Second Story Gamer

Guess what?  It’s the 15th of the month again and you know what that means: NPD numbers!  Well let’s take a look, starting with the console sales.

Hardware:

1. Nintendo DS - 608,400
2. Wii - 555,000
3. PlayStation 3 - 224,900
4. PSP - 221,700
5. Xbox 360 - 204,800
6. PlayStation 2 - 155,500

Compare that to June’s scorecard and you get a surprising result.  Every console sold fewer units in July than they did in June, the biggest being the PS3 which saw a drop of 180,100 units, about 45% less than June.  That being said, it still sold a very respectable amount, beating the Xbox 360 by over 20,000 consoles.  However, both of them were still clobbered by the monthly juggernauts: the Wii and DS.  It’ll be interesting to see whether the 360 will bounce up in the August numbers due to the “price cut”.

Software:

1. NCAA Football 09 (Xbox 360) - 397,600
2. Wii Fit (Wii) - 369,600
3. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) - 309,700
4. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) - 284,000
5. NCAA Football 09 (PS3) - 242,500
6. Soulcalibur IV (Xbox 360) - 218,900
7. Mario Kart w/ wheel (Wii) - 174,500
8. Rock Band Special Ed. Bundle (Wii) - 165,800
9. Soulcalibur IV (PS3) - 155,800
10. Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (Xbox 360) - 147,600

So on top of slow hardware numbers, July gave us some fairly low, but not horrible software figures.  Edging out Wii Fit was the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Football 2009 and Wii Play continues to stay on the chart, moving up to position four.  Expect Soulcalibur IV to be on the August’s chart as well, because it was released on July 29.

Well there you have it folks, another month gone.  And this month is very out of the ordinary because instead of the unprecedented growths we’ve had the past few months, the gaming industry slowed down.  While that may have something to do with the fact that July was a four week month while June was a five week one, but it may be correlated to the slowing down economy.

Have you ever wondered what fabled game designer Shigeru Miyamoto does on the weekends?  This may seem like only of interest to Miyamoto stalkers who are looking for a good place to ambush him, but it turns out that the answer to this question may be more important to the gaming industry than you may think.

It is well known that Miyamoto bases many of his games off personal experiences or interests in his life.  For example, Miyamoto created Pikmin because he was very interested in gardening at the time and he took up music lessons recently and out popped Wii Music.

Well, you must realize how useful it would be to other developers if they knew what Miyamoto was doing at the time.  For instance if a game developer knew that Miyamoto had recently become interested in tree climbing, he would quickly start making a tree climbing game that could beat Nintendo to the punch.

Nintendo has seen this potential risk and is now banning Miyamoto from talking about his hobbies, according to The Times Online.  This may seem a bit excessive, but who knows how much money could be stolen from Nintendo if another developer knew that Miyamoto had recently become obsessed with ladybugs.

Miyamoto stalkers, your job just got harder for you, but look at the bright side.  If you do manage to catch Miyamoto in the act, some game developer may pay a hefty price for your information.

Yep, I’m back, guys.  The training is now over, but what a week it was to miss.  Not only did I fail to report on E3 happenings, I also missed the June NPD numbers.  But now that that fiasco is over, the posts will be coming out as daily as possible.

On to the news.  Obviously, E3 was last week, and Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo had some big announcements to make.  I’ll just highlight the major points of each keynote.

Microsoft

• Gears of War 2 was given the official release of November 7, 2008.  In addition, an announcement was made of a new mode called “horde”, where you and four friends cooperatively battle out hordes and hordes of locust.  I like their name decision.

• The constantly rumored Mii-like Xbox 360 avatar system was finally confirmed.

• Also heavily rumored, the Xbox 360 Dashboard will be getting a total revamp.  This redesign will be adding a community channel where you can share photos with friends, invite people to a “live party”, or other things.

• The Xbox 360 will be getting exclusive rights with Netflix to their large library of on-demand programming.  Subscribers who already have Netflix will be able to use this service for free.

• And perhaps Microsoft’s biggest news: Final Fantasy XIII will be releasing on the Xbox 360 the same exact day as the PS3 version.  When that day is, nobody knows.

[via Joystiq]

Sony

• Third-person shooter Resistance: Retribution is coming to the PSP.  It is being made by Bend Studio.

• Andy Beaudoin from Zipper Interactive (known for SOCOM) announced MAG, short for Massive Action Game (insanely creative, eh?).  The game breaks up 256-player human battles into groups of 8, who fight each other to the death.

• The 80 GB PS3 will be dropping to $399 come September.  Sony CEO Jack Tretton stated that the console will have “the current functionality of the 40 GB PS3″.  So does that mean no backwards compatibility?

• Not shockingly, but still excitingly, Sony announced God of War 3 for the PS3.  Unfortunately, the game is due “after this holiday season” so don’t expect it till 2009.

[via Joystiq]

Nintendo

• Nintendo announced Wii MotionPlus, an accessory for the Wiimote that works with the sensor bar and accelerometer to “allow for more comprehensive tracking of a player’s arm position and orientation”.  Whatever that means.

• Wii Sports Resort was announced for the Wii.  It will be bundled with the previously mention Wii MotionPlus and will include Frisbee, jetskiing, and sword-dueling.

• Animal Crossing: City Folk announced for the Wii.  No release date has been announced, but the graphics have been confirmed to look Gamecube-esque.

• GTA: Chinatown is coming to the DS.  Don’t crick your neck doing that double take.  Not much is known about this game except for the fact that it is getting a new engine, characters, and gameplay.

• Nintendo also announced the long rumored Wii Music.  This game uses the Wiimote and nunchuck, as well as the Balance Board for foot tapping, simulating a drum set.  Apparently, there will be 50 different instruments, but personally, I just don’t get this game yet.

[via Joystiq]

Allright, well those are the main points that were revealed earlier this week.  So who do you think had the best E3 presentation?

Just as the Wii is known for having heaps upon heaps of mini-games on it, the DS is a puzzle game filled handheld. As an avid puzzle aficionado, this was a major selling point of the system. So the second game I bought on the DS (after the New Super Mario Bros.) was Professor Layton and the Curious Village. And, boy, did I get a hold of a puzzler.

Well, I should probably clarify something.  This game isn’t a traditional puzzle game.  The genre puzzle game is usually associated with Tetris, Lumines, or Planet Puzzle League; these are all games that require fast paced stylus action to, usually, match up similar colored blocks.  Take that definition and throw it out the window for Professor Layton.  Hit the jump for the rest of the review.

After much analyst speculation, NPD numbers have finally come out.  And yes, May continued the unprecedented growth that makes one wonder if the gaming industry is really recession proof. On to the numbers; we’ll start with the software figures:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 871,300
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 787,400
3. Wii Fit (Wii) - 687,700
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 442,900
5. Wii Play (Wii) - 294,600
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 171,100
7. Iron Man (PS2) - 130,600
8. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 116,800
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 107,000
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - 102,000

So Grand Theft Auto IV kept its crown in spite of very strong competition from Mario Kart and Wii Fit.  But the interesting thing is the sales difference between the Xbox 360 and the PS3 version;  the Xbox 360 version outsold the PS3 nearly 2-to-1, which is almost in line with Microsoft’s Aaron Greenburg’s previously thought completely wrong predictions.  Other than that, the numbers are pretty much straightforward, as the Wii had a great month with titles Wii Play, Smash Bros, and Guitar Hero III also on the list.  Curiously, hyped up new titles Haze and Boom Blox were absent from the list.

Overall, software sales were almost in line with previous analyst predictions, bringing in $536.9 million, up 41% from last year.  On to the hardware numbers:

1. Wii - 675,100
2. Nintendo DS - 453,600
3. Playstation 3 - 208,700
4. Xbox 360 - 186,600
5. PSP - 182,300

Although the Wii didn’t sell as many units as last month, it still had a fantastic month.  And it turns out the analysts were wrong about their hardware numbers.  The PS3, expected to be 25,000 below the Xbox 360, actually beat it by 20,000.  But both consoles still didn’t meet the expectations driven by GTA IV, but we may see a bump this holiday season.

However, total hardware sales were $428.6 million up 34% from last year.

So software sales across all platforms were very, very good, but hardware sales were slightly lacking on the Xbox 360 and PS3, considering that GTA IV was supposed to drive hordes of consumers to stores to purchase consoles.  Maybe a price cut would fix that issue.  You hear me Microsoft?

So I just got a Nintendo DS.  I know I probably should have waited because of the rumors of a new version coming this summer, but my urge to get one and continual nagging from my brother pushed me over the edge.  So as I was picking up my black DS from Best Buy, I decided to get New Super Mario Bros. because I’ve heard so many good things about it.  And most of those good things were true.

I won’t be doing my normal outline for reviews because this game just isn’t big enough to warrant six different full length sections (unlike Mass Effect).  Instead, I will focus on just three sections of the game, visuals, sound, and gameplay, and then add some miscellaneous parts of the game at the end.

Visuals

There’s not much to say here because this game is on a Nintendo DS and while the system has very useful capabilities, graphics is not where it excels.  The DS just can’t put out as many pixels as the PSP.  But the art style of this game is great.  It is reminiscent of the old Super Mario Bros. but does things in a new, different way.

Sound

The music in this game is actually very good.  The soundtrack is very well done and the characters react around it.  For example, on a very low beat, the goombas will stop for a moment, then continue when the beat has finished.  The one problem with this great music is that it is coming out of the DS speakers.  They are just too small and low quality to really appreciate it.  I suggest getting headphones for this game.

Gameplay

The gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. is definitely the highest point of the game.  With this game Nintendo once again proved that they are the dominant species when it comes to platformers, because every level has a unique and very fun design to it.  There are innovative little nuances that make this game really stand out in my mind.  For example, there is a level in which there are meteors raining from the sky that you must dodge as you traverse the level (yes, it’s as hard as it sounds).   This is another game that is just pure fun on the gameplay side.

The Rest

Interestingly, Nintendo took many of the moves from it’s 3-D Mario games and puts them into this game.  For example, you can ground pound, wall jump, and triple jump.  Also, many of the bosses are references from Super Mario Sunshine like Petey Piranha.

One of my gripes with this game is the way the difficulty scales in it.  Worlds 1-7 are relatively easy but then the difficulty jumps up hugely at World 8.  There should have been more of a gradual increase.

Another problem with this game is the length.  Or is it a problem?  The game clocks in at about 6-7 hours, with some replay value.  That seems like a very good number, especially for a handheld game.  But I still wanted more.  God I’m such a greedy bastard.

Rating:

At the Konami Gamer’s Night yesterday, Konami unveiled Rock Revolution which is a music game in which users can collaborate to form a band with multiple instruments (the guitar, bass, drums, and vocals).  This game is said to feature 40 songs on the disc with more available through DLC and online co-op.  And yes, the game uses the same colored notes running down the screen method as shown in the video below.  I think I’ve heard of this game before…

Okay, so we all know that this game will be nearly identical to Rock Band (and Guitar Hero 4), but there are a couple of minor differences between the games.  First of all, Rock Revolution will have a drum set that has six pads and a pedal, compared to Rock Band’s four pads and a pedal (and Guitar Hero 4’s three pads, two cymbals, and a pedal).  Six pads seems a bit excessive to me, but hey, I’m no Rock Revolution tester.  An interesting feature that Konami is adding is the “Jam Session”.  This feature will supposedly let you record your own songs.  I have my doubts, but we’ll see.

One thing that Konami must do is make their game compatible with all the instruments available on the market.  There is no chance that I will buy this game if I am forced to buy a huge bundle to play it.  The bundle I bought with Rock Band should be enough.  But because the drums have six pads and the colors of the notes are in a different order for some instruments (check out the video), I think Konami will try to force us to buy their instruments to play the game.  And ultimately fail.

But come on Konami, why do you have to copy Rock Band now?  Can’t you wait a couple years?  This year, stores aren’t going to have enough room to stock bundles for every system that Rock Band, Guitar Hero 4, and Rock Revolution are available on (Rock Revolution is coming for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and DS).  However, I have a tip for you Wal-mart employees who are cringing in fear about finding space for three huge bundles: use the CD aisle.

[via Joystiq]

It’s that time of the month again: NPD time (also known as the brief period where the internet explodes from fanoboys declaring their console’s superiority through sales numbers from the previous month).  Let’s start out with the hardware numbers and then move to software.

Nintendo won once again by selling 721,000 Wiis and 698,000 DS’s.  The Wii is still unable to be found in stores and the DS continues its hot streak.  It will be interesting to see if the DS sells as many units this month with the recent news that there will be a new model released at E3.

Sony did very decent with their Playstation Portable selling 297,000 units and their PlayStation 3 selling 257,000.  But the Xbox 360 pushed ahead of the PS3 (barely) for the first time in 2 months selling 262,000 consoles.  So maybe there was some truth in that whole supply shortage story.  The PS3 and the 360 will probably swap the lead many more times this year (like COD4 and Halo 3 used to do).

Total hardware sales raked in $551.3 million, up 43% from last years’ $377.9 million.  Is this further evidence that video games are recession-proof?

Here is a full list of the hardware sales:

1. Nintendo Wii - 721,000
2. Nintendo DS - 698,000
3. PlayStation Portable - 297,000
4. Xbox 360 - 262,000
5. PlayStation 3 - 257,000
6. PlayStation 2 - 216,000

Software sales were also very good with Super Smash Bros. Brawl leading the pack with 2.7 million copies sold.  It was overall a shooter dominated lineup that had no major shockers.

Here’s a list of the top ten games sold:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 2.7 million
2. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox 360) - 752.3K
3. Army of Two (Xbox 360) - 606.1K
4. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) - 409.8K
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) - 340.5K
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) - 301.6K
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 264.1K
8. Major League Baseball 2K8 (Xbox 360) - 237.1K
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 237K
10. Army of Two (PS3) - 224.9K

So there were no huge surprises.  But it was a very, very good month for the video game industry.

[via Joystiq]

Japanese Gaming Magazine Famitzu’s publisher Hirokazu Hamamura has been doing some speculating recently. According to him, Nintendo will unveil their successor to the wildy popular DS Lite at E3 this year. The Google translated version of the page is hard to understand, but makes it seem like this is pure speculation from industry chatter. And it makes sense to me because Nintendo has a thing of releasing handheld iterations every year or every other year. The last upgrade was the Gameboy Micro (who wants a Gameboy anymore) two years ago, so it makes sense for Nintendo to release it this year.

My brother was planning to buy a DS Lite in the coming weeks but I’ll tell him to wait a bit longer till E3 comes around and we know whether Famitzu was right or wrong. I suggest you do the same to anyone you know who was planning to buy the DS in the near future. No one should suffer by buying something that may have a new version coming out in the next few months. Plenty of iPod owners would feel the same way.