If the prospect of not having to fork over extra Zenny for Street Fighter IV's upcoming Championship mode isn't enough to put the sonic in your boom, Capcom has released additional details behind the impending DLC's April 24 release.

In addition to previously revealed features, Capcom notes that tournaments will be seeded randomly based on player skill, with single elimination bouts and double-blind character selection helping to keep fights as fair as possible. In addition, Capcom promises that players who disconnect at the first sign of trouble will be knocked down in their tournament rank. Even better, quitters will have their disconnect percentage put on display for all to mock when the free download hyper uppercuts the PS3 and Xbox 360 later this month.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/17/fr...-dlc-detailed/ ...

With the gajillion titles of Brain Age and its sequel Nintendo has sold, you'd think pretty much everyone has played the game. You're wrong.

"Some people might think that, given the huge sales of the Brain Training series, there can't possibly be anyone out there who hasn't played it, but that's not true at all", says Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. "Compared to the number of consoles sold, the amount of software sold doesn't even come close."

New DSiWare title Little Bit of Brain Training offers new players bite-sized bursts of brain training and chance to laugh like a maniac. What's more, the game offers seasoned players a tweaked version for those who are especially adept at boasting their gray matter age.

Brain Age developers found that players tended to stop playing once their brain age hit the sweet spot of 20 years old, and thus, have added a new character who appears and gives players harder tasks. Nintendo's current task? Make sure everyone who owns a DS plays Brain Age. The end.

http://kotaku.com/5215712/nintendo-n...ayed-brain-age ...

A demo for the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan this week, and people have had a chance to try it out and report back. In fact, video footage of the demo in its entirety was streamed and then posted on YouTube shortly after finding its way into customers' hands. Eurogamer got a chance to give the demo a test-drive, and they had this to say: "The characters are likeable — Lightning for her mysteriousness, the members of NORA for their banter and camaraderie — the setting is compelling, and the whole thing is as sumptuous visually as you'd expect of a next-generation Square-Enix title. The plot's the only thing that I couldn't get a definite feel for from the demo, beyond the basic set-up of an oppressive regime, a resistance fighting against it and a character with mysterious powers brought to aid them in a twist of fate. But forty minutes with Final Fantasy XIII have left me with nothing but anticipation for what else it has in store."

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../04/17/0641206 ...

An interesting article from mcv shows that Dreamcast has the highest percentage of high rated games than any other console:


http://www.mcvuk.com/news/33970/Sony...Metacritic-war ...

The Nintendo DS platform has held onto to the top of the Japanese hardware chart, amid falling sales for most devices, according to data provided by Media Create.

DSi sales hit 40,673 units, down from 53,680 units the previous week, while the DS Lite saw sales of 6869 units, compared to 8729, for a combined sales total of 47,542 units, from 62,409.

Sony's PlayStation Portable followed behind with 40,886 units, down from 48,118, while the PlayStation 3 led the home console sales at 16,701 units, compared to 20,362.

Nintendo Wii sales dipped to 13,349 units, from 15,525, while the Xbox 360 was the only console to see sales climb, from 7812 to 10,134 units.

Sony's PlayStation 2 trailed behind at 4351 units, compared to 5394 the previous week.

Japanese hardware sales chart follows:

Nintendo DS - 47,542
PlayStation Portable - 40,886
Nintendo Wii - 13,349
PlayStation 3 - 16,701
Xbox 360 - 10,134
PlayStation 2 - 4351

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

Rockstar and Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars sold under 89,000 units during March in the US, according to the latest investor note from Cowan and Company.

The firm had originally suggested the game could sell as many as 2 million units in if first year of sale in the US, but has now slashed forecasts to just 500,000 units.

"Despite a strong critical reception, Take-Two's GTA: Chinatown Wars sold a very disappointing 89,000 units in March, well below our more recent 200-250,000 estimate and far below the 400-450,000 we thought the title might sell upon its release," wrote Doug Creutz.

Although sales did not meet expectations, Cowan suggested it was an indication of the difficulties third-party publishers face in the Nintendo market, and not due to the quality of the title.

"Take-Two exported their most valuable IP onto the most widely distributed gaming platform, and created the most highly-rated title in the history of that platform," detailed Creutz. "We knew there were some uphill challenges due to the demographics of the platform, but believed there were enough core gamers/adults owning a DS that the title could still perform very well.

"However, either the demographics are more challenging than we thought, or core gamers did not view the title as an essential purchase due to the nature of the platform.

"We believe the experiment was a worthwhile one for Take-Two, and still expect the title to be profitable (though likely marginally so). However, the disappointing first month sales reinforce our view that achieving meaningful success on Nintendo platforms remains a very difficult proposition for third party publishers," he added.

US sales results from The NPD Group last night revealed that March software sales for the US were down 17 per cent to USD 792.83 million, comared to USD 952.14 million for the same period in 2008.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...disappointment ...

In an official response to the NPD's March 2009 sales numbers, Nintendo revealed that the Nintendo DSi handheld - released April 5, has sold 435,000 units in North America in its first week.

This figure surpasses initial sales of the handheld's previous iteration, the Nintendo DS Lite, which sold 226,300 in its first week on the market.

"These numbers demonstrate that the Nintendo DS brand remains strong, and that consumers continue to look for the best new experiences on their portable video game systems," said Nintendo of America executive vice president of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway.

In direct response to NPD's March data, Dunaway eagerly pointed out that sales of the DS Lite remained strong at 563,000, "even in advance of the April 5 launch of the new Nintendo DSi system."

"Nintendo systems accounted for 58.4 per cent of the video game hardware sold in March, more than all other systems combined," Dunaway continued. "Consumers continue to be attracted to the wide range of software available and the great value of Nintendo systems."

Dunaway also expressed that Nintendo remains a "key driver" in overall game industry revenues, stating that "Without Nintendo products, the industry would be down 14 percent for the year, according to the NPD Group."

As reported earlier, Nintendo's two platforms continued to top hardware charts in March, though sales of both the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS were down in comparison to the same period in 2008.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-first-us-week ...

Sony Computer Entertainment of America senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold has issued an official reaction to this month's NPD results, highlighting the three PlayStation 3 titles included in the top ten, upcoming Sony platform exclusive titles, and preliminary sales numbers following a price reduction for the PlayStation 2.

"March proved an exceptional month for software sales with three major PS3 titles ranking in NPD’s top ten list, including Resident Evil 5 and two of our highly rated PS3 exclusives, MLB'09 The Show and Killzone 2," said Seybold.

The response also revealed that MLB'09 The Show, Sony's exclusive Major League Baseball game, saw a 45 per cent sales increase over last year's version of the title.

Seybold's statement also looked to the future, promising a "relentless string of AAA games" that include upcoming PS3 shooter MAG and RockBand Unplugged, an exclusive entry into the rhythm game franchise coming exclusively to the PlayStation Portable.

Also highlighted in the response was "exciting preliminary numbers" for sales of the company's legacy PlayStation 2 console, which had a price reduction to USD 99.99 on April 1. NPD analyst Anita Frazier echoed this in an earlier statement, saying that the group "would expect to see an increase in PS2 hardware sell-through in the April data."

"We’ve got a confident plan ahead and have many cards yet to deal, so consumers can rest assured there’s a lot to look forward to from PlayStation this new fiscal year," Seybold's response concluded.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-npd-response ...

Sony Computer Entertainment of America senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold has issued an official reaction to this month's NPD results, highlighting the three PlayStation 3 titles included in the top ten, upcoming Sony platform exclusive titles, and preliminary sales numbers following a price reduction for the PlayStation 2.

"March proved an exceptional month for software sales with three major PS3 titles ranking in NPD’s top ten list, including Resident Evil 5 and two of our highly rated PS3 exclusives, MLB'09 The Show and Killzone 2," said Seybold.

The response also revealed that MLB'09 The Show, Sony's exclusive Major League Baseball game, saw a 45 per cent sales increase over last year's version of the title.

Seybold's statement also looked to the future, promising a "relentless string of AAA games" that include upcoming PS3 shooter MAG and RockBand Unplugged, an exclusive entry into the rhythm game franchise coming exclusively to the PlayStation Portable.

Also highlighted in the response was "exciting preliminary numbers" for sales of the company's legacy PlayStation 2 console, which had a price reduction to USD 99.99 on April 1. NPD analyst Anita Frazier echoed this in an earlier statement, saying that the group "would expect to see an increase in PS2 hardware sell-through in the April data."

"We’ve got a confident plan ahead and have many cards yet to deal, so consumers can rest assured there’s a lot to look forward to from PlayStation this new fiscal year," Seybold's response concluded.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-npd-response ...