A purported scan of an upcoming Toys R Us catalogue indicates that Nintendo is planning to drop the price of the Wii by $50 in the US at the end of September.
According to the advert, the Wii’s new manufacturer’s suggested retail price will be set at $199, down from $249.
Bundled with Wii Sports, the console will be available at the new price point during the week beginning Sunday September 27, reports Kotaku.
Shane Kim, corporate vice president for strategy and business development at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, is to retire at the end of 2009 following 19 years with the company.
Phil Spencer, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios, will be promoted to vice president, while current chief financial officer Dennis Durkin will assume a new chief operating officer position within the Xbox group.
It seems impossible to keep secrets any more. Even Square Enix bowed before the weight of international expectation for Final Fantasy XIII, with fans discovering its Japanese release date before the September 8 ‘Premiere Party’ at which the company had intended to reveal it.
No matter. The giant succeeded with its first intention, with president Yoichi Wada confirming that the game, four years in the making so far, would indeed see release in Japan before the end of the year. December 17, to be exact.
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found that the processing capacity of the Xbox 360’s GPU can aid in studies, saving thousands of pounds that would otherwise be spent on specialist PCs.
Microsoft has begun touting the gaming functionality of the Zune HD, according to a supposed leaked promotional video.
Guitar Hero 5 has taken the top spot of the UK software sales chart for the week ended September 12, beating out The Beatles: Rock Band at number four, according to data provided by Chart Track.
While Guitar Hero 5 became the first in the series to debut atop the all formats chart, Codemaster’s Colin McRae: Dirt 2 made its debut at number two and Batman: Arkham Asylum saw sales slump by 60% to come in at three.
Everyone who knows Midwinter knows it’s about scale. 160,000 square miles of explorable terrain. 32 playable characters who, in their fight for survival against a would-be dictator, can work solo or in coordination to create billions of possible strategic combinations. Snowmobiles, skis, hang-gliders and more at your disposal. A fleet of enemy craft that can be destroyed with missiles, grenades and well-placed sniper bullets. Or, equally devastatingly, can be picked at with cruel precision, gunning down generals and supply vehicles until the rest desert in desperation.
Bethesda Softworks has sued Interplay over perceived misuses of the rights to the Fallout franchise, claiming the studio has suffered “immediate, substantial, and irreparable harm”.
UPDATE: comment from GOG.com.
Courtney Love, the widow of former Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, has threatened to sue publisher Activision for breach of contract over her late husband’s appearance in Guitar Hero 5.
[Update: Playdom says it will defend itself "vigorously against this distraction”]
Social game developer Zynga has filed a lawsuit against rival online game maker Playdom and four of its employees for misappropriation of trade secrets, among other serious allegations.
Format: PC
Release: 2000
Publisher: Eidos
Developer: Ion Storm
Very rarely do great games spark into life, perfectly realised at conception. Most struggle for existence, mutating ceaselessly as they gestate. But Deus Ex may well be one of videogaming’s most complicated pregnancies.
Sony’s PS3 comfortably outsold all rival systems in Japan during the week ended September 6.
Retailers shifted over 150,000 PS3s - up from 1,040 the prior week - thanks to the release of the new slimline model and recently introduced price cut. The console’s launch week success in Japan was also mirrored in the US and the UK.
Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, MP Ed Vaizey and Edge are all part of a new conference to be staged October 27 at BAFTA’s headquarters in London. The London Games Conference will focus on digital distribution and the new challenge for publishers and developers to create closer links with their customers.
In an internal email sent to Electronic Arts staff, company CEO John Riccitiello has revealed his disappointment over early Madden NFL 10 sales, but he still believes that EA is on track to achieve success this fall and holiday season.
In an official statement released in response to the NPD Group's US industry sales results for August 2009, Microsoft has said that the Xbox 360 remains the only console to show year-to-date growth in North America.
Sony Computer Entertainment America has reported a 300 per cent increase in PlayStation 3 sales following the September 1 launch of the new PS3 Slim.
“Our top retailers have reported a 300 per cent lift in PS3 hardware sales and an increase of 140 per cent in total hardware revenue across the PlayStation portfolio when comparing the first week of September to the week before the $299 price adjustment,” the company said in a statement.
The US console retail business recorded a year-over-year sales decline for the sixth consecutive month during August, the NPD Group has reported.
While month-over-month sales rose from $848.9 million to $908.72 million, sales were down 16 per cent year-on-year from $1.09 billion in August 2008.
Console sales declined 25 per cent to $297.60 million, while software revenues fell 15 per cent to $470.32 million. Accessories bucked the trend with a two per cent sales increase to $140.81 million.
While all consoles bar PS2 recorded a month-over-month sales increase in August, total hardware sales declined 25 per cent year-over-year to $297.60 million, according to the NPD Group.
As expected, Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 10 topped August software sales in the US market, shifting nearly 1.9 million units across five platforms.
The football title took three of the top ten places on the monthly software chart. The Xbox 360 version topped the rankings with 928,000 sales, the PS3 edition placed third with 665,000 sales, and the PS2 SKU sixth with 160,000.
Wii Sports Resort dropped one place to second on the chart, despite recording a month-over-month jump of 250,000 sales.
Sales of music videogames are down 46 per cent year-to-date in the US marketplace, according to the NPD Group.
However, the category remains the third bestselling genre of 2009, and will see a boost in the coming months following the release of The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 in September, said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
The latest Gundam game from Namco Bandai, Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki: Lost War Chronicles for PS3, debuted atop the Japanese software chart during the week ended September 6.
The title sold 178 000 copies in its opening week, having launched on September 3 as a standalone game and as part of a PS3 Slim bundle. Sony’s new console, which released on the same day, is believed to have sold over 150,000 units during the week.
Format: Wii
Release: Out now
Publisher: Konami
Developer: M2
Screenshot gallery
Following initial confusion over how to market the iPod Touch, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has said that the company is now pushing the handheld as a dedicated games machine.
“Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine. We started to market it that way, and it just took off,” he said.
Last year Universal revealed plans to internally produce a number of games based on its film and TV properties. The plan represented the company’s second foray into the game production business, the firm having sold its Universal Interactive games division to Vivendi Games in 2000.
