via Games Industry


Nintendo titles dominated software sales in the US during 2008, with the top four biggest games in the region all exclusive to the Wii.

Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii sold more than 5 million copies each, while Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl racked up sales of over 4 million units apiece.

Closest to Nintendo's top four was the Xbox 360 version of Take-Two's multiformat Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold over 3.2 million units, ahead of Activision's Call of Duty: World at War on 360 and Microsoft's Gears of War 2.

The only handheld title in the top ten was Mario Kart DS, once again from Nintendo.

During the December month, Nintendo's Wii Play was the best-selling game in the US, 22 months after it was first released in the region in February 2007. The company also had five top titles during the month, including Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Other noticeable hit titles during December include Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour which sold 850,000 units, and Valve's new IP Left 4 Dead, which shifted 629,000 copies.


Full year sales for 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.28 million
02. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.00 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.53 million
04. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.17 million
05. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 3.29 million
06. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 2.75 million
07. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 2.31 million
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, PS3) - 1.89 million
09. Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 1.65 million

Sales for December 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.46 million
02. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 1.33 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 999,000
04. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 979,000
05. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) - 850,000
06. Gears of War 2 Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 745,000
07. Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) - 629,000
08. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 540,000
09. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) - 533,000
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) - 497,000 ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo titles dominated software sales in the US during 2008, with the top four biggest games in the region all exclusive to the Wii.

Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii sold more than 5 million copies each, while Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl racked up sales of over 4 million units apiece.

Closest to Nintendo's top four was the Xbox 360 version of Take-Two's multiformat Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold over 3.2 million units, ahead of Activision's Call of Duty: World at War on 360 and Microsoft's Gears of War 2.

The only handheld title in the top ten was Mario Kart DS, once again from Nintendo.

During the December month, Nintendo's Wii Play was the best-selling game in the US, 22 months after it was first released in the region in February 2007. The company also had five top titles during the month, including Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Other noticeable hit titles during December include Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour which sold 850,000 units, and Valve's new IP Left 4 Dead, which shifted 629,000 copies.


Full year sales for 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.28 million
02. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.00 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.53 million
04. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.17 million
05. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 3.29 million
06. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 2.75 million
07. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 2.31 million
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, PS3) - 1.89 million
09. Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 1.65 million

Sales for December 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.46 million
02. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 1.33 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 999,000
04. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 979,000
05. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) - 850,000
06. Gears of War 2 Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 745,000
07. Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) - 629,000
08. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 540,000
09. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) - 533,000
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) - 497,000 ...

via Games Industry


Sony has said it's confident of its momentum going in to 2009 following a rise in full-year PlayStation 3 sales of 40 per cent.

Over 3.6 million PS3 units were sold during 2008 in the US, with NPD data showing that 726,005 units were sold during December.

PS3 software sales reached almost 6 million units in December, and grew 116 per cent for the full year. Hit titles included LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Call of Duty: World at War and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

"We remain confident in our momentum into 2009 as we continue to deliver to our consumers the best entertainment content and technology out there," commented Peter Dille, SVP of marketing and PSN.

"And we delivered on that promise this past year with one of the best software line-ups in the industry, a dramatically expanded PlayStation Network with the launch of the video delivery service and the beta of PlayStation Home, as well as extended hardware offerings with the PSP 3000 and Uncharted 160GB PS3 bundle.

"We also hit a remarkable milestone for the PlayStation 2 platform in North America with 50 million units sold. It’s truly an amazing testament to the power and legacy of our brand," he added.

According to Sony, the top three most downloaded games in December via its PSN service were Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer and Linger in Shadows.

With more than 17 million users signed to the service, 330 million pieces of content have been downloaded via PSN.

The PSP sold 1.02 million units in December, with more than 3.7 million games sold for the system. The top two games for 2008 on the PSP were Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of War: Chains of Olympus, selling a combined 1.31 million units.

According to Sony, the PlayStation brand generated more than USD 6.4 billion in revenue in the US during 2008. ...

via Games Industry


Peter Molyneux, head of Microsoft's Lionhead studio, has nominated Sony's LittleBigPlanet as the most important creative innovation of 2008, in C&binet's review of the creative economy in 2008.

C&binet – the Creative and Business International Network – is a forum for business and creative leaders to come together, and includes Microsoft's J Allard, Channel 4's Andy Duncan and Spencer Hyman of Last.fm among its ambassadors.


The title was developed by Media Molecule, a team established by former Lionhead staff, and released in November last year. Sony recently announced LittleBigPlanet has sold 1.3 million units since release. ...

via Eurogamer


Sony has stuffed the PlayStation Store with new content but there is still no sign of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

The highlights this week are demos for Dead Space - focusing on the key game theme of dismemberment - and Skate 2. You can expect our thoughts on the latter next week. It's out on 23rd January.

Magic Ball is the premium game on offer for GBP 7.99 / EUR 9.99. It's a Breakout-style affair where balls topple 3D buildings during physics-based mayhem. Power-ups like lasers and cannons add spice, and you'll find plenty more information on the US PlayStation blog.

WWE SmackDown vs. RAW gains wrestlers Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, Super Crazy and Charlie Haas for GBP 3.19. There are masked versions of Kane thrown in, plus Kelly Kelly and Maria in Mrs. Claus outfits, and different clothes for Chris Jericho, MVP, Edge and Rey Mysterio.

Elsewhere, Shaun White Snowboarding expands with two premium packs and a freebie. The two GBP 3.99 additions are The Mile High Pack - new gear and a new mountain - and The Hard Pack, which adds a massive new mountain with extra competitions and side quests. The Freebie Pack adds new clothes and boards.

Moving on, and there's a GBP 2.39 expansion pack for Brain Challenge, bolstering the original with more mini-games, multiplayer games, Creativity mode and Kid Test and Senior Test modes.

A free Savage Moon Theme is up for grabs (our review next week), and there are bundles of Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band and High Velocity Bowling extras.

Rock Band gets Lenny Kravitz tracks "Are You Gonna Go My Way", "Freedom Train", "Let Love Rule" and "Mr. Cab Driver" all at GBP 0.99 a piece. Roy Orbison also joins the fray with "Claudette", "In Dreams", "Ooby Dooby", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "Mean Woman Blues" and "You Got It". All are GBP 0.99 or you can throw down GBP 4.99 for a bundle.

Guitar Hero World Tour, meanwhile, gets singles "Low (Travis Barker Remix) [Feat. T-Pain]" by Flo Rida, "What's My Age Again" by Blink-182, and "Lycanthrope" by +44. Each costs GBP 1.59 or GBP 4.39 as a pack.

Finally, High Velocity Bowling gets new characters, costumes, balls and trick shots. Each separate piece costs GBP 0.79. And we're not listing them. ...

via Computer and Video Games


It'll disappoint PS3 fans and give Xbox fanboys ammo for months to come, but Killzone 2 game director Mathijs de Jonge has finally admitted there are no plans to add a co-op mode to the flagship shooter.

De Jonge was cagey over the matter when we asked him back in August. "Co-op we're not talking about at the moment," he said, which seemed to hint that it'll be included, but he just doesn't want to disclose facts.

Other rumours strongly suggested a post-release patch, but as De Jonge has now confirmed, there's no chance of that either.


On the PS Blog, Sony's Jeff Rubenstein also confirmed: "There is no collector's edition slated for Killzone 2."

He added: "Guerrilla Games has put all of their effort into creating this masterpiece of a game, so we didn't actively pursue a CE."

Don't let the double serving of disappointment get you down though - you're in for a treat and we'll be telling you all about it in our full review once the embargo shackles come off. ...

via Kotaku




In the long and storied history of Atari 2600-themed lighting projects there have been countless interesting creations, but only one Atari 2600 lamp deserves to be called the Ultimate. This is that lamp.

Okay, so perhaps Atari 2600 lamps aren't all that readily available in the first place, but that surely doesn't steal away any of the awesome from this piece. Created by Instructibles.com user Seamster, the lamp functions as both a giant, non-working replica of an Atari 2600 joystick on it's own, but take off the top, screw in a light bulb, add a box art-covered lampshade and hit the big red button - yes, the button is functional - and you have the fanciest lighting solution a gamer could ask for.

Hit the link for instructions on how you can go about hurting yourself while trying to replicate what Seamster did.


More info at Instructibles ...

via Eurogamer


Atari has whipped out the calendar and circled February dates for Eternal Sonata PS3 and Family Ski & Snowboard.

The Japanese role-playing game will be with us on 13th February, which is well over a year after the Xbox 360 release. However, developer tri-Crescendo has used the extra time productively, adding new quests, battles and even multiple endings.

Pop over to our Eternal Sonata Xbox 360 review for an idea of what to expect.

Family Ski & Snowboard - Family Ski with snowboards - arrives slightly later on 27th February following its Japanese release in November.

This sporty Wii outing uses the balance board for control in conjunction with Wiimote and nunchuk. There's also Mii avatar support and multiplayer for four people on one console.

Ellie quite liked Family Ski, if only briefly, and the promise of more content and beefier features places the sequel somewhere on our 'what else can we do with our balance board' list. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Bizarre Creations has released a wicked megamix of all of the tunes from Geometry Wars 1 and 2's thumping soundtracks.

"Chris Chudley (of Audio Antics) was kind enough to put together a badass Megamix, featuring some of the songs from the entire GW series in a 13 minute long special remix version," said Bizarre community manager Ami Langton.

"The mix is named '46860 Choices', and we're releasing it for free download."

They certainly are, and you can download it right now via this link. We're using it to upset quiet corners of the office via our subwoofer right now.

Thanks Gamertag Radio. ...