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Michael Pachter – Uncharted 2 sales lackluster

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:03:08 GMT

In an exclusive interview with Critical Gamer, infamous industry analyst Michael Pachter discusses the disappointing sales of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

MS' Greenberg Promises 'Halo Reach Will Be The Biggest Game Of 2010' Amidst NPD Musings

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:24:10 GMT

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's product management director, is ebullient about the company's performance in November 2009's NPD results. The Xbox 360 lead the PS3 in sales, though it did drop slightly year on year.

Of course, the month's big story was the huge sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which boasted the biggest opening month sales ever at 4.2 million copies -- besting the PlayStation 3 version over 2:1 in sales.

It's worth noting that this does not include copies bundled with Microsoft's limited edition console, a move Sony did not replicate. In comparison, the massively hyped Halo 3 sold 3.3 million copies on its September 2007 debut.

EA CEO: Betting on PS3 Put Us in a Position of Weakness

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:06:37 GMT

We made the call that PS3 was going to be bigger than the Wii, and we allocated resources accordingly. We got that wrong, and that put us in a position where we probably under invested in our intellectual property and some of it went into a kind of wane period. What makes this all the harder, and harder on investors, is that we have to come, if you will, from a bit of weakness to rebuild our core and drive transition. So I get the skepticism."

Sony Talks 2010: "Project Natal and Wii are going to have trouble"

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:15:41 GMT

John Koller, Director of Hardware Marketing for SCEA, talks to GamePro about the future of the PS3, the growth of the PlayStation Network, and why Sony's motion control gaming will be better than Project Natal and the Wii.

Greenberg on VGAs 2009 "well deserving winners across the board"

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:02:38 GMT

VGArabia: With VGAs 2009 winners have been announced and each winner studio is celebrating its own success, we are starting to see famed people from the video games industry comments on the prizes and on the show as a whole.

VGA's = Failure

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:34:51 GMT

Ironstarmovement Writes: Like many gamers on Saturday night, I wasted two hours of my life trying to enjoy the VGA's. Considering the tremendous amount of hype generated for this event, it was extremely hard for me to crack a smile.

Sci-fi author and Crysis 2 writer Peter Watts beaten, arrested at US border

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:08:32 GMT

Peter Watts, a Canadian citizen, was subject to a beating and arrest by U.S. border guards on Tuesday when he was detained by the aforementioned authorities at the U.S.-Canada border. On top of the beating and pepper spraying that he received, he was additionally charged with "assaulting a federal officer", a felony rap that carries a mandatory 2 year sentence in a federal prison, if convicted.

Peter Watts, who has previously worked on Homeworld 2, is currently serving as a writer and art consultant on Crysis 2 and is the author of the Hugo-award-nominated science fiction novel, Blindsight.

First day sales in Japan

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:06:15 GMT

The latest first day sales from Japan are out, which includes data for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, 360 sales) and Tales of Graces.

Sony: November NPD numbers exceeded our expectations

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:07:24 GMT

VGArabia: Now with NPD numbers for November are up, each of the console manufacturers will reply in accordance to these numbers sooner or later. Jack Tretton, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America has responded in accordance to November NPD numbers and expressed his excitement for the next year.

Microsoft Declares 'Best November In Xbox 360 History'

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:42:38 GMT

In a statement released following this month's NPD results, Microsoft declared that November 2009 was "the company's best-ever November for [U.S.] game sales," with $514 million in Xbox 360 game revenue.

Combined with hardware and accessory sales, which contributed an additional $324 million, the month was also deemed to be "the best November in Xbox 360 history" overall.

NPD top 20 sales for November

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:25:56 GMT

Check out an expanded listing of the top 20 sales for the November 2009 NPD sales data.

Pachter: We Were Wrong

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:58:56 GMT

Analyst Michael Pachter was wrong, and he knows it. He and other analysts believed that 2009 would be a significantly better year than it turned out to be. However, recent NPD data shows that they were wrong. Dead wrong. As we reported yesterday, the gaming industry took a substantial hit, contracting 7.6% last month alone.

GTA: Episodes from Liberty City sells under 160K in Oct.-Nov.

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:33:52 GMT

In September, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City was being pegged as one of the fourth quarter's heavy hitters. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter predicted the boxed compilation of Grand Theft Auto's two Xbox 360-exclusive expansions--The Lost & Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony--could sell between 2.25-2.75 million units at retail.

Famitsu hardware sales (11/30 - 12/6)

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:08:53 GMT

Leaked hardware sales estimates from Japan have been released. See how the release of NSMB Wii boosted sales of Wii hardware.

Media Create hardware sales (11/30 - 12/6)

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:45:47 GMT

Media Create has published the latest hardware sales figures from Japan.

Pachter predicts Xbox Live tiered payments

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:02:04 GMT

Another interesting snippet from our interview with industry analyst Michael Pachter, was his prediction that Microsoft might introduce a tiered payment system to Xbox Live.

Jaffe calls out journalists for bullsh*t sensationalist headlines

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:44:08 GMT

PSUni: David Jaffe has once again returned to the internet, following a long hiatus, to tell certain members of the press that their sensationalist headlines are bullsh*t. Too right…

Oh wait, we wrote one above. Whoopsy.

David Jaffe, best known for God of War, has been divorcing himself from the internet, closing his blog and twitter, due to many of his comments being taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

We were told in September that if we were to hear from him before the announcement of his studio's first PlayStation 3 game, we were to call him out. Well, we be calling you out Mr Jaffe.

America's Army Cost Taxpayers $32.8 Million

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:15:19 GMT

America's Army, the game that makes army recruiting FUN, cost taxpayers a pretty penny. How much you ask? $32.8 million. That's what the cost of the series has been to date (the game launched in 2001). It was originally planned to be a five-year long project with a total operating budget of $7.0 million. Here's the cost breakdown...

Video Game Awards 2009 LIVE Blog from GamingShogun

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:00:06 GMT

GamingShogun.com writes...
"2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards LIVE BLOG Info
Our first big event to be held on the forums is our LIVE Blog of the 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards. The coverage begins today at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET and will feature interactive Q&As with the readers, as well as game giveaways and more!

So head on over to the LIVE Blog and get ready for some fun! Also, you will not need a CoverItLive account in order to watch the event or post questions, etc...."

Keighley: Biggest Spike VGA Reveal Has Yet to Come

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:48:43 GMT

Halo Reach. UFC 2010 Undisputed. Tron. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. Electronic Art's Medal of Honor reboot.

That's only five of the games that will make their world premiere at the Spike 2009 Video Game Awards, which airs on Spike TV this Saturday. But according to GameTrailers TV host and VGA producer Geoff Keighley, you haven't seen anything yet. He promises "more than 12" exclusives, including all new footage of Ruffian's Crackdown 2, a new Star Wars title, and at least two games Spike can't even hint at.

"We definitely have some pretty major surprises still to come," he tells Destructoid. "Essentially, the biggest thing in the show hasn't even been announced yet."