Second Story Gamer

Sony has officially announced the latest PS3 SKU, this time a console with a 160 GB hard drive costing $499, which is reasonable once you see what’s in it.  Originally thought to be a European exclusive, it includes over €70 (about $100) worth of downloadable games on its hard drive.   However, we know now that there will be an American version as well - with perks.  Those American exclusive perks include a bundled Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a voucher to download PAIN from the PSN, and a DualShock 3 controller.

Now for the bad news.  This new 160 GB model has only two USB ports and no flash card readers.  Why is that so bad?  Because that suggests that it will be functionally identical to the 40 GB SKU and that means no backwards compatibility.

Even worse for those who love backwards compatibility is the new rumor that suggests that the Metal Gear 80 GB PS3 SKU is being discontinued.  According to Joystiq, the PS3 is not appearing in the Wal-mart database, which suggests that the store is no longer receiving shipments of the unit.  However, the 160 GB model isn’t expected till November, so MGS4 bundled PS3s should be available till then.

Now you have a choice to make.  Do you buy a PS3 now to get access to the thousands of PS2 games available for dirt cheap?  Or do you wait till November to get a PS3 with a much bigger hard drive and bonuses?  Desicions, decisions…

Sony has flexed its muscles and done what many gamers have been asking for: mandating that the instruments used for Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or Rock Revolution work with both of the other games, at least to the minimum level.   Director of Public Relations for SCEA Michael Shorrock said on the Playstation Blog:

For the past several months, we have been working closely with Neversoft and Activision, Harmonix and Konami to ensure that PlayStation 3 guitars and drum sets will all feature a basic level of gameplay compatibility.

For the most part, this means that the titles with musical peripherals will work with the other’s software. A few specific examples include: Guitar Hero: World Tour’s guitars and drums will work with Rock Band 2 and Konami’s Rock Revolution software.

In addition, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 will both support the SingStar microphones.

Of course each of these great games have their own specific cool features that may not be compatible with the other controllers, but this is our first big step in bringing a level of compatibility to music games that is sure to benefit PlayStation 3 consumers.

This means that you can finally go to a store and pick up any old guitar that has the words “PS3″ on it and it should work with future music games on the PS3.  Thank god.  I only have enough room for so many plastic instruments in my heart.

However, if you want to go out and buy another guitar for your current version of Rock Band or Guitar Hero, make sure you buy the right version, at least for a while.  Shorrock said, “We’re still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly.”  Hopefully that issue will be resolved soon.

So three cheers for Sony.  Hopefully Microsoft and Nintendo will see this and follow suit.

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.

The rumor mill is churning once again, as “highly placed sources” have told VG247 the real reason that Phil Harrison jumped from Sony’s ship in February: Déjà vu.  Apparently, the development of the PS4 was just about to kick off and Harrison couldn’t bring himself to do the whole cycle again.  The sources said:

“He could see he was about to get involved in another PlayStation cycle, and obviously wanted something new.  The same thing was happening again and he’d been through it enough times to want to move on.”

Harrison chose Infogrames because he was excited about the company’s casual gaming focus and increased influence on internet business models.

Another interesting topic suggested by this rumor is the fact that PS4 development only started a few months ago.  That is very unusual as most companies start development for their next console as soon as they finish making the last one.  But waiting a couple of years in no big deal for Sony.  They still got eight left.

[via VG247]

Playstation Lifestyle, who was the original source of the PS3 waggle controller rumors (which, at this point, appear untrue) seems to have another very big scoop in their stables.  This time, they are prophesising that a major PS3 exclusive game will be announced on August 3.  For the sake of discussion, I’m going to assume that this rumor is real for the time being.

Unfortunately, other than the date provided, much solid information about the game was not given.  However, there were plenty of clues in the post.  For example, the tags of the post are: 100, 18+, 1st party, 2003, Action, Bullets, clan, customize, Explosions, military, online, PlayStation 3, rockets, Scale, skill, Violence. So I’m pretty sure we can safely assume that this game will be a first-party game and it will be an action game, most likely a shooter.  And with the word scale in the list, it looks like this game will be big.

But, this game cannot be a FPS, because that is marked off a list in the post.  Also marked off the list are RPG’s and a next-gen Twisted Metal.  So could it be a Third-person shooter?  Or will it be a pinball simulator with sound effects to replicate bullets, explosions, the military, rockets, and violence?

Also, this game could either be a brand new IP, or Sony could make a sequel to a 2003 game that was originally released on the Xbox, hence one of the tags.  The latter option would be a huge slap in the face to Microsoft.

Prediction: Crimson Skies Sequel

Personally, I believe the new exclusive PS3 game will be a sequel to Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, because the game offered plenty of action, bullets, explosions, etc.  The original game even released for the original Xbox in 2003, so it fits that category perfectly as well.  Also, founder Jordan Weisman bought the rights to the game from Microsoft in 2007, which also gives it more credence.

However, the rumored game is said to be first-party, which means a new Crimson Skies wouldn’t fit the bill because Smith & Tinker, not Sony, owns the rights to the franchise.  However, there is very little stopping Sony from just buying the company.  Just saying…

Another problem with a Crimson Skies sequel being the game rumored is the fact that the game rumored is supposed to be exponentially more exciting than Killzone 2, MAG, or inFAMOUS.  While some people would say Crimson Skies is much more interesting than all three of those games, it is very debatable.

I guess we’ll figure out if I’m right on August 3.  Check the article again on Saturday because the author is set to drop two more hints then.

[via Playstation Lifestyle]

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?

The long awaited PS3 firmware 2.40 update released last night, but not to the expected unanimous praise.  Many, many users were having real problems with their PS3’s after the update and they posted their problems on the Playstation forums (here’s an example).

Most of the complaints say that when the PS3 was started, the Playstation wave screen would remain on the screen.  That is, none of the icons would load up.  Crafty users have found out that if you take out the PS3’s hard drive and reformat it, the update should work fine.  But who really wants to lose all of your downloaded and saved games.

There’s always random reports of issues after almost every update on every system, but this problem seems widespread and genuine.  And Sony seems to think so as well, because mere hours after the firmware was released, it was pulled and users were forced to downgrade to the less nifty, but properly working firmware 2.36.  So far, we have heard no official word from Sony, but it seems like this inconvenience is only temporary till Sony fixes the update.

PS3 users that love UI updates never seem to catch a break, do they?  First the Home delay, now this.

[via Kotaku]

Rest assured PS3 owners; you won’t have to gaze jealously at the Xbox Live Video Marketplace for long because Sony Playstation executive Kaz Hirai told reporters that a movie download service is coming to US Playstation 3’s later this summer, with Japan and Europe getting the service at a later date.  There is now word about whether TV shows are included in the service, but Hirai said that more details about the service will be available next month, most likely at E3.  Sony has already released a video service in Korea.

Official numbers for the Xbox Live Video Marketplace have never been released, which makes one doubt its success.  So will the PSN video service be able to succeed where the Xbox Live Video Marketplace “failed”?  With Blu-ray being such a major selling point of the console, why would consumers use a download service that will have lower quality movies?  However, the PS3 does have a bigger hard drive which is perfectly suited for video downloads.  So, only time will tell, unless Sony decides to withhold numbers like Microsoft has been doing, in which case, it wont.

[via Joystiq]

On GigaOM, Wagner James Au has an interesting article, in which he argues that the fact that GTA IV was unable to move big hardware numbers, signifies the “beginning of the end” for next-gen consoles (the Xbox 360 and PS3).  And GTA IV really didn’t move any consoles, because the GTA IV-less Wii sold twice as much as the Xbox 360 and the PS3 combined.  But does this fact really mean that next generation development is going to come grinding to a halt?  Au explains:

If Grand Theft Auto can’t move more machines, nothing can. Which not only suggests that the market for next-gen consoles has been exhausted, but that the audience for big budget, AAA next-gen titles has been tapped out, too.

Which is why I think GTA IV is next-gen’s siren song, and a sign of drastic changes to come. Expect to see games made for lower budgets, targeted at wider audiences (ones that aren’t fixated on high-end 3D graphics) and delivered over broadband with a micropayment program in place. Don’t expect a follow-up to the 360 or PS3 anytime soon, either. In other words, the days when so-called “next-gen” gaming reigned supreme are coming to end — instead, the industry’s future will be shaped by games like Rock Band.

Au goes on to explain that even though GTA IV has already sold 9 million copies, it will take a miracle for it to reach the 21.5 million that San Andreas sold.

I don’t fully agree with this logic though.  Even though GTA IV didn’t push hardware sales that much, it still drove in over $500 million in revenue for Take-Two.  I doubt all developers will move to low budget, microtransaction games when there’s still huge money to be made by making megatitles.

And I also don’t think that the hardware numbers influenced by GTA IV will be seen until we get closer to holiday.  Plenty of more casual gamers will wait till October or November to pick up an Xbox 360 or PS3 and Grand Theft Auto IV.

But there may be some truth in this story.  We always hear about developers moving away from big games, as they get more and more expensive to make, to smaller, less risky titles.  But that in no way means that all developers will stop making mega-hits in favor of mini-games.  I think we’ll just start seeing more casual titles used by developers to help fund their bigger titles.

But what do you think?  Is this the end of this generation?  Or is Wagner James Au being a bit paranoid?

[via GigaOM]

I can’t help but say I told you so, because Sony has just announced that the PS3’s 2.40 firmware update will be adding in-game Xross Media Bar (XMB) and trophy system.  Yeah, not exactly the best kept secret Sony.

To reiterate, the XMB will allow cross game invites, chats, and messages while playing PS3 games and a universal friends list.  That may make the PS3 online system an actual Xbox Live competitor.  And speaking of Xbox Live competitors, the PS3 trophy system is aiming to combat Xbox Live’s wildly popular achievements.

I guess some rumors can come true.  Hopefully the same will be for the recent flood of leaks.

[via Playstation Blog]

And sorry about the recent downtime.  My host has been switching servers and stuff so, hopefully, everything is up and running fine now.

Wow the past few days have been great for rumor lovers.  On top of the recent Microsoft and Activision leaks, now we have an inside UK source telling us that development for Heavenly Sword 2 has been cancelled.  The source stated that the game is just no longer commercially viable for Sony, so development, which had been going on for a few months now, was axed.

Even though the first Heavenly Sword sold abysmally (although that was probably due to the tiny PS3 user base when the game first came out), I’m still surprised that Sony would decide to can development for the second.  In my opinion, they should have kept developing so they could make the second game better and turn Heavenly Sword into a real franchise.  But since when do major corporations do what I think they should do?

On a side note, Ninja Theory, makers of the first Heavenly Sword (but they had stated that they weren’t working on the sequel), seem to be getting more and more bitter with the way Sony is treating them.  So bitter, in fact, that they are apparently moving their studio, which had offices in Sony Cambridge, to another location.

It looks like all is not well for the European branch of Sony.

[via Kotaku]

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?

With NPD numbers set to come out later this week, analysts are predicting what they will be.  After April’s outstanding figures, in which software sales alone were up 68% from April 2007, most analysts are predicting another double digit jump for May.

The various predictions range from a 30% gain to a 43% gain, which correlates to $495 to a $545 million in software sales.   A big seller for May, according to these analysts, will likely be Wii Fit.  Although it was somewhat supply constrained in the US, they are predicting sales of about 600,000.

On the hardware side, the Wii is expected to dominate the market with another 750,000 unit month.  On to less obvious news: the Xbox 360 is expected to pull out in front of the PS3 with 250,000 units, compared to the PS3’s 225,000.

Most analysts previously said that May was the month where GTA IV would impact console sales the strongest, but with these low predictions for Xbox 360 and PS3 sales, I think they were mistaken.  250,000 units is a respectable number but nowhere near what was expected of GTA IV’s influence.  That said, I think that we will probably see console sales due to GTA this holiday, because GTA IV will definitely have legs.

Keep in mind that these numbers are just predictions and could be totally wrong.  We’ll just have to wait and see later this week whether or not these analysts were correct.

[via Joystiq]

By the way, I hope you like the new site layout.

Since almost every other gaming blog is talking about the recently showed iPhone games (Super Monkey Ball being one of them), I decided to report some news you may not have heard.  Like the fact that some major Call of Duty 5 (dubbed Call of Duty: World at War) information has been revealed.  Unfortunately, it’s been mostly forgotten under heaps of WWDC news.

A UK gaming magazine called gamesTM has revealed the first details of Call of Duty: World at War.  According to the magazine, Call of Duty 5 will (unfortunately) be set in the Pacific theater of World War II and will be developed by Treyarch, who made Call of Duty 3.

Also revealed are the systems Call of Duty: World at War is releasing on: the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii; a separate team within Treyarch is developing the Wii version.  All versions will be running on the Call of Duty 4 engine.  That’s right, Treyarch managed to get the Call of Duty 4 engine up and running on the Wii so, hopefully, the Wii version will look very good.

The magazine also stated that their would be co-op in the game, something new to the Call of Duty series, and that the multiplayer will involve vehicle and squad based elements.

The story, the magazine says, will be “as gritty as any game out there”.  For example, here is how one of the levels plays out:

The opening scene of the first level we are shown is a Japanese commander stubbing a cigarette out in the eye of a prisoner before slitting his throat - the blood splatters and dribbles down the side of the tent you are being held in. He turns towards you to deal out the same treatment but help arrives just in time. Cue a daring level-long escape.

It could be gut-wrenching, but it also has the possibility of being disastrously cheesy.  Sorry for being the pessimist, but after Call of Duty 3, I’m approaching anything with Treyarch’s name on it with caution.

[via videogaming247]

Playstation 3 owners, get ready to see a lot more in-game advertising from now on because Sony has finalized an agreement with in-game advertising company IGA Worldwide.  This means that Sony has given IGA rights to display dynamic (changing) advertisements in PS3 games.  IGA Worldwide CEO Justin Townsend had this to say:

Playstation 3 is undoubtedly the prime opportunity for the in-game advertising industry. Through this partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment, IGA can provide advertisers with a large and valuable global user base of 16-35 year old consumers with disposable income….there are great opportunities for advertisers looking to engage through an entertainment medium outside of the traditional TV spot.

The Xbox 360 already has an in-game dynamic advertising partner in Microsoft owned Massive.  And from most analyst’s predictions, the in-game advertising market looks to become massive.  The market drove in a modest $54 million in sales in 2006 but is expected to reach $800 million by 2012.

So expect a barrage of advertisements in not only future PS3 games, but nearly every game.  Hopefully, IGA will be able to keep their PS3 ads unobtrusive so they won’t take away from gamers’ experiences.  Hey that’s their job, they better be good at it.

[via Kotaku]