game prices by allowing games at such low price points – it is an issue the industry has to address at some point.”
In an interview with Develop, CryEngine managing director Carl Jones concurred, adding that the App Store is “so saturated now, that a lot of iPhone developers won’t be making a second game. They just aren’t getting a return.”
Yerli continued: “These games launch low as well. I mean, an iPhone game will launch at maybe $1.99 and go down from there. If the prices were higher, the store would be less crowded, have a higher competitive pressure, higher quality and better returns.”
He also foresaw a knock-on effect that the App Store may have for handheld games, full retail titles, and perhaps, future Crytek titles.
“The App Store games are under such pressure that, to make money out of it I would find very challenging. If you look at someone who now takes a casual interest in games; they can get their iPhone and iPad games for something like $4.99, and that drives down sales on mobile platforms, and that in turn will drive down sales of handhelds, and eventually all this pressure will drive down the prices of full console retail games.
“That in turn could put all sorts of pressures on how the games are made. Perhaps in the future, the big retail games will take two hours to complete. Maybe in the future – let’s say we develop Crysis 5 – that game might be a two-hour game selling for $4.99.
Yerli wouldn’t commit explicitly to any plans to release a mobile game in the future. In the interview he said that the App Store’s pricing policy had not put the studio off mobile game development, adding that “we’ll have to see what time brings, but that’s all I can say right now.”

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/300...-Stores-future ...

Apple is rumoured to be preparing to launch a new version of the iPhone on June 22nd.
According to various reports, the firm has booked the date at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, which it has used for numerous hardware launches in the past, most recently with the iPad.
Speculation towards the new hardware launched kicked up a a gear after Apple unveiled its latest mobile operating system last week.
“iPhone OS 4 is the fourth major release of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system,” said Steve Jobs at the launch. “We’re delivering over 100 new features, including multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, deeper Enterprise support, and an iPhone version of our iBooks reader and online iBookstore.”

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/33442...-for-June-22nd ...