Archive for the ‘Industry News’ Category
Google Celebrates Tetris Birthday
June 5th, 2009 by Sean
So I was just about to search for something on Google and noticed that the search engine changed its logo — to a Tetris theme!
Why? To celebrate the iconic videogame’s birthday. It was 25 years ago today (well tomorrow June 6) that Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris.
Over the past 25 years Tetris has sold over 70 million copies, and we named it the #1 game of all time in our Top 100 Games of All Time feature in EGM.
So happy birthday, Tetris. I really hope Alexey is out celebrating right now. Be sure to join the party and play a few round of Tetris in our game room.
Posted in Games, Handheld, Industry News
Nintendo: New Super Mario Bros Wii
June 3rd, 2009 by Sean
Below is a video from E3 2009 showing the world premiere announcement and demonstration of the new Nintendo Wii game, “New Super Mario Bros Wii”:
The actual gameplay demonstration starts around 1:45 in the video.
What I’m really excited about in this game is the ability for up to 4 players to cooperatively play together in a classic Super Mario Bros setting.
We can expect the “New Super Mario Bros Wii” game to be launched in Christmas 2009. I’ll be pre-ordering for sure.
Posted in Industry News, Nintendo, Videos, Wii
E3 2009 Xbox LIVE Backstage Pass
June 3rd, 2009 by Sean
If you’re an Xbox 360 owner, be sure to check out the recently added Marvel VS Capcom 2 New Age of Heroes Trailer just added for free download.
I love playing Marvel VS Capcom 2 on my Sega Dreamcast, however I’m REALLY looking forward to playing this game on my Xbox 360. The trailer looks amazing and with the addition of online multi-player, all I can say is bring it on!
Also if you have 400 Microsoft points and 197 MB of free space on your hard drive, you can now purchase and download the full game Wolfenstein 3D for your Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Arcade:
Achtung! You are OSA super agent B.J. Blazkowicz and you must escape from Castle Wolfenstein and defeat the twisted Nazi regime! Fight all of the memorable enemies from Hans Grosse to Mecha-Hitler in the legendary game that launched the First Person Shooter genre. Search classic levels for hidden secrets that reveal stolen Nazi treasure, health packs, ammo and weapons, or even short cuts.
Wolfenstein 3D is awesome! I still own the PC version (and it works), I have the Super Nintendo version (which is totally watered down), plus I have it for my GameBoy Advance which is a full port, Nazi’s and all.
Until recently I would either play it on my Nintendo GameBoy Advance or via my GameCube using my GameBoy Player on my 32 inch TV, but now I can play it on my Xbox 360… Muhahahahaha!
Also, as reported yesterday, the original Perfect Dark for Nintendo 64 (N64) will be released soon for Xbox Live:
Agent Joanna Dark hit the ground running in Perfect Dark, an epic tale of galactic conspiracies in 2023 America. Now this classic shooter is coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade, rendered in greater definition and detail and sporting a silkier framerate than ever before. Fire up your Farsight and prepare for assignment– the Dark returns this winter.
Here’s one more cool E3 announcement:
Microsoft was kind enough to release a free Perfect Dark Xbox theme for Xbox LIVE Gold Members. Be sure to download it now.
Posted in Downloads, Industry News, XBLA, Xbox 360
Nielsen’s Revised Video Game Market Chart
April 9th, 2009 by Sean
Remember that study of video gamer habits Nielsen released earlier this week showing the Wii in third place and the Playstation 3 in seventh, last even after the GameCube and original Xbox? It was wrong.
Fast Company reports that they’ve been told that the graph was mislabeled. The real graph, which now appears in the official report and in the image above, shows that the Wii is in second place, after the PS2, for console usage and the PS3 is in fifth place, beating out the GameCube and original Xbox.
Whoops. I hope there aren’t any other mistakes in the oft-cited, typically trusted data. Reached for comment this morning, a Nielsen representative said the report does not contain any other errors.
Source: Fast Company
Posted in Industry News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Report: Average Game Console Usage
April 8th, 2009 by Sean
The Nielsen group has released a new report on usage of the three major consoles.
Coming as little surprise, Nielsen’s study has placed Wii in dead last, with the average player using the console 6.8 percent of the time during Nielsen’s study in December, 2008.
During that same period, those involved in the study played Xbox 360 10.2 percent and PS3 10.6 percent — nearly double the Wii average. Clearly, the average gamer doesn’t have the endurance necessary for long-term waggling.
Nintendo Wii also ranked the lowest in average days used over the course of the study, with users only partaking an average of 5 days.
The Sony PS3 ranked second place, with users spending an average of 6.8 days days, which leaves us with Xbox 360, the top dog in this category with an average of 7.1 days.
Lastly, Nielsen tracked the daily average number of sessions, and, again, Wii was last with 1.78 sessions, whereas the Xbox 360 and PS3 had much higher averages of 2.15 and 2.74 sessions, respectively.
So, the question is, how would you rank your gaming console usage?
Source: Nielsen report
Posted in Industry News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Comments Off
Wii Supply Finally Meets Wii Demand
March 19th, 2009 by Sean
Video game retailer GameStop finally has enough Nintendo Wii consoles for everyone, and it only took around three and a quarter years to get there.
In an interview with Gamasutra, GameStop’s senior VP of merchandising Bob McKenzie says that the company’s supply of Nintendo Wii consoles has finally caught up with demand.
“You know, three years later, we finally have enough inventory on the shelf, and we’ve got a couple of weeks in supply of this. That’s good because we can finally determine and gauge it before we get into the fourth holiday season.”
This is good news for late adopters of the Nintendo Wii or people who didn’t want to pay high prices on sites like eBay or Craigslist.
The funny thing is last night I was at the local shopping mall and walked by a GameStop. They had a huge sign saying “We have Nintendo Wii In Stock”. I should have snapped a photo.
Let’s see how long it takes for them to meet Wii Fit demand 
Source: Gamasutra
Posted in Industry News, Nintendo, Wii
Titmouse Opens Game Development Wing
March 18th, 2009 by Sean
Titmouse Inc., the production company behind Cartoon Network’s hit show Metalocalypse, have opened a game development studio appropriately named:
Once you stop snickering at the word “titmouse,” note that this is not the firm’s first effort in the gaming industry.
Alongside the aforementioned cartoon and other notable shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Afro Samurai, Titmouse is responsible for the in-game cinematics seen in the Guitar Hero series.
The first project for Titmouse Games is an action-roleplaying game called Seven Haunted Seas, that the company’s official press release characterizes as:
“a mixture of steam-punk and graphic novel-like artwork, the game is a dark comedic tale about an undead pirate, Scurvy Pete, that returns from hell to find a dark, post-apocalyptic future where he must right all his wrongs to restore the world.”
Even though Titmouse Games… hehe… has a funny name, I expect some cool things from this company.
Source: official press release
Posted in Culture, Game Development, Industry News
Comments Off
EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis: John McEnroe
March 15th, 2009 by Sean
Electronic Arts is totally serious about including ill-tempered tennis legend John McEnroe in EA Sports’ upcoming Wii release, Grand Slam Tennis.
According to EA, McEnroe will be just one of several “all-time greats” in the upcoming title, which is expected to take to the court on June 16.
Hopefully EA will package more than just McEnroe’s likeness with the game.
I can’t think of a better use of the promised MotionPlus support than mirroring his juvenile antics on screen as we toss our Wii remote aside in disgust when calls don’t go our way.
Posted in Industry News, Nintendo, Wii