via Games Industry


Hardware supply constraints, as well as lower PS2 and Wii software pricing, are potential risks to the market this fall says Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian.

Continued strong demand for the Nintendo Wii, a shift in Xbox 360 unit sales from Q4 into September, and lower price points for the PS3 and PSP may all result in holiday hardware demand outstripping supplies.

Sebastian also noted a downward trend for PS2 and Wii software pricing. New PS2 titles continue to shift to the USD 29 and USD 39 range, with pricing of Wii titles spread from USD 29 to USD 49, "indicative of the more casual nature of many Wii titles."

Xbox 360 and PS3 software pricing remains consistent at USD 59.

Sebastian released his analysis ahead of earnings reports from Activision, EA, and THQ.

He believes that Activision will exceed estimates based upon strong sales of Guitar Hero and catalog titles along with key holiday releases Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty IV.

EA shares, on the other hand, could face "near-term choppiness" due to slow sales of EA Sports titles as well as the shift of Army of Two out of the holiday sales period. Favorable currency exchange and the acquisition of Bioware and Pandemic could offset some of the product headwinds, according to the analyst.

Sebastian is not expecting any surprises from THQ's earnings report, as the company already pre-announced results and revised its guidance for the year. ...

via Eurogamer


Capcom Japan has soothed the Sony mob by unveiling a new Monster Hunter game for PSP.

Dubbed Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, it is expected to be available in the eastern reaches of the world in March, complete with its own themed PSP Slim & Lite bundle.

From a broken translation it looks as though this new game follows on from Monster Hunter Freedom 2, offering more monsters to tussle with against and more levels to work through.

The announcement comes just weeks after Capcom revealed that Monster Hunter 3 would be Wii exclusive, despite having been originally announced as a PS3 title.

Monster Hunter is an action role-playing game where you have to fight big nasties that want to eat you, improving your skills, equipment and death-dealing capabilities as you go. Its star attraction, though, is the ability to join up with your friends in multiplayer so that you can catch even bigger fish.

It has sold like our bakery's ghost-themed short-bread biscuits over in Japan, and currently sits on the throne as the most successful game on the handheld for the region. ...

via Eurogamer


Konami Japan has delayed the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots by pushing it back to the second quarter of 2008 (April - June).

It seems to be a little confused in its official statement, however, which suggests the game was originally due to launch this winter, despite creator Hideo Kojima revealing at E3 this summer that it would be released simultaneously in spring 2008. Mmm, seasoning.


We had a chance to finally get our hands on the game at the recent Tokyo Game Show 2007 and were impressed with its improved accessibility as well as its stealthy bag full of new tricks. ...

via Games Industry


Sitel, an outsourcing company specialising in customer care, has been awarded two honours for its Sony PlayStation solutions.

The company won Best Private Sector Call Centre at the Marketing Direct Connect awards and was also honoured with Utilities and High-Tech Outsourcing Project of the Year by the National Outsourcing Association, for its PlayStation campaigns.

...

via Eurogamer


Bungie is getting into the Halloween festivities by letting loose the spooky infection game type onto Halo 3 servers.

The spookiness will run until 10am tomorrow morning, and lets one or two of you start as Zombies before gradually infecting and bolstering your ranks with victims from the Human team.

There are a couple of variations to keep things fresh, too. Save One Bullet gives the Humans a limited ammo supply so they can't hold the Zombies at bay for ever, and Creeping Death where Zombies are slower but invisible and much more deadly.

There is also a third alternative called Creeping Rockets, where Humans get bigger weapons but Zombies are also harder to take down.

Infection games will act like regular ranked matches, and a maximum of four of you can join in a group. You will need eight people minimum to start, and cannot exceed the upper limit of 13.

Those of you who enjoy yourself will be pleased to know that Bungie plans more of these festive escapades in the future, and that any time you play these variations in Matchmaking you will save them in your Recent Games queue and be able to use them again in your Custom matches. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Cheapskates, mark your calendars; 'Xtival 07' marks a weekend of free Xbox Live Gold access for Xbox 360 owners with a broadband connection, and it's all happening in a few weeks time.

According to various fan sites under Microsoft's community wing, the online event will take place on the weekend starting November 23, when all Xbox 360 owners with a broadband connection will be able to access Gold account luxuries such as online play.

A "full line-up" of Xbox Live events, competitions and exclusive downloads are promised for the weekend and it's only open to European countries - so you've only got swearing, 13-year-old Frenchmen to worry about.

Microsoft wasn't available to confirm the event at time of writing.

So... fantastic news, or more excuse to moan about Xbox Live's comparatively harsh pricing structure next to the free PlayStation Network? Go ballistic in the comments below. Please. ...

via Eurogamer


Viva Piñata: Party Animals will be trampling all over my memories from 16th November onwards, Microsoft said this week, as the game launched in the US to dire reviews. (Poor choice of w... actually, I'll leave it.)

As you probably don't care, Party Animals is a Krome Studios-authored mini-game compilation, which draws on the Viva Piñata TV show and original game for inspiration.

Up to four players are invited to crowd around the telly or the Internet to take part in a series of foot races, interspersed with Wac-A-Mole, Hot Potato and other fairly generic fare built around bashing, chasing, whacking or button-matching, while characters from the TV show say funny things over the top. ...

via Games Industry


Microsoft has again warned Xbox 360 users not to share Live account information with other player's online.

Some users share accounts in order to have other players boost their Gamerscore and unlock difficult Achievements, but if shared accounts begin taking advantage of paid content and registered credit cards, they are breaking the Xbox Live Terms of Use.


And any tampering of 360 Gamerscores or Achievements by "nefarious" means is likely to result in harsh penalties – accounts can be cancelled, Gamerscores removed, and consoles banned from the popular online service.

...

via Gizmodo


Slysoft, the makers of AnyDVD, CloneDVD, and many other disc-copying software apps, have just cracked the Blu-ray BD+ copy protection. This means, if Slysoft's predictions are correct, a commercially-purchasable suite to copy Blu-ray movies will be available by the end of the year.

However, Blu-ray blanks—especially dual-layer ones—are still so costly right now ($40+ for a writable) that it's not financially feasible for people to be duping their own movies. You know, unless you really enjoy the blank disc look over the professionally done Blu-ray disc with the proper case and materials. ...