New from Play Asia:



features
Frenetic action - Lost Planet is a fast-paced third-person shooter with all the depth, intrigue and intensity of a science fiction classic.
Xbox Live enabled – An array of online gameplay possibilities await including:
Downloadable content such as additional maps, missions and weapons
Online multiplayer cooperative and versus battles with up to 16 players
Foot and vehicle based gameplay - Command highly powered armed vehicles and weapons notonly to traverse the treacherous terrain, but to eliminate enemies that lie ahead. Or, strategically switch from vehicles, including transformable snow bikes, to on-foot gameplay as dictated by the situation
Vast environments - Snowstorms, arctic winds, towering buildings and mountains of ice are all stunningly realized as battles occur above and below ground, creating a truly immersive and cinematic event of epic proportions
A premier team of developers – The creators of the critically acclaimed Onimusha and Devil May Cry series have come together to create the expansive world of Lost Planet.

description
Set within the ruthless conditions of a war-torn ice covered planet, humankind struggles for survival as colonization initiatives clash with menacing alien creatures. With a gripping single player campaign and numerous multiplayer modes, Lost Planet for Xbox 360 promises to deliver an epic gaming masterpiece.

In Lost Planet, human snow pirates navigate VS (Vital Suits) through unforgiving arctic environments, fighting against the indigenous Akrid creatures for the precious thermal energy they need to survive. For one such pilot named Wayne, death almost seemed imminent until he was fortunately rescued. However, he can only remember a few fragments of his past including the slaying of his father by these enigmatic menaces. Yet under the shroud of ice, a devious plan has been set into motion by the Neo Venus Construction Corporation (NEVEC) who plans to sterilize the worldof all Akrid and snow pirates alike. What really happened to Wayne and how will his destiny become intertwined with NEVEC’s plans?

Taking full advantage of Xbox 360’s unprecedented power, Lost Planet will contain an unrivalled level of detail as advanced light sourcing is used to ensure a realistic presentation that enhances every explosion, smoke and particle effect. Enormous world maps unfold as players battle the hostile creatures during blistering weather conditions throughout vast snow fields and deserted cities either on foot or with armed vehicles. Fostering a real-time loading system, players can expect a seamless experience that leaves them completely immersed. Multiplayer modes add to the value of Lost Planet by allowing gamers to partakein intense team battles via Xbox Live® online game service and the opportunity to download additional content. Expanding the Lost Planet world beyond the home, the mobile phone edition will feature a storyline that complements Xbox 360’s version, downloadable content, multiplayer options and original gameplay mechanics.

Collector's Edition includes:


Custom designed exclusive cover art

Exclusive art book with concept sketches from all stages of development

Soundtrack of select songs from the game

Fan kit assets for gamers to create their own Lost Planet websites

Action packed videos and trailers

Wallpapers, AIM icons, board icons and signature banners

Digital art files including screens, character art and environment shots

An exclusive bonus multiplayer map that will only be available in the Collector’s Edition until summer 2007

More Info here --> http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-1rso.html ...

News from Play Asia

Welcome to this week's Movie/Music news roundup, containing all new Japanese and Hong Kong Video and Music releases from this week listed at Play-Asia.com. Over 150 new items are covered in this week, including new J-Pop, Anime as well as Japanese, Hong Kong and Western movie releases and much more.

Here's a summary of all new releases that were published between Saturday, January 6th and Friday, January 12th. If some specific item that you are looking for is missing, please don't hesitate to contact our customer service with your request.

J-Pop Music releases (31)
ENKA Music releases (15)
Anime Soundtracks & Drama CDs (17)
Video Game Soundtracks (3)
Hong Kong Version Music releases (7)
Blu-Ray Disc Movies (1)
HD DVD Movies (1)
Hong Kong Version Movie releases (22)
Japanese Movies (4)
Non-Japanese Movies / Japanese Version (49)
Anime DVD releases (20)
J-Pop DVD releases (1)
Idol DVD (6)

More details at link above ...

via joystiq

This ain't your Xbox's Rainbow Six, but Wired's GameLife was impressed by Gameloft's version of Rainbow Six Vegas for the mobile platform -- at least for the duration of a 10-minute play session. The first two stages featured some variety, including a sniper task (pictured) and then a casino assault. GameLife noted that the second stage worked particularly well because players simply control a cursor; it's essentially a point-n-click action game.

Gameloft has a lot of experience developing mobile games, including 11 previous Tom Clancy titles. Last summer, the company was named the 'Best Mobile Games Studio' at the Develop Conference & Expo. ...

via joystiq

God of War 2 director Cory Barlog, using gentler language than tends his predecessor David Jaffe, has revealed that the game demo is nearly complete. "We are going to be breaking off the demo code pretty soon and tuning the final tuning pass on the demo level so that is pretty damn exciting. It means that those of you who emailed earlier about the demo will soon be holding your sweet copy of the God of War 2 Demo," Barlog wrote on his blog Wednesday.

Barlog failed to cite an exact release date or means of distribution for the demo, which will feature a single level. By his own declaration, the entire game will be finished 60 days from now, suggesting a late-March to early-April release window for God of War 2. Our guess: demo in February. Will a version land on PlayStation 3's PlayStation Store? ...

Japanese mag Famitsu reviewed the new releases for Japan and an Xbox360 game got exceptional scores:

Bionicle Heroes (PS2) — 6, 6, 6, 5
Shining Force Ikusa (PS2) — 9, 9, 8, 9
.hack//G.U. Vol. 3 (PS2) — 8, 7, 8, 8
Dragon Shadow Spell (PS2) — 8, 8, 8, 8
Meitantei Evangelion (PS2) — 6, 6, 6, 4
Excite Truck (Wii) — 8, 8, 7, 8
Gears of War (Xbox 360) — 10, 9, 9, 9
The Sims 2 (PSP) — 6, 6, 5, 5
FIFA 07 (PSP) — 7, 7, 7, 7
Mahha Combat Heroes (PSP) — 8, 7, 8, 7
Sekaiju no Meikyu (DS) — 8, 8, 8, 8
Ochaken no Heya DS 2 (DS) — 8, 7, 6, 8
Wario: Master of Disguise (DS) — 8, 7, 7, 7

4 judges who give marks out of 10, the score for Gears of War is impressive. ...

Via Insert credit

Whilst From Software are often known to produce games involving wave after wave of killbots, they do have other works within their portfolio. One of these is the Kuri Kuri series.

The original game, on the PlayStation 2, was a moderately endearing puzzle platformer set over nine worlds with requisite boss battles. It didn't do that great and From Software shelved it as a consequence. Now in the clear and present glare of the DS Lite's omnipotence in Japan, Kuri Kuri has been jolted back into action.

Bear in mind though that their last DS game, Tenchu Dark Shadow, was akin to having nutty fecal matter ground into your cornea, here's hoping that Kuri Kuri DS is a departure from that hellish experience. The word "kuri", in case anyone is wondering, means "chestnut" in Japanese but the doubling up of the word has rather amusing ramifications; in that manga artists use "kuri kuri" to denote the sound of breast fondling.

Definitely a game for the kids then. ...

On an Ebay Auction theres a Chocalate Bar in the shape of a Nes Game cartridge.



More info at Auction ...

Via Gamespot

The final game sales numbers for 2006 have been released by industry-trackers NPD Group, and a familiar face has risen to the top. Electronic Arts' most valuable player, the PlayStation 2 version of the Madden NFL franchise, was declared the top-selling game of the year in the US.

Madden NFL 07 for Sony's current-generation system, which debuted in August, sold 2.8 million copies (the figure includes the game's deluxe Hall of Fame edition). Last year's version of the series, Madden NFL 06, beat that number slightly, tallying 2.9 million units sold.

From overgrown linemen to stubby plumbers, second place for US game sales in 2006 went to Nintendo's mustachioed mascot. New Super Mario Bros. for the DS mustered 2 million units sold. The DS, which has sold 9.2 million units in the US to date, was also represented on the charts by Mario's chart mate, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. The brainteaser sold 1.1 million units in 2006.

New Super Mario Bros. sold well all year.
Just over one year old, the Xbox 360 had three of its games in the top 10. Madden NFL 07 took eighth with 1.1 million sold and Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter was just behind it in ninth, with 1 million rung up. But the most impressive Xbox 360 game was Epic Games' Gears of War, which sold 1.8 million copies despite only being released in November.

Even with all the hoopla surrounding the next-gen wars, Sony's iron horse, the PS2, was still the story for software. The system held five of the top 10 spots in 2006 thanks to Kingdom Hearts II, Guitar Hero 2, Final Fantasy XII, and NCAA Football 07.

The list of top 10 selling games for 2006 (with figures) is listed below.

Gears of War pwned December.
Sales figures for the last month of 2006 were also released today, and Gears of War came out on top...barely. The Xbox 360 shooter sold 815,700 units, just edging out the PS2 version of Guitar Hero 2, which racked up 805,200 sales. While both of those games were holiday releases, third place went to Madden NFL 07 for the PS2 (737,100 units sold in December), despite being a summer release.

While much attention was focused on Wii owners scooping up that system's version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in droves, it was actually outperformed in December by its GameCube counterpart. Twilight Princess for the GameCube landed in fourth (532,900 sold) just ahead of the Wii version, which took fifth (519,200 sold).

The list of top 10 selling games for December 2006 (with figures) is listed below.

Across all platforms, Madden once again took the December crown, scrambling ahead to 1.9 million games sold. Behind it were Call of Duty 3 (1.1 million), Cars (874,000), Need for Speed: Carbon (871,600), the Xbox-360-exclusive Gears of War, and the PS2-exclusive Guitar Hero 2.

As far as sales of accessories in December go, the top slot went to the Xbox 360 wireless controller with 823,800 units sold. Nintendo had a one-two punch in second and third, with the Wii Remote (646,700) and Wii Nunchuk (497,100), respectively.

Top-selling games for 2006

PS2--Madden NFL 07, Electronic Arts--2.8 M
NDS--New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo--2.0 M
360--Gears of War, Microsoft--1.8 M
PS2--Kingdom Hearts II, Square Enix--1.7 M
PS2--Guitar Hero II, Activision--1.3 M
PS2--Final Fantasy XII, Square Enix--1.3 M
NDS--Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, Nintendo--1.1 M
360--Madden NFL 07, Electronic Arts--1.1 M
360--Tom Clancy's GRAW, Ubisoft--1.0 M
PS2--NCAA Football 07, Electronic Arts--1.0 M

Top-selling games for December 2006

360--Gears of War, Microsoft--815.7 K
PS2--Guitar Hero II, Activision--805.2 K
PS2--Madden NFL 07, Electronic Arts--737.1 K
GC--Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo--532.9 K
Wii--Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo--519.2 K
PS2--WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007, THQ--484.5 K
NDS--New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo--427.5 K
360--Call of Duty 3, Activision--410.8 K
NDS--Yoshi's Island 2, Nintendo--407.2 K
PS2--Call of Duty 3, Activision--365.3 K

Top-selling games for December 2006 across all platforms
Madden NFL 07, Electronic Arts--1.9 M
Call of Duty 3, Activision--1.1 M
Cars, THQ--874.0 K
Need For Speed: Carbon, Electronic Arts--871.6 K
Gears of War, Microsoft--815.7 K
Guitar Hero 2, Activision--805.2 K
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, LucasArts--792.3 K
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007, THQ--731.6 K
Tony Hawk's Project 8, Activision--713.9 K
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Activision--642.9 K

Top selling accessories in December 2006

360 Wireless Controller--823.8 K
Wii Remote Controller--646.7 K
Wii Nunchuk Controller--497.1 K
PS2 8MB Memory Card--474.8 K
PS3 Sixaxis Wireless Controller--336.0 K ...

Via Gamespot

With the shift to the new generation of consoles finally complete, there's little left to discuss about the transitional year aside from how well the industry weathered it. The industry-tracking NPD Group today released its US retail gaming sales results for December and for the entirety of 2006, and the figures showed a record sales year and growth almost across the board.

When hardware, software, and accessories sales are combined, the total US gaming market for the year amounted to $12.5 billion, a 19 percent jump over 2005's $10.5 billion, which was the previous highest grossing year in US gaming. December alone saw the industry bring in $3.7 billion, 27.8 percent more than the $2.9 billion it brought in for December 2005. The figures did not include sales of PC games, PC game subscriptions, or downloaded content.

Last month, retailers racked up $1.7 billion in game sales, a 5.4 percent increase over December 2005. While sales of games for the recently released Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3 added to the tally, console software sales overall were virtually unchanged, up only about .5 percent. However, last month's portable game sales showed significantly more growth over December 2005, as they cumulatively jumped 18.8 percent to $521.6 million.

The numbers were reversed on the hardware side of the equation. While portable systems showed the strongest growth as far as software went, sales of the hardware were actually down for the month, slipping 5.7 percent from the year before to $488.7 million. It was the Wii and PS3 driving hardware growth last month, as December's $1.1 billion take for console hardware was double December 2005's tally and then some, up 131.2 percent from the year before. Combining the portable and console markets, hardware sales for the month were up 59.2 percent to $1.6 billion.

As for which piece of hardware proved to be the most popular for the month, the Nintendo DS led all systems with 1.6 million units sold, trailed by the PlayStation 2 (1.4 million units sold) and the Xbox 360 (1.1 million units sold).

The newcomers to the mix fell a little short of analysts' projections, as the Wii sold 604,200 units in December, while the PS3 managed to move 490,700 system sales. Combined with their November hardware sales tallies, the Wii sold 1.1 million systems in the US through the end of the year, while Sony managed to move 687,300 PS3s.

According to NPD's figures, the growth of game sales in December was very much in line with game sales growth for the whole year. The US game industry's total 2006 game sales take came in at $6.5 billion, a 6.4 percent increase over 2005, with portable game sales experiencing pronounced growth of 18.8 percent to $1.7 billion and console game sales up a more modest 2.6 percent to $4.8 billion.

Similarly, hardware sales for the full year mirrored the December trend. Console hardware sales were up 87.5 percent to $2.9 billion, while portable hardware sales actually slipped .3 percent, racking up $1.6 billion. Combined hardware for the year was up 42.8 percent to $4.6 billion.

For the month, EA's Madden NFL 07 was the best-selling game, managing sales of 1.9 million units across all platforms. Call of Duty 3 took the second spot as the only other million-unit seller for the month, with 1.1 million copies sold. Trailing those two were Cars, Need for Speed Carbon, and Gears of War.

The single best-selling game for the year was the PlayStation 2 edition of Madden NFL 07, which garnered sales of 2.8 million units (Hall of Fame edition included). New Super Mario Bros. for the DS came in second with 2 million units sold in 2006, followed by Gears of War (1.8 million units sold, including collector's edition), Kingdom Hearts II (1.7 million units sold), and Guitar Hero 2 (1.3 million units sold, with or without guitar).

"We were expecting it to be a great year, with two new consoles being introduced," NPD senior marketing manager David Riley told GameSpot. "Also, there were tons of great new games for existing platforms, including Final Fantasy XII, [The Legend of Zelda] Twilight Princess for GameCube, and Guitar Hero II for PS2. There were also holdover hits like New Super Mario Bros. for the DS."

Despite the flat numbers posted for portable hardware sales, Riley wasn't too concerned.

"I would prefer to see they're flat," he said of the figures. "It's a transition year for the console market, so there's a sector that's bound to suffer. The DS had a great year." ...