via Eurogamer


Sony CEO Howard Stringer has said PS3 sales aren't suffering as a result of the Wii's popularity - even though Nintendo may have adopted "a superior business model".

"The Wii is a well-made device that has found a new target group. For a while, we held the same target group with the SingStar karaoke game. But perhaps we neglected to pursue that avenue," Stringer told Die Welt.

"PlayStation games are rather designed for those who play a lot. Although it's a different strategy, it pays off. We currently have a production bottleneck with the PlayStation 3."

In other words, people are snapping up PS3 consoles faster than Sony can make them, according to Stringer. "You also know, however, that our business model is not perfect, and that we make a loss on every console we sell," he conceded.

"Nintendo makes money with the hardware alone, which may be a superior business model. But the Wii is not succeeding at our expense - it is not hurting us."

And besides, Stringer went on, "We are already making more money with the games than we are losing with the hardware."

But Sony spent USD 3 billion on bringing PS3 to market, let's not forget. Will it ever get that money back?

"Not for as long as I live," said Springer, laughing the laugh of a man who wouldn't get out of a next-gen DVD format war for less than USD 3 billion.

"It will certainly take some time... We are currently at the stage in which we need to get a grip on the production costs. That takes time." ...

via Eurogamer


Nintendo has released a pair of WiiWare games and two more for the Virtual Console as part of the latest phase of the Hanabi Festival.

Sadly there's nothing to rival last week's amazing Super Mario RPG, but the WiiWare titles might be interesting.

The first is MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade, where up to three players tackle three separate puzzle games - based around circle, square and bar shapes - at the same time on the same screen, each trying to score a million points and each player's actions impacting the other puzzles.

MaBoShi also allows you to use Mii characters and save off replays, which you can distribute to friends via WiiConnect24. There's even a DS download version for taking The Three Shape Arcade on the road with you. MaBoShi costs 800 Wii Points (GBP 6 / EUR 8 approx).

The other WiiWare release is Critter Round-Up from Konami, where players have to mend fences to put animals back in their cages. Or as the press release puts it, "The critters have escaped and the barnyard is in chaos!"

Fence-mending is puzzle-based, it says, with over 50 levels set in areas like the Outback and Arctic, and various mini-games including Snowball Soccer, Chicken Catch, Fence Trap and potentially the odd one out, "Predator Rampage". All this and four-player competitive/co-operative multiplayer for 1000 Wii Points (GBP 7 / EUR 10 approx).

As for the Virtual Console additions, first is Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, which came out on the Famicom Disk System in 1988, and must not be misread as "Bio Miracle Bukkake Upa", lest the amazing story take on a terrifying new significance.

It's a Japanese platform game, see, in which a baby named Upa fights people by inflating them using his magic rattle, and can then bounce or ride around on their ballooned bodies.

"By accident, Upa smashes an urn that releases the spirit of Zai, an evil goat-like demon who proceeds to absorb the life force of the kingdom’s adults and kidnap every baby!" the press release explains. 600 Wii Points for this, or approximately GBP 4.20 / EUR 6. Bearded ex-pats in Asia should probably steer clear.

And finally there's a damp squib to go out on - the NES version of Dig Dug. "This original Famicom version was unavailable outside of Japan, until now, making this tunnel-digging classic a real monster-bashing gem for all Virtual Console fans!" the press release protests.

However, Dig Dug is available on about four billion other formats and we suspect you'll be hard-pressed to get excited about it or value for money out of it, especially with Hanabi inflation pushing the asking price up to 600 Wii Points (GBP 4.20 / EUR 6).

Look out for our thoughts on MaBoShi, Critter Round-Up, Bukkake thing and Dig Dug in a forthcoming WiiWare/Virtual Console Roundup. ...

via Games Industry


Titles for the Nintendo Wii have held onto the top spots in the German and Spanish software sales charts for the week ended August 24, according to data from Media-Control GfK International.

The Spanish chart saw Wii Fit take the top spot, followed by Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games for the PlayStation 3 in second place, and Wii Play in third.

Wall-E for the Nintendo DS jumped up the Spanish chart from last week to number six, followed by Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?, Guitar Hero: On Tour, and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, all for the DS, in seventh, eighth and ninth places respectively.

Closing off the Spanish chart was the PlayStation Portable title, Buzz! Master Quiz, at number ten.

Mario Kart Wii for the Nintendo Wii held onto first place in the German charts, followed by Wii Fit at number two and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for the Nintendo DS at three.

The only non-Nintendo platform title in the chart was the PC game Drakensang: The Dark Eye in fifth place. Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS came at number nine, while Summer Athletics for the Wii came in at ten.


The software chart for Spain follows:

1. Wii Fit (Wii)
2. Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games (PS3)
3. Wii Play (Wii)
4. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
5. Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
6. Wall-E (DS)
7. Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? (DS)
8. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
9. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
10. Buzz! Master Quiz (PSP)

The software chart for Germany follows:

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
2. Wii Fit (Wii)
3. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
4. Mario Kart DS (DS)
5. Drakensang: The Dark Eye (PC)
6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
7. Wii Play (Wii)
8. Dr Kawashima: More Brain Training (DS)
9. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
10. Summer Athletics (Wii) ...

This time around this week, all consoles experience a drop in hardware sales. All still maintain rank position from previous reading. With that explained, down to the point with the data show below as follows:


Nintendo DS Lite: 55,995
Playstation Portable: 47,604
Nintendo Wii: 35,173
Playstation 3: 9,020
Playstation 2:8,420
Xbox 360: 3,551


In rough figures, DS lite takes a hit of 22,600. PSP is second, down by 16,800. Wii comes next, reduced by 17,900. PS3 and PS2 sales are down 1,400 and 700 respectively and Xbox 360 is down 4,800.

All in all, not a great week for consoles sale for any of the big three companies in Japan. ...

via Gizmodo US


The Android Dev Blog today released some shots and details on the Android Market—the Android version of the iPhone's App Store. Stressing that it's a "market" (free, open, etc) rather than a "store," the Google folks have decided to not require an approval process for devs to have their applications listed, unlike Apple's mysterious black box of approval that even the developers still don't fully understand. Which is great news for Android devs, but could be quite a handful for Google.

Android Market builds in all of the similar functionalities found in Apple's version: providing the infrastructure to host apps in a centralized place, versioning and update control, and support for free and paid apps (although the pay apps will not be ready for version 1.0). Apple's model of a single, all-in-one app repository definitely makes sense over a Symbian or Blackberry approach, with apps scattered across the web. But where Apple has two phones to deal with, Android will eventually have hundreds, so the system will need to be all the more robust to not allow incompatible code that doesn't require prior approval to crash people's handsets. Still, iPhone developers have not been overly thrilled with Apple's development process, so this should be a relief for them. ...

via Games Industry


Sony has announced that US retailers 7-Eleven, Blockbuster and Riteaid will begin stocking PlayStation Network Cards from next month.

The cards allows users to purchase content from the PlayStation Store without a credit card, and can be used for all content including games and video, for PSP and PlayStation 3.

The cards are currently available in select stores in the US, and through vending machines and retailers in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. ...

via Engadget


Console modder Sam Thornley actually built this Pac-Man Mini handheld way back in 2007, but he only recently shared it with the members of Ben Heck's forums, and we're sure glad he did. There's nothing too special at the heart of this one, just a Jakks Pacific Namco Arcade Classic system, but Sam hit all the right marks with the little details, from the red buttons that are just itching to be pressed to the old school flip switch to the bigger-than-it-has-to-be casing. If you think you're up to the task of building your own, you can find all the details you need an plenty of pics to guide you on your way by hitting up the read link below.


More info and photographs at Ben Heck forums ...

via Computer and Video Games


Ubisoft is giving away access codes for a multiplayer "VIP" demo of Tom Clancy's EndWar on 360 to those who pre-order at Gamestation - but it's only for 360 owners.

As Ubi explains: "The pre-launch VIP demo will feature multiplayer functionality and serve as a final stress test for the online systems of the massive war game, allowing fans to get a taste of EndWar's voice command enabled strategy prior to its release."

A spokesperson told us that the firm has no plans to do the same for PS3 owners.

"The VIP demo is 360-exclusive," a Ubisoft spokesperson told us. The possibility of a future offline demo for PS3, although unlikely, wasn't ruled out.

The demo kicks off on Xbox 360 in early October. ...

via Eurogamer


Q Entertainment has unveiled Meteos Wars for Xbox Live Arcade, due out this October for 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60).

Meteos Wars is a puzzle game and a descendant of Meteos for the DS, where columns of alien symbols descend from the ceiling and you have to move individual blocks to create vertical or horizontal lines of three or more.

The twist is that once lines are formed, the blocks don't disappear but act as a rocket, which fires them and the blocks above them upwards. Making additional lines nearby or within the same column accelerates the column's flight, and once it's gone from the top of the screen, it's gone.

If its ascent is arrested, however, it slowly tumbles back to the ground and forces you to try and prop it back up. As the player moves between planets, he or she encounters new alien symbol sets and different gravitational conditions, which changes the gameplay dynamic considerably.

The DS version used the stylus for control, but judging by the first Meteos Wars screenshots, players will use a d-pad or analogue stick-controlled cursor to manoeuvre blocks on Xbox Live Arcade.

The game's also had a facelift, according to Q, and picked up some new special moves and game modes. The moves are called Planet Impact attacks (Armageddon, Gambit, Sentinel and Tempest - sounds more like the Waitrose version of the Four Horsemen to us but never mind), while modes are Mission, Attack Mode (with one-minute, 100-Meteo and Challenge sub-modes) and Versus. The latter allows you to play two-player games locally or over Xbox Live.

Throughout it all, you'll find your way to more than 20 planets, and there will be all sorts of accessories to collect.

Back on the DS, we gave the original 9/10 in our Meteos review, despite some concerns about "scrubbing" - mashing the DS stylus across the screen to randomly line up blocks - which presumably won't be a problem on Xbox Live.

What might be, however, is speed of navigating a cursor across blocky, moving puzzle terrain, and it will be interesting to see whether Meteos' brilliant gameplay shines past the new interface layer.

Q Entertainment must think it does though, or else we wouldn't be here. Look out for Meteos Wars in October, when it will hopefully continue XBLA's fine run of recent releases - Braid, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Galaga Legions and Castle Crashers. ...