via gamesindustry

Blizzard's World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has becomes the second fastest-selling PC game in chart history, taking the number one spot in the All Formats charts and accounting for 30 per cent of all PC game sales last week.

The expansion pack was released on January 16, with midnight launch events held at stores throughout Europe.

In a week of sales that saw no other games released, the rest of the top ten has shuffled around to accommodate the new entry.

Capcom's Xbox 360 exclusive Lost Planet: Extreme Condition has dropped a single place to number two, as has Nintendo's Wario Ware: Smooth Moves at number three.

Football rivals FIFA 07 and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 sit at numbers four and five, respectively, while number six sees the top ten entry of Sega's World Snooker Championship 2007, climbing from number 17.

Need for Speed: Carbon is at number seven, just ahead of Call of Duty 3 at eight, The Sims 2: Pets at nine and Rockstar's Canis Canem Edit at ten. ...

via gibiz

SCEA boss Jack Tretton has warned that it will be hard to cut the cost of PS3 as the machine is so expensive to make - but according to reports, some Japanese retailers have already slashed 20 per cent off the RRP.

When asked in an interview with US magazine Game Informer whether PS3 price cuts be "as soon or as drastic" as they were for PS2 Tretton replied, "No... There's a heck of a lot more under the hood and it costs us more money to make it."

But although he conceded it will be "a lot more difficult to cost reduce" PS3, Tretton said that consumers will still be willing to pay the asking price.

"I think the consumers that get their hands on a PlayStation 3 clearly see the value and not only want to buy one for $599, in some instances they're willing to pay ridiculous prices to buy one on eBay," he concluded.

However, reports suggest that demand for the hardware is already slowing in Japan. According to Media Create figures the PS3 suffered its worst sales week so far earlier this month, and now there are claims that some retailers are drastically cutting the price of PlayStation 3.

As reported on Akibablog.net and partially translated by Kotaku, some shops are said to be reducing the price for the 20GB model from YEN 49,980 (EUR 315) to YEN 39,980 (EUR 253) - a drop of 20 per cent.

But market watchers PS3 wasn't the only console to experience a post-Christmas sales slump - Media Create's figures revealed that the numbers for Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 were also down during the same period. ...

via gamesindustry

America's Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for its 2006 awards, with Epic's Gears of War scoring ten nominations including Overall Game of the Year.

The 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards take place in Las Vegas next month as part of the D.I.C.E. Summit, and awards games for achievements in animation, art direction, sound design and story and character development, amongst others.

Along with Gears of War's ten nominations, Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess have scored six nominations each.

The full list of nominees and categories follows:

Overall Game of the Year

Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)

Console Game of the Year

Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)

Computer Game of the Year

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Battlefield 2142 (D.I.C.E./Electronic Arts)
Prey (Human Head Games/2K Games)
Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs (Ensemble Studios/Microsoft Game Studios)

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Handheld Game of the Year

LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo/Nintendo) New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (TT Games/Lucas Arts)

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Daxter (ReadyatDawn/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (TT Games/Lucas Arts)
Rayman Raving Rabidds (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
Fight Night Round 3 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts)

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix/Square Enix)
Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack

Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
SingStar Rocks! (Sony Computer Entertainment London/Sony Computer Entertainment)
FIFA '07 (Electronic Arts Canada/Electronic Arts)
Marc Ecko's Getting Up (The Collective/Atari)
Scarface (Radical Entertainment/Sierra Entertainment)

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft)
Black (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Redstorm Studios/Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft)
Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)

Outstanding Character Performance - Male

Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent(Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft)
Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (TT Games/Lucas Arts)
Daxter (ReadyatDawn/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female

Saints Row (Volition/THQ)
Desperate Housewives (Liquid Entertainment/Buena Vista Games)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)

Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development

Sam and Max Episode 1: Culture Shock (GameTap/Telltale Games)
Saints Row (Volition/THQ)
24: The Game (Sony Online Entertainment/2K Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Funcom/Aspyr)

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play

Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Redstorm Studios/Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Chromehounds (From Software/Sega of America)
Battlefield 2142 (D.I.C.E./Electronic Arts)

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
Resistance: Fall of Man (Insomniac Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Company ...

Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki has been leaking words again, talking about everything from the misunderstood Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 to how much he likes Wii.

It turns out that he's not particularly bowled over by Sony's next-gen efforts though; apparently there are no games that grab him.

"There's no launch titles that create within me an urge to search all over Tokyo to find a PS3 so I can play them," he told 1UP in a recent interview.

"The only thing I've seen running on a PS3 is Ninja Gaiden Sigma..." Which happens to be coming along very well, thank you very much, though he didn't say anything more about it.

In contrast he's very impressed with Nintendo, suggesting that he'd like to work with Wii when he finishes his current projects. He envisions himself holding a Japanese sword, that's the kind of frame of mind he's in, scarily.

"I thought it would be good, but I didn't think it would be this good. I do think now that there are more types of games that are suitable for this machine than I actually thought."

Itagaki was speaking in the aftermath of DOAX2's critical panning. He maintains that the game was misunderstood, saying it was a parody of Japanese TV shows featuring girls in bikinis, something that the US and Europe don't have.

"It's almost kind of a joke, a throwback to that, something to make you laugh."

He reckons it's still the best example of the genre on the market though, but that might be because it's a made up genre and DOAX2 is the only game in it.

via eurogamer ...

via eurogamer

Certain Affinity's Max Hoberman says that Halo 3's Xbox Live features are "years ahead of everything that's out there".

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz about the formation of his Austin-based studio, which is currently working on multiplayer maps for Halo 2, Hoberman also hinted at the levels of secrecy surrounding the project at his former employer, Bungie.

When he originally left Seattle, Hoberman was working remotely for the Halo developer. "Online, UI, planning... All sorts of stuff. I did that for a long time," he says. But that quickly became impossible as the game reached implementation. "They won't even let a build of Halo 3 leave the building," he says.

With a bit of help from Microsoft Hoberman was then able to set up Certain Affinity, whose multiplayer maps are due out this spring. The company is also working on a new, unannounced project. "We're prototyping it on the Xbox 360," says Hoberman - but he won't say much else. ...

via eurogamer

The PlayStation 3 is set to receive another backwards compatibility boost in the next couple of days, as Sony readies a version 1.5 firmware update for the US and Japan.

Already listed on the PS3 website in Japan, where it's due out on 24th January, the update also introduces support for the "Edy" system prepaid smartcards, allowing owners to buy content from the online store without having to rely on a credit card.

Edy is currently used to charge certain mobile phones, and uses Sony's FeliCa technology, although it's only available in Japan, where users will need an appropriate card reader attached to the PS3 to take advantage.

Other additions in version 1.5 include Korean language input options. ...

via engadget

Like your home rolled media center do ya? Well tell us this, can yours throw down against dual integrated CableCARDs, Blu-ray, HD DVD and more than 3TB of RAID-5 protected storage? Definitely not since you haven't managed to skirt the CableLabs certification process... have you? Well, VidaBox's latest all-in-ones can, at least they will once they begin shipping in March 2007. Each new media center system will be engineered to record two HD shows while playing back your choice of a pre-recorded show from disk, Blu-ray or HD DVD media, high fidelity music, upscaled DVD, or digital picture slideshow. Not sure if those optical drives will be writers or read-only devices but we'll guess the latter -- just like their MAX and LUX dual-drive systems. While pricing or specific models were announced, you can expect 'em to drop for more than $5k as their new, top-o-the-line systems. ...

via engadget

While one may argue that a computer doesn't talk back, disagree, or rub one the wrong way as we're sure just about everyone's spouse / SO definitely can, you must have somehow avoided the BSOD, kernel error, 404, clicking HDD, invalid drivers, and the host of other "cyber stresses" that can elicit all sorts of rage and frustration. A recent survey conducted by Kelton Research discovered that a majority of Americans (52-percent) said their "most recent experience with a computer problem provoked emotions such as anger, sadness or alienation," yet a whopping 65-percent of these same folks spend more time with their beloved computer than their own spouse. Adding even more fuel to the computer addict fire, 84-percent of responders stated that they were "more dependent on their home computer now than they were just three years ago." Interestingly enough, rather than founding some sort of rehab facility to coax folks away from the keyboard and back into reality, SupportSoft is looking to provide loving, caring advice to help folks suffering from "cyber stress" solve their PC troubles without tearing down the house. Essentially, the service actually encourages folks glued to their computer to stay that way, as the new startup looks to provide answers to the issues that could eventually run even the most loyal computer user back to their oft forgotten spouse, but the company does insinuate that by solving PC quandaries, folks will have more time to spend when the ones they love. Nevertheless, we can't say these figures are entirely shocking, especially when you consider that folks would take an iPod over booze and nearly anything trendy for an SO. ...

via cvg

The PlayStation 3 will launch in Europe on March 23 for £425, says games mag Edge

In a post on its website, Edge says that it has been advised by a source wishing to remain nameless that the PlayStation 3 will "definitely launch in the UK on March 23 at £425".

Both the date and price have been strongly touted via internet rumours over the last few weeks.

Last week Sony said that the official price and date would be announced early this week, though semi-official blog Three Speach now claims that the announcment has now been pushed back a few days to either "Thursday or Friday".

When we picked up the phone Sony unfortunately wasn't around to give us their official line on the Edge report - but we'll be sure to let you know when they get back to us.

So would you but a PS3 at £425? Or have you already imported one? Share your verdict in the comments section below. ...