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Japan and America need to do a collaborative and bailout SONY!

World of Warcraft census tops 11.5 million

It has been more than four years since Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft launched, but the blockbuster's user base continues to swell. Today Blizzard provided the latest update to the World of Warcraft's population, boasting a subscriber pool more than 11.5 million people strong.

World of Warcraft just reached the 11-million mark roughly two months ago. As for what could have spurred the extra growth, an obvious culprit is the November launch of the game's second expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King. After selling 2.8 million copies in its first day on shelves, the expansion finished its first month with more than 4 million copies sold, according to Blizzard. The developer cites both of those figures as records for a PC game, records that were previously held by the first World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade.

As Blizzard uses a variety of payment plans in different countries, the publisher defines "subscriber" thusly: "World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last 30 days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules."

World of Warcraft subscribers hail from a number of countries and regions, including North America, Europe, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Chile, Argentina, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Most recently, WOW was launched in Russia and Latin America.

Xbox 360 sales top 8 million in Europe

With the global economic crisis looming over every sector, investors and industry watchers are keen on good news of any kind coming out of the all-important holiday shopping season. For its part, Microsoft has continued to put on a strong showing with its Xbox 360--in Europe, at least.

The Washington-based company announced today that its gaming console saw 100 percent year-over-year sales growth in the region during December. Although Microsoft did not elaborate on exact sales data for the month, the publisher did say that to date, the Xbox 360 has sold 8 million units in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, a figure it claims is more than 1 million greater than archrival Sony's PlayStation 3. During Microsoft's July-September reporting period, the publisher said that lifetime sales of the Xbox 360 had surpassed 23 million.

Citing sales figures provided by GfK-ChartTrack, Microsoft further claimed today that the 360 was the "fastest-growing" console in Europe during 2008. That growth was bolstered by 2008's holiday sales period, during which the Xbox brand saw its biggest gains since being introduced to the region in 2002, according to the publisher.

Microsoft has not yet updated the Xbox 360's North American sales performance. However, a company representative confirmed for GameSpot that an announcement would be "coming soon." In the past, such updates have been made during Microsoft's keynote presentations at the Consumer Electronic Show. This year, the publisher's keynote is scheduled for Wednesday, January 7.

Thanks in large part to sweeping price cuts enacted in September, the Xbox 360 easily bested the PS3 in unit sales during November, outselling Sony's console 836,000 units to 378,000, according to the NPD Group. However, both systems fell well short of Nintendo's industry-leading Wii, which sold more than 2 million units in November alone.

Wii.

...

My Wii is just collecting dust. I dont see why people are going crazy over it.

its like that for all consoles, you just burned out quickly

Resident Evil 5 demo infects 360s Jan. 26


Given their awkward gait and lumbering demeanor, zombies often rely on the element of surprise to ensnare their victims/meals, springing out from behind doors and from under beds at the last second. Despite that protocol, Capcom is giving gamers plenty of heads-up for its upcoming zombie-centric action game, Resident Evil 5.

Not only has Capcom already announced a Friday, March 13, release date for the anticipated title, but the publisher today confirmed that a demo version of the game would go live (or at least undead) on Xbox Live on January 26. The demo will be exclusive to Microsoft's platform for one week, after which it can surface on the PlayStation 3's downloadable game service.

The demo will show off the game's two-player co-op mode, allowing players to fight their way through two sections of the full game and solve a handful of puzzles along the way. In addition to online multiplayer and single-player action with a computer-controlled teammate, the demo will include split-screen multiplayer. Finally, the demo will let players select traditional Resident Evil-style controls or a new action-oriented configuration that the publisher claims was inspired by Halo 3 and Gears of War 2.

finally

you can just download then burn the japanese demo, its in english, my friend and i were playing it...seems just like Re4 to me but he was ecstatic about it...

Reports: Sony restructuring imminent

That Sony will be cutting a significant portion of its workforce is a certainty. The Japanese electronics giant announced the move in December, saying that it would eliminate approximately 16,000 part- and full-time jobs in a bid to save $1.1 billion through its next financial year, which ends March 31, 2010.

However, what remains to be seen is which divisions these reportedly "sweeping" and "sacred-cow-slaying" cuts will impact. The Financial Times reports today that Sony plans to announce the specifics of its restructuring efforts sometime this week.

As previously revealed, CEO Sir Howard Stringer has faced stiff resistance from entrenched Sony management, who oppose the company's first British-born executive's plan. The FT notes that Stringer believes the stalwart electronics company should shift its focus toward the software market, whereas dissidents maintain the value of its hardware-creation business. Another reported cause for tension between Stringer and upper management is his belief that Japanese staff should be subject to head-count reductions.

Japanese financial news service Nikkei (subscription required) corroborates the FT's report. Nikkei notes that Sony will announce on Thursday that it plans to close one of its two television-manufacturing facilities in Japan by the end of its current fiscal year, which runs through March 31. Along with the factory closure, Sony will reportedly announce that it plans to cut more than 2,000 jobs in Japan, as well as lower its fiscal-year earnings outlook. However, as with Microsoft's reported cost-cutting measures, Sony will eliminate the 2,000 jobs by way of natural attrition, or employees leaving the company of their own accord, according to Nikkei.

The Japanese factory wouldn't be the first that Sony plans to shut down. After Sony's restructuring announcement in December, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell confirmed that Sony's flat-screen television-manufacturing facility located in his state will close, leaving approximately 560 employees out of work. In total, Sony said that it plans to close 10 percent of its 57 manufacturing facilities.

Sony's cost-cutting measures have been spurred by the PlayStation 3 maker's grim fiscal outlook. Earlier this month, Nikkei reported that Sony will post its first loss since 1995, only its second since the company went public in 1958. Sources told the Japanese news service that Sony's net losses for the current fiscal year will hit ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion), a figure that could double depending on the electronics company's January-March retail performance.

Nintendo logs 26 million-plus sellers

t's the best of times and the worst of times at Nintendo. Yesterday, the Kyoto, Japan-based gaming company announced record profits of ¥212.5 billion ($2.36 billion) on equally soaring revenues of ¥1.536 trillion ($17.12 billion) for the nine months ended December 31. Unfortunately, with the yen trading particularly strong against the dollar and euro, Nintendo was forced to revise its earnings down 9 percent, with profits off 33 percent from what the publisher previously expected.

However, the company remains well-positioned to capitalize on the future, thanks in large part to a strong back catalog of best-selling games, as well as a number potential hits on the horizon. In a supplementary filing today, Nintendo revealed just how strong its back catalog is, calling out 26 internally developed games for the Wii and DS that have broached the million-unit mark.

Not unexpectedly, Wii Sports and Wii Play led Nintendo's best-seller list. Wii Sports, which is bundled with Nintendo's best-selling console in North America, has now "sold" 40.5 million units worldwide through December 31. Wii Play, which capitalized on its Wii Remote pack-in status to top the US best-seller charts in 2008 with 5.28 million units sold, has now shifted 20.9 million copies globally. Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii have also both surpassed the 10-million unit mark, with the former shifting 14 million units and the latter running close behind with 13.7 million copies.

The DS has an even larger number of 10-million-unit-plus sellers, numbering seven in total. Nintendogs leads the pack with 21.7 million lifetime units. The best-selling casual game is followed by New Super Mario Bros. (17.6 million), Brain Age (16.8 million), Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (16.5 million), Mario Kart DS (13.8 million), Brain Age 2 (13.2 million), and Animal Crossing: Wild World (10.5 million).

Calling Wii Sports a best seller is fucking retarded.

Midway bankrupt

Faced with $240 million debt deadline, the once-mighty Mortal Kombat maker files for Chapter 11 protection; Mortal Kombat vs. DC shipments near 2 million.

After months of slowly twisting in the financial wind, Midway Games has finally filed for bankruptcy. The Chicago-based publisher today submitted a petition in a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware to seek protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company blamed the move on last November's "change in ownership," when then-majority stockholder Sumner Redstone sold off his 87 percent stake in the company--valued at $30 million--for $100,000.

"This was a difficult but necessary decision," Midway chairman, president, and CEO Matt Booty said in a statement. "We have been focused on realigning our operations and improving our execution, and this filing will relieve the immediate pressure from our creditors and provide us time for an orderly exploration of our strategic alternatives. This Chapter 11 filing is the next logical step in an ongoing process to address our capital structure."

Today's move will allow Midway to reorganize to pay off its creditors, to which the company owes $240 million--or $72.5 million more than the company's $167.5 million in total assets as of September 2008. Currently, the company's worth is substantially more, as it has now shipped (not sold) nearly 2 million copies of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The publisher also played up the fact that its TNA Impact title also shipped more than 1 million units, and its Game Party franchise had sold more than 3 million units as of the end of 2008. Its overhead has been drastically decreased as well, after the company announced last December its plans to lay off 25 percent of its workforce.

Though today's filing might sound final to the layman, Midway's bankruptcy is actually a beginning, not an ending. "These filings tend to be fairly drawn out and slow-moving, and business can take place normally while the bankruptcy proceeds play out, so I would expect any games coming out over the next 2-3 months to be safe, so that would include the Wheelman launch," Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald told GameSpot. "As for whether the company can recover long-term, I certainly hope so, but can't say with any certainty. The fact that Eidos is getting a bid from Square Enix is potentially a good sign, though. "

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter was similarly upbeat about Midway's ultimate fate. "The creditors will decide, but my guess is that Midway recapitalizes (the creditors turn debt into stock), and gets some new financing so that it can either recover or be sold," he explained. "A going concern is worth a lot more than a liquidation, given that the key talent will leave if the company is liquidated. Look at Acclaim, 3DO and Interplay, where there was nothing left after liquidation, and contrast with Eidos, which has a bid for £84 million on the table. The creditors have to realize that they can collect $100 million plus if they can get this thing turned around."

lol ("name" sold 87% ROFL LMAO) these companies are just taking advantage now

EA resurrecting Alice

Today at the D.I.C.E. summit, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello announced that it is publishing a sequel to American McGee's Alice, the groundbreaking PC adventure game EA published back in 2000. Helping them in this effort is the original game's creator, American McGee.

Development of the new Alice will be overseen by McGee under the auspices of the EA Partners program, which gives independent developers access to EA's publishing and distribution expertise. Current EA Partners titles include the Rock Band franchise, The Orange Box, and Left 4 Dead from Valve Software. (Valve CEO Gabe Newell gave last night's D.I.C.E. keynote address on digital distribution.) Future EA Partners games include id Software's Rage, Double Fine's Brutal Legend, and two unnamed titles from Epic Games and Grasshopper Manufacture.

American McGee's Alice depicted the heroine of the original Lewis Carroll story as an adult who, driven insane from her strange childhood experiences, fought to claw her way back to sanity while trapped in a world of her own imagination. McGee hinted that he was working on a sequel last year in a post on his personal blog. The game is expected to arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, though a release date has yet to be revealed.

I heard about the original one, the trailer (for the original) looks pretty badass.

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PSP 2 ditching UMD drive?

Ever since the Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft console war began in earnest in 2001, the Big Three have been fanatical about information control. Even the series of "leaks" leading up to the Xbox 360's unveiling in 2005 turned out to be a too-clever-by-half alternate reality game.

Little wonder then, with the official PR process so rigidly micromanaged, that gamers pounce on the smallest iota of information that emerges outside of the publicity food chain. Lately, many tidbits have prematurely bubbled up via Twitter, the suddenly omnipresent microblogging service that has been seized upon by the mainstream media and midlevel celebs. Besides your actual friends, you can now follow CNN, the BBC, and the New York Times, in addition to Levar Burton, rapper Q-Tip, and Firefly alum Summer Glau, and the artist formerly known as MC Hammer (among many others).

However, gamers have known about Twitter for a while now, and tech-savvy developers and journalists have used it to communicate since 2006. Indeed, the past several months have seen several stories break on Twitter. Last December, Newsweek's game correspondent used it to report from an Activision meeting where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was first revealed. Earlier this month, the game's existence was further confirmed by a tweet from Infinity Ward director of communications and community manager Robert Bowling before it was officially announced during a February 11 Activision Blizzard earnings conference call.

This week, it was Sony's turn to be twisted in twain twixt Twitter tweets. In the post in question, Perry declared, "I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they've removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I'm excited!"

The official story: "We don't comment on rumor or speculation. Equally, we have no relation with David or his company, so [we're] not sure why there'd be any weight put to his comments to the press," said a Sony rep, before adding, "Did you see our PSP announcements [on Tuesday]? UMD isn't going away..."

Bogus or not bogus?: On one hand, Sony has a point that--with Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, MotorStorm, and Little Big Planet all just announced for the handheld--UMD isn't on the precipice of abandonment. On the other, Perry is an old hand with numerous contacts in the industry. Why would he spread speculation that he suspected of being false?

One possiblity: They could both be telling the truth, and Sony is planning a UMD-less PSP model to market alongside the UMD-drive-packing PSP. And keep in mind, the company already releases games as UMDs and digital downloads simuntaneously. So having the two hardware models overlap might be a way of segueing between game formats. Nintendo is doing something similar later this year, when it will sell the DS Lite, which has a Game Boy Advance slot, and the DSi, which loses the GBA slot in favor of DSiWare digital distribution capabilities, at the same time.

I hope the Psp2 has a touch screen and camera on it >.>, thats the only reason I dun want a Psp now lol.

They're gonna have a hard drive instead of the memory cards. Thats all i know

Darkside Chronicles official, Resident Evil, RE0 Wii-makes US-bound


Capcom belatedly announces Umbrella Chronicles sequel, reveals previously Japan-only GameCube remakes are coming to America.



After days of teasing major game announcements at its Resident Evil 5 launch events tonight, Capcom saw its surprise spoiled by Famitsu. Widely circulated scans of the Japanese magazine identified the publisher's big reveal as Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles for the Wii. Developed by Cavia (Bullet Witch), the game will be a sequel to the studio's on-rails shooter Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, supporting up to two-person play.

Biohazard-ous no longer...

Now, Capcom has officially confirmed that Darkside Chronicles will arrive in North America this coming winter. Judging by the publisher's proclivity for the January-March quarter--see RE5, Lost Planet, Street Fighter IV, and Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop--the "winter" window points to an early 2010 release for the game.

Based on Resident Evil 2's story, Darkside Chronicles will follow series protagonists Leon S. Kenney and Claire Redfield as they run another zombie gauntlet in a single-player or two-person co-op campaign. Like the original, the game will be a first-person on-rails shooter, but it will be enhanced with a new Wii Remote-based "evade" mechanic.

Though little was revealed about the game's plot, Capcom promised it will answer many questions left unresolved in The Umbrella Chronicles. And for those wanting to bone up on Resident Evil lore, Capcom has also announced that Darkside Chronicles is the first of three new Wii games in the horror-survival franchise. "New" might actually be an overstatement, since the other two are the first of a Resident Evil Classics line, which will see GameCube hits ported to the Wii. The first two titles in the series will be Resident Evil--itself a remake of the 1996 PlayStation original--and the prequel, Resident Evil 0, both released in 2002.

Due stateside later this year for $29.99 each, the two Resident Evil Classics were previously announced for release only in Japan, where they are titled Biohazard and Biohazard 0. Both will feature reworked controls, which feature the Wii Remote's motion-sensing capabilities.

what does this mean? more zombie killing action

Modern Warfare 2 waging Nov. 10

At the beginning of today's Game Developers Choice Awards, Meggan Scavio issued a less than cryptic teaser. Before the first statuette was handed out, the 2009 Game Developers Conference director declared that "our friends at Infinity Ward" had given event organizers something to show after the Game of the Year was named.

Sure enough, right after surprise winner Fallout 3 walked off with the coveted honors, the lights went down, the Infinity Ward logo came up, and the following trailer played:

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Though stylishly obscured, the visual and audio cues appear to depict a group of men walking into an elevator in a crowded public area, perhaps an airport or a mall. While in the elevator, they unzip bags, and the sounds of automatic weapons being cocked is heard. After a comment in a foreign language, the words "Remember, no Russian," are uttered. The doors open on the second floor, the sound of a laughter-limned crowd is heard--followed by gunfire and screams--apparently the beginning of a Mumbai-style terrorist attack.

Given that Russian separatists are one of the main enemy factions in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the trailer's clear implication is that they're back for revenge in the sequel. Judging by the montage of international locales, military hardware, and massive destruction that follows--again, obscured by a green filter--the aforementioned attack appears to have set off another round of global conflict. The world will find out on November 10, the date flashed across the screen at the video clip's end.

As the trailer unspooled at the GDCAs, Infinity Ward also launched a reported Modern Warfare 2 teaser site. First hinted at in August 2008, the game was confirmed by an event leak and a studio staffer's Twitter feed. Activision made the game's existence officially official when it reported a $72 million loss on record quarterly earnings last month.

Killzone 2 ships 600,000 in NA, first DLC due April

Killzone 2 is one of Sony's highest-profile exclusives, so its strong debut last month came as no real surprise. According to industry stat-trackers the NPD Group, Guerrilla Games' long-in-the-making sci-fi shooter sold 323,000 units in the US in just 48 hours following its February 27 release on the PlayStation 3. With NPD expected to release its sales estimates for March next week, Sony has independently confirmed that Killzone 2 has continued to sell well.

Speaking to Game Daily, Sony Computer Entertainment of America vice president of product marketing Scott Steinberg said this week that Killzone 2 sales have "exceeded our expectations," having surpassed the 500,000 unit mark. [UPDATE] GameSpot has since confirmed with Sony that Killzone 2's most-recent sell-through total--meaning copies of the game sold to retailers--stands at 600,000 units in North America only.

"Killzone 2 has been the fastest SCEA PS3 title to break the 500,000 unit mark and it's also the highest selling SCEA PS3 title for the first 30 days out of launch," Steinberg told Game Daily. "So far, we are extremely happy with the results."

To keep that 500,000-strong army interested in the title, Guerrilla Games has also detailed the first batch of downloadable content for the shooter. Speaking to Game Trailers last night, Guerrilla Games managing director Hermen Hulst revealed that the first DLC pack, titled Steel and Titanium, will contain two multiplayer maps. Pricing information was not detailed, but Hulst did confirm that the pack will be available "toward the end of April."

The first map is set aboard the ISA tech cruiser New Sun, and Hulst noted that gameplay will focus on vertically oriented firefights. "You've got multiple decks, so you'll be shot at from walkways upstairs as well as downstairs," he said. The second map takes place aboard two high-speed Helghast freight trains, with gamers tasked with navigating the precarious routes between the two speeding bullets.

"These are two fan favorite settings from single-player that we're bringing over," commented Hulst on the upcoming maps. "However, going forward, you're going to get some proper new features as well." As for those future releases, Hulst teased that the next DLC pack will revive a number of maps from the original Killzone, released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004.

Give us some Starcraf II news Satman.

Does anyone know when Battle report II will be released for Starcraft II?

Wii sux

Xbox rocks

Patapon 2 to be download-only?

Source: Tech and gaming news site Ars Technica.

While Sony has yet to officially confirm its existence, the PSP2 has been the subject of much speculation in recent months. One rumor has the fourth iteration of the handheld sporting an iPhone-like touchscreen and two thumbsticks. Another, propagated by Acclaim chief creative officer David Perry, says it will ship without "the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive." Both rumors have the new PSP as launching towards the end of 2009.

Assuming Perry's sources are sound, Sony may soon begin acclimating PSP gamers to the idea of digital-only media with the release of Sony Japan's Patapon 2. According to Ars Technica's source, when the rhythm action title ships in the US on May 5, it will not be available on the UMD format. Instead, gamers will be able to pick up the title for $15 through the PlayStation Network. Alternatively, retailers will carry a boxed copy for $19.99 which contains only a download code, and no UMD.

Bolstering the veracity of its claim, Ars notes that the same source successfully augured a number of other industry secrets, including the Xbox 360's price cut in September 2008. It's also worth noting that Sony has already taken steps toward an all-digital platform, with its Japanese arm announcing as part of the 2008 Tokyo Game Show that all new PSP games in Japan would be released as downloadable media in addition to on the UMD format.

I know, i have one.

note: my sig

PSP1 will be obsolete