via Games Industry


Nintendo has said that the Virtual Console service for Wii has so far generated JPY 3.5 billion (USD 33 million / EUR 22.3 million [£15m]) for the company.

Shinji Hatano, licensing director for Nintendo, revealed the figure during a recent press conference to mark a collaboration with NTT for broadband internet access for the home console, reports IGN.

According to Nintendo, 7.8 million items have been downloaded over the service, which offers old games from Nintendo and other publisher's back catalogues, priced between EUR 5 and EUR 10. ...

via Games Iindsutry


The Blu-ray format is outselling rival HD DVD in Europe, accounting for 73 per cent of all HD movies sold.

According to the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee, sales recently broke the 1 million barrier. That's not counting PlayStation 3 games, which adds another 20 million units to Blu-ray disc production for sale in Europe.

HD DVD was developed by Toshiba, while Sony backs the Blu-ray standard. Microsoft's Xbox 360 offers an add-on HD DVD movie player; Blu-ray disc playback is standard in every model of Sony's PS3.

Of the high definition movie discs bought by consumers so far this year in Europe, 73 per cent were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 27 per cent were HD DVD, according to sales data provided by Media Control Gfk International.

The Blu-ray Disc Association said the best-selling titles in the Blu-ray format were 300, Casino Royale, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

In the US, Blu-ray disc movies had outsold HD DVD movies by almost two-to-one during the first nine months of 2007 according to Home Media Research. ...

via IGN


Capcom Japan announced today final Japanese release details for the PlayStation 3 version of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. The Xbox 360 to PS3 port will arrive in its home territory on 2/21/2008, carrying a slightly reduced price of 6,290 yen.

As previously announced, the PS3 version will include all the downloadable content from the 360 version straight off the disk. It will also include secret characters who appeared in the PC version, and, of course, full online play for 16 players.

A February release means that by the time PS3 owners get their hands on the game, one year and two months will have passed since the 360 original hit Japan in December 2006. Worth the wait? We'll find out in three months!

Internationally, the game is still scheduled for a TBA 2008 date.


Screenshots of this game here ...

via Games Industry


Activision's Guitar Hero III has shot to the top of the Swedish multiformat charts, with all four SKUs in the top ten.

Other new entries in the top twenty are Microsoft's 360 exclusive Mass Effect at three and EA's Need for Speed Pro Street at number 11.

Super Mario Galaxy is the best-selling game on the Wii, while Nintendo favourites The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and New Super Mario Bros are at one and two in the DS charts, respectively.

Electronic Arts holds the top three spots in the PC charts, with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Crysis and Need for Speed Pro Street.


The full charts for the Swedish market follow:

Multiformat
1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (PS2)
2. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (360)
3. Mass Effect (360)
4. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
5. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (Wii)
6. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (PS3)
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)
8. Assassins Creed (360)
9. Singstar Svenska hits Schlager (PS2)
10. Assassins Creed (PS3)
11. Need for Speed Prostreet (PS2)
12. Need for Speed Prostreet (PS3)
13. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
14. Crysis (PC)
15. High School Musical: Sing It! (PS2)
16. Need for Speed Prostreet (360)
17. Need for Speed Prostreet (PC)
18. Unreal Tournament 3 (PC)
19. World of Warcraft (PC)
20. The Sims 2 Tonårsprylar (PC)

PC
1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
2. Crysis
3. Need for Speed Prostreet
4. Unreal Tournament 3
5. World of Warcraft
6. The Sims 2 Tonårsprylar
7. En riktig jul - Julkalendern 2007
8. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
9. Counter-Strike 1: Anthology
10. The Sims 2 Jorden Runt

PlayStation 2
1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
2. Singstar Svenska hits Schlager
3. Need for Speed Prostreet
4. High School Musical: Sing It!
5. Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz
6. Singstar Svenska hits
7. FIFA 08
8. Buzz: The Mega Quiz
9. The Simpsons
10. GTA San Andreas

PlayStation 3
1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
2. Assassins Creed
3. Need for Speed Prostreet
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
5. Ratchet & Clank Tools of Destruction
6. FIFA 08
7. NHL 08
8. Rainbow Six Vegas
9. Lego Star Wars 1 & 2 The Complete Saga
10. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

Xbox 360
1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
2. Mass Effect
3. Assassins Creed
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
5. Need for Speed Prostreet
6. Halo 3
7. Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation
8. NHL 08
9. Gears of War
10. FIFA 08

Wii
1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
4. Rayman Raving Rabbids
5. Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
6. Metroid Prime 3 Corruption
7. The Simpsons
8. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
9. Table Tennis
10. Lego Star Wars 1 & 2 The Complete Saga

Nintendo DS
1. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
2. New Super Mario Bros
3. Mario Party DS
4. Lego Star Wars 1 & 2 The Complete Saga
5. Pokémon Diamond
6. Bilar
7. Pokémon Pearl
8. Mario Kart DS
9. The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
10. Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends

PSP
1. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
2. Silent Hill Origins
3. The Simpsons
4. Tekken Dark Resurrection
5. FIFA 08
6. GTA Vice City Stories
7. Daxter
8. Need for Speed Underground Rivals
9. Crash of the Titans
10. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions ...

via Kotaku




Some good, scratch that, great news for Rock Band fans from Harmonix today. They wrote to tell us that gamers who are experiencing problems with their guitars (or any of the Rock Band instruments) should contact EA's customer support website and they will send out a replacement immediately.



Harmonix also took the time to address some of the concerns about the Playstation 3 guitars.


Excellent. We all make mistakes, it's how a company deals with them that matters and this is exactly how it should be done. ...

via Gizmodo


Randy Nunez's Xbox 360 is being beaten to death by Halo 3, so that it "routinely, consistently, and systematically 'froze,' 'crashed,' or 'locked up.'" Naturally, this "disrupted game play." For his pain and suffering of having to reset his console to resume getting teabagged, he wants $5 million and class action status, 'cause "many consumers" are having these issues. Sorry. My bad. I take full responsibility for shooting people in the face that hard. I thought I was just knocking them off the internet, but apparently it's crashing their 360s too. I apologize. But seriously.

As Ars points out, Microsoft's been pretty public and all apologetic about the rampant Red Ring plague, dumping a billion dollars into seriously (and appropriately) extended warranties for repairs multiple times, and beefing up hardware to take the heat. More importantly, the Xbox 360 was killed by Halo with the candlestick in the living room connection is a thread that hasn't exactly lit up the internet or the media, and they (we) love jumping on that kind of stuff.

Our verdict? Bogus and unnecessary. We sentence you to death by Needler. Before they put it on steroids. ...

via Games Industry


The Internet Rights Forum, a French lobbying group, has issued new guidelines for online game publishers and legislators.

Along with proposing an on-screen timer to let players know how much time they are spending online, the group is proposing changes to the ratings system for online games according to a PC World article.

Currently, European publishers use the voluntary PEGI rating system with categories based on recommended ages such as 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, and 18+. Because online games may expose players to text messages and conversations beyond the control of publishers, however, the Internet Rights Forum wants to strengthen the ratings system.

The group is proposing that games which allow text messages cannot be rated 3+ or 7+, and can only be rated 12+ if the game's text messages are moderated by an adult.

The Internet Rights Forum also wants publishers to guarantee that age ratings will apply to in-game advertisements, and to put warnings on packaging if an online game contains ads.

Some of the groups' recommendations could be applicable across Europe, according to spokesman Laurent Baup, while others specifically address French laws restricting hate speech or defining intellectual-property rights.

The Internet Rights Forum plans to create a Web site for parents and teachers, warning about the risks of online games, that should launch early next year. ...

via Kotaku


General Sir Richard Dannatt told an audience of business leaders that the "Playstation generation" was more than a match for what is required for combat in Afghanistan.


Well there you go, but what about the Wii and 360 generaiton? ...

via Kotaku


General Sir Richard Dannatt told an audience of business leaders that the "Playstation generation" was more than a match for what is required for combat in Afghanistan.


Well there you go, but what about the Wii and 360 generaiton? ...