Barnyard is a quirky adventure game based on the film from Nickelodion, in which players take control of a new cow in town, and must complete various challenges and mini games as they develop relationships with the other animals.

Unlike the usual run-of-the-mill movie licence for toddlers, Barnyard features an interesting time mechanic that, at days and nights pass, it's environments and gameplay will apparently be effected.

It's not got the words 'Twilight' or 'Steel' in the title, so it probably won't be at the top of any Christmas lists, but it looks like one of the better movie licences that'll go on sale on the Wii launch day - December 8.

Screens Via Comments ...

Nintendo may have sold in excess of a million Wii consoles on launch day, Next-Gen (note NOT nexgen) estimates:

Nintendo Wii got off to a flyer yesterday with major retailers reporting sell-outs. Although Nintendo has not released official figures, day one sell-through should be at well over a million. This would significantly up the current figure noted by NexGen Wars, which at the time of writing stands at just below 700.000. You may ask yourself how that site comes up with those figures. I asked the owner about how he gathers the figures and this is what he mailed back:

There is no special secret to getting these. It basically just takes time and research to estimate the numbers as closely as possible.

What I have done is gotten charts of monthly sales for the past few years, and figured out certain trends. Then I have gotten past sales data and estimated the pace at which the consoles will sell. After I have the estimate and the counter running, I just watch out for anny official announcements, and adjust anything accordingly.

The site has been up since early July, and I haven't had to adjust the sales for the Xbox 360 since then. So far my estimation method has been pretty much right on. Now for the new consoles it is a little harder since there is no previous sales data to go off of. What I do for these is research how many they are expecting to have on launch and by the end of the year. For the launch counter I get it to around the number expected, and then I slow it down to pace it so that it will reach a good estimate for the end of the year, and as usual I will adjust anything if any official word comes in.

No, the numbers aren't perfect, but so far it seems to have been a very good estimate.

I myself am confident that NexGen Wars is as reliable a source as it gets, in the absence of official figures. In this case, I do believe the Next-Gen estimate, though, and would not be surprised if NexGen adjusted their numbers accordingly.

Nintendo refused to comment on this story. In fact, the company has not released any shipment and sales figures concerning the US launch - and they told me that they do not know when that data will be made available.

So the counters some of you have in your signatures are around 300'000 out compared to more likely figuers ...

Nintendo may have sold in excess of a million Wii consoles on launch day, Next-Gen (note NOT nexgen) estimates:

Nintendo Wii got off to a flyer yesterday with major retailers reporting sell-outs. Although Nintendo has not released official figures, day one sell-through should be at well over a million. This would significantly up the current figure noted by NexGen Wars, which at the time of writing stands at just below 700.000. You may ask yourself how that site comes up with those figures. I asked the owner about how he gathers the figures and this is what he mailed back:

There is no special secret to getting these. It basically just takes time and research to estimate the numbers as closely as possible.

What I have done is gotten charts of monthly sales for the past few years, and figured out certain trends. Then I have gotten past sales data and estimated the pace at which the consoles will sell. After I have the estimate and the counter running, I just watch out for anny official announcements, and adjust anything accordingly.

The site has been up since early July, and I haven't had to adjust the sales for the Xbox 360 since then. So far my estimation method has been pretty much right on. Now for the new consoles it is a little harder since there is no previous sales data to go off of. What I do for these is research how many they are expecting to have on launch and by the end of the year. For the launch counter I get it to around the number expected, and then I slow it down to pace it so that it will reach a good estimate for the end of the year, and as usual I will adjust anything if any official word comes in.

No, the numbers aren't perfect, but so far it seems to have been a very good estimate.

I myself am confident that NexGen Wars is as reliable a source as it gets, in the absence of official figures. In this case, I do believe the Next-Gen estimate, though, and would not be surprised if NexGen adjusted their numbers accordingly.

Nintendo refused to comment on this story. In fact, the company has not released any shipment and sales figures concerning the US launch - and they told me that they do not know when that data will be made available.

So the counters some of you have in your signatures are around 300'000 out compared to more likely figuers ...

Nintendo may have sold in excess of a million Wii consoles on launch day, Next-Gen (note NOT nexgen) estimates:

Nintendo Wii got off to a flyer yesterday with major retailers reporting sell-outs. Although Nintendo has not released official figures, day one sell-through should be at well over a million. This would significantly up the current figure noted by NexGen Wars, which at the time of writing stands at just below 700.000. You may ask yourself how that site comes up with those figures. I asked the owner about how he gathers the figures and this is what he mailed back:

There is no special secret to getting these. It basically just takes time and research to estimate the numbers as closely as possible.

What I have done is gotten charts of monthly sales for the past few years, and figured out certain trends. Then I have gotten past sales data and estimated the pace at which the consoles will sell. After I have the estimate and the counter running, I just watch out for anny official announcements, and adjust anything accordingly.

The site has been up since early July, and I haven't had to adjust the sales for the Xbox 360 since then. So far my estimation method has been pretty much right on. Now for the new consoles it is a little harder since there is no previous sales data to go off of. What I do for these is research how many they are expecting to have on launch and by the end of the year. For the launch counter I get it to around the number expected, and then I slow it down to pace it so that it will reach a good estimate for the end of the year, and as usual I will adjust anything if any official word comes in.

No, the numbers aren't perfect, but so far it seems to have been a very good estimate.

I myself am confident that NexGen Wars is as reliable a source as it gets, in the absence of official figures. In this case, I do believe the Next-Gen estimate, though, and would not be surprised if NexGen adjusted their numbers accordingly.

Nintendo refused to comment on this story. In fact, the company has not released any shipment and sales figures concerning the US launch - and they told me that they do not know when that data will be made available.

So the counters some of you have in your signatures are around 300'000 out compared to more likely figuers ...

Developer fears publishers may begin to abandon format

Karl Jeffery, CEO of developer Climax has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony must act to reverse poor performance of the PSP before publishers begin to abandon the format.

The out-spoken development boss, who's company has recently released a new ATV Offroad Fury title for the system, is concerned that the Nintendo DS is trouncing the PlayStation Portable, while Sony is doing little to support its own handheld.

"To be honest and frank about it we worry about the future of the PSP," said Jeffery.

"In terms of sales of the actual units, it's not doing so great. The DS is going gangbusters, the sales volumes are going up exponentially. But the PSP worrys us, because we're sitting here thinking about what Sony is going to do to get the platform back on track and we're not hearing much from them."

Jeffery believes there are two ways to reinvigorate the format – redesign the handheld to create a more ergonomically appealing unit, and develop a serious digital download content strategy.

"Personally, I love it as a platform to develop for, it's very powerful and it's a great machine. But it's a big bit of kit to lug around and the battery life's not great. Perhaps they could bring out a 'PSP Lite' or something along those lines," said Jeffery.

"Another thing that would be smart is to get into a downloadable games model, which Sony hasn't really done yet. There's wi-fi possibilities and memory stick features that could be used - we can see where Sony could take the platform to re-energise it, but it's very disappointing at the moment when you look at the installed base and the sales of the games that are out there - it's not a compelling prospect for many publishers."

When asked whether he thought publishers may begin to abandon the format, Jeffery replied: "That's my instinct, yes. Maybe Sony has got something planned, but at the moment it's very worrying. It's probably the platform we're most worried about."


Gamesindustry.com ...

Developer fears publishers may begin to abandon format

Karl Jeffery, CEO of developer Climax has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony must act to reverse poor performance of the PSP before publishers begin to abandon the format.

The out-spoken development boss, who's company has recently released a new ATV Offroad Fury title for the system, is concerned that the Nintendo DS is trouncing the PlayStation Portable, while Sony is doing little to support its own handheld.

"To be honest and frank about it we worry about the future of the PSP," said Jeffery.

"In terms of sales of the actual units, it's not doing so great. The DS is going gangbusters, the sales volumes are going up exponentially. But the PSP worrys us, because we're sitting here thinking about what Sony is going to do to get the platform back on track and we're not hearing much from them."

Jeffery believes there are two ways to reinvigorate the format – redesign the handheld to create a more ergonomically appealing unit, and develop a serious digital download content strategy.

"Personally, I love it as a platform to develop for, it's very powerful and it's a great machine. But it's a big bit of kit to lug around and the battery life's not great. Perhaps they could bring out a 'PSP Lite' or something along those lines," said Jeffery.

"Another thing that would be smart is to get into a downloadable games model, which Sony hasn't really done yet. There's wi-fi possibilities and memory stick features that could be used - we can see where Sony could take the platform to re-energise it, but it's very disappointing at the moment when you look at the installed base and the sales of the games that are out there - it's not a compelling prospect for many publishers."

When asked whether he thought publishers may begin to abandon the format, Jeffery replied: "That's my instinct, yes. Maybe Sony has got something planned, but at the moment it's very worrying. It's probably the platform we're most worried about."


Gamesindustry.com ...

Gears of War takes top place, becoming the fastest selling Xbox 360 game ever, the 2nd fastest Microsoft game ever (behind Halo 2) and the 3rd fastest Selling game this year!

GOW knocks NFS:Carbon and WWE:SVsR, down a place each. Fifa 07 ,The Sims 2: Pets, and Pro Evo 6 all swap places which each other this week, while Call of Duty 3, drops 4 places to 7th.

Lego Star wars holds firm at 8, while Bratz: Forever Diamondz jumps 27 places up with the DS release. While the PSP exclusive Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, hangs on into the top 10 after dropping 3 place.

The only other new releases in the top forty are Activision's Tony Hawk's Project 8 at number 18 and Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerebus at number 28.

Next Week: As Xmas gets closes the releases come thick and fast. Titles to look out for:

Call of Duty 3 for the PS2 should help it back up the chart.
Eragon will be release on main platforms,
Guitar Hero II, critically aclaimed = great sales?
Phantasy Star Universe could be a hit for sega
Sonic The Hedgehog poor reviews but the public could keep buying it, for the 360





charttrack.co.uk ...

Via PSP117

Been working on the portal as always, and got a few major updates to report. Firstly, I am working on direct demo links in the portal, and hopefully that should be working soon, but it will take a while do do each one, so dont expect anything today. Also the game save links have been fixed for the next version. The next version will be version 2. And hopefully there will be 2 versions, a white version and a black version, for the diffferent PSPs and tastes. Have a look at the new homepage style-

...

Via PSP117

Been working on the portal as always, and got a few major updates to report. Firstly, I am working on direct demo links in the portal, and hopefully that should be working soon, but it will take a while do do each one, so dont expect anything today. Also the game save links have been fixed for the next version. The next version will be version 2. And hopefully there will be 2 versions, a white version and a black version, for the diffferent PSPs and tastes. Have a look at the new homepage style-

...