The release of Monster Hunter G in Japan gave the Wii a helpful bump in weekly sales overseas, but not enough to let Nintendo's surpass the PlayStation 3, which continues to outsell the competition.
Sony couldn't quite repeat the success that the PS3 saw in Japan last week when it sold more than 60,000 consoles, thanks to Square Enix's re-release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and limited edition hardware. But the big black behemoth managed to retain third place on the charts, handily bested by PSP and Nintendo DSi hardware sales.
Everything's in its right place this week. We'll have to wait for the release of Monster Hunter 3 tri- to see what kind of material impact the series can have on Wii sales.
According to several sources, The Cut Scene is reporting that Sony are set to unveil a new motion-sensing controller, perhaps as soon as E3 next month. More »
The Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 (c'mon, guys, you can surely come up with something catchier using all that dough) will introduce three new multiplayer maps: "Banzai," a jungle environment riddled with caves; "Corrosion," a Russian train yard; and "Sub Pens," a rain-drenched submarine base.
That's all well and good, but now for the good stuff: a new Nazi Zombie map! "Shi No Numa," home to this guy, promises new Perk machines, a new weapon, new Achievements / Trophies and flaming Hell hounds. It also promises to keep our repository of nightmare material well-stocked.
At this point, after "supposed" artwork was leaked and the franchise's publisher, Microsoft, circulated a survey inquiring about the game, you'd think the company would just up and announce Forza 3 already. Not so, however, as Microsoft's also notoriously cagey about the game's "possible" existence within its own doors!
As you can see in the video embedded after the break (and in the less than beautiful screen grab above), Microsoft hides a logo for Forza even when showing the game to its own employees a group of Xbox community members from PortalXbox.com.br during a recent, camera-laden meeting in Brazil. The crowd audibly cheers "Forza!" when the logo appears and the man in charge goes on to speak about his love for past entries in the franchise -- never mentioning "Forza 3" by name, mind you. All we get after this is a banner marked "AGUARDEM," meaning "coming soon."
Will we see more of the game at E3 2009? Our money's on "Yeah, we'll probably see it then." Oh, and hey, Portuguese-speaking readers, feel free to drop us a tip with the fully translated transcript when you get a second. Thanks!
UPDATE: Reader Daniel Gomes has informed us that the event was actually the "National Forum on April 25th in São Paulo" for PortalXbox.com.br, "the largest Xbox community in Brazil." Good to know!
UPDATE 2: Apparently the YouTube clip we embedded after the break got pulled. Luckily, we had already downloaded the video! Feel free to check it out, still after the break!
A new trailer for Army of Two: The 40th Day has surfaced (embedded after the break via GameVideos). The quality of the video isn't fantastic (a promised high-def version is premiering tonight on GameTrailers TV, for you videophiles), but there's still plenty of information to soak up. You'll get to see Shanghai being overrun by the so-called 40th Day Initiative, which is apparently laying waste to everything and everyone in sight. One thing we noticed very quickly is that the tone of the trailer is very serious. The buddy comedy vibe present in trailers for the original Army of Two is almost completely absent, save for a single modest one-liner at the end.
Oh, and don't worry, there are plenty of explosions too.
Update: We've temporarily removed our link to the trailer as a courtesy to EA, whose European branch inadvertently made it available for short time earlier today. To make up for the gaffe, the publisher is providing us with a new HD trailer you'll be able to watch right here -- in this very post, for easy bookmarking -- tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. EST.
Patapon 2 is finally coming to the PSP in North America. While associate producer Chris Hinojosa-Miranda couldn't precisely explain why the title has taken so long to reach its final destination, he did say that the added time provided more focus on localization and translation. (Even still, we manged to spot a few lingering instances of "Engrish.")
Hinojosa-Miranda told us that the development team continues to get requests for a downloadable PS3 version of Patapon that features online modes, which he says the studio is "listening to." The team is also looking at licensing out more of those popular Pataponplush dolls (in case you missed the first batch). Will there be a Patapon 3? "There's such a critical love for Patapon, the characters, the story overall, and the music especially ... there's a good chance that the franchise will continue," Hinojosa-Miranda suspects.
It appears the demo for X-Men Origins: Wolverine is available now on Xbox 360. Go experience the thrills of watching Wolverine cut bad guys into meaty chunks and shove them head-first into ... well, you'll see. Don't be fooled, gamer parents out there: Activision may have the PG-13 rated movie's title on the box, but this game is certainly rated Mature and likely not suitable for the kiddies. Definitely take Wolverine for a test drive if you're up for an intense God of War experience set in the Marvel universe.
We don't know what's taken Namco so long to bring Tekken 6home -- it was released in arcades November 2007, for crying out loud -- but we can finally say, after a not-really-all-that-unexpected announcement that the game would be appearing on Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation 3 and seeing loads of screenshots of the console version, we've finally played it. On a real, honest-to-goodness PS3. (We checked to make sure the cables weren't running to a hidden arcade cabinet.)
This was our first experience with the game, not having access to an arcade willing to shell out beaucoup bucks for a machine. But we'd played enough Tekken in the past (most recently, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection on PS3) to be able to get a feel for this new installment. So, what makes it worthy of being one more than five? find out after the break!
Information continues to trickle in from the trusty crystal ball regarding Fable 2's upcoming "See the Future" DLC, which Lionhead now reveals will be available on May 12. The content will cost 560 ($7) Microsoft Points, a currency that thankfully still holds value in the distant future.
In addition to adding in new items, quests and fluffy companions, Lionhead also promises that all Xbox Live Silver account holders will be able to adventure alongside their Gold cousins for free from May 8 through May 11. So grab your dog and your favorite sword -- the future's waiting.
EA Sports president Peter Moore spoke to VG247 about the state of the economy, offering careful statements about layoffs, sequelitis, and PC releases of sports franchises. But of everything happening at EA Sports, Moore had the most to say about the upcoming Wii exercise program, EA Sports Active.
"I call it a platform," Moore said. "Yes, it's a game, but it's bigger than a game, bigger than a franchise, bigger than a product. It's a true platform that we can sell expansion packs, sell more peripherals, ultimately get some download on there." Interesting choice of words, considering that EA Sports Active's biggest competitor is literally a platform.
Moore said that he hopes to add biometric data soon. "If I can do that, if I can get your heart-rate on the screen, I mean then I can really drive towards what my vision of this product ultimately can be."
Active and other exergames like it, according to Moore, can help EA and the game industry in general deal with "the most vitriolic press," including the Daily Mail, who frequently "blame [videogames] for pestilence, the plague, everything, and I think it's good that we have things to point to that say, 'This is getting you off the couch' and provide a little bit of balance."
Have you been abstaining from zombie slaying until the cost of entry dropped to the low-low price of free? If so, you're in luck. Valve is making Left 4 Dead available to all Steam users for free this "Freaky Free Friday" with a 24-hour trial version available at 12:01AM GMT. However, you can download and preload the game and the free Survival Pack DLC right now to get ready for a day with the undead.
We suggest calling in sick to work, ditching school and skipping Aunt Mabel's funeral (she might be a zombie herself, after all) if you haven't been a part of this game yet. Just don't blame us when you yearn for more undead cleansing the next day and end up (*gulp*) spending money!
The Red Steel 2 media onslaught continues today with the official announcement from Ubisoft. There's not a lot new to talk about, but we did learn that Ubisoft Paris is on development and that we'll get to slice and shoot our way through the game this holiday season.
They also sent along some not particularly enlightening concept art that you can see for yourself by clicking the snippet above.
Hey, look. It's Splinter Cell Conviction. Where have you been? Ah, still not ready to talk about that, huh? Well it sounds like you're due by this Christmas, according to Ubisoft's latest quarterly report. The report includes the company's CEO, Yves Guillemot, hyping "this Christmas" as the one to offer "one of the industry's most ambitious games line-ups which will include Assassin's Creed 2, James Cameron's Avatar,Splinter Cell Conviction, Rabbids Go Home and Red Steel 2."
If true, we'll no doubt be hearing a lot more about Sam Fisher's latest adventure at some point within the next eight months. With no Ubidays happening this year, we're counting on a big reveal at E3 -- and about time, too.
Ubisoft announced today that it's working on a new Ghost Recon, currently titled Ghost Recon 4. Some of our more observant readers likely remember this game coming up in a previous Ubisoft financial report. Sadly, it's still a ways off, with Ubisoft crossing its fingers for a release sometime before April 2010. Doubly sad is the lack of more information at this time, so we don't know if this "flagship title" is more in line with the original Ghost Recon games, or the more recent Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter series. We'll keep you posted!
Although we've been sworn to secrecy about its finer points (shhh, PopCap nailed it), Joystiq can excitedly confirm that Peggle for iPhone / iPod Touch will be released onto the App Store on Tuesday, May 12. PopCap is still considering an appropriate price, but we can assume Peggle is not going to be tossed in the 99-cent free-for-all pile and will probably fit into a more "premium" price range between $5-6. Though, if any game's worth the ceiling price of $10, Peggle is (just, you know, don't actually price it that high, PopCap, cool?).
Rest assured, the "delay" -- heightened by our agonizing jonesing for a Peggle fix ever since the App Store launched -- has been used to design a quality experience. This is no half-baked port. Peggle has long been likened to "crack," but let's be more accurate: It's one of those highly-addictive pharmaceutical concoctions, created by professionals in tidy laboratories and tailored through extensive QA trials. Can you tell? We're hooked.
Watch out for our review of Peggle for iPhone / iPod Touch in the coming weeks.
You've already read our hands-on impressions of MAG -- if not, why not? -- and now you can see it in action in the video above. Included is almost a minute and a half of footage, which will no doubt quench your thirst for some insight into the title. Surprise surprise, it's looking great.
PixelJunk Monsters is coming to PSP and, as promised, features a ton of new content not found in the PS3 version. The handheld version of the tower defense game will include all the content of PixelJunk Monsters, Encore, and a bit more. Deluxe will add a new island with ten new stages, new enemies and new music tracks. Two new towers will be introduced into the game, which players can utilize in the classic stages and Q-Games will also challenge the PJM hardcore with a brand new boss as well.
Although PSP isn't getting Trophy support yet, Monsters Deluxe will feature a "Medal Challenge" mode that replicates the achievement system used on the console. In addition, unlocking Medals will give players access to unlockables, such as videos, artwork and more.
Finally, PixelJunk Monsters wouldn't be complete without a co-op mode. You'll be able to go online in both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes. Nice!
As we told you before, the PSP's upcoming SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 looks to be a more action-oriented entry in the popular franchise. There's a bigger focus on firefights this time around -- and we don't mean the kind with hooks and ladders. You'll be blasting away, sneaking up on unsuspecting turret-jockeys, and leading your four-man team into a series of shootouts that make that bank robbery scene in Heat look like a day in the park. A really, really boring day in the park where nothing happens.
Though their static presentation may not adequately capture the game's intensity, these latest screenshots from Sony Gamers Day 2009 should at least awaken that inner desire to shoot people getting in the way of freedom.
Details of Sony's oft-rumored revision to its PlayStation Portable may have been leaked a little earlier than the company was expecting, as chatter of the PSP Go! appears to have leaked a few days early.
According to the initially uploaded most recent episode of the "at1UP" podcast, Sony will soon be announcing the PSP Go!, with some of the web site's staff having already seen the device. The podcast describes the new hardware iteration as having "slide out" or "flip out" controls—presumably in the style of —as well as a larger screen.
The biggest point of contention among 1UP staffers appeared to be the name of the new hardware, lightly derided as "PSP Go exclamation point."
That episode has since been edited to remove mention of the PSP Go!.
If true, the description of the new hardware appears to jibe with previous rumored mentions of the "PSP-4000" which is allegedly planning to drop the system's UMD drive in favor of internal storage. With more and morePSP games going digital download only—and additional loose talk of in-store kiosks that would allow gamers to rip UMD games to a storage device—that particular rumor is starting to look more feasible.
Sony itself surveyed PlayStation fans on what features they'd like to see in a new PSP earlier this year, hinting at the possibility of built-in storage, a touchscreen interface and built-in keyboard.
"We haven't announced any new PSP hardware and can't comment on rumors or speculation," an SCEA rep told Kotaku when reached for clarification.
Thanks to PJ and Mr. Wednesday for the heads up.
Update: 1UP has published its story on the new PSP, indicating that the new, UMD-less hardware will ship this Fall in Japan and North America, with Sony bringing 100 PSP titles to the PlayStation Store. The site also has an artists' rendition of what the new PSP Go! may look like.
Lube up your arm, because ... eww, that didn't sound great, did it? Well then, open your claw and swing from a pipe, because ... yikes, that's not much better. OK, listen, the Bionic Commando demo is coming out tomorrow on Xbox Live, and we can't think of a cute way to lead into that information that doesn't sound dirty. Sorry, it's early.
Just as a reminder, if this multiplayer demo is eventually coming to PSN, it hasn't been announced. We'll let you know if we hear anything.
Details of Sony's 
