On October 29, Microsoft is releasing a new Xbox 360 Elite bundle in Japan. Packaged with Lost Planet Colonies and Ace Combat 6, this "value pack" is priced at ¥29,800 (US$330)

http://kotaku.com/5385511/japan-gets...box-360-bundle ...

PS3 sales in Australia are healthy, and the hold console has been selling over 10,000 units per week since early September. Sales of the PSPgo, which launched October 1 and is AUD$50 than the PS3, have been hardly robust.

According to Australian paper The Age, a source with access to official GfK sales figures divulged that the PSPgo sold fewer than 1,000 units in its first full week on sale in the territory.

Michael Ephraim, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia and New Zealand, told the paper that the sales figure was "not under 1000 but it's slightly over 1000" and called the release a "soft release". Major retailers like EBGames, Ephraim noted, have refused to carry the product.

"Clearly we haven't done massive numbers but it's not something that we're concerned about ... because there are still some issues that we need to work through," Ephraim said. An upcoming pre-Christmas PSPgo update will allow users to read e-books, and initially, a broad selection of comics will be offered with more to come in the future.

Next year, a download video service will be launched.

"I suppose the applications are going to catch up with the device," said Ephraim. "The connectability to the PS3 and those other applications will start making this device even more viable."

http://kotaku.com/5385598/slow-pspgo-sales-in-australia ...

Digitimes says Asus will have it's first Android device on the market in 4Q09, though at this stage it's unclear whether it'll be the previously announced Garmin-Asus G60 or something else.
The 4Q09 launch window was revealed by the company chairman Jonney Shih and CEO Jerry Shen during a Q&A session.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/34752...hone-this-year ...

Sony Computer Entertainment America boss Jack Tretton has written an open letter to gamers in the US talking up the company's sales performance in September and highlighting some of the PlayStation platform's key plus points.

"Nearly half a million of you purchased a PS3 in September," he wrote. "Amazing. Welcome to the PlayStation Nation and to what will be one of our best holidays yet," he continued before going on to detail the SKUs for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable now available.

"We are in the midst of one of the most exciting times for PlayStation as we continue to redefine entertainment experiences for consumers, both at home and on the go.

"The PSPgo is driving additional momentum for the entire PSP platform. In its first three days on store shelves, top retail partners experienced a 300 percent lift in overall PSP hardware sales compared to the previous week. During this time, the PlayStation Network also experienced the largest number of downloads ever for a single week period."

He also highlighted the strong critical reception for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which as he pointed out claimed a Metacritic rating of 96 with 64 perfect scores, and looked ahead to more PlayStation-exclusive releases in the future.

"There simply has never been a better time to be part of the PlayStation family and we look forward to providing you with the best entertainment content and experience for many, many years to come."

The letter follows strong hardware sales for the PlayStation 3 Slim in the US in September, where it outsold both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii for the first time - although its highest-ranking software placing was sixth, as Microsoft's Halo 3: ODST squashed the rest selling over 1.5 million units.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...stmas-position ...

Sony Computer Entertainment America boss Jack Tretton has written an open letter to gamers in the US talking up the company's sales performance in September and highlighting some of the PlayStation platform's key plus points.

"Nearly half a million of you purchased a PS3 in September," he wrote. "Amazing. Welcome to the PlayStation Nation and to what will be one of our best holidays yet," he continued before going on to detail the SKUs for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable now available.

"We are in the midst of one of the most exciting times for PlayStation as we continue to redefine entertainment experiences for consumers, both at home and on the go.

"The PSPgo is driving additional momentum for the entire PSP platform. In its first three days on store shelves, top retail partners experienced a 300 percent lift in overall PSP hardware sales compared to the previous week. During this time, the PlayStation Network also experienced the largest number of downloads ever for a single week period."

He also highlighted the strong critical reception for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which as he pointed out claimed a Metacritic rating of 96 with 64 perfect scores, and looked ahead to more PlayStation-exclusive releases in the future.

"There simply has never been a better time to be part of the PlayStation family and we look forward to providing you with the best entertainment content and experience for many, many years to come."

The letter follows strong hardware sales for the PlayStation 3 Slim in the US in September, where it outsold both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii for the first time - although its highest-ranking software placing was sixth, as Microsoft's Halo 3: ODST squashed the rest selling over 1.5 million units.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...stmas-position ...

PixelJunk developer Q Games has said that it's not likely to port any more games to Sony's PSP handheld due to piracy.

The PixelJunk series has been exclusive to the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3, with the success of releases PixelJunk Monsters, PixelJunk Racers and PixelJunk Eden prompting Q Games to port a version of Monsters to the PSP.

But founder Dylan Cuthbert has said anti-piracy measures are unlikely to stop any hacking of his games, and he was shocked to discover users openly discussing piracy of Monsters Deluxe in chat rooms.

"I don't think we'll port anything else to the PSP, we have to see how [PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe] does as there's a lot of piracy," Cuthbert told fans via Twitter.

"Because Monsters is such a good fit it is being pirated I think, maybe the pirates will buy the full version out of guilt?" he added.

Asked by a fan if the company could combat piracy by adding serial numbers to code, Cuthbert said that "unfortunately the pirates could just hack those kinds of things out," and that "a PSP demo is in the works but I don't think it makes any difference to piracy."

"It was a shock to login to a [PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe] chat room and hear them talking about how they were all playing ripped versions," added Cuthbert.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...xeljunk-on-psp ...

Microsoft's Halo 3: ODST has attracted over 5 million unique players since launch, racking up over 116 million hours of gameplay on Xbox Live, according to the company.

The stats were released as NPD data showed that Halo 3: ODST sold over 1.52 million units during September, making it the best-selling game for the month.

The company also noted that during September, third-party sales on the Xbox 360 accounted for over $154 million, with US consumers spending $404 million on Xbox 360 hardware, software and peripherals during the month.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ox-360-product ...

The NPD Group has released its software sales figures for the month of September 2009, revealing a modest 5 per cent revenue growth from the same period in 2008, the first sign of growth in 2009 so far.

Software brought in USD 649.32 of revenue between August 30 and October 3, 2009, up 5 per cent over the USD 617.57 reported during the same period last year. The software leader by a significant margin was Microsoft's Halo 3: ODST, which sold an impressive 1.52 million units during its September US debut.

"Halo 3 certainly impacted the industry two years ago when it was launched, and this year, Halo 3: ODST realised impressive sales making it the 6th best-selling SKU launch of all time," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. By comparison, Halo 3 sold 3 million copies during its September, 2007 release.

Elsewhere on the charts, the music game category saw two major launches with competing titles The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5. While complete sales figures across all platforms were not available as of press time, commentary by Frazier revealed that the former came out on top.

"We know all eyes are going to be on the Rock Band and Guitar Hero sales since the music/dance genre has been so closely followed by many this year," said Frazier. "Both titles captured a spot in the top 10 for the month and at the item level, across all platforms, The Beatles: Rock Band came in third behind Halo 3: ODST and Madden NFL 10 while Guitar Hero 5 came in fourth."

Other debuts that charted in the top ten this month include the Xbox 360 version Activison's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 and Nintendo's Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story for the DS. Wii Sports Resort, Madden NFL 10 and Batman: Arkham Asylum, all of which were August debuts, round out the rest of the top ten, which is listed below.

01. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, 360) - 1,520,000
02. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii) - 442,900
03. Madden NFL 10 (EA, 360) - 289,600
04. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo, DS) - 258,100
05. The Beatles: Rock Band (EA, 360) - 254,000
06. Madden NFL 10 (EA, PS3) - 246,500
07. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (Activision, 360) - 236,000
08. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos, PS3) - 212,500
09. Guitar Hero 5 (Activision, 360) - 210,800
10. The Beatles: Rock Band (EA, Wii) - 208,600

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...time-this-year ...

The newer, slimmer, cheaper PlayStation 3 outsold the Xbox 360 and Wii during the month of September, according to new data from the NPD Group, the first time the console has bested both of its console rivals in the U.S.

Sony's recent price drop was in effect for the full month of September, more than doubling month-to-month PS3 sales to the tune of 491,800. That's easily better than its nearest competitor, the Wii, which managed 462,800 units sold in the United States last month and well beyond what the Xbox 360 sold.

None of those consoles, however, managed to outsell Nintendo's DS platform, which continues its six month streak atop the NPD Group's hardware chart with another half-million plus sold.

Nintendo DS - 524,200
PlayStation 3 - 491,800
Wii - 462,800
Xbox 360 - 352,600
PSP - 190,400
PlayStation 2 - 146,000
Total hardware sales in the U.S. amounted to $472.28 million during the month of September, which runs from 8/30 to 10/03, according to the NPD Group's window. Speaking of NPD, here's what analyst Anita Frazier had to say.

"All three console manufacturers enjoyed the impact of lower prices on unit sales as the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 realized an increase over August of 87%, 33%, and 31% respectively, on an average sales per week basis (keeping in mind September was a 5-week month compared to 4-weeks in August)."

"Compared to last September, the PS3 was the big winner, more than doubling last year's sales," Frazier notes, pointing to last September's less than impressive fifth place finish for the PlayStation 3. "This portrays a very strong consumer reaction to the price decrease as August and September both realized a lift of more than 70% over the prior month."

http://kotaku.com/5385277/ps3-price-...rs-top-console ...