Even Wii games not immune to dilution of industry profits

Get this: Game publishers would be charging more for their console games if it wasn't for your consumer choice. Despite continued sales growth in the game industry, its biggest companies are still losing money. While ballooning production costs are certainly to blame ($25 million is a typical bill before marketing), the proliferation of low-cost games -- and means of distribution -- has been singled out as the underlying culprit of profit dilution, according to a NYTimes.com report. And these cheapo games are also keeping price tags low (at least, lower than big companies would like).

And let's be clear: Low-cost games aren't the ones sitting in the Wii rack at your local retailer. Even a Wii game needs to sell at least one million units to be profitable, by Reggie Fils-Aime's estimates. (And Only 16 out of 486 Wii games have crossed that threshold as of March 1, by NPD estimates.) So who's gobbling up all the pie? Well, just about anyone. Have you searched "free games" in the Apple App Store lately -- or just googled it? To counter the proliferation of consumer gaming options, companies are bringing down production and marketing costs (laying off, outsourcing, recycling IP, etc.) and tapping additional revenue streams (e.g., subscriptions, in-game ads, and DLC).

So what's our professional takeaway? Here, we'll give it to you for free: We see big-budget sequels and many, many casual games in your future.

[Via Eurogamer; image credit: hyperscholar]

Who you gonna call ... on your iPhone?

Sony Pictures Television just announced a bunch of upcoming mobile games for iPhone/iPod Touch and other mobile platforms, including Q*Bert, Angels & Demons, and Voltron. But the most notable release, if only because it makes the joke in our headline work, is an iPhone/Touch Ghostbusters game to be released in June.

According to the press release, the game allows players to "catch ghosts and save citizens from being slimed as you make your way through the big city." The June release date, which coincides with the console Ghostbusters games, suggests that it will be similar in design to one of them -- probably either the DS or Wii game.

Also potentially cool: Top Agent, a multiplayer James Bond game for iPhone to be released in August.

[Via Electricpig]

Two new Battlefield: Bad Company 2 screens (yes, two)

click to enlarge

EA is big on "micro-destruction" in its upcoming Bad Company sequel, as evidenced in gameplay footage screened during GDC. Building on the tearing down of the first game's environments, it's now possible to shoot out the most wee little details -- bricks, for example.

EA isn't big on showing what the game actually looks like. The new screens -- all two of them -- the publisher has released are ... well, they could be from practically any military FPS. But hey, at least they offer a glimpse of gameplay from the DICE-developed title, unlike the "all style, no substance" first trailer.

Gallery: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (03-30-09)

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PlayStation 2 now $99

As expected, Sony Computer Entertainment has lowered the price of PlayStation 2 from $129 to $99, as of April 1. The move comes as the console enters its ninth year on sale in the US. That's a heck of a long life for a console, and the price drop will squeeze at least a couple more years out of it. There's a slew of games coming out for the PS2 this year, bringing the total number of games to almost 1,900, including more than 250 "Greatest Hits" games. Frugal gamers have a lot to choose from.

Assuaging fears that this is a mean April Fool's joke (which is the day the price is official), John Koller wrote on the PlayStation Blog, "This speaks to the technology and features that were packed into PlayStation 2 from the beginning, as well as to the ongoing support the platform enjoys from the publishing and retail communities and, well, all of you fans."

Of course, SCEA president Jack Tretton couldn't help but add, "Just as PlayStation 2 is delivering on a 10-year lifecycle and helped expand and solidify the DVD format for home entertainment along the way, we believe PlayStation 3 offers the same promise by helping secure the Blu-ray format and delivering unprecedented value as the total home entertainment solution for the next decade." We get it Jack, but can't we just celebrate with the NINETY-NINE DOLLAH PS2 for now?

No official DSi launch event in the UK

In the US, Nintendo fans can celebrate the DSi's launch at the Universal CityWalk GameStop in Los Angeles. In Australia, early adopters can go to a launch party at the "Nintendo Experience" on Melbourne's Swanston St. Melbourne. Nintendo just announced that there will be no such event in the UK to celebrate the April 3 launch of the DSi.

A Nintendo spokesperson told Eurogamer that no such event is planned "because the handheld is an evolution of the hardware - and not a replacement," in a baffling instance of Nintendo downplaying its own product. Why not just tell people, "Hey, it's just another DS, don't worry about buying one, guys!"

According to the Nintendo spokesperson, even though there's no "official" shindig, you'll still be able to pick up a system at one of the 200 GameStations, 55 GAME stores and "select HMV outlets" that mistakenly think the DSi is a big product.

Gallery: Nintendo DSi

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PSA: Gears 2 Snowblind Map Pack out now

click to enlarge

Locusts and gentlemen, COGs and girls, the Gears of War 2 Snowblind Map Pack is now available. The pack contains four new maps: Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard and a remake of Fuel Depot from the first Gears. If you'd like to make some red snow in online multiplayer -- or mow down Locust scum in Horde mode -- the maps will set you back 800. For those who'd prefer not to make a blind purchase (get it?), you can check out lots of screens in the gallery below. Even better, watch Joystiq Xbox's hands-on preview video after the break.

Gallery: Gears of War 2 - Snowblind Map Pack

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New Fight Night Round 4 screens look great, face tattoos absent

First things first: Mike Tyson, where's your face tattoo?! Second: We've got a load of new screens from semi-perennial pugilist Fight Night Round 4, presented in a gallery just a few inches down. Do the shots look good? Just as good as when we saw the game in action earlier this month.

With Fight Night Round 4 still months away from any formal release (the game's slated to come out swinging "this summer"), we suggest you check out the trailer in the meantime. Hopefully we'll have some hands-on impressions for you sometime in the near future.

Gallery: Fight Night Round 4

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Sony: GTA Will Return to PSP

Head of Sony PSP hardware and marketing North America, John Koller, has said that Grand Theft Auto will make a return to the PSP.

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incgamers.com

Killzone 2 1.21 Patch Releasing Tuesday

"Guerilla Games have confirmed that the 1.21 patch for Killzone 2 will be releasing Tuesday, 31st March at 8AM GMT."

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gamersdigest.net

Alternative Sources:

Killzone 2 1.21 patch relea... - el33tonline.com | By: OliverKO

Killzone 2 patch 1.21 Out t... - ps3blog.eu.com | By: vicheous

Killzone 2 v1.21 releases t... - ps3attitude.com | By: whoelse

Killzone 2 Patch 1.21 Detai... - ps3news.com | By: Rook101

Rumor: PS3 Motion Sensing Remote Completed and Looking for Some Love

Kombo Writes: "We've heard the whispers and hints for quite a while now, but we can finally lay the doubt to rest. Our source, which has a superb track record for accuracy, has informed us that Sony is not only developing a PS3 motion sensing remote to combat Nintendo's Wii Remote, but it's already finished. In fact, our source has informed us that Sony is reaching out to key third-party publishers and asking them to implement last minute functionality into their soon-to-be released games and of course compatibility with select future games."

Updates:

Have a chance to read up on Kombo's exclusive report regarding Sony's new PS3 motion sensor rmote? It isn't officially announced by Sony, so we labeled it as a rumor... but we can confirm that this is 100% true. Kombo is rarely ever wrong on with our exclusive rumors, so put your guard down and just learn to trust us.

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ps3.kombo.com

Final Fantasy XIII to Utilize 100% of PS3's Power

Dengeki PS3 (Japan) interviewed FFXIII's producers in the latest issue of the magazine. Near the end of the interview, Producer Kitase stated "The demo of FFXIII will utilize around 50% of PS3's capability, whereas the full version will utilize close to 100%". The scans of the magazine can be found in the links "1 2 3" at the top of the translated article.

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Rumor: Pepsi Giving Away 1 Million Rock Band Tracks This Summer

MTV Games and Pepsi appear to be teaming up for a Rock Band-themed, Pepsi-soaked promotion this Summer, giving away up to 1 million free Rock Band tracks to lucky sugared soft drink swillers. More »

Fat Princess Might Offend The Pigtailed

Titan Studios' PlayStation 3 game Fat Princess has already riled up the more sensitive of the internet's residents with its chubby, cake-fed royalty. But its developers aren't toning down their design decisions in response.

Yes, the game is still bloody (and bloody good) with gibs of cel-shaded warriors splattered about the battlefield when sliced in half by a Warrior or exploded into oblivion by a Worker's bomb. Sure, Titan Studios—which is owned by Epic Games China—is giving PlayStation 3 owners a chance to play as male or female characters in Fat Princess, but with custom hairstyles with names like "Prison Handles" for pigtails, someone's bound to have their nerves rubbed the wrong way.

We got to take a look at the game's character customization, which includes quaint skin coloring options like "zombie" and "vomit" as well as more tame ones that add variety to Fat Princess's lily white default lineup. For hair options, expect to see things like "Scottish" and "programmer," the latter of which conjures images of id Software employees during their ponytail-sporting days.

"Fat Princess' art style fits the humor and cheekiness of the game," said Titan Studios lead designer Craig Leigh, noting that the game's gore and carnage should invoke thoughts of Itchy & Scratchy. They're going for humor, as evidenced by the game's copious pop culture references, not something darker or "mature."

The game's unexpected bloodiness should be lessened by its cutesy character designs and brightly colored stages, with names like Sugar Cove, Coco Cliffs and Black Forest, just a few of the eight maps the Titan Studios team plans to ship with.

While visually attractive, the Fat Princess devs look to have added plenty of gameplay depth, with five character classes, each with a two-tier upgrade system and multiple attacks, as well as upgradeable buildings and strategic structures.

Perhaps most appealing for the multiplayer focused strategy game is the PlayStation Network game's host migration, which will ensure that even if the session host drops out, one of the other players, up to 32 of 'em, will pick up hosting duty slack. We'll write more about our hands-on impressions soon.

Oh, So Dead Rising 2 Might NOT Have Multiplayer

Wasn't that news about Dead Rising 2 featuring multiplayer just great? Well, sorry, it turns out it may well have been wrong, with the lady responsible for the statement now issuing a correction. More »

Target Ad Shows $99 PS2

Like we said, going by Target's retail system, it looks likely the PS2 is about to drop to the mythical $99 price point. This catalogue scan only makes it seem more likely. More »

Author claims video games lead to finger deformities in children

We've received a number of unsightly wounds upon our mitts from certain games -- "Mario Party Stigmata" comes to mind -- but according to author Mike Tomlich, a different kind of "silent epidemic" is sweeping through the adolescent gaming populous: Crooked fingers. He claims the repeated actions associated with controller manipulation can lead to "accumulative damage" on the soft hand bones of gamers under the age of eight.

It's a theory sensational enough to have merited coverage from Tomlich's local TV news station a few years ago, which we've posted after the break. Tomlich apparently has a plethora of research and the endorsement of a rheumatologist to back up his claims, though we still find them a tad suspect. Sure, our hands are gnarled stubs with digits irrevocably curled in unnatural directions, but that's probably from our tireless journalizing, and not our lifelong penchant for button-mashing.

[Via GamePolitics]

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Sony trademark hints at cloud computing

Cloud computing seems to be the new "in" thing, nowadays. First OnLive appears at GDC, which forces David Perry to announce his own similar service -- which he was saving for E3 -- and now Sony has trademarked something called "PS Cloud." The trademark was registered "for use with a cloud computing data center management software, communications software, broadcasting services, and a long list of other terms," according to Siliconera.

There are many ways that Sony could be utilizing a cloud computing system, including offering a similar service to OnLive, allowing users to share downloadable games/demos or improving the PSP's remote play functionality. Whatever it is, we imagine it's probably quite a way off and, like many other trademarks or patents, could never even come to fruition at all.

Just Cause 2 mission structure detailed, new screens

by Xav de Matos { 4 hours ago }

Eidos' surprisingly addictive GTA-clone, Just Cause, is getting the sequel treatment and, according to IGN UK's eyes-only preview, Rico's return will blow the wool socks off your feet and back onto the sheep from whence they were created.

Looking to leave the life of a bad ass, helicopter-jackin' special agent, Rico Rodriguez is forced back into action when his friend and mentor, Tom Sheldon, supposedly goes rogue. Just Cause 2 includes maneuvers immediately familiar to fans of the original. Rico has a seemingly infinite supply of parachutes and grappling hooks, which can be used to glide around the world, hijacking aircraft and vehicles, Pursuit Force style. New to the series is the ability to use the hook in combat, allowing players to grab and throw enemies as well as impale them with the ferocity of a Mortal Kombat character.

Just Cause 2 also attempts to up the ante, as it were, by revamping the visuals -- new screens available on IGN already look infinitely better than the hi-res, prev-gen version released on the Xbox 360 in 2006. Developer Avalanche says the game will include over 100 vehicles and 50 "varied" missions. Just Cause 2 is slated to release on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC later this year.

Fight Night Round 4: (Most of) the Heavyweight roster

With EA returning to the big dance -- following a disappointing bout with cartoon combatants -- the question on everyone's mind was who would be coming to ring in Fight Night Round 4. Slowly feeding our interest in the sweet science, EA Sports has revealed all heavyweight combatants -- save for one, due to be revealed in the upcoming weeks.

Who will the final "master of the sweet science" be? Online debates rage on, pointing to Fight Night veteran Rocky Marciano or "Gentleman of Boxing" Floyd Patterson -- although both might be considered Light Heavyweights in today's rulebook. While EA stays tight-lipped about the final pugilist, we're going to patiently stare at the current heavyweight roster -- which you can read about and watch after the break.

[Video credit: Fight Night Nation]

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Final Fantasy 13 Demo Screens (Gameplay!)

Thoughts on the Screens:

They look amazing! For those of you who don’t know, Final Fantasy is my personal favorite video game series, and the guys at Square Enix look like they have a great game coming our way. The graphics look great, the art style is amazing, and the gameplay looks better than ever. In the last screen, you see a battle rank which I assume pops up after a battle. When looking at this you see a time in the top left hand corner and next to it says 00:25. To me this means that the gameplay is going to be much more fast paced then it has in the past. In previous Final Fantasy games, you rarely had fights that lasted around 25 seconds. Also the gameplay looks like alot more fun to watch. The character animations are a lot more fun to look at rather than the way it was displayed in Final Fantasy 12. Hopefully, the West gets the demo so we can expierence some Final Fantasy before 2010. No matter what though expect this game to live up to the hype!

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 adds multiple playable characters, online co-op

When Famitsu sent word of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2's existence, we thought it would be a simple port of the Xbox 360 sequel with a few additional bells and whistles. Team Ninja slashed (see what we did there?) those thoughts and have revealed that Sigma 2 will include a large chunk of content, including two new playable characters and online cooperative play.

Team Ninja fans will immediately recognize the two playable additions noted in a Gamespot preview: Dead or Alive's purple-haired ninja, Ayane, and Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword's female warrior, Momiji. Each character's tale will be woven into the existing Ninja Gaiden 2 story and branch off at certain points. That's all well and good but the freshly announced online co-op is what has our interest piqued. Unfortunately, the co-op skips the main campaign and offers 30 challenge areas that are playable on four difficulty settings (presumably, Ninja Dog to ZOMGWTHBBQ!). Still, it's a surprising (and welcome) addition to what could have ostensibly been considered a simple re-release.

And for those who prefer the simpler additions, Tecmo says they're in there too. New enemies, weapons, and tweaks to the camera and gameplay are all included. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is set to land on the PlayStation 3 this fall -- the trailer is embedded after the break.

Gallery: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

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