via Eurogamer


Square Enix president Yoichi Wada has told Reuters that Final Fantasy XIII will not be released outside Japan until April 2010 or later.

However, the PlayStation 3 version of FFXIII is still set for release this year in Japan.

The Reuters wire copy, which showed up on The Guardian's site yesterday, doesn't quote Wada on FFXIII's release date but does attribute the guidance directly to him.

Square Enix has previously said that development of the Xbox 360 version of FFXIII - announced at E3 2008 - will not begin until the PS3 version is completed.

Given Wada's comments, there will doubtless be renewed speculation as to whether Square Enix has committed to launching the two versions side by side in Europe rather than giving the completed Sony SKU a headstart on its rival.

FFXIII was originally unveiled at E3 all the way back in 2006, and returns to the Active Time Battle system, although no doubt with lessons learned from the excellent FFXII on PS2.

We've contacted Square Enix in Europe to see what else is stewing. ...

via Eurogamer


YouTube has launched a fancy version of its website tailored specially for PlayStation 3 and Wii owners using television displays.

Direct browsers to www.youtube.com/tv to access the new service, which has bigger and clearer text as well as a simplified layout for easier navigation.

The videos appear larger than they do on regular YouTube, but don't appear to be of any higher quality, leading to quite blocky clips.

Those eager for a look on PC need to install Firefox and the Download User Agent Switcher. Once that's done, go to Tools, User Agent Switcher, Options and type "Mozilla/5.0 (PLAYSTATION 3; 2.00)" in the user agent field. Assuming you're as boring as we are.

Switch to that new agent you will be able to view the YouTube TV website. ...

via Eurogamer


YouTube has launched a fancy version of its website tailored specially for PlayStation 3 and Wii owners using television displays.

Direct browsers to www.youtube.com/tv to access the new service, which has bigger and clearer text as well as a simplified layout for easier navigation.

The videos appear larger than they do on regular YouTube, but don't appear to be of any higher quality, leading to quite blocky clips.

Those eager for a look on PC need to install Firefox and the Download User Agent Switcher. Once that's done, go to Tools, User Agent Switcher, Options and type "Mozilla/5.0 (PLAYSTATION 3; 2.00)" in the user agent field. Assuming you're as boring as we are.

Switch to that new agent you will be able to view the YouTube TV website. ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo titles dominated software sales in the US during 2008, with the top four biggest games in the region all exclusive to the Wii.

Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii sold more than 5 million copies each, while Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl racked up sales of over 4 million units apiece.

Closest to Nintendo's top four was the Xbox 360 version of Take-Two's multiformat Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold over 3.2 million units, ahead of Activision's Call of Duty: World at War on 360 and Microsoft's Gears of War 2.

The only handheld title in the top ten was Mario Kart DS, once again from Nintendo.

During the December month, Nintendo's Wii Play was the best-selling game in the US, 22 months after it was first released in the region in February 2007. The company also had five top titles during the month, including Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Other noticeable hit titles during December include Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour which sold 850,000 units, and Valve's new IP Left 4 Dead, which shifted 629,000 copies.


Full year sales for 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.28 million
02. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.00 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.53 million
04. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.17 million
05. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 3.29 million
06. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 2.75 million
07. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 2.31 million
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, PS3) - 1.89 million
09. Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 1.65 million

Sales for December 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.46 million
02. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 1.33 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 999,000
04. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 979,000
05. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) - 850,000
06. Gears of War 2 Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 745,000
07. Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) - 629,000
08. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 540,000
09. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) - 533,000
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) - 497,000 ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo titles dominated software sales in the US during 2008, with the top four biggest games in the region all exclusive to the Wii.

Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii sold more than 5 million copies each, while Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl racked up sales of over 4 million units apiece.

Closest to Nintendo's top four was the Xbox 360 version of Take-Two's multiformat Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold over 3.2 million units, ahead of Activision's Call of Duty: World at War on 360 and Microsoft's Gears of War 2.

The only handheld title in the top ten was Mario Kart DS, once again from Nintendo.

During the December month, Nintendo's Wii Play was the best-selling game in the US, 22 months after it was first released in the region in February 2007. The company also had five top titles during the month, including Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Other noticeable hit titles during December include Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour which sold 850,000 units, and Valve's new IP Left 4 Dead, which shifted 629,000 copies.


Full year sales for 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.28 million
02. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 5.00 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.53 million
04. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 4.17 million
05. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 3.29 million
06. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 2.75 million
07. Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 2.31 million
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two, PS3) - 1.89 million
09. Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 1.65 million

Sales for December 2008:

01. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.46 million
02. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) - 1.33 million
03. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 999,000
04. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 979,000
05. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) - 850,000
06. Gears of War 2 Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 745,000
07. Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) - 629,000
08. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 540,000
09. Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) - 533,000
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) - 497,000 ...

via Games Industry


Sony has said it's confident of its momentum going in to 2009 following a rise in full-year PlayStation 3 sales of 40 per cent.

Over 3.6 million PS3 units were sold during 2008 in the US, with NPD data showing that 726,005 units were sold during December.

PS3 software sales reached almost 6 million units in December, and grew 116 per cent for the full year. Hit titles included LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Call of Duty: World at War and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

"We remain confident in our momentum into 2009 as we continue to deliver to our consumers the best entertainment content and technology out there," commented Peter Dille, SVP of marketing and PSN.

"And we delivered on that promise this past year with one of the best software line-ups in the industry, a dramatically expanded PlayStation Network with the launch of the video delivery service and the beta of PlayStation Home, as well as extended hardware offerings with the PSP 3000 and Uncharted 160GB PS3 bundle.

"We also hit a remarkable milestone for the PlayStation 2 platform in North America with 50 million units sold. It’s truly an amazing testament to the power and legacy of our brand," he added.

According to Sony, the top three most downloaded games in December via its PSN service were Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer and Linger in Shadows.

With more than 17 million users signed to the service, 330 million pieces of content have been downloaded via PSN.

The PSP sold 1.02 million units in December, with more than 3.7 million games sold for the system. The top two games for 2008 on the PSP were Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of War: Chains of Olympus, selling a combined 1.31 million units.

According to Sony, the PlayStation brand generated more than USD 6.4 billion in revenue in the US during 2008. ...

For the most part, I didn't mind missing the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. But then I saw what Engadget found at the show: the Dragon Fire Breather gamepad for the PC. They've got a pretty spectacular photo gallery, which includes scans of the documentation, transcribed here by the folks at Joystiq:

1. Do not put them in the concourses of warm, wet, and strong light.
2. Do not make liquid and other different things into the products.
3. Do not pull strong products' down-lead pins excessively.
4. Do not use strong canker or mucilanginous liquid to brush the products.
5. You can pay attention to time and methods are subject to personal instance.

This is truly the Dragon Wars of game controllers.

Source Fidgit. ...

Want to make sure nobody in the office steals your keyboard? Well how about a Klingon one?

"This exclusive Klingon language keyboard is based on the best selling G83-6000 series keyboards from Cherry.

It is a good quality keyboard with 105 keys, PS/2 connection and is available currently in black. This keyboard will be available for delivery from mid November, but demand for this limited edition is high so reserve yours now to be the first with this exclusive model."

Why do I get the feeling somebody got a great deal on a bunch of old keyboards and retrofitted them with Klingon keys? Right, because that's exactly what happened. Get your today for about $65. Thankfully, I got mine yesterday. jIH 'oH tlhIngan chugh SoH Har wIj nach 'oH qab SoH ghajbe' leghpu' wIj penis!

Source Geekologie. ...

Ign takes an exclusive video look at the new Precision Bass Mk. II and the all-new overdrive pedal.
"When we first reviewed the Mad Catz Precision Bass Guitar Controller, we found a new love for playing bass guitar in Rock Band 2. The dual strum bar, thumb rest, and elongated neck made the experience all the more authentic, especially during passionate renditions of "Eye of the Tiger." But, while we felt that the Mad Catz P-Bass had a lot going for it, it wasn't without its flaws. We were disappointed to find that the controller was not, in fact, wireless, especially considering the premium cost. With wireless functionality a first-party standard at this point, its no surprise to find that Mad Catz is back with a wireless iteration of the Fender Precision Bass. "

To read more and see the video go here. ...