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by Published on December 3rd, 2012 22:54- Categories:
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With the launches of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Assassin's Creed III and the Wii U, the November reporting period might have been the industry's best opportunity to avoid a complete year of US retail sales declines. A pair of analysts today said that opportunity was missed, predicting the NPD Group's November sales figures to once again show year-over-year declines when they're released this Thursday.Cowen Research analyst Doug Creutz expects November to be down sharply, 19 percent year-over-year for the console and handheld software market. Creutz said Black Ops II could be down about 11 percent from Modern Warfare 3's performance last year, selling 7.9 million copies for the month. He explained that the Treyarch developed shooter was only on sale for 12 days during this November's NPD window, while Modern Warfare 3 enjoyed 19 days on sale for its opening month last year. It doesn't help that Creutz thinks the blockbuster franchise is cooling off in general, saying Call of Duty sales will be down in the low-to-mid single digits for the year.Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter was more optimistic, projecting November software sales down just 2 percent year-over-year. He pinned the blame for the slip on a difficult comparison from last November--when software sales were up 10 percent--"persistent industry weakness," and falling sales of DS and Wii games. Additionally, Pachter said he expects Black Ops II to be roughly flat with Modern Warfare 3's sales from last November.November pessimism aside, both analysts expect the industry to bounce back next year. Creutz predicted a "sharp rebound" in the first half of next year, boosted again by the launch of new systems for the core market in the back half, a sentiment also expressed by Pachter."We believe there is finally light at the end of this almost four-year tunnel of declining video game sales," Pachter said, adding, "We expect results to rebound into sharply positive territory in February, when Take-Two releases BioShock Infinite, and we don't think that results will revert to double-digit negative sales growth again in 2013."NPD hardware and software numbers have been down every month so far in 2012, often with double-digit declines. The holiday quarter got off to a rough start, withOctober sales dropping 25 percent year-over-year.http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-sales-decline ...by Published on December 3rd, 2012 22:39- Categories:
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Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II has claimed its third successive No.1 this week.
It was no doubt helped by the release of the Wii U version, although sales were still down 35 per cent week-on-week.
Critical darling Far Cry 3 has to settle for second place in its debut week in the UKIE GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40 as a result, although it’s still the ninth biggest launch of the year falling just short of the numbers enjoyed by Square Enix’s Hitman: Absolution.
FIFA 13 remains at No.3 but perhaps it’s most notable achievement is the game’s release on Wii U, meaning that it’s now available on nine different platforms. It’s the first time that has happened since FIFA International Soccer in 1993-94.
The highest Wii U-exclusive entry misses out on a Top Ten debut, with the bundled Nintendo Land claiming 11th in its first week. New Super Mario Bros U debuts in 13th with Ubisoft’s ZombiU entering the listings in 17th.
In all, there were five Wii U SKU’s of titles in the Top Ten and ten Wii U versions of titles within the Top 40.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/black...charts/0107413 ...by Published on December 3rd, 2012 22:07- Categories:
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Collection begins with 14 titles spanning the 1980s to the 2000s
Video games have been recognised by the Museum of Modern Art, breaking another cultural barrier for the young medium.
The MoMA in New York has acquired 14 video games, the foundation for an initial wish list of about 40, which are to be acquired in the near future, as well as for a new category of artworks in MoMA’s collection. Some of the titles selected include Pac-Man, Myst, Portal, Tetris and Eve Online.
In its announcement, the museum said placed emphasis on design as a primary reason why games were worthy of inclusion. Behaviour, aesthetics, space and time were traits the museum weighted each work against.
“Are video games art? They sure are, but they are also design, and a design approach is what we chose for this new foray into this universe,” the news post by the MoMA reads. “The games are selected as outstanding examples of interaction design.
“Our criteria, therefore, emphasize not only the visual quality and aesthetic experience of each game, but also the many other aspects—from the elegance of the code to the design of the player’s behavior—that pertain to interaction design.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...-into-the-MoMA
...by Published on November 28th, 2012 22:54- Categories:
- DCEmu
This week saw the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops II in Japan, where the PS3 version of the title made it to number 2 in the software charts.
At first glance Animal Crossing: New Leaf still has the top spot, but the Japanese charts split release by format. The Activision shooter sold just over 197,000 units on PlayStation 3 and 22,000 on Xbox 360 in Japan, over 219,000 in total, which was enough to beat Animal Crossing. The Xbox version made it into the chart at number 6.
- [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 213,414
- [PS3] Call of Duty: Black Ops II 197,350 (New entry)
- [3DS] Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Magna Gate and the Infinity Labyrinth - 121,480 (New entry)
- [PS3] Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational - 100,862 (New entry)
- [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 - 34,971
On the hardware charts the PlayStation see saw a rise in units sold, but still came in behind the 3DS XL and the 3DS. Sales of the PlayStation Vita fell, and the handheld still lags behind its predecessor, the PSP, by a considerable number of units.
- 3DS XL - 101,667 ( Last week - 117,435)
- 3DS - 60,410 (51,441)
- PlayStation 3 - 34,167 (17,035)
- PSP - 16,903 (12,217)
- PlayStation Vita - 9,712 (13,091)
- Wii - 3,590 (3,001)
- Xbox 360 - 1,495 (2,063)
- PS2 - 747 (723)
- DSi - 241 (196)
- DSi LL - 211 (157)
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...apanese-charts ...by Published on November 27th, 2012 23:32- Categories:
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Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft must respond to the free-to-play model, says Ouya adviser
Console manufacturers must adopt the Apple model by opening up more for developers and relaxing their stringent online game restrictions, former Microsoft exec Ed Fries has said.
Speaking to Game Informer, Fries, who currently acts as an adviser for tiny hackable console Ouya, said Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft could no longer afford to ignore the experience Apple offers developers and users.
He stated that anyone could develop for iOS devices, and that certification was relatively cheap and painless. He compared this to the problems faced by Polytron’s isometric platformer Fez, which recently claimed it could not make an update to the XBLA title as it cost too much to do so.
“I think it’s going to have an impact on the way consoles and developers interact in the future,” said Fries.
“It’s getting harder and harder for the traditional consoles to ignore the Apple kind of experience. Anybody can develop for the platform, certification is a relatively cheap and painless thing, and in the old days of consoles there are all sorts of myths and legends that say that’s a bad thing to do.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...re-Apple-model
...by Published on November 26th, 2012 22:51- Categories:
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Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has claimed that the length of the current console generation has damaged the games industry.
And with Wii U launching this week and at least one of Xbox 720 and PS4 likely to launch next year, he’s calling on platform holders to make sure the next generation is over far more quickly.
"I think that what has happened is the transition has been very long," he told Polygon. "You know, in the industry, we were used to changing machines every five years. This time we are in the seventh year of the 360.
“We need new consoles and at the end of the cycle generally the market goes down because there are less new IPs, new properties, so that damaged the industry a little bit. I hope next time they will come more often."
As well as helping to avoid the prolonged lull that normally accompanies the end of a console cycle, more regular reinvention also offers publishers and developers more chance to be creative, Guillemot argues.
"Transitions are the best times, are the best ways, to make all of our creators take more risks and do different things," he added. "When a console is out for a long time you don't take as much risks on totally new IPs because even if they are good, they don't sell as well.
"So, the beginning of the machines is always a good time for innovation."
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/exten...argues/0107013 ...by Published on November 26th, 2012 21:35- Categories:
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Call Of Duty: Black Ops II is number one in the UK all-formats software chart for a second week in succession, seeing off the challenge of Hitman: Absolution despite sales falling by 81 per cent week on week.Absolution has to settle for a debut in second spot, despite outselling its 2006 predecessor Blood Money by almost three copies to one. FIFA 12 stands firm at number three for a third successive week, with Assassin’s Creed III a non-mover at number four.After Hitman, the next highest new entry is Lego Lord Of The Rings at number six – look out for a review of that on the site later this week. We’re also taking a look at Family Guy: Back To The Multiverse, which debuts at number 35.It’s been a dismal launch weekend for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, however. Sony’s answer to Smash Bros, developed by US studio Superbot Entertainment, barely sneaks into the top 40, at number 38.01. Call Of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)...
02. Hitman: Absolution (Square Enix)
03. FIFA 13 (EA)
04. Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft)
05. Halo 4 (Microsoft)
06. Lego Lord Of The Rings (Warner Bros)
07. Just Dance 4 (Ubisoft)
08. Skylanders Giants (Activision)
09. Need For Speed Most Wanted (EA)
10. Dishonored (Bethesda)
http://www.edge-online.com/news/blac...battle-royale/by Published on November 25th, 2012 21:45- Categories:
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For those that missed out on yesterday'sHalo 4 Lightning Deal, you have another shot at getting a $20 Amazon gift card and $10 in Instant Watch credit with the game today. Unfortunately, a few of the earlier deals for today have already been claimed, but if you rush to your computer with your credit card in hand, you might be able to score The World Ends With You ($14.99) and Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 ($19.99) before the deals run out.
http://www.amazon.com/Outlet/b/?_enc...-2&pf_rd_t=101 ...by Published on November 25th, 2012 21:41- Categories:
- DCEmu
For as long as most folk remember, games have launched on Fridays in the UK and on Tuesday in the US. That's the way of things. Sometimes they converge for a glitzy worldwide launch but mostly they don't - they stick to the norm, and Europeans wait.
But why? Who decided on Friday, and who decided on Tuesday? If some games can be released on a Tuesday worldwide why can't all games be? More pertinently, why do we stick to the same rules for downloadable games? If everyone can buy and pre-install a game on Steam at the same time, why can't they play at the same time - why must someone in the UK wait until Friday but someone in the US can play from Tuesday?
Where do all these rules come from and, more to the point, can they be changed?
How UK Fridays began
In the olden golden days of home computers, there was chaos. Games came from everywhere in the '80s and shops flung them on shelves whenever they turned up. "It was just release whenever you could," recalls Andy Payne, a veteran of the UK industry. "Stuff would release every single day." Even the bigger shop-chains in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras joined the scrum, buying stock from wholesalers, amassing it at warehouses then racing it out to stores to go on shelves "as quickly as you bloody could".
That's what Graeme Struthers tells me, and he should know: he was a games buyer for Dixons Stores Group (Currys, Dixons, PCWorld) at the time. "And we were by far the biggest retailer for 16-bit," he - wait, was he boasting?
Big operators like Dixons weren't happy. They had order for other goods in their stores and they advertised them in newspapers on Fridays and Saturdays. The prospect of stock turning up late and missing the weekend wasn't a good one, so the big shops did something about it.
"Dixons basically started sitting down with the supply chain and saying, 'If you release products on a Friday that means we can include it in our advertising; that means we can promote you.' It's carrot and stick," Graeme Struthers explains. "I wouldn't say that Dixons were the company that made it Fridays, but it was the retail chains that said having product just turning up ad hoc is useless; having product that's got a defined release date means we can all orientate our distribution to get it into all of our shops for a Friday so that we've got the weekend business.
"It was basically retail bringing order to a very chaotic supply chain. Within about six to eight months, everyone was selling things on a Friday. It was very quick to reach that agreement and understanding."
"It was basically retail bringing order to a very chaotic supply chain. Within about six to eight months, everyone was selling things on a Friday.Dorian Bloch has been researching UK game sales for over 20 years, for some reason. He too remembers that Friday pact made between shops, ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) - now UKIE (Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) - and his company Gallup (now GfK Chart-Track). "The theory was that this was a clear differentiator to music/video releases on Mondays and gave retailers another window of sales opportunity and some great products to sell for the weekend, also giving publishers a clear and unique window in which to release titles," Bloch recalls.
Graeme Struthers
They weren't enforced, those release dates - there weren't any penalties like there were for music. "It was just good for the industry as it brings a bit of order to something," Struthers shrugs, "and everyone seemed to be happy with it for quite a number of years."
Having no proper penalties did have downsides of course, especially as there were many more shops, each wanting to one-up the other. What would you do if stock turned up early one week, on a Wednesday or Thursday, and you had other shops within a stone's throw to compete with?
"Put temptation in front of people and guess what happens..." Payne rolls his eyes. But routine helped, and the cogs of the giant retail machine were soon well oiled and efficient. "Having worked in retail," says Struthers, "if you've got 600 shops, and you've got staff who do lots and lots of things, if there is no routine, if there is no process, the chances of it happening become lessened. If you just say 'hey this week the release date is a Monday', chances are: less compliance."
Friday was really cemented for the UK when home consoles boomed and home-grown games petered out, and when platform holders strode onto the scene. Not so much the NES or the Master System or even the SNES: it was the Mega Drive that went "absolutely bat s**t mental", recalls Graeme Struthers.
By the sounds of things, so too did Sega, flinging adverts all over papers and television, and doing "some amazing quite daring marketing", all the time reinforcing Friday, Friday, Friday. "When I was a kid I knew when I went to the record shop on Tuesday at 4 o'clock that's when all the new singles would be out," he remembers. "I guess there's kids out there who know you go into a shop on a Friday ...by Published on November 25th, 2012 21:22- Categories:
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Game designer Tadhg Kelly has an article discussing the direction the games industry has taken over the past several years. Gaming has become more of a business, and in doing so, become more of a science as well. When maximizing revenue is a primary concern, development studios try to reduce successful game designs to individual elements, then naively seek to add those elements to whatever game they're working on, like throwing spices into a stew. Kelly points out that indie developers who are willing to experiment often succeed because they understand something more fundamental about games: fun. Quoting: 'The guy who invented Minecraft (Markus "Notch" Persson) didn't just create a giant virtual world in which you could make stuff, he made it challenging. When Will Wright created theSims, he didn't just make a game about living in a virtual house. He made it difficult to live successfully. That's why both of those franchises have sold millions of copies. The fun factor is about more than making a game is amusing or full of pretty rewards. If your game is a dynamic system to be mastered and won, then you can go nuts. If you can give the player real fun then you can afford to break some of those format rules, and that's how you get to lead rather than follow the market. If not then be prepared to pay through the nose to acquire and retain players.
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/1...-in-most-games ...- Search DCEmu
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