After months of weak sales, the release of a large number of new titles has finally seen the Japanese software chart return to something like its previous health.

The highest new entry of the week was Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS, with a highly impressive 295,000 units sold. The spin-off from the popular Final Fantasy and Disney crossover series is due for release in the West later this year.

New at number two was fellow spin-off Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, which has also recently been confirmed for a Western release this year. The latest entry in Capcom's cult adventure series for the DS sold 172,000 units on its debut.

Entering the charts at number three was Shin Sangoku Musou 5: Empires (aka Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires) on PlayStation 3, the strategy-tinged spin-off which is now traditionally released after every mainline sequel. The game was released simultaneously on both PS3 and Xbox 360, with the PS3 version selling 76,000 units and the 360 version at number ten 17,000 units.

Together with Sega's Let's Make A Baseball Team! 2 at number nine, Level-5's Sloan And Michael's Story at number four was the only survivor from the previous week's chart. However sales rapidly began to decline at this point, with Marvelous' role-playing game Yuusha 30 (aka Half-Minute Hero) for PSP selling only 26,000 units at number five.

Alchemist's visual novel Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Dai San Kan - Rasen on DS sold 23,000 units at number six, while Aqua Plus' anime tie-in Utawarerumono Portable on PSP sold 22,000 units at number seven.

Following the release of the 360 version in April, the PS3 version of Tom Clancy's HAWX also managed to penetrate the top ten, with 19,000 unit sales at number eight.

The full list is as follows:

1. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
2. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS)
3. Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires (PS3)
4. Sloan And Michael's Story (DS)
5. Half-Minute Hero (PSP)
6. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna: Dai San Kan - Rasen (DS)
7. Utawarerumono Portable (PSP)
8. Tom Clancy's HAWX (PS3)
9. Let's Make A Baseball Team 2 (DS)
10. Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires (360)

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

The Overlord II demo is now available on Xbox 360 for your mayhem enjoying approval. We got some hands-on time with the title yesterday and fans of the original will likely not be disappointed. We're not exactly able to download the demo at the moment and tell you about it, but we're hoping you get to see the "Overlad." Evil never looked so adorable. Download it now. If you hated the first game, try this demo and see if the Overlord can warm your heart with a flame spell this time around.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/04/ov...-xbox-360-now/ ...

It's a rare thing for a portable game to best its console predecessor, but that's what might be happening in MotorStorm: Arctic Edge. BigBig, the team behind the cult PSP Pursuit Force games, know how to work the handheld and they've crafted an experience that handles far better than the console games. MotorStorm is known for its visceral races, but the juxtaposition of more "sim-like" controls in such an arcadey game didn't jive with us fully. Arctic Edge adopts the game a bit, by tweaking the controls to be a bit more responsive.

The end result is a game that's a bit more accessible, but no less fun and intense. Obviously, the PSP isn't capable of producing the visuals of a PS3, but BigBig has developed a brand new engine for Arctic Edge and it shows. This new generation engine far surpasses the last Pursuit Force game, by throwing an impressive amount of particles in fast, detailed levels. The animation on the vehicles is particularly terrific as each of the wheels respond to the various bumps on the ground.

While the controls are slightly tweaked, the overall gameplay should remain largely familiar to those that have played the previous two games. Once again, players will want to effectively manage boost and navigate a dynamic branching race course. Racing against a multitude of vehicle types is one of the highlights of the console games, and we're glad to see BigBig has expanded the garage with two new vehicles: the Snow Cat and the Snow Plow. Those of you that like the Monster Truck will get a blast out of this. The monstrous vehicle races at a surprising speed, and it's quite the intimidating vehicle to race against

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/04/ha...ctic-edge-psp/ ...

Speaking with ijji.com earlier today, just before we got a hands-on with upcoming MMOFPS Huxley: The Dystopia, the company confirmed to us that the game is going with the microtransaction model. Furthermore, the once announced cross-platform play between Xbox 360 and PC has been cut from the game.

Boo Won Kim told us during a presentation of ijji.com's upcoming offerings that, "At this point, yes, [Huxley is] microtransaction supported." We then asked whether or not the cross-platform component of the game -- once it's main selling point -- had been cut. Andy Wong confirmed to us the fact, though he added that that's only the case "at this point." Considering how long the game has been in development -- and the heavily twitch-movement focused gameplay -- we're putting our money on the cross-platform functionality never returning

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/04/hu...-free-to-play/ ...

A black-coloured Wii and peripherals have been confirmed for launch in Japan, on the official Japanese Nintendo website.

The black Wii is pictured alongside a black-coloured Wii remote, nunchuck and Classic Controller Pro (the redesigned version of the existing Classic Controller, which has never been confirmed for released outside of Japan). All the hardware is priced at the same as the existing white versions and is due to go on sale on August 1.

Although white, red, green, black and silver-coloured Wiis were shown in the very earliest Wii promotional images only the white model was ever released to market while the other colours have never been referred to again.

At the same time the official website has also announced a red-coloured Nintendo DSi. As with the Wii the new model will be sold at the same price as existing versions and is in all other ways identical. It goes on sale on July 11.

Five colours are already available in Japan (black, white, pink, lime green and metallic blue), as well as limited edition models for games such as Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. In Europe the only available colours are black and white and in North America black and blue.

New hardware colours have consistently proven a useful drive for sales in Japan, with both Sony and Nintendo regularly using them to boost sales - often proving just as effective as a major new software release.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...d-wii-in-japan ...

A black-coloured Wii and peripherals have been confirmed for launch in Japan, on the official Japanese Nintendo website.

The black Wii is pictured alongside a black-coloured Wii remote, nunchuck and Classic Controller Pro (the redesigned version of the existing Classic Controller, which has never been confirmed for released outside of Japan). All the hardware is priced at the same as the existing white versions and is due to go on sale on August 1.

Although white, red, green, black and silver-coloured Wiis were shown in the very earliest Wii promotional images only the white model was ever released to market while the other colours have never been referred to again.

At the same time the official website has also announced a red-coloured Nintendo DSi. As with the Wii the new model will be sold at the same price as existing versions and is in all other ways identical. It goes on sale on July 11.

Five colours are already available in Japan (black, white, pink, lime green and metallic blue), as well as limited edition models for games such as Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. In Europe the only available colours are black and white and in North America black and blue.

New hardware colours have consistently proven a useful drive for sales in Japan, with both Sony and Nintendo regularly using them to boost sales - often proving just as effective as a major new software release.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...d-wii-in-japan ...

Microsoft has promoted Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux to creative director of Microsoft Game Studios in Europe.

Molyneux will oversee the creative output of all internal studios as well as Microsoft's third-party development partners, acting in a leadership role to help ideas come to fruition as well as ensuring better communication and understanding within the group.

"The best way for us to make sure our platforms evolve in a way that enables the best creative experiences is to make sure our creative leaders are closely tied into the work that's going on with the platform team," detailed Phil Spencer, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.

"What we're asking Peter to do is a creative director role for us in Europe, overseeing all of the creative work that goes on at our studios in the UK and Europe, and the different projects that we have with external partners.

"His role there is to not only help the collaborations and to bring both the thinking from that region back to the platform and Microsoft Game Studios as different things are incubating and being worked on, but the reverse is also true, of taking global knowledge of our platform efforts and different efforts at MGS and help provide context and guidance to those teams."

Molyneux said the promotion isn't about leaving his own mark on other studio's titles, but rather helping internal and external talent realise their creative visions within the Microsoft development ecosystem.

"What you're not going to see is ten Peter Molyneux games. The value of this role is for someone like myself going in and making those little tiny lights of an idea shine as brightly as possible and ensuring everybody within the organisation clearly understands why we're making those titles, the purpose of those titles and their importance to Microsoft overall.

"All I'm going to be doing is making sure those lights are as bright as possible. People at Rare and other European studios are super, super bright and creative people and I'll learn as much about design from them as they would from me."

Molyneux said he hopes to help foster the passion of individuals, and in turn push Microsoft's talent to drop preconceived ideas about game design and strive for innovation.

"I'm definitely not going to go in and say 'this is a dumb idea' and 'this is a good idea'. I'm more about making sure they really are doing the experiences they're passionate about. Because passion is really central.

"That's probably going to involve innovation, I'm going to be pushing them more on the innovation side, especially with project Natal, and saying, 'look, don't think you've got all of your design comforts here any more, let's think of a new way of doing all that.'"

He also made it clear that he will still remain studio boss of Lionhead, and continues to work on the two titles currently in development at the studio.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...t-game-studios ...

We've seen Nyko's Wand, but now Mad Catz has become the second peripheral manufacturer to clone the Wiimote. And just holding it in my hands, I could tell it has promise.

Bear in mind, I didn't play a game with the controller, but I did push the buttons, etc. The A button feels perfect, just like the Wiimote. The B button trigger is a bit digital for my taste, lacking the Wiimote's fulfilling trigger pull. The other buttons? They definitely feel one tier cheaper than the Wiimote. But how often are you using 1 or 2 in gameplay anyway?

Configured with the exact dimensions of Nintendo's Wiimote (the Nyko Wand is ever so slightly fudged), Mad Catz' "Remote For Nintendo Wii" feels indistinguishable in size and weight from the real Wiimote. It's also all white (or clad in a few other colors), making it a bit less patriotic than Nyko's red, white and blue Wand.

I'll save final judgment for a gaming hands-on, but what Mad Catz' Wiimote lacks in fancy tech (like Nyko's Trans-Port button mapping), it makes up for in compatibility. Mad Catz guarantees that their Wiimote will fit in the sleeves of normal Wiimotes. And it should be ready for Wii MotionPlus, too. Look for them this June at the price of $30. Matching "Z-Chuks" will run $15 a pop.

http://gizmodo.com/5277625/mad-catz-...ng-for-10-less ...

E3’09: Retro full game download service moves aside as 360 equivalent prepares to launch
Microsoft has confirmed that there will be no further releases on its Xbox Originals digital download service.
The retail channel, which arrived in December 2007, offered 360 owners the chance to download full game releases from its Xbox catalogue. The platform holder told IGN that it has “finished its portfolio” for the service.
The move comes shortly after Microsoft’s E3 announcement that it is preparing an Xbox 360 full game delivery service that will allow gamers to bypass retail and download titles directly to their machines.
Xbox Originals never quite lived up to its potential. Of the 850 or so games released for Xbox, only 26 ever made it onto the UK arm of the Originals portal.
Whilst hits such as Fable, GTA: San Andreas, Jade Empire, Ninja Gaiden and Halo were a huge plus for Xbox Originals, its reception was dampened by a number of less well-received titles such as Zapper, Gauntlet, Blowout and Raze’s Hell.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/34621/Xbox...aws-to-a-close ...