via gamespot

Sony's third quarter financial earnings results, which are scheduled to be released tomorrow, could see its net income down to 84.1 billion yen (approx $680 million), reports Bloomberg.

The financial news service surveyed five analysts, and its median estimates weigh in with the PlayStation 3 maker falling dramatically short of its previous third quarter earnings, which saw record profits of 168.9 billion yen ($1.39 billion) last year.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has "failed to fend off Nintendo," the report continues, with the Wii outselling the PS3 two-to-one worldwide.

The company is likely to lose a record 191.9 billion yen ($1.57 billion) from games this fiscal year, compared with a profit of 8.7 billion yen ($71 million) last year, according to the survey.

In October, Sony cut its fiscal year profit forecast to 80 billion yen, a five-year low. Shares in Sony recently jumped six percent, the biggest single increase in more than a year, although these figures trail beyond the 61 percent share-price increase for Nintendo, and the 26 percent increase for Xbox 360 maker Microsoft. ...

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that the PlayStation 3 will sell out in Europe by May, with a price cut of more than EUR 150 expected inside 12 months.

"I'm actually surprised that consoles are not priced more like other consumer electronics, with early movers charged a bunch and the mass market charged less," Pachter told GamesIndustry.biz - using the example of DVD players, which are now available for much lower prices than when they first launched.

He went on to dismiss suggestions that the high cost of Sony's new console might affect sales, stating, "The PS3 can command GBP 425 from the hardcore and I think you'll see price cuts a year from now, probably to GBP 300."

According to Pachter, the UK's stock allocation will "quickly disappear" after PS3 goes on sale come March 23, and the console will "sell out relatively soon after launch" in the rest of Europe.

"There will be a few more games by then, with several great games announced for release in May and beyond, so I expect a full sellout by the end of April," he said.

By the time the PS3 launches the Xbox 360 will have been available in Europe for over a year, while the Wii was a sell-out success when it launched in December. However, Pachter said he doesn't believe this will necessarily cause big problems for Sony.

"March is not too late, given Sony's production problems and only 800,000 Wiis sold in Europe last quarter," he stated.

"My guess is that the Wii will be up to near 1.6 - 2 million by March 23, but that is far from an insurmountable head start."

Pachter described the PS3's graphics as "phenomenal", adding that the cost of hooking the machine up to a 1080p monitor is "worth every penny".

"I think that games like Gears of War on the 360 look every bit as good, but given that PS3 game development was rushed, I fully expect next year's games to look better on the PS3," Pachter concluded.

via gibiz ...

RedOctane will continue to support PlayStation 2 with the Guitar Hero series for as long as the platform is viable, according to publishing boss Dusty Welch.

"The PS2 was one of the top selling platforms in 2006, and every indication from Sony is that they will continue to manufacture and market the platform aggressively in 2007 and 2008," Welch told GamesIndustry.biz.

"Our plan is to be a multi-platform publisher, meaning viable platforms will be supported."

So far Guitar Hero has appeared only on PS2, but with an Xbox 360 version of the sequel due out this spring speculation has been mounting as to whether RedOctane's focus could shift.

Welch also confirmed recent reports that original developer Harmonix will no longer be involved with the series, with duties now in the hands of Tony Hawk developer Neversoft.

"At the moment, we?re still working with Harmonix on certain projects until completion, though moving forward, Neversoft will be taking over the development duties for the Guitar Hero franchise," he explained.

Harmonix was recently bought out by MTV, and although RedOctane - itself now a part of Activision - has been coy about the reasons behind its decision to part ways with the developer, some industry watchers suspect the moves were connected.

via gibiz ...

Four of the big videogame publishers saw shares drop on Friday, following Microsoft's announcement that it was to cut shipments of the Xbox 360 from between 13 and 15 million, to 12 million units.

Major third-party publishers Electronic Arts, Activision, THQ and Take Two have all supported the Xbox 360 with a range of high-profile titles, some of which are exclusive to the console.

Saint's Row publisher THQ was the worst hit, with shares falling four per cent, or US $1.25, to US $30.48. Take Two, the company behind Prey and Rockstar's Table Tennis, saw shares drop 2.3 per cent, or 40 cents, to US $16.84.

Shares in Electronic Arts were down 1.7 per cent, to US $48.04, while Activision's stock fell 2.3 per cent to US $16.71 on Nasdaq.

In a note to clients, American Technology Research analyst PJ McNealy highlighted concern over revised results from hardware manufacturers, and the pressure it puts on the supporting publishers.

"Videogame publishers will be under pressure today after Microsoft cut its life-to-date shipment," he said on Friday.

"There is investor concern about a re-set of expectations around both the Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3," he revealed.

via gibiz ...

Those of you eagerly awaiting Okami's 9th February release date will be slightly cheesed-off to hear us Europeans will receive exactly the same game as the US were treated to back in September.

It's localisation that caused the delay, apparently, which would be down to you lot with your long-word languages.

"The reason it's taking so long to get it from US to here is the localisation into European languages," a spokesperson for Capcom told Eurogamer. "The script is about 1000 pages I believe, it's a 60 hour game."

So, no special bonus disc, no Teen Wolf t-shirt, no "painting for beginners" sets, but a large and expansive game: we can make do.

Okami, if you haven't heard, is a free roaming game from soon to be closed Clover Studio, in which you take control of a wolf who is actually a god and uses a paintbrush to cut people in half in heaven in between listening to a garrulous flea ramble on about mice with swords (thanks Tom).

via eurogamer ...

Colin McRae: DIRT will push next-gen systems in ways we've not yet seen, executive producer Gavin Raeburn has told Eurogamer, and it's all thanks to the newly designed "Neon" engine.

"CMR 3, 4 and 5 were little more than extensions of the PS1 code base," he told us. "DIRT has all new and visually stunning engine that is pushing next-gen hardware to the max right from the off."

"The damage, particle effects, post-production, car physics, car audio and AI are all far in advance of anything we have yet seen on next gen."

Lofty aspirations, especially held against titles like MotorStorm, which is the best of the launch titles, at least as far as Raeburn is concerned.

Colin McRae: DIRT launches for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in June. The three versions will be almost identical, but Raeburn admits that Microsoft leads the way with its online service:

"Xbox Live set the benchmark with regards to online console gaming, so it is a compliment to Microsoft that we are endeavouring to replicate much of this on the PS3 and PC platforms."

There are no plans for a Wii version in June: it would simply take too much time, as it would have to be developed from the ground up to make use of the console's unique controls. Still, "we never say never, of course."

via eurogamer ...

While Cingular (er, AT&T, but you know what we mean) couldn't seem prouder of its iPhone exclusivity, apparently Apple's first choice was Verizon, but the two companies couldn't agree on a deal that worked for both companies. "We said no." Said Jim Gerace, a VZW VP. "We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial." Talks began as far back as two years ago, but Apple's demands were steep. They also give us an idea of what exactly is behind the Apple / Cingular agreement: Apple wanted a percentage of monthly service fees, control over distribution that would limit iPhone sales to Apple and Verizon stores, and even some control over service and support for iPhone customers. "They would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point where we would have almost had to take a back seat ... on hardware and service support," say Gerace. Cingular doesn't quite see it that way, so perhaps Apple changed its conditions a bit when it started courting Cingy. Says Mark Siegel, a Cingular spokesman, "I don't want to leave the impression that these (iPhone) customers are not ours. They are." Mark also mentioned that Cingular would field calls related to wireless service, and that "We think this is a win for Apple, and it is a win for Cingular." Whether consumers -- who would have presumably had a fair shot at an EV-DO iPhone with Verizon as a service provider -- will win in the end is yet to be seen.

via engadget ...

Xbox 360 racer Forza Motorsport 2 is roaring off the UK start grid this summer, Microsoft has informed us this morning.

We queried the publisher on a release date for these shores after getting confirmation that the game will be out in North America in May. Microsoft told us that currently summer is the only date it has, but we'd hope that's narrowed down in the not-too-distant future.

Forza 2 is all about hardcore racing, featuring the likes of advanced simulation physics, an all-new damage system and a heap of customisable motors that you can whip around famous circuits.

via cvg ...

Xbox VP Peter Moore has been talking about Microsoft's eternal quest for dominance in the Japanese market with Xbox 360.

"I think we need to continue to be a competitor as aggressively as we have been since the day we launched [in Japan]. Little things make your day a little better. This morning when I woke up, seeing Gears of War as one of the top ten selling games in Japan, on top of Blue Dragon's success over the holidays, is vindication of a company that understand what it needs to stick to the task.

"I think we are seeing progress in Japan. With Lost Odyssey still to come, I think we feel real good about our ability to compete and compete aggressively in the Japanese market. It's not easy, let me make that clear. It's not easy. But we're not going to back down just because it's not easy."

via cvg ...