via Games Industry


According to Goldman Sachs analysts, Halo 3 may generate USD 170 million in revenue during Microsoft's first quarter which ends five days after the game's launch.

A Bloomberg article notes that Microsoft's stock rose the most in the five months since analysts recommended purchasing shares of Apple, Microsoft, and EMC. The Microsoft recommendation was based upon expectations that Halo 3 would boost revenue.

Microsoft climbed 95 cents, or 3.3 per cent, to USD 29.60 today for the top gain in the Dow average.

If Halo 3 does generate USD 170 million for Microsoft, it will mark the first profitable quarter for the company's gaming segment, which has been in the red since the launch of the original Xbox.

Goldman Sachs analysts Sarah Friar and Frederick Grieb predict that Microsoft will have shipped a total of 4.2 million copies into the retail channel by the end of September.

While these numbers are slightly behind those for Halo 2, which shipped approximately 7.5 million copies by the end of 2004, the Xbox had an installed user base of almost 20 million when Halo 2 was released.

In contrast, the Xbox 360 has a worldwide installed user base of just over 11.6 million. ...

via Games Industry


Halo 3 has finally launched in the US, greeted by thousands of consumers desperate to get their hands on the highly-anticipated Xbox 360 title as soon as possible.

For employees at the GameStop in Folsom, California, one of the 10,000 US retailers opening at midnight, the launch of Halo 3 was just as big as they were expecting.


One of the questions analysts and journalists alike are asking is whether or not Halo 3 will cause a significant increase in Xbox 360 console sales. For this GameStop, anyway, the answer is yes.


GameStop is the world's largest videogame retailer, operating 4,954 stores throughout the US, UK, and worldwide. This northern California store, on the outskirts of the state's capitol city, took almost 700 reservations, with two nearby stores having taken more than 1,000 reservations.

According to the GameStop employees, the majority of pre-orders were taken on the standard edition of the game, with approximately 20 per cent for the collector's edition. The Legendary edition, priced USD 129.99, was also in high demand. Of the 120 copies received by the store, all but one were pre-sold.

The line outside the store began at 10:15am, only a few minutes after the store opened. By the time the doors opened again at midnight, the line had wrapped completely around the building, with several hundred people waiting patiently.

Raymund Ofina, 16, was first in line. Actually, his older sister saved his place in line for him until school let out at 3:00pm, and stayed with him to make the purchase. What would motivate the siblings to remain outside a store for 14 hours?

"Halo is one of the best games ever made," Ofina said. "My friend got me into it. It was really fun, and I got hooked." He planned to stay up all night to play through the single-player campaign, although he would not admit to planning to stay home from school the next day.

Others in the crowd were not so coy, freely admitting that they planned to skip school and work if necessary. Most intended to play the campaign first, although a few said they would jump right into multiplayer matches.

Another GameStop employee, identifying himself only as "Cool Jeff", acted as an impromptu bouncer for the night. Fortunately, the crowd remained orderly, and the only unauthorized entry came from someone's small dog. Jeff promptly caught the ticketless interloper.


A few minutes after midnight, Raymund Ofina left the GameStop with the USD $129.99 Legendary Edition box hoisted above his head. The crowd outside broke into applause. Moments later, the screeching of tires could be heard as the next group of Halo 3 owners made a hasty exit from the parking lot, eager to head home to play the game.

Scenes like this repeated themselves all across the US.

While regional events in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Seattle featured celebrities and giveaways, attracting larger crowds, even the people waiting there were quick to leave...ready to go home and fire up the long-awaited game on their Xbox 360s.

Steve Evans, 21, arrived shortly before the midnight opening, thanks to a friend who saved his spot during the afternoon. "I think it's the best first-person shooter since Goldeneye. Halo 1 was great, Halo 2 was even better...Halo 3's got to be even better than Halo 2."

Unlike Ofina, Evans didn't plan to stay up all night.

...

via Games Industry


Nintendo stock has become the second most valuable in Japan following investor confidence in the company's performance ahead of the crucial Christmas period.

As noted by Reuters, the games giant sits behind only Canon to become the second most valuable traded company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has a bigger market value than Nintendo, but shares are currently suspended due to a imminent share split.

Shares in Nintendo were up to 59,200 JPY on Tuesday, or 3.1 per cent, bringing its market value to 8.39 trillion (GBP 36.4 million). ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo stock has become the second most valuable in Japan following investor confidence in the company's performance ahead of the crucial Christmas period.

As noted by Reuters, the games giant sits behind only Canon to become the second most valuable traded company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has a bigger market value than Nintendo, but shares are currently suspended due to a imminent share split.

Shares in Nintendo were up to 59,200 JPY on Tuesday, or 3.1 per cent, bringing its market value to 8.39 trillion (GBP 36.4 million). ...

via Games Industry


Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 has climbed the charts to become the number one selling game in the UK thanks to its release on the PlayStation 3.

The sports game has jumped from number three to number one, knocking the publishers' own Medal of Honor: Airborne off the top.

MySims, another EA property for Nintendo consoles, has entered the charts at number two, with the game seeing 58 per cent of sales on the Wii and 42 per cent on the DS.

Super Paper Mario climbs the charts to number three, with Midway's John Woo Presents Stranglehold at number four.

Elsewhere in the charts, Codemasters' Colin McRae: Dirt enters the top ten at number eight and the second highest new entry is VU Games' World in Conflict at 15.

Sony's SingStar Rock Ballads has entered the charts at 25 and Sega's Sonic Rush Adventure breaks into the top 40 at 26 on its second week of release.

The only other new entry is Sony's PS3 title Warhawk at number 38. ...

via Games Industry


Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has told GamesIndustry.biz that recent chatter about an entry level 40 GB PlayStation 3 is just "rumour and speculation".

Numerous websites and blogs have suggested that Sony is due to unveil a scaled-down console for around GBP 299 in the UK, with USB ports and backwards compatibility functions removed.

Although the US and Japan has seen PlayStation 3 price cuts this year, the console currently retails in the UK for GBP 425, complete with an extra controller and two first-party games. ...

via Engadget




While there's no indication that they got the game to test it with, the folks at the FCC did at least get to spend a bit of time with the new wireless guitar for the PS3 version of Rock Band, which is more than enough to make us a tad envious. Somewhat interestingly, the guitar looks to come bundled with a fairly unassuming-looking dongle, which would seem to be unnecessary if the guitar used Bluetooth, as some had previously speculated. Otherwise, the FCC filing looks to be about as standard as they come, complete with a snippet of the manual, a slew of test reports, and a few shots of the guitar's innards thrown in for good measure (click on through for a glimpse of that).


A couple more photographs here ...

via IGN


That wonderful tradition of honoring games that have the mere potential for quality continued at this year's Tokyo Game Show, as show organizer Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association (CESA) held its annual Future Game Awards ceremony at the Makuhari Messe on the 23rd.

The Future Game Awards are initially selected by attendees of the show's first public day. Show goers picked 286 games out of the 702 titles on display. This list was then cut down to eleven finalists.

And the winners are:

Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (aka Yakuza 3, Sega, PS3)
Ace Combat 6 (Bandai Namco, X360)
Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (aka Dynasty Warriors 6, Koei, PS3/X360)
Super Robot Taisen OG Gaiden (Banpresto, PS2)
Haruhi no Yakusoku (Bandai Namco Games, PSP)
Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes (Capcom, PS2/Wii)
Takarajima Z (aka Zack & Wiki, Capcom, Wii)
Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom, PS3/X360/PC)
Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix, DS)
Professor Layton and the Devil's Box (Level 5, DS)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Konami, PS3)

Japanese publishers often make a big deal out of these awards, going so far as to put special commemorative stickers on a game's packaging indicating that it was selected the previous year based on its potential quality. ...

via IGN


Microsoft plans to release exclusive Halo 3 content free to Xbox Live Gold members this week, according to a post today on the Gamerscore blog, an Xbox 360 and Xbox Live site run by Microsoft employees.

Gold members who click on the "Unite to Fight" ad on Xbox Live starting at midnight tonight will be able to download four exclusive Halo 3 items: a Halo 3 Dashboard theme, a Halo 3 Gamerpic, and two documentaries about the game.

The theme and picture pack will be available for download at midnight tonight. On Thursday, the "Inside Bungie: Halo 3 - The Story" video, which includes interviews with the Bungie team, will be available. On Friday, Microsoft will release the "Inside Bungie: Halo 3 - New Features" video in which Bungie team members discuss (surprise!) the game's new features.

If you have any time left, you might be able to actually play the game, which launches at midnight tonight. ...