via gibiz

Sales of the PlayStation Portable have increased by over six times on the previous week's figure, according to the latest data available from Media Create.

The handheld sold 95,487 units in the week ending September 16, up from 15,564 the week before. Sales of other consoles remained stable from the previous week, with the Nintendo DS in second place with 79,974, and the Wii in third shifting 26,181 units.

One of the reasons for the PSP's sudden jump in popularity could be the release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on that format - the title sold 487,000 copies in its debut week.

Full hardware figures:

1. PlayStation Portable: 95,487

2. Nintendo DS: 79,974

3. Nintendo Wii: 26,181

4. PlayStation 2: 13,128

5. PlayStation 3: 13,101

6. Xbox 360: 1243

7. Game Boy Advance: 836

8. Nintendo GameCube: 97 ...

via gibiz

Microsoft and Bungie's Halo 3 has been leaked onto the internet, with multiple file-sharing sites hosting the highly-anticipated shooter.

Uploaded within the past 24 hours, the 6.14 gigabyte file has been hacked and will be playable on illegally modified Xbox 360 consoles.

It's the latest upset to hit the release of the game, which isn't officially due until early next week.

High Street retailer Argos began selling the game in a select number of stores this week, but soon corrected its mistake. Microsoft told GamesIndustry.biz that it would not punish the retailer following the blunder.

And consumers hoping to avoid spoilers of the game were also advised to avoid video sharing site YouTube, where the ending for the game has been available since the start of the week. ...

via gibiz

Redesigned handheld sees strong initial sales

Sony has revealed that the recently launch PSP Slim & Lite has sold around 17,000 units on its first week of release in the UK.

The Slim & Lite launched on September 14 and was backed by radio and online advertising campaigns that have helped boost Sony's handheld sales in the run up to Christmas.

"The first week sales have come in at 17,000, so around a four fold increase on the previous week," said a spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Earlier this month sales of the PSP were at an all time low according to Chart Track figures, but this was a result of Sony offloading the last of the original PSP stock before the introduction of the new model, said Sony.

"Of course we expected the previous weeks to be low as we moved the old stock through the channel in preparation for the Slim & Lite sku coming into retail, but now we are back on track and preparing for the launch of new products such as Go! Explore and Go Messenger." ...

via gibiz

Microsoft's UK director believes Sony "underestimated" online challenge

Microsoft's Neil Thompson has told GamesIndustry.biz in an exclusive interview that he feels Sony's delay to the Home project is down to the company underestimating the challenges of the platform.

Thompson, senior regional director for the UK and Ireland at Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, said he was disappointed in the delay, but dismissed the idea that a lack of price cut had played into Microsoft's hands in the run-up to Christmas.

"Well, what they announce at TGS and what they decide to do in any given market in time are not necessarily directly aligned, I think. But Sony will be doing things between now and Christmas I'm sure, they can't afford not to really, given the way that that particular business is going for them at the moment."

"But I think one of the disappointing/interesting things I heard from them at the Tokyo Game Show was that they just delayed the [Home] online service delivery again. That's more interesting, because I think they underestimated how challenging it is to deliver this sort of service, and to deliver the elements of the service that consumers really want."

He went on to question whether or not the final product would be quite what Sony had hoped for originally.

"It would be good to see the reality versus what they had on the blueprints - what they wanted to deliver against what they can actually deliver, because I know they generated a lot of interest based on what they said last year."

When asked about the new rumble-enabled Sixaxis controller, Thompson felt that Sony was forced to release products early in order to try and counter the progress of the Xbox 360.

"I think when I went to E3 two years ago, and they were showing a lot of their first PS3 stuff there, it felt to me like they'd rushed a lot of things out because they felt the momentum on 360 was growing at a rapid rate, and they felt they had to come out with something early."

"I think it's fair to say that over the last 12 months or so, it's becoming more and more apparent probably to the market, and Sony are a bright bunch so they'll understand this, but there are certain aspects in the way that they're offering the product out that aren't resonating enough, or perhaps they've inbuilt too much cost in things."

He pointed to Nintendo's work in the area of the original Sixaxis' main selling point, motion-sensing, and praised the way in which the Wii design approached the market.

"Perhaps where Nintendo really did a very clever thing, they went for quite simple innovation, but it was aligned to where certain broad-range consumers' demand was. That's always the tricky thing with technology - not finding out what's technically possible, but what technology consumers will actually want and desire." ...

via /.

News.com has a piece looking at the way that Halo has transformed from game to franchise for Microsoft and the Xbox. Despite the heavy advertising and branded products that seem to be everywhere in anticipation of next week's launch, the company is still trying to keep the IP as pure as possible.
"Microsoft is wary of watering down Halo, meaning it would rather walk away from deals for Master Chief pajamas or Covenant sippy cups. Microsoft had little experience in talking to toymakers and others about how to transfer an onscreen experience to real objects. But such experts exist in the licensing arms of movie studios, so Microsoft partnered with 20th Century Fox to act as the main licensing agent for the Halo brand. Items that did not make the cut were a Halo-themed lottery ticket, lingerie modeled after a female hologram character, and toy guns based on the game's weapons. Instead, fans can expect high-quality action figures from McFarlane Toys, a tabletop game from WizKids, and replica weapons for mature buyers." ...

via /.

The official PlayStation blog is reporting that the petaflop barrier has been crossed by the nodes participating in the Folding @ Home project. The article talks about what this means for computer science, and why this awesome amount of computational power was reachable.
"Just six months after we launched the program, nearly 600,000 PS3 users have registered. Second, we made several improvements to the application (v 1.2) that helped make the computations more accurate and enabled us to squeeze even more work out of each and every PS3 console -- we went from 450 teraflops to 800 teraflops. These factors, combined with the contribution from all the other platforms, helped us cross the barrier, which happened sometime over the weekend." ...

via engadget



For those of you whose salivary glands have been working overtime when thinking about Sony's new Playstation Eye PS3 camera accessory (and we're sure there's at least one or two of you), you better go get a napkin. According to reports, the interactive, VGA cam will be heading out to stores bundled with Hasrbo's RPG / card game The Eye of Judgment on October 23rd, for the shockingly low price of $69.99. No word on whether that bundle will include the EyeCreate editing software, or when / if the Eye will be available on its own. Hey -- you'll probably want the game anyhow. ...

More info at Fourzerotwo's blog ...

Microsoft announced 10 brand new racers and muscle cars in a downloadable car pack for “Forza Motorsport 2,” which will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace this weekend.

To get fans warmed up, MS offering a rally inspired hot little European hatch the 2007 SEAT Leon Cupra as a FREE download to bolster the already extensive collection of “Forza” racers. For 400 Microsoft points, Forza fans can own the track taking laps in 10 great vehicles including a race ready turbo diesel (the Audi R10) and a low performance class inline 4 that’s an absolute tuner’s dream (the Honda Civic Si Coupe). Show your muscle with an American classic, the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T or turn it up another notch behind the wheel of the 415 horsepower, 8,400 rpm 2007 Porsche GT3 RS.

For a full list of available cars, please see below:
2007 SEAT Leon Cupra (FREE DOWNLOAD)
2006 Audi R10 (#8 Audi Sport Team Joest) Prototype
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi
2006 Dodge Challenger Concept
2006 Honda Civic Si Coupe
2007 Honda Civic Type-R
1967 Lamborghini Miura P400
2006 Lamborghini Miura Concept
2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997)
2007 Saturn Sky Red Line
2007 SEAT Leon Supercup

For more information and new screen shots of some of the more notable vehicles in this car pack, be sure to cruise over to forzamotorsport.net ...