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July 2010 Sales

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:42:42 +0000

Console Sales in USA + Japan (Europe + Other data not available) Platform United States Japan Total Year Over Year Change PlayStation Portable 84,000 132,797 216,797 -8.51% PlayStation 3 214,500 96,893 311,393 +96.73% Wii 253,900 109,014 362,914 -12.51% Xbox 360 443,500 42,353 485,853 +124.94% Nintendo DS 398,400 266,273 664,673 -30.23% Top Ten Games in USA (Japan + Europe + Other data not available) Blizzard Announced that the Windows/Mac exclusive game, Starcraft 2, sold 1.5 million copies in the first 48 hours, which obviously, beats the top five NPD listings combined. Wow! I would presume those are international figures, not US only figures as listed below. Game Platform Publisher Sales for Month NCAA Football 11 Xbox 360 EA 368,000 NCAA Football 11 PS3 EA 299,000 Crackdown 2 Xbox 360 Microsoft 209,000 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii Nintendo 193,000 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 DS WBIE 142,000 Red Dead Redemption Xbox 360 Take-Two ? LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Wii WBIE ? Dragon Quest IX DS Nintendo ? New Super Mario Bros. Wii Wii Nintendo ? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 Activision ? Other Commentary PSP continues to sell extremely well in Japan and poorly in US. 360 Sales are unusually strong. This is likely due to the new 360 Slim SKU. July was the first full month of sales for the new SKU.

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July 2010 Sales

Android 3.0 + PSP

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:52:31 +0000

Sony has been on a winning streak of managing the world’s best game studios that make the world’s best video games. Google’s Android is, to many tech enthusiasts such as myself, the world’s best smartphone and tablet OS. I’ve got an Evo, and that device is absolutely amazing, particularly the OS, and the apps, they are really, really amazing – except the games are mediocre). Combining the two has been a long time fantasy, and apparently, according to Engadget , that’s actually happening. Wow. One worrisome quote I see: “Games will be graphically in the range of PSX or PSP games, meaning true 3D gaming is headed to Android” I don’t believe that is right. The PSP is already over five years old, so for a new successor device, it’s reasonable to expect a major improvement, just like any other 5+ year console generation jump. I’m not expecting PS3 level 3D or anything, but merely achieving par with the old first-gen PSP would be a disappointment. Overall, very exciting. Can’t wait to hear more.

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Android 3.0 + PSP

Woman Enraged Over McNuggets

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:47:56 +0000

A Toledo woman has been indicted for vandalism after going into a rage at a McDonald’s drive-thru window when employees refused to sell her McNuggets because it was breakfast time. Wow. Maybe they should have just made some McNuggets. Post from: EveryJoe

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Woman Enraged Over McNuggets

The Overrated and Underrated Games of E3 (Op-Ed)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:30:15 +0000

All the major E3 awards are out and the upper crust of the gaming journalists have announced their opinions. What qualifies my opinion as worthy of written retort? Channel it into the comments, gaming fans! Overrated Civilization 5: Civilization 1 was a genuine great when it was originally released. But Civ 2, 3, 4, and Civ Revolutions were complete rehashes: with the same game structure, the same game progression, an instantly recognizable tech tree, and identical style of city/empire building. The series has really delivered surprisingly minimal evolution over its lifespan and today’s game critics simply don’t play these games enough to notice. This series is coasting on a reputation that has long passed its prime. Ghost of Sparta: This is amazing for what it is, but realistically, anyone who has convenient access to a PS3 or 360, and has experienced games like the home GoW3 will be underwhelmed. There is a real niche that doesn’t have regular access to a home gaming setup, and this is perfect for that crowd, but there are simply better picks for best PSP game. Dance Central: DDR and Guitar Hero worked as genuine twitch games with mechanics that encouraged repeat solo play and serious multiplayer competitions. Karaoke titles worked more as affordable home karaoke machines rather than twitch games. Dance Central doesn’t look like it fits either group. It’s not a twitch competitive game and I don’t think people want an elaborate instructional dance video. Many top critics are naming this game of the show and predicting a runaway fad. I’m not an expert on dance culture and I’d love to be proven wrong, but I am betting against the new pop culture fad. Portal 2: Portal 1 was unique, simple, fun, and overall a great game. Nevertheless, the accolades got a little carried away. The sequel swept the awards shows, but is it really that good? Underrated Rock Band 3: The music game fad has passed, but wow, the Pro features are mind blowing. PC edutainment titles have long promised the fun of a game mixed with real instruments and never delivered. This game looks like the real deal. This will give families a social license to play real instruments together and will give practicing musicians a new way to play music. Wow! LittleBigPlanet 2: LBP 1 sure didn’t invent user created content, but it found a new sweet spot between diverse user content and manageable complexity. And on top of that, it was a phenomenal co-op platformer. This is easily in the top three games of this console cycle. And LBP2 looks like it is taking the concept forward in every way. Patapon 3: This is the *only* PSP game that I would buy a PSP for. I played God of War and Loco Roco and SRPGs and puzzlers and Killzone and all the GTA games, and there is some good stuff there, but if you are looking for a PSP game to supplement your home gaming hobby rather than as a low-tech substitute, this is your game. It’s grindy, it’s repetitive, but it’s great. Hydrophobia: I’m surprised that something this good can slip through all the major show coverage without mention. PS3/PC owners will have to wait for the 360 timed exclusive to expire, but this looks like a fun and original concept. Close Range: GOTY .

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The Overrated and Underrated Games of E3 (Op-Ed)

Sly Cooper Collection

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:56:39 +0000

Wow, I didn’t even catch this from the conference. All three Sly Cooper PS2 games are being remastered and released with trophies and Move mini games on PS3. Wow!

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Sly Cooper Collection

Landit Bandit for PSN

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:42:54 +0000

The first game by Swedish dev’s “The Bearded Ladies” looks to be a fun game that borrows many aspects from many other games. The first thing I thought was Pilot Wings for the SNES. The dev’s refer to it as a “retro casual physics-based chopper adventure”. Wow what a mouth full.

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Landit Bandit for PSN

Active Shutter >>> Polarized Lense

Thu, 13 May 2010 16:47:25 +0000

I just saw a 3D Panasonic Plasma with the active shutter glasses at a Best Buy today: Wow! I’m used to the disposable polarized lense glasses you get at movie theaters. Those are nice, but this is much better. With polarized lense 3D (or even worse, the old anaglyph red/blue 3D), you can really feel the rare scenes that have some dramatic depth effect, but for regular scenes, the effect is subtle. With this active shutter tech, the effect wasn’t subtle at all. The demo reel playing on the TV showed a woman in a forest; a fairly normal scene with no unusual depth effect and nothing popping out of the screen. It felt like looking into a 3D box. I could just see full depth detail throughout the whole scene and it really made it pop to life. I haven’t had a chance to play games in active shutter 3D yet, but the mere thought of playing something like Wipeout or better yet, something like Uncharted or Red Dead Redemption with this active shutter 3D effect is extremely attractive. Seeing such immersive environments with full 3D depth effects sounds amazing, and I may invest in some PC hardware until the consoles catch up. The big downside for games, of course, is that that stereo 3D requires significant processing resources: approximately double the pixel rendering power of 2D. Pretty much every graphic effect or feature requires processing resources, so there are always trade offs involved. Dynamic shadows, HD resolution, high frame rates, destructible environments, online networking, split-screen play, anti-aliasing, etc: they all require processing resources and it’s up the the developers and ultimately the players which trade offs are worth it and which features are worth including. Eventually, if there is another generation of console hardware, I’d imagine that pixel pushing power will increase dramatically and this trade off will be much less of an issue, but for now, the trade off is significant. but still, I can’t wait to play this stuff in person.

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Active Shutter >>> Polarized Lense

White Knight Chronicles 2 Release Date Revealed

Thu, 13 May 2010 15:41:07 +0000

The sequel to one of the years most overlooked mmorpgs for the PS3 will be releasing in Japan on July 8th. This news was revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu where it was also confirmed that your online avatar’s rank and status will carry over into the next game.

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White Knight Chronicles 2 Release Date Revealed

LittleBigPlanet 2 Trailer

Mon, 10 May 2010 13:32:57 +0000

Tons of other details at the official site . Scheduled for late 2010. Wow… This looks amazing and was completely unexpected. I’m guessing that they announced this before E3 to keep their momentum going.

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LittleBigPlanet 2 Trailer

Fox to Air Red Dead Redemption 30 Minute Film

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:27:39 +0000

Rockstar is airing a full, 30 minute animated film on the Fox network to promote Red Dead Redemption, using all in-game assets. This is scheduled for May 15, the Sunday before the game’s release. ( source ) Wow, these guys have guts. First, rather than rely on the games press to explain the game to the public, they cut out the middle man and release documentary style trailers directly to the public. Now, a 30 minute animated game-asset-based film? And beyond clever marketing, this game seems to expertly combine pieces of authentic history, storytelling, game mechanics, technology, and virtual tourism into an amazing finished product like nothing else. I haven’t even played this game yet, but if this turns out to be anything less than brilliant, I will be extremely disappointed.

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Fox to Air Red Dead Redemption 30 Minute Film