via Joystiq


Contrary to what has previously been stated, the Nintendo Wii port of Okami will have some extra frills. A listing on Capcom's website reveals that Clover Studio's masterpiece will now support widescreen (16:9) and 480p progressive scan support. That should give you more than enough reason to finally splurge on some Wii component cables.

Developer Ready at Dawn, who is responsible for the port, had previously said the game would be an "exact port" with only Wii remote support added during brush stroke moments. While this isn't new content, the technical improvement is a welcome addition to this visually stunning title. Okam-Wii (not an official title) is due out March 25. ...

via Eurogamer


New NPD figures reported by MarketWatch have revealed PlayStation 3 outsold in Xbox 360 in the US last month, with 269,000 Sony machines shifted compared to 230,000 MS consoles.

Nintendo is still sitting on thebiggest pile of gold though; Americans snapped up 274,000 Wiis in January. The DS beat the PSP, too, with 251,000 units sold versus 230,000 for Sony's handheld.

Microsoft said the lower Xbox 360 sales were due to temporary stock shortages. The company assured shopkeepers it is working hard to churn out more consoles as fast as possible.

Call of Duty 4 was the best-selling game of the month, with 330,000 copies shifted. Wii Play came in second, followed by Guitar Hero III for Wii and Rock Band for Xbox 360. Other top sellers included Super Mario Galaxy, Burnout Paradise and Mario Party DS. ...

via Eurogamer


Capcom has popped the Lost Planet PS3 demo back on the US PlayStation Network.

It was taken down because players were having trouble connecting to lobbies online, which makes testing the multiplayer side of things a trifle difficult.

But that should all be fixed now, and those of you who have mastered the art of pretending you are American can give it a whirl. We're waiting to hear back from Capcom about its European demo plans.

Lost Planet PS3 is due out on 29th February, which is over year later than its original launch on Xbox 360.

Still, it has had some patches and multiplayer maps added to it since then, and Capcom is rewarding you with new playable character Luka for your patience. She is a show pirate with a lovely face. ...

via Games Industry


According to data released by Sony Computer Entertainment America, downloads via the PlayStation Network increased to 7.9 million in January, 2008.

That's up from the 6.6 million the previous month, with Sony also stating that 52 million pieces of content have been downloaded from the PlayStation Store since it went live with the launch of the PlayStation 3 in the US.

The company now has 2.9 million registered PlayStation Network users in North America.

The figures come following the release of NPD data for January that showed the PS3 outsold Microsoft's Xbox 360, with 269,000 units sold compared to 230,000.

In a statement, Jack Tretton, CEO of SCEA offered: "Coming off a great holiday season we see strong momentum behind PS3 in 2008, and feel confident about the year ahead.

"We have Blu-ray emerging as the de-facto high-def standard, the developer community is hitting their stride, consumers are recognising the tremendous value and innovative services such as PlayStation Home are all in the works, so this is definitely shaping up to be a breakthrough year for us." ...

In Japan, console sale positions stay the same like last weeks reading but console figures take a hit as follows below:


Nintendo Wii: 81,737
Playstation Portable: 75,912
Nintendo DS Lite: 60,464
Playstation 3 : 23,985
Playstation 2: 11,038
Xbox 360 : 3,615

Wii takes roughly a 12,700 drop, DS Lite down by 7,000, PS3 drops about 18,000, PS2 down 1,000 and Xbox down by 2,400. Only the PSP sees an increase by about 3,000 units. ...

via Kotaku


It's those random moments that make Grand Theft Auto work so well. You know, when the unexpected happens, and everything just falls into place and works. What's random GTA IV moment has stood out for Rockstar honcho Dan Houser? He says:

...

via Games Industry


According to the Blu-ray disc association European promotions committee, Blu-ray disc movie sales across Europe have eclipsed the 2 million barrier a mere two months after reaching the 1 million unit mark.

Blu-ray movie sales in Europe total 2.4 million according to the latest figures from Media Control Gfk International. 79 per cent of the high-definition movie discs bought in 2008 to date were on the Blu-ray format.

The biggest Christmas release was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, with sales of nearly 100,000 units, joined by impressive sales for The Simpsons Movie and Casino Royale.

"DVD-Video was first introduced into Western Europe in 1997, and the following year some 230,000 DVD players were installed and 2 million discs were sold through," the BDA said.

"In comparison, Blu-ray Disc made its first tentative launch in Western Europe in 2006, and the following year some 3.2 million PlayStation 3 consoles and 34,000 standalone players were installed, while 2.3 million Blu-ray discs sold through."

"News from Warner Bros. at CES last month caught the headlines, but what this news proves is that the tipping point in the format war in Europe happened several months prior to CES and the tide has been running strongly in favor of Blu-ray Disc for many months," BDA European Promotions Committee chairman Frank Simonis told The Hollywood Reporter.

"Our challenge now is to move Blu-ray Disc into the mainstream." ...

via Computer and Video Games


It's official. Well, almost. The Wii has overtaken the worldwide lifetime sales of the GameCube in the thirteen months since its release.

Now for our legendary E in A Level mathematics to finally prove its worth. On February 9, the Wii had sold 21.490 million consoles, while its predecessor had sold a mere 21.515 million units.

Based on the amount of Wii's sold last week, the console is currently selling 64,000 units per day.

Pop all that information in a mathematics machine and you get a figure of 21.554 million Wii's sold by the closing of business on February 10. Wowsers.

To put this in perspective, 61 million NES units, 49 million SNES units and 33 million N64 units are currently floating around the world in various states of despair.

Nintendo shouldn't be breaking out the champagne yet, though. The next milestone for them makes the GameCube lifetime sales look like loose change by comparison.

Last October, Sony reported that the PS2 lifetime worldwide sales had surpassed 120 million. There's a long way to go, yet. ...

via Eurogamer


SEGA has told Eurogamer that SEGA Superstars Tennis will be out for PS3, 360, PS2, Wii and DS on 28th March.

Ellie radioed in from a press event to tell us, confirming the date listed on the mysterious Nintendo Germany schedule unearthed yesterday.

Our roving reporter in the field also confirmed that the PS3 and 360 versions will have online support, which is broken down into 9-player tournaments, friendlies, being a spectator, watching highlights and generally doing other Virtua Tennis things. Yes there is voice chat, too.

However, the Wii offering will not support online play.

The publisher also told us it was making the game with SEGA fans in mind, which accounts for it having 80 songs in from titles in its past catalogue, as well as character-themed levels like one for Alex Kidd and another for Puyo Pop.

There's a House of the Dead level as well, except its name has been changed to Curien Mansion so it can be sold in Germany, where zombies have green blood.

Ellie seemed to like what she saw, and you can have a look for yourself in our SEGA Superstars Tennis gamepage. ...