Recession or Transition?Did the games business shrink in 2009 or did consumers just abandon the high street? eurogamer.net editorial Iga_Bobovic
Digital Foundry vs. 3D GamingThe techniques and challenges of stereo 3D, and the significance of PS3's firmware upgrade.eurogamer.net editorial Iga_Bobovic
Sonic Racing trailerPerma Ban for anyone that buys thisgamersyde.com media gamingeek
NWR Review SkycrawlersIf you enjoy flight combat games then you should be headed out the door to buy this game right nownintendoworldreport.com impressions gamingeek
BBC iPlayer use up 74% from consoles “One in eight of all TV requests are now coming from either a Nintendo Wii or Sony PS3 console, which is an increase of 74% since November 2009.”edge-online.com gamingeek
Nintendo Dominates, Software Sales Rebound in Japan
Plus other tidbits from 2009's final sales figures.
Exactly how pervasive is Nintendo's iron grip on the Japanese game industry? Very, according to 2009 sales figures released by Weekly Famitsu publisher Enterbrain this week. According to Enterbrain's tabulations, Nintendo sold a total of 15.4 million games in Japan during 2009; out of the top 100 best-selling games in the region last year, Nintendo published 25 of them. (These number doesn't include Pokemon titles, which are published directly by Nintendo affiliate The Pokemon Company in Asia; 4.73 million Pokemon SKUs were sold in Japan last year.)
The good news continued on the hardware front, with 4.02 million Nintendo DSes and 1.98 million Wii systems sold in Japan last year. Overall, titles released for the DS accounted for 43.5% of all Japanese console game sales in 2009; Wii games took 20.3% of the pie, while the PSP was next with 15.3% of sales.
Enterbrain reported that the Japanese video game industry shifted a total of 542 billion yen in sales in 2009, about 7% off from 2008 -- this despite a 10.4% rise in year-over-year game sales for the second half of the year, buoyed by big-name releases like Final Fantasy XIII and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here's a list of the top 20 games saleswise in Japan last year:
Bugs, Endless Ocean 2 is out 5th Feb. Look for a good price.
here's the online market research results:
zavvi: pre-order = £39.95
play.com pre-order = £29.99
shopto.net pre-order = £26.85
amazon.co.uk pre-order = £30.99
asda pre-order = £39.91
ones i searched but didn't have it at all: blahdvd.com, gameplay.co.uk, game.co.uk, gamestation.co.uk, hmv.com
...game is definitely not a "niceprice" title like the first one. i thought that may have helped the original and it would have been a good idea for this one too. it's not most people's idea of a full price purchase
Bugs, Endless Ocean 2 is out 5th Feb. Look for a good price.
here's the online market research results:
zavvi: pre-order = £39.95
play.com pre-order = £29.99
shopto.net pre-order = £26.85
amazon.co.uk pre-order = £30.99
asda pre-order = £39.91
ones i searched but didn't have it at all: blahdvd.com, gameplay.co.uk, game.co.uk, gamestation.co.uk, hmv.com
...game is definitely not a "niceprice" title like the first one. i thought that may have helped the original and it would have been a good idea for this one too. it's not most people's idea of a full price purchase
Yeah I'm having a hard time finding both this game and NMH 2 even listed on some sites.
REDMOND, Wash. & LOS GATOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nintendo of America Inc. and Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq:NFLX] today announced an agreement that will allow Netflix members who are also owners of Nintendo’s Wii™ home console to instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix directly to their TVs. Netflix is scheduled to go live on the Wii console this spring in the United States at no additional cost to Netflix members who have a plan starting at $8.99 a month, a Wii console and a broadband Internet connection.
The partnership between the two companies will extend the reach of content streamed from Netflix farther than ever before, thanks to the mainstream popularity of the Wii console. Wii remains the fastest-selling home console in history, and reaches more consumers than any other device that currently supports streaming movies from Netflix. In December 2009, Nintendo sold well in excess of 3 million Wii consoles in the United States. Wii is the top-selling home video game system of this generation, and as such brings the Netflix experience to a broad and diverse mass market.
“Our research shows that 86 percent of all U.S. Wii consoles are located in the living room,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “The Wii console is the social hub around which friends and family members gather to play games and have fun. Soon both new and longtime Wii owners will enjoy the benefits of Netflix – and a variety of informational and entertainment options – by being Netflix members and connecting their consoles to the Internet.”
“Our goal is to offer Netflix members as many ways as possible to watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix right to their TVs and to give non-members more and compelling reasons to consider the service,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “Joining forces with Nintendo, which has been so immensely popular with consumers since its introduction, is a very meaningful step in that direction.”
With 11.1 million U.S. subscribers as of Sept. 30, 2009, Netflix continues to expand the ways in which its members can watch movies and TV shows streamed directly to TVs via a range of Netflix-ready devices such as the Wii console. Netflix memberships start as low as $8.99 a month, and members also can receive unlimited DVDs delivered quickly to their homes. At the same time, consumers continue to demonstrate a preference for Wii consoles, which offer tremendous value, whether measured in fun games, shared experiences or the suggested retail price of just $199.99.
To enable their systems to stream content from Netflix, Wii owners will need a Netflix instant-streaming disc for the Wii console, which will be available at no additional cost to Netflix subscribers. The free disc looks and operates the same as a disc-based Wii game, and the entire user experience will feel natural and intuitive to Wii console owners. Netflix members and Wii console owners can now reserve a free instant-streaming disc by going to www.netflix.com/Wii. Once available in the spring, the discs will be delivered for free by first-class mail.
When the instant-streaming disc is inserted into a member’s Wii system, an array of movie and TV choices will be displayed right on their TV screen. These titles will be conveniently organized into a variety of categories based on members’ personal preferences and will include popular genres, new arrivals and members’ individual instant Queues. Using the Wii Remote™ controller, members will be able to choose a movie or TV episode to watch from their instant Queues or pick one directly from any of the lists. They will also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies, and will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding their selection.
Netflix adds another dimension to the Wii console’s diverse online features, which range from downloadable new and classic games in the Wii Shop Channel, to online multiplayer gaming with games like Mario Kart™ Wii, to video highlights and information about titles for the Wii and Nintendo DS™ systems via the Nintendo Channel™.
I wont use this because wii + streaming on an HDTV will look bad. But on an SDTV it will probably look okay if the iPlayer is anything to go by.
Capcom's "bitching" (and subsequent back-track) about poor sales of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles was ill-aimed, WiiWare developer Bloober Team has told Eurogamer.
"With such a strong install base it's hard to believe that there's not enough people to appreciate mature, core content," said executive producer Marcin Kawa. "It's all about games and quality. I'm not surprised that another shooter on rails doesn't sell well. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that people expect something more than that..
"I bet No More Heroes 2 will do pretty good, as well as the new Metroid and Capcom's Monster Hunter. I hope that Last Flight will be successful and that's because we're making a game that was thought out as a Wii game.
"Instead of bitching," he added, "we'd rather create something that has value and doesn't feel like a third-rate port put together to make a quick buck."
Bloober's making Last Flight, a visually simple but striking action-horror game inspired by Golden Axe, although we've yet to see the similarities. Importantly, this is a WiiWare game aimed at a mature audience that Marcin Kawa is adamant exists on Wii, despite the public lethargy for critically acclaimed games like MadWorld and No More Heroes.
"Was it the right decision to develop a game on Wii? Should we make it less violent? Are we gonna sell enough copies to pay our bills? You know, typical questions, nothing unusual here," Kawa said. "And while we love and respect Capcom and Pachter, we wouldn't go that far and say that mature stuff doesn't sell or that it's the platform holder's fault.
"Our logic is far simpler: if the game doesn't sell, we did something wrong."
The first episode of Last Flight, of which there are four, will be released on WiiWare "really soon".
Wow, look at that. Someone that understands the basic rules of economics. Never ever blame your customer or competitor.
I don't know if it's going to bounce back per say, as much as it will sustain it's momentum. It will continue to sell and not suck like it did until the price cut. I don't think its going to get a huge boost nor do I think it'll outsell the Wii. I could see it routinely outselling the 360 though unless that console gets another good price drop.
The economy still sucks and I'm not real encouraged by anything I see. That's still going to be the biggest hurdle. $300 is still a good chunk to throw down when you're unemployed you know?
That's about it. The hang up used to be the lack of games and the price, and both of those have been corrected.
hi guys. i'm back after 4 days in the hospital. i had a car wreck coming home from a night out on saturday.
what's been up, what have i missed?
Hope you're allright. Was it your car? You weren't drink driving were you? What injuries did you have?
Angry Monkey is back.
Angry Monkey!!! Awesome. Hope you will stop trying to tempt me into AC now finally!
It was my parents car. I totaled it and will have to pay for it. I fell asleep and ran into the back of a parked car. Luckily i was wearing the seat belt so my injuries aren't too bad. I did get several dozen stitched inside the mouth and some outside though, but i didn't lose any teeth or break any bones.
the worst was that my room-mate in the hospital was a fella by the name of Jaime from Guadalajara. I knew then that steel had sent one of his cronies to do me in at night while i slept, hitman style! Had to stay up all night in vigil
Yes. Do be careful. We don't want to have to refer to you as bugsthroughglass...
hi guys. i'm back after 4 days in the hospital. i had a car wreck coming home from a night out on saturday.
what's been up, what have i missed?
That's terrible... I hope you heal up well.
thank you bro, really appreciate it. i hope so too. right now i can't eat and it hurts a bit to talk and i got a bit of a lisp as well.
phantom_leo said:
bugsonglass said:
gamingeek said:
bugsonglass said:
hi guys. i'm back after 4 days in the hospital. i had a car wreck coming home from a night out on saturday.
what's been up, what have i missed?
Hope you're allright. Was it your car? You weren't drink driving were you? What injuries did you have?
Angry Monkey is back.
Angry Monkey!!! Awesome. Hope you will stop trying to tempt me into AC now finally!
It was my parents car. I totaled it and will have to pay for it. I fell asleep and ran into the back of a parked car. Luckily i was wearing the seat belt so my injuries aren't too bad. I did get several dozen stitched inside the mouth and some outside though, but i didn't lose any teeth or break any bones.
the worst was that my room-mate in the hospital was a fella by the name of Jaime from Guadalajara. I knew then that steel had sent one of his cronies to do me in at night while i slept, hitman style! Had to stay up all night in vigil
Yes. Do be careful. We don't want to have to refer to you as bugsthroughglass...
Seriously though, glad you are OK.
thank you buddy. you know i would have been just that had i not been wearing the seat belt. i got away with it pretty lightly all things considered. right now it hurts like hell to laugh though, so leave the crane jokes for a little while
Capcom's "bitching" (and subsequent back-track) about poor sales of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles was ill-aimed, WiiWare developer Bloober Team has told Eurogamer.
"With such a strong install base it's hard to believe that there's not enough people to appreciate mature, core content," said executive producer Marcin Kawa. "It's all about games and quality. I'm not surprised that another shooter on rails doesn't sell well. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that people expect something more than that..
"I bet No More Heroes 2 will do pretty good, as well as the new Metroid and Capcom's Monster Hunter. I hope that Last Flight will be successful and that's because we're making a game that was thought out as a Wii game.
"Instead of bitching," he added, "we'd rather create something that has value and doesn't feel like a third-rate port put together to make a quick buck."
Bloober's making Last Flight, a visually simple but striking action-horror game inspired by Golden Axe, although we've yet to see the similarities. Importantly, this is a WiiWare game aimed at a mature audience that Marcin Kawa is adamant exists on Wii, despite the public lethargy for critically acclaimed games like MadWorld and No More Heroes.
"Was it the right decision to develop a game on Wii? Should we make it less violent? Are we gonna sell enough copies to pay our bills? You know, typical questions, nothing unusual here," Kawa said. "And while we love and respect Capcom and Pachter, we wouldn't go that far and say that mature stuff doesn't sell or that it's the platform holder's fault.
"Our logic is far simpler: if the game doesn't sell, we did something wrong."
The first episode of Last Flight, of which there are four, will be released on WiiWare "really soon".
Wow, look at that. Someone that understands the basic rules of economics. Never ever blame your customer or competitor.
That's a decent view to take. NMH is considered a success for Suda and Marvelous at like 350k, if it sells more than the first it's a success. I think it will do as its been around for a while and no doubt some people picked it up used or whatever in the intervening years.
bugsonglass said:
aspro said:
bugsonglass said:
hi guys. i'm back after 4 days in the hospital. i had a car wreck coming home from a night out on saturday.
what's been up, what have i missed?
That's terrible... I hope you heal up well.
thank you bro, really appreciate it. i hope so too. right now i can't eat and it hurts a bit to talk and i got a bit of a lisp as well.
phantom_leo said:
thank you buddy. you know i would have been just that had i not been wearing the seat belt. i got away with it pretty lightly all things considered. right now it hurts like hell to laugh though, so leave the crane jokes for a little while
Holy crap bugsy. Even though it sucks to buy a new car, at least your injuries aren't very serious. Hope you get better real soon, man. We all love you here.
Holy crap bugsy. Even though it sucks to buy a new car, at least your injuries aren't very serious. Hope you get better real soon, man. We all love you here.
*damn Jaime failed me, time for plan B*
But how will pay for Fedor?!. You need a plan C to get enough to pay for Plan B.
Woah. Sorry to hear about your accident Bugs. Get better soon.
Thank you so much. i have a week off work so hopefully i'll be fully mended by then
SteelAttack said:
Holy crap bugsy. Even though it sucks to buy a new car, at least your injuries aren't very serious. Hope you get better real soon, man. We all love you here.
*damn Jaime failed me, time for plan B*
thank you buddy. i feel the love already *group hug*. plan B for banderas? i stand no chance
phantom_leo said:
PS: Your Get-Well present is on it's way!
LOL they must have put like two bottles of fake tan on that kid
It was my parents car. I totaled it and will have to pay for it. I fell asleep and ran into the back of a parked car. Luckily i was wearing the seat belt so my injuries aren't too bad. I did get several dozen stitched inside the mouth and some outside though, but i didn't lose any teeth or break any bones.
Wow, good you came out fine and no one else was hurt. Bad about the money side of things.
I think falling asleep has been responsible for many of my screwups as well, like flooding a downstairs apartment.
robio said:
The more I look at this survey the more cross-eyed it starts to make me. Publishers expected to be successful and Nintendo is at the bottom of the list?? In a year where they have a Mario game, a Metroid Game, a Zelda game, and a Pokemon game coming out they come in at 9.4%??? Is that a joke? Yeah this has absolutely no credibility.
Yeah, you'd think people would be a little cautious about underrating nintendo lately.
I think PS3 will do better and better, but I don't expect amazing sales.
gamingeek said:
My wii has been sent off for repairs, hopefully I wont lose my saves.
Has anyone had trouble with their drives? Mine is getting louder - I'm hoping I won't have to send it in soon.
gamingeek said:
bugsonglass said:
here's the online market research results:
zavvi: pre-order = £39.95
play.com pre-order = £29.99
shopto.net pre-order = £26.85
amazon.co.uk pre-order = £30.99
asda pre-order = £39.91
ones i searched but didn't have it at all: blahdvd.com, gameplay.co.uk, game.co.uk, gamestation.co.uk, hmv.com
...game is definitely not a "niceprice" title like the first one. i thought that may have helped the original and it would have been a good idea for this one too. it's not most people's idea of a full price purchase
Yeah I'm having a hard time finding both this game and NMH 2 even listed on some sites.
Cheapest I've seen is £25 on cdwow.
Huh - it's $30 on amazon canada which is what the first one was priced at. If they do a we ski and price the second one higher it is not going to sell at all.
Has anyone had trouble with their drives? Mine is getting louder - I'm hoping I won't have to send it in soon.
Now that you mention it, mine has been a little louder than it once was. God knows this console has gotten more use out of it than any other in recent years, but it would really suck having to send this in for repairs. Actually, even with my soft mod I think I'm just as well off buying a new Wii and asking Nintendo to transfer my downloads to the new account.
Exactly how pervasive is Nintendo's iron grip on the Japanese game industry? Very, according to 2009 sales figures released by Weekly Famitsu publisher Enterbrain this week. According to Enterbrain's tabulations, Nintendo sold a total of 15.4 million games in Japan during 2009; out of the top 100 best-selling games in the region last year, Nintendo published 25 of them. (These number doesn't include Pokemon titles, which are published directly by Nintendo affiliate The Pokemon Company in Asia; 4.73 million Pokemon SKUs were sold in Japan last year.)
The good news continued on the hardware front, with 4.02 million Nintendo DSes and 1.98 million Wii systems sold in Japan last year. Overall, titles released for the DS accounted for 43.5% of all Japanese console game sales in 2009; Wii games took 20.3% of the pie, while the PSP was next with 15.3% of sales.
Enterbrain reported that the Japanese video game industry shifted a total of 542 billion yen in sales in 2009, about 7% off from 2008 -- this despite a 10.4% rise in year-over-year game sales for the second half of the year, buoyed by big-name releases like Final Fantasy XIII and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here's a list of the top 20 games saleswise in Japan last year:
1. Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix, DS) -- 4,100,968
2. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (The Pokemon Company, DS) -- 3,382,597
3. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, DS) -- 2,485,150
4. Tomodachi Collection (Nintendo, DS) -- 2,311,948
5. Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix, PS3) -- 1,698,256
6. Wii Sports Resport (Nintendo, Wii) -- 1,542,806
7. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Wii) -- 1,298,533
8. Monster Hunter Tri (Capcom, WIi) -- 968,033
9. Inazuma Eleven 2 (Level-5, DS) -- 943,615
10, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (budget rerelease) (Capcom, PSP) -- 911,497
11. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo, DS) -- 717,940
12. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) -- 588,258
13. Professor Layton and the Spectre's Flute (Level-5, DS) -- 552,085
14. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Square Enix, DS) -- 522,260
15. Resident Evil 5 (Capcomm, PS3) -- 508,959
16. Yakuza 3 (Sega, PS3) -- 509,223
17. Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo, DS) -- 480,326
18. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) -- 446,447
19. Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Sega, DS) -- 443,216
20. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (The Pokemon Company, DS) -- 417,226
here's the online market research results:
zavvi: pre-order = £39.95
play.com pre-order = £29.99
shopto.net pre-order = £26.85
amazon.co.uk pre-order = £30.99
asda pre-order = £39.91
ones i searched but didn't have it at all: blahdvd.com, gameplay.co.uk, game.co.uk, gamestation.co.uk, hmv.com
...game is definitely not a "niceprice" title like the first one. i thought that may have helped the original and it would have been a good idea for this one too. it's not most people's idea of a full price purchase
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
Yeah I'm having a hard time finding both this game and NMH 2 even listed on some sites.
Cheapest I've seen is £25 on cdwow.
I wont use this because wii + streaming on an HDTV will look bad. But on an SDTV it will probably look okay if the iPlayer is anything to go by.
Posted some news, check this out GG
Only bad Wii games sell badly - Bloober
Capcom's "bitching" (and subsequent back-track) about poor sales of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles was ill-aimed, WiiWare developer Bloober Team has told Eurogamer.
"With such a strong install base it's hard to believe that there's not enough people to appreciate mature, core content," said executive producer Marcin Kawa. "It's all about games and quality. I'm not surprised that another shooter on rails doesn't sell well. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that people expect something more than that..
"I bet No More Heroes 2 will do pretty good, as well as the new Metroid and Capcom's Monster Hunter. I hope that Last Flight will be successful and that's because we're making a game that was thought out as a Wii game.
"Instead of bitching," he added, "we'd rather create something that has value and doesn't feel like a third-rate port put together to make a quick buck."
Bloober's making Last Flight, a visually simple but striking action-horror game inspired by Golden Axe, although we've yet to see the similarities. Importantly, this is a WiiWare game aimed at a mature audience that Marcin Kawa is adamant exists on Wii, despite the public lethargy for critically acclaimed games like MadWorld and No More Heroes.
"Was it the right decision to develop a game on Wii? Should we make it less violent? Are we gonna sell enough copies to pay our bills? You know, typical questions, nothing unusual here," Kawa said. "And while we love and respect Capcom and Pachter, we wouldn't go that far and say that mature stuff doesn't sell or that it's the platform holder's fault.
"Our logic is far simpler: if the game doesn't sell, we did something wrong."
The first episode of Last Flight, of which there are four, will be released on WiiWare "really soon".
Wow, look at that. Someone that understands the basic rules of economics. Never ever blame your customer or competitor.
That's terrible... I hope you heal up well.
That's about it. The hang up used to be the lack of games and the price, and both of those have been corrected.
Yes. Do be careful. We don't want to have to refer to you as bugsthroughglass...
Seriously though, glad you are OK.
thank you bro, really appreciate it. i hope so too. right now i can't eat and it hurts a bit to talk and i got a bit of a lisp as well.
thank you buddy. you know i would have been just that had i not been wearing the seat belt. i got away with it pretty lightly all things considered. right now it hurts like hell to laugh though, so leave the crane jokes for a little while
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
Woah. Sorry to hear about your accident Bugs. Get better soon.
That's a decent view to take. NMH is considered a success for Suda and Marvelous at like 350k, if it sells more than the first it's a success. I think it will do as its been around for a while and no doubt some people picked it up used or whatever in the intervening years.
Why am I now thinking about Mr Miyagi?
Ooops. Don't laugh.
Seriously, all the best.
*damn Jaime failed me, time for plan B*
But how will pay for Fedor?!. You need a plan C to get enough to pay for Plan B.
Really? Me too! Awesome~!
PS: Your Get-Well present is on it's way!
Thank you so much. i have a week off work so hopefully i'll be fully mended by then
thank you buddy. i feel the love already *group hug*. plan B for banderas? i stand no chance
LOL they must have put like two bottles of fake tan on that kid
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
What a good day for news, great updates today guys. The game budget stuff is freaky.
Wow, good you came out fine and no one else was hurt. Bad about the money side of things.
I think falling asleep has been responsible for many of my screwups as well, like flooding a downstairs apartment.
Yeah, you'd think people would be a little cautious about underrating nintendo lately.
I think PS3 will do better and better, but I don't expect amazing sales.
Has anyone had trouble with their drives? Mine is getting louder - I'm hoping I won't have to send it in soon.
Huh - it's $30 on amazon canada which is what the first one was priced at. If they do a we ski and price the second one higher it is not going to sell at all.
Now that you mention it, mine has been a little louder than it once was. God knows this console has gotten more use out of it than any other in recent years, but it would really suck having to send this in for repairs. Actually, even with my soft mod I think I'm just as well off buying a new Wii and asking Nintendo to transfer my downloads to the new account.