The release of the latest Dragon Quest title in Japan has finally stirred up consumers, with the title crushing the competition in last week's sales numbers and providing a huge boost for the sales of the Nintendo DSi.

In total, Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky sold over 2.3 million in its first week on sale, according to the latest Media Create data for the week ending July 12.

That was followed by last week's number one, Wii Sports Resort, which sold a creditable 103,000 units to take it well past 600,000 units in total.

Friend Collection stayed third with 57,000 units, while Sony's My Summer Vacation 4 was also a non-mover at number four on 24,000.

Dragon Quest's popularity - in part predicted by very strong pre-order figures - propelled the DSi platform to sales of almost 120,000 in the same week, while the rest of the hardware market continued to limp on.

The PlayStation Portable sold just over 26,000, while the Wii sold 22,000, followed by the DS Lite, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2.

The full Media Create software top ten is as follows:

1. Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky (Square Enix): 2,318,932
2. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo): 102,715
3. Friend Collection (Nintendo): 57,072
4. My Summer Vacation 4: Youth Detective Group in Seto - Me and the Secret Map (SCEI): 23,767
5. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (SEGA): 14,268
6. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (The Best) (Capcom): 12,818
7. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Square Enix): 9195
8. Wii Fit (Nintendo): 8920
9. Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon Co): 8035
10. Sloane and MacHale's Mysterious Story (Level 5): 7413
The hardware sales numbers for the same period were:

1. Nintendo DSi: 118,202
2. PlayStation Portable: 26,527
3. Nintendo Wii: 22,141
4. Nintendo DS Lite: 10,161
5. PlayStation 3: 9864
6. Xbox 360: 3561
7. PlayStation 2: 3508

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...apanese-market ...

Microsoft has revealed that paid downloads have increased 73 per cent year-over-year for the first half of 2009, and boasts an active user base of 20 million people on Xbox Live.

The information, released in reaction to the NPD Group's official US sales results for June of 2009, also noted the year-on-year growth in Xbox 360 console sales.

As previously reported, Xbox 360 console sales clocked in at 241,000 units for June of 2009, a 20 per cent increase from the same period in 2008. Year-to-date, it remains the only home console to show growth in 2009, though Nintendo's DS portable console has also seen a sales increase.

The company also revealed that third-party software sales totaled USD 168 million in June, claiming that this figure is higher than those of the PlayStation 3 and Wii.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ox-live-growth ...

Representatives from Nintendo of America have released an official response to the NPD Group's US sales data for June 2009, focusing on healthy sales for its Nintendo DS portable console and its new Motion Plus accessory for the Wii.

As previously reported, the Nintendo DS sold a total of 766,000 units in June, which the company pointed out is more than all other consoles combined. According to Nintendo, 424,000 of these were the new Nintendo DSi, while 342,000 are the original Nintendo DS Lite.

Nintendo also reports that it has sold a total of 374,000 units of its new MotionPlus accessory for the Wii, with approximately 169,000 sold in a standalone package and 205,000 packaged with EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.

"More consumers continued to gravitate toward products that offer quality experiences and great value for the whole family," said Nintendo of America executive vice president of sales & marketing Cammie Dunaway. "Consumers again selected Nintendo systems for those experiences, particularly our hand-helds."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tionplus-sales ...

Representatives from Nintendo of America have released an official response to the NPD Group's US sales data for June 2009, focusing on healthy sales for its Nintendo DS portable console and its new Motion Plus accessory for the Wii.

As previously reported, the Nintendo DS sold a total of 766,000 units in June, which the company pointed out is more than all other consoles combined. According to Nintendo, 424,000 of these were the new Nintendo DSi, while 342,000 are the original Nintendo DS Lite.

Nintendo also reports that it has sold a total of 374,000 units of its new MotionPlus accessory for the Wii, with approximately 169,000 sold in a standalone package and 205,000 packaged with EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.

"More consumers continued to gravitate toward products that offer quality experiences and great value for the whole family," said Nintendo of America executive vice president of sales & marketing Cammie Dunaway. "Consumers again selected Nintendo systems for those experiences, particularly our hand-helds."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tionplus-sales ...

The NPD Group has released its official videogame hardware sales figures for the month of June 2009, revealing a 38 per cent decline in hardware revenue compared to the same period in 2008.

Hardware revenue totaled USD 382,620,000 for the month, down from USD 617,250,000 in June of 2008. While the Nintendo DS sold the most units in June at 766,500, only Microsoft's Xbox 360 showed growth, with 240,600 units sold versus approximately 219,000 last year.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier points out that while the Nintendo DS sold less in June 2009 than in the same period last year, sales are up year-to-date, thanks in no small part to the debut of the new DSi unit in May.

Complete results follow:

Nintendo DS: 766,500 units
Nintendo Wii: 361,700 units
Xbox 360: 240,600 units
PlayStation 3: 164,700 units
PlayStation 2: 152,700 units
PlayStation Portable: 163,500 units

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...r-cent-in-june ...

GamesIndustry.biz can reveal that HMV has negotiated the exclusive UK rights to sell the premium edition of the hugely-anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - the bundle which will famously include functional night vision goggles.

The game, which will be released on November 10, will see the Prestige Edition sell for GBP 119.99 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 formats, with HMV's online pre-order option available now.

"This is a fantastic limited edition exclusive for hmv.com customers for what is, undoubtedly, the game of the year," said Jonathan Hayes, HMV commercial manager. "We're absolutely delighted that we can help make such a special premium product available to fans of the Modern Warfare franchise.

"We've been working very closely with Activision to make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 one of the biggest entertainment events of all time. With this great exclusive and the upcoming launch we hope that everybody gets to play this brilliant game."

Modern Warfare 2 is widely-tipped to be the biggest entertainment launch of this year, and HMV is planning to arrange a number of in-store events to support the launch - with details available in due course.

"We've seen significant pre-order activity around this release and heightened interest in all things Modern Warfare 2 - both in-store and online, which supports our growing conviction that this will be one of the most eagerly anticipated releases ever," said Tim Ellis, head of games, previously told GamesIndustry.biz.

As well as the goggles, which are fully functional and allow the wearer to see in absolute darkness for up to 50 feet, the Prestige Edition will also include:

A token which will allow the download to console of the original Call of Duty.
An individually-numbered and engraved collector's bust, inspired by the Captain 'Soap' MacTavish's in-game model, which will hold the goggles when not in use.
A premium, special-edition SteelBook case with custom artwork by Infinity Ward.
A hardbound art book, Behind the Lines designed by the artists at Infinity Ward, featuring the art of Modern Warfare 2.
"We're really proud to be working with Activision and Infinity Ward to bring the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Prestige Edition to the UK market," added the retailer's senior games buyer, Toby Burton. "This product will be exclusive to HMV and represents the pinnacle of gaming special editions.

"Modern Warfare is my favourite game of the last five years, so I'm ecstatic that we've secured this true gamer's edition for HMV. What more needs to be said than: 'Night Vision Goggles'?!"

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-uk-exclusive ...

GamesIndustry.biz can reveal that HMV has negotiated the exclusive UK rights to sell the premium edition of the hugely-anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - the bundle which will famously include functional night vision goggles.

The game, which will be released on November 10, will see the Prestige Edition sell for GBP 119.99 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 formats, with HMV's online pre-order option available now.

"This is a fantastic limited edition exclusive for hmv.com customers for what is, undoubtedly, the game of the year," said Jonathan Hayes, HMV commercial manager. "We're absolutely delighted that we can help make such a special premium product available to fans of the Modern Warfare franchise.

"We've been working very closely with Activision to make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 one of the biggest entertainment events of all time. With this great exclusive and the upcoming launch we hope that everybody gets to play this brilliant game."

Modern Warfare 2 is widely-tipped to be the biggest entertainment launch of this year, and HMV is planning to arrange a number of in-store events to support the launch - with details available in due course.

"We've seen significant pre-order activity around this release and heightened interest in all things Modern Warfare 2 - both in-store and online, which supports our growing conviction that this will be one of the most eagerly anticipated releases ever," said Tim Ellis, head of games, previously told GamesIndustry.biz.

As well as the goggles, which are fully functional and allow the wearer to see in absolute darkness for up to 50 feet, the Prestige Edition will also include:

A token which will allow the download to console of the original Call of Duty.
An individually-numbered and engraved collector's bust, inspired by the Captain 'Soap' MacTavish's in-game model, which will hold the goggles when not in use.
A premium, special-edition SteelBook case with custom artwork by Infinity Ward.
A hardbound art book, Behind the Lines designed by the artists at Infinity Ward, featuring the art of Modern Warfare 2.
"We're really proud to be working with Activision and Infinity Ward to bring the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Prestige Edition to the UK market," added the retailer's senior games buyer, Toby Burton. "This product will be exclusive to HMV and represents the pinnacle of gaming special editions.

"Modern Warfare is my favourite game of the last five years, so I'm ecstatic that we've secured this true gamer's edition for HMV. What more needs to be said than: 'Night Vision Goggles'?!"

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-uk-exclusive ...

iPhone developer Craig Hunter confirms some of our fears about Palm's entirely web-language based Mojo SDK for WebOS—it's weak sauce, with pitiful access to the Pre's powerful hardware.

Hunter mentions two pain points in particular that are deathblow to gaming and other sophisticated applications that require significant graphical juice (granted, Palm was more or less open from the start that games wouldn't be a priority at first). Developers can't use OpenGL ES to the tap the Pre's graphics hardware. For an idea of what a big deal OpenGL access is, see our posts spanking over everything the iPhone 3GS can do with OpenGL 2.0 that the original iPhone and 3G can't. Basically, anything requiring hardware graphics acceleration is screwed if it goes through the Mojo SDK, since they can't use OpenGL at all. (There are, of course, unofficial paths.)

Update: Another iPhone dev, Stephen Stroughton Smith, points out that the reason there's no OpenGL support is because the Pre doesn't an OpenGL graphics driver, so the entire OS uses software-based drawing and animation, despite the potent graphics chip inside.

The other gimpage, which is somewhat inexplicable, is that Palm limits polling of accelerometer data to 4Hz, or 4 samples a second—Hunter says you need at least 20Hz for "smooth inputs" and 50-100Hz for apps like his own gMeter iPhone app, which measures stuff like velocity and acceleration. So it's nearly useless.

Palm actually shoots itself in the foot two ways with a weak SDK. First, it limits developers who choose to make apps for the platform. Second, it pushes away devs who might be interested, like Hunter, who points out the very real opportunity Palm has to lure programmers away from the massively overcrowded App Store with the promise of a virgin ecosystem.

And we've still got a couple of months before Palm's App Catalog really opens. Which, even granting Palm's moving along quicker than Apple did after the original iPhone, they should be jumping at every possible advantage they can get to grow their ecosystem if they want to really claw their way into a mobile space that's not just increasingly crowded, but one where Apple's shadow seems to grow a little bit longer everyday.

http://gizmodo.com/5317216/palm-webo...are-impossible ...

Remember back in May when Blu-ray sales were reportedly up 72 percent for 2009? Turns out the high definition disc business is doing even better than that. The Digital Entertainment Group is reporting a 91 percent sales increase year-on-year, totaling $407 million, for the first six months of this year -- an impressive feat, especially in this recession climate. Blu-ray rentals, too, saw a 61 percent increase, and on the less tangible side of things, digital distribution rose 21 percent. Despite all this, the report noted that overall consumer spending on prerecorded entertainment dropped 3.1 percent, and net profit down 2.2 percent... come on UMD, pick up the slack.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/16/b...rst-half-of-2/ ...