via Eurogamer


The newest and fourth instalment in the Fatal Frame (Project Zero) series may be out here on Wii as soon as February.

That's according to Official Nintendo Magazine (spotted by Aussie Nintendo), which aired the first non-Japanese date for the spooky game. We've asked Nintendo for clarification.

Retailer Play suggests a February arrival for Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. And, if the game kept that name, it would be the first time the US title was used for the series in Europe.

Little is known about Fatal Frame IV, released in Japan earlier this summer. In fact, all we've seen so far is a freaky trailer featuring the paparazzi heroine wandering alone through haunted houses and bumping into some supernatural surprises.

Pop over to Eurogamer TV for a look. ...

Better, brighter, faster games--and perhaps more profits--are in Nintendo's future
Hardcore gamers may still scoff at Nintendo's Wii for catering to casual gamers. But hidden behind its Clark Kent facade are some impressive financial muscles.

Nintendo rocked the gaming world when it brought out the Wii gaming console three years ago by turning an entirely new demographic of users on to gaming. Middle-aged and senior citizens stood in line to buy Wiis on the strength of games like Wii Fit, which audiences found more fun than workout DVDs.

To date, Nintendo has sold nearly 35 million Wiis, including 12.6 million in the U.S., Nintendo's biggest market. That's lower than Sony's (nyse: SNE - news - people ) PlayStation 2, which has sold 43 million units since 2000. But it's still pretty high for a console that, at launch, was technologically a generation behind its chief competitors, Sony's PlayStation 3, with 13 million units in users' living rooms, and Microsoft's Xbox 360, with 23 million units. This year, the Wii is expected to sell more than the best-selling PS2 sold in its best year, 2003.

Just as interesting as how Nintendo has changed the gaming world, however, has been its business approach. Nintendo sells games along the time-honored razor-razor blade model, namely pushing out the console and then enticing users to buy more games.

"More casual players aren't as likely to be attracted by hardware features, so it's all about delivering a fun, easy-to-use and addicting game experience," says Anita Frazier, toy and video game analyst at NPD Group.

Another factor in enticing those casual users is keeping its console cheap. "The key thing about Nintendo is they want their things to be at price points that anyone can respond to," says Hiroshi Kamide, director of research at KBC Securities Japan. Nintendo's strategy is to buy inexpensive components instead of making them in-house, allowing the Wii to sell for $260 while the PS3 costs $300.

But here's the winning point: Unlike its competitors, Nintendo has figured out how to make money from its console sales. Sony loses money on each Playstation sold. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) might just break even. But every Wii brings in $6 of operating profit for Nintendo, says David Gibson, an analyst at Macquarie Securities.

Nintendo also sells 60% of Wii games itself, compared with 30% for Microsoft and 15% for Sony. Wii users are expected to buy the most games this year, 220 million, compared with 120 million PS3 games and 125 million for the Xbox 360.

The top three Wii games--"Wii Play," "Super Smash Brothers Brawl" and "Super Mario Galaxy"--are all Nintendo's own titles, but the top three for PS3--"Grand Theft Auto IV," "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" and "Assassin's Creed"--are all from outside developers, not from Sony.

By making most of its games itself, Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people ) risks sacrificing the chance to earn licensing fees from as many third-party developers as its competitors. It also prices games cheaper--at $50 versus $60 for the other two consoles. But so far the gambit has paid off: Wii locks in fans because many of its most popular games appear exclusively on the Wii. And Nintendo has a higher gross margin on game software than the others at 65%, compared with between 50% and 60%.

Those only-available-here games sell better than games that have been ported to other consoles because the Wii's unique features--the motion-sensor remote, for instance--make it hard to translate into other systems. PS3 and Xbox 360 games can be ported between those two systems fairly easily, but developers that want to make a game for all three consoles need a dedicated Wii team to write the Nintendo version.

Ubisoft's new "Shaun White Snowboarding" game, which shipped in late November, uses the Wii Fit motion board to simulate full-motion snowboarding; its Xbox and PS versions push online virtual snowboarding with friends.

http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2...s-1201wii.html ...

As someone who owns eight different video game consoles and spends as much as four hours a day "gaming," Rumen is all but a certified expert on today's video game market. Rumen knows something that no Wall Street analyst does - how today's video game audience thinks. He knows what games are on the cutting edge, and more importantly, what games and consoles are most playable and popular among his peers.]


Despite all of the uncertainty of 2008, video game sales have been booming.

U.S. sales of video game hardware, software, and accessories surged 36% in the first half of the year to $8.27 billion. That even outpaces the $6.1 billion grossed over the same period in 2007, which was a record year for the industry.

Indeed, the video game industry has acquired the reputation of being recession proof, and the statistics bear that out. In 2002, after the technology bubble burst, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22%. Meanwhile, video gaming revenue climbed 43%.

And after a banner year in 2007, in which industry sales soared 50% to an all-time high of $18.85 billion, 2008 - even with all of its misgivings - is shaping up to be a new industry standard. Worldwide revenue is expected to exceed $57 billion in 2008, up 35% from the 2007 record of $41.9 billion.

With 267 million video games sold, an average of nine games per second were carried out of retail stores across the country last year. But as remarkable as that is, video games are flying off the shelves even faster in 2008, with sales up 41% in the first half of the year.

As the world’s leading format of entertainment, the video game industry had global sales of $41.9 billion in 2007 - double the total sales of 2002, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. At this rate, global sales will hit $68.3 billion by 2012. That’s a 10.3% annual increase over the next four years.


The Video Game Cheat Sheet
Video games have come a long way from the days of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Pong…

There are gun-toting shooter games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. There are fantasy, or role-playing games (RPGs), like Spore and Final Fantasy, that allow players to reshape an imaginary world in their own image.

And now, with recent advances in motion and sensory technology, there are games like Guitar Hero, MarioKar, and Wii Fit, that allow players to become active participants in the games they play, and physically control the onscreen action.

Here’s a quick look at the games that have sold the most copies over the past 12 months, in order of sales to date. (Note that the sales figures are approximate, and that the release date is the first date the game was released globally.)

1. Call of Duty 4 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC (10 million copies sold-Released November 6, 2007)-Activision, now Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI)

2. Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 (8 million copies sold -Released September 25, 2007)-Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

3. Grand Theft Auto 4 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC (6.5 million copies sold -Released April 29, 2008)-Take Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO)

4. Mario Kart Wii for the Wii (6.5 million copies sold -Released April 10, 2008)-Nintendo Co. Ltd. (NTDOY.PK)

5. Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii (6 million copies sold -Released November 1, 2007)-Nintendo

6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii (5 million copies sold -Released January 31, 2008)-Nintendo

7. Wii Fit for the Wii (5 million copies sold -Release December 1, 2007 (in Japan, later elsewhere)-Nintendo

8. Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PlayStation 3 (3 million copies sold -Released June 12, 2008)-Konami Corp. (KNM)

These are the games that have proven most popular over the past year. It’s important to note that all except one, Wii Fit, are sequels to previous releases. This is important because it shows that gamers are most comfortable buying and playing updated releases of games they’ve enjoyed in the past.

Likewise, the newest installment of the popular John Madden NFL football series is a sure-fire seller every year.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1085...ecession-proof ...

As someone who owns eight different video game consoles and spends as much as four hours a day "gaming," Rumen is all but a certified expert on today's video game market. Rumen knows something that no Wall Street analyst does - how today's video game audience thinks. He knows what games are on the cutting edge, and more importantly, what games and consoles are most playable and popular among his peers.]


Despite all of the uncertainty of 2008, video game sales have been booming.

U.S. sales of video game hardware, software, and accessories surged 36% in the first half of the year to $8.27 billion. That even outpaces the $6.1 billion grossed over the same period in 2007, which was a record year for the industry.

Indeed, the video game industry has acquired the reputation of being recession proof, and the statistics bear that out. In 2002, after the technology bubble burst, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22%. Meanwhile, video gaming revenue climbed 43%.

And after a banner year in 2007, in which industry sales soared 50% to an all-time high of $18.85 billion, 2008 - even with all of its misgivings - is shaping up to be a new industry standard. Worldwide revenue is expected to exceed $57 billion in 2008, up 35% from the 2007 record of $41.9 billion.

With 267 million video games sold, an average of nine games per second were carried out of retail stores across the country last year. But as remarkable as that is, video games are flying off the shelves even faster in 2008, with sales up 41% in the first half of the year.

As the world’s leading format of entertainment, the video game industry had global sales of $41.9 billion in 2007 - double the total sales of 2002, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. At this rate, global sales will hit $68.3 billion by 2012. That’s a 10.3% annual increase over the next four years.


The Video Game Cheat Sheet
Video games have come a long way from the days of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Pong…

There are gun-toting shooter games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. There are fantasy, or role-playing games (RPGs), like Spore and Final Fantasy, that allow players to reshape an imaginary world in their own image.

And now, with recent advances in motion and sensory technology, there are games like Guitar Hero, MarioKar, and Wii Fit, that allow players to become active participants in the games they play, and physically control the onscreen action.

Here’s a quick look at the games that have sold the most copies over the past 12 months, in order of sales to date. (Note that the sales figures are approximate, and that the release date is the first date the game was released globally.)

1. Call of Duty 4 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC (10 million copies sold-Released November 6, 2007)-Activision, now Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI)

2. Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 (8 million copies sold -Released September 25, 2007)-Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

3. Grand Theft Auto 4 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC (6.5 million copies sold -Released April 29, 2008)-Take Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO)

4. Mario Kart Wii for the Wii (6.5 million copies sold -Released April 10, 2008)-Nintendo Co. Ltd. (NTDOY.PK)

5. Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii (6 million copies sold -Released November 1, 2007)-Nintendo

6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii (5 million copies sold -Released January 31, 2008)-Nintendo

7. Wii Fit for the Wii (5 million copies sold -Release December 1, 2007 (in Japan, later elsewhere)-Nintendo

8. Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PlayStation 3 (3 million copies sold -Released June 12, 2008)-Konami Corp. (KNM)

These are the games that have proven most popular over the past year. It’s important to note that all except one, Wii Fit, are sequels to previous releases. This is important because it shows that gamers are most comfortable buying and playing updated releases of games they’ve enjoyed in the past.

Likewise, the newest installment of the popular John Madden NFL football series is a sure-fire seller every year.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1085...ecession-proof ...

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent press event in London, Wheelman creative director Simon Woodroffe revealed that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV has changed what gamers expect from an open world action title.

"Our game was already quite different, but GTA 4 moved the bar in terms of what people expected from an open-world driving game," said Woodroffe. "Before GTA 4, open-world driving games generally had more accessible, more arcade-like, handling. Even the previous GTAs were like that. But GTA IV moved the bar towards realism - even super-realism, you know?

Woodroffe noted that this change from easy Arcade-style vehicle handling to something more realistic dramatically affected the feedback he was getting on his game.

"At first I found it fairly frustrating, in comparison with Wheelman, but it was different enough to make us say, 'Look, people obviously want a more realistic experience. They don't want to be given things for free'. They want to feel like the ultimate driving hero, but they don't want to feel like they're being given it for nothing - otherwise there's no sense of accomplishment," Woodroffe explained. "We started to get feedback from our focus testers, within weeks of GTA 4 coming out, that the basic driving was dropping in popularity. It had gone from being the most highly rated element, to one of the lowest on the list. And I'm looking at this and thinking, "There's only one reason for this. GTA 4 has changed gamers' expectations"."

He continued: "... our job is to be up-to-date with current expectations and to manage them well. I'm very big on choice, and I'm very big on design and control systems. All the physics stuff stays very close to me and the design team, so it was work for a few hours or so, and polishing things up for a week or two, to change the way Wheelman felt to be a little more realistic and a little more grounded, based upon the feedback we were getting, based upon the impact of GTA 4."

Woodroffe now feels that Wheelman has been adapted based on feedback from testers and is "right on the money in terms of what people expect from an open-world racer".

http://www.videogamer.com/news/01-12-2008-10070.html ...

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent press event in London, Wheelman creative director Simon Woodroffe revealed that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV has changed what gamers expect from an open world action title.

"Our game was already quite different, but GTA 4 moved the bar in terms of what people expected from an open-world driving game," said Woodroffe. "Before GTA 4, open-world driving games generally had more accessible, more arcade-like, handling. Even the previous GTAs were like that. But GTA IV moved the bar towards realism - even super-realism, you know?

Woodroffe noted that this change from easy Arcade-style vehicle handling to something more realistic dramatically affected the feedback he was getting on his game.

"At first I found it fairly frustrating, in comparison with Wheelman, but it was different enough to make us say, 'Look, people obviously want a more realistic experience. They don't want to be given things for free'. They want to feel like the ultimate driving hero, but they don't want to feel like they're being given it for nothing - otherwise there's no sense of accomplishment," Woodroffe explained. "We started to get feedback from our focus testers, within weeks of GTA 4 coming out, that the basic driving was dropping in popularity. It had gone from being the most highly rated element, to one of the lowest on the list. And I'm looking at this and thinking, "There's only one reason for this. GTA 4 has changed gamers' expectations"."

He continued: "... our job is to be up-to-date with current expectations and to manage them well. I'm very big on choice, and I'm very big on design and control systems. All the physics stuff stays very close to me and the design team, so it was work for a few hours or so, and polishing things up for a week or two, to change the way Wheelman felt to be a little more realistic and a little more grounded, based upon the feedback we were getting, based upon the impact of GTA 4."

Woodroffe now feels that Wheelman has been adapted based on feedback from testers and is "right on the money in terms of what people expect from an open-world racer".

http://www.videogamer.com/news/01-12-2008-10070.html ...

The DS Emulator for Windows has seen a new build released today, heres whats new:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

via Joystiq


Next week, we'll be switching formats so the WiiWare and Virtual Console posts will be combined. Let's take a quick look at the games that convinced us prompted the move: The final, breathtaking solo salvo from WiiWare Weekly.

• Space Invaders Get Even (Taito, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): It's completely antithetical to the whole spirit of the WiiWare Weekly post, but we're going to going ahead and admit that, judging from this YouTube review, SIGE, which lets you destroy a city as the titular invaders, actually looks pretty fun. Thanks for messing up our last hurrah, Space Invaders.
• Pit Crew Panic! (Hudson Entertainment, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points): In Pit Crew Panic!, an all-female pit crew fixes cars, trains, bridges and, of course, toilets. See, now, that's the WiiWare we remember.

...

via Kotaku


With Sonic's latest outing receiving less-than-stellar reviews so far, Sega shifts focus over to Sonic and the Black Knight for the Wii with a host of colorful new screenshots.

Sonic Unleashed is failing to set the video game reviewing world on fire so far, so what better time to release a slew of screens for Sonic and the Black Knight, a game that still has the potential to be good? It has sword fighting in it! That's a good sign, right?

Come on Sega, do something, anything to prevent a Nintendo game from being the best Sonic the Hedgehog title of this gaming generation.


Screenshots here ...