Game industry analysts have weighed in with sales forecasts for July 2010 ahead of the release of US market data from the NPD Group this Thursday.
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects software sales of $405 million, down 7.5 per cent compared to July 2009’s $438 million.
Pachter thinks the bestselling console games last month were new releases Crackdown 2 and NCAA Football 11, with older titles Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Wii Fit Plus also performing well.
Explaining his continued efforts to stem Atari’s losses and reboot the iconic company as an online focused publisher, CEO Jeff Lapin has described the firm as being like a rotten onion over the past few years.
Tomonobu Itagaki’s new company, Valhalla Games Studio, is named to portray and commemorate his team as “old gods and glorious warriors”, according to the frequently outspoken developer. Quick to put his troubles with Tecmo behind him, Itagaki has signed “for as long as they will have him” with THQ and is working on a new, hugely violent thirdperson shooter Devil’s Third.
Earth Eternal developer Sparkplay Media has laid off all but two staff and expects to go out of business in the coming weeks after running out of money.
The company is putting its free-to-play browser-based MMO Earth Eternal up for auction in the hope that someone will purchase and continue to operate the game.
Microsoft is preparing to launch a 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect hardware bundle, according to the Australian packaging for the 4GB Xbox 360 Kinect offering.
Former Ubisoft Montreal creative director Clint Hocking has joined LucasArts.
"We are pleased to announce that Clint Hocking has joined LucasArts as creative director on an unannounced project," a LucasArts rep told GameSpot.
Toy Story 3 reclaimed the top spot on the UK all formats chart during the week ended August 7.
Disney’s title had lost the number one position to StarCraft II the previous week, but Blizzard’s RTS sequel slipped to fourth in its second week on the chart.
Sandwiched between the pair were Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Dance On Broadway, while Red Dead Redemption rounded off the top five.
If you think about all of the teachers that you had growing up – throughout elementary school, high school, college, etc – which ones did you like the best? The ones that were strict, or the ones that were forgiving? The ones who nurtured you or the ones who pushed you?
Patent reveals Microsoft's device will be able to understand American Sign Language, lip read and even track toe movement.
Apple is in discussions that could lead to the acquisition of Chinese game development studio Handseeing.
Headquartered in China's Sichuan province, the gaming company designs online titles based on popular Chinese folklore.
"We should have a decision in about one or two months," Tian Bo, Handseeing’s vice-president for operations, told Reuters. "They're still talking about it and it's not quite settled yet right now."
Channel 4’s video on demand service 4 on Demand may be headed to PS3.
An anonymous source told Broadcast magazine (via TechRadar): "We're looking to launch on the PS3. 4oD is becoming a platform agnostic product and will be successful because of the quality of the content."
Built from the ground up over the last 18 months, and consisting of industry veterans as well as staff from other disciplines, Good Science Studio is the developer behind Kinect Adventures, Microsoft Game Studios' minigame collection for Kinect. Don't call them minigames though, the company prefers to term each discrete activity an 'adventure'. Regardless of terminology, Kinect Adventures is the perfect ambassador for Microsoft's new device. It's accessible, wholly entertaining and just familiar enough.
Thirdparty accessories firm Mad Catz Interactive has posted a loss and a decrease in sales for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2010.
The company reported a net loss of $1.4 million (£883,000), compared to a net loss of $1 million (£631,000) in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year, while sales fell 11 per cent year-over-year to $19.9 million (£12.6m).
Square Enix has posted positive financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30.
The company swung from a loss of 1,672 million yen ($19.4m / £12.3m) during the same period last year to a profit of 1,812 million yen ($21m / £13.3m).
Net sales were up 10.7 per cent year-over-year to 32,540 million yen ($378m / £238.5m), while operating income rocketed 814.4 per cent to 5,434 million yen ($63.1m / £39.8m).
Farmville maker Zynga has acquired Japanese social game developer Unoh for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2001, Unoh has created titles including Machitsuku!, Band Yarouyo! and Kaizoku Chronicle. The studio will lead Zynga’s Japanese mobile efforts, creating new games and localising others.
Creator: Adam “Atomic” Saltsman
Format: iPhone, Flash
Direct App Store link
A combination of successful software launches and new hardware helped boost sales of PlayStation platforms in Japan during the week ended August 1.
Total PSP and PS3 sales almost doubled week-over-week as new games for the platforms took the top two spots on the software chart. The home console’s sales jump can also be attributed to the launch of a white PS3 and higher storage capacity 160GB and 320GB models on July 29.
Format: C64
Release: 1987
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: In-house
Following Call Of Duty’s continued retail and online sales success, Activision has said it intends to “redouble” investment in the brand.
Activision Blizzard increased profit during the second quarter of 2010 despite a drop in net revenues.
The Call Of Duty publisher posted a profit of $219 million, up 12 per cent year-over-year, while revenues dropped 6.8 per cent to $967 million.
MTV and Harmonix parent company Viacom cut its losses on the Rock Band franchise in the quarter ended June 30, 2010.
The company’s Media Networks division, which houses its videogame business, saw quarterly revenue up six per cent year-over-year to $2.09 billion (£1.3b), while operating income rose 14 per cent to $789 million (£496m), “driven by higher affiliate and advertising revenues as well as lower losses from Rock Band”, the company said.
Known to many as the father of Mega Man, the title is one Capcom global head of production, Keiji Inafune claims he doesn't deserve. But as an executive producer his influence has been seen across many Capcom titles, including the Onimusha series, Lost Planet and most recently working with western developers on Bionic Commando and Dark Void.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has lifted the lid on the follow-up to 2009’s critically acclaimed and award-winning Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Konami has reported an impressive leap in net income, despite a slight dip in sales, during its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2010.
Company-wide net income rocketed 244.7 per cent to 1.23 billion yen ($14.3m / £9m), while net revenues were down five per cent to 53.2 billion yen ($618m / £389m).
Namco Bandai significantly reduced its losses while improving sales during its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2010.
Net loss fell from 2,846 million yen ($33m / £20.8m) during the same period a year earlier to 1,644 million yen ($19m / £12m), while sales increased 8.2 per cent to 81,912 million yen ($950m / £600m).