By Andrei Dumitrescu
With no big titles released in Japan, the sales of hardware continue their downward trend. The numbers for the various platforms are pretty close and a big release could push any of the devices to the top during this week.
The Nintendo DS is still the best sold piece of hardware on the Japanese market, but it's quickly losing buyers. The handheld has managed to sell around 47,000 consoles, which is 15,000 less than during the previous week. The PlayStation Portable also lost buyers, but a smaller number, reaching sales of 40,886 after a fall of a little over 7,000.
In the home console realm, the PlayStation 3 continues to sell very well, taking third place in the hardware chart for the seventh week in a row. The Sony made console sold a little over 20,000 units, registering a drop of about 3,500. It seems that the console has now sold more than 3 million units in Japan since launch.
Meanwhile, the Nintendo Wii only managed to move 15,525 units, a loss of about 2,000 over the previous week. The Xbox 360 saw an increase in sales up to 10,134 units.
As far as videogames go, the top position in the software chart in Japan was taken by Sengoku Basara: Battle Heroes, created by Capcom for the PlayStation Portable. The new release managed to sell a total of 86,000 units in its first week. The game is one of those titles that could only see huge sales in Japan, being a portable spin off of a series called Devil Kings in the West. Second place went to Oboro Muramas, created by Marvelous for the Nintendo Wii, which moved 29,000 units. The title is also set to arrive in the West under the name of Muramasa: The Demon Blade.
Mario & Luigi RPG 3, created by Nintendo for the DS, continued its good run, selling around 25,000 units, while Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G from Capcom for the PlayStation Portable sits in fourth place, just ahead of Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 from Konami.
Source article: Nintendo DS Falls, PlayStation 3 Goes Over 3 Million
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Hands-On: Battling Through Final Fantasy XIII’s Brief Demo
Gamers in Japan got their hands on the eagerly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII demo Thursday, offering a first look at the latest sequel to one of the world’s most popular role-playing game franchises.
The hour-long demo, which shows an action-packed segment that occurs during the game’s opening moments, has been a long time coming: Developer Square Enix showed the first trailer for Final Fantasy XIII in May 2006.
Since then, the game has never been demonstrated to the outside world, even at trade shows. The PlayStation 3 demo disc, bundled with a Final Fantasy movie and currently available only in Japan, marks the first time that anyone outside Square Enix has played the company’s flagship next-gen title.
To call this demo "long-awaited" would be a drastic understatement: Development of the Final Fantasy sequel has proceeded at the approximate pace of a very cold snail. Wired.com got its hands on a copy shipped overnight from Japan and gave the game a thorough thrashing.
The demo focuses almost entirely on battling small groups of weak enemies. Final Fantasy XIII does not diverge significantly from the formula pioneered in the original 8-bit game released in 1987 — you select attacks or magic spells from a list, and watch what results from your choices. There are a few tweaks that make XIII unique, which we’ll explain in depth below.
Will the final version of Final Fantasy XIII be worth the wait? It’s too early to tell from such a tiny slice of gameplay.
The demo version of Final Fantasy XIII is included with the Japanese Blu-ray disc release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, a straight-to-DVD movie based on the series that was originally released in 2006. The sneak peek is not a freebie — the version of the movie that comes with the demo is about $10 more expensive. Since the PlayStation 3 is region-free, and Japan and the United States share the same Blu-ray region, American PS3 owners can play this demo and watch the movie on their consoles. Both the game and the movie are in Japanese, with no English-language option.
Briefly stated, XIII’s plot revolves around a battle between two worlds. Led by a mysterious superhuman race called the fal’Cie, many humans have left their world, Pulse, to establish a paradise floating in the sky called Cocoon. The Cocoon dwellers have been battling those left on Pulse ever since. (I got that off Wikipedia.) Very little of the plot is explored in the demo — it consists mostly of an epic battle scene taking place on Pulse.
In the first segment of the demo, you control Lightning, who comes from Cocoon but seems to have thrown her lot in with the Pulse side. She’s backed up by her partner, Sazh, who has a baby Chocobo living in his afro.
In the first battle, against a stereotypically elaborate Final Fantasy robot with giant sawblades for hands, you’re introduced to the new game’s battle system. After Final Fantasy XII’s brief dalliance with a completely new combat system inspired by MMO games, Final Fantasy XIII returns to traditional turn-based combat. The series’ usual spin on this is to run the battle in real time while you’re selecting your fighting options — if you sit there and deliberate, the enemy is still attacking you.
XIII’s twist on the battle system is that during each turn, you can queue up as many as three different attacks, which your character will execute in rapid-fire sequence. You can combine physical attacks and magic spells (Fire and Blizzard are available in the demo). If you want to use one massive spell that affects all areas in a certain radius, you can, but it takes up all three of your slots.
In general, you want to unleash combinations of moves, because that’ll do the most damage to an enemy and contribute to the "Chain" counter in the upper right corner. Stringing together unbroken chains of attacks will occasionally put the enemy into a state that the game calls "Break." Your opponent will flash orange, indicating that it’s ready to be pummeled. At this point, you’ll want to use the "Lift" command, then follow it up with two normal attacks. Put this combo in, and Lightning will uppercut the enemy into the air, then jump up after it and attack it, in its vulnerable state, for massive damage.
In the second half of the demo, you play a character called Snow. He’s joined by two partners, Gadot and Lebreau — like Sazh, they’re controlled by the computer. It’s not clear from the demo if you’ll only control one character in the final game, or if you’ll have control over all of them.
Final Fantasy XIII’s battles, going by the demo, move so quickly that they are chaotic enough with just one character to babysit. In the battle against a Behemoth shown above, I had to cast the "Cure" spell on Snow every few seconds to keep him from dying.
The idea behind the combo-based combat, besides adding an additional layer of strategy to the battles, seems to be to make Final Fantasy XIII’s visual presentation more dynamic. From the earliest days of the series to games on the PlayStation 2, the default behavior of heroes in battle has been to stand absolutely stock-still while waiting for their turn to begin. In XIII, characters move around while they wait; they pace and lunge and dodge. None of this has the slightest bit of effect on the battle, though; it’s all for show.
Are the moves and camerawork as over-the-top as the battle shown in the aforementioned mocked-up 2006 trailer? No. Square Enix has no one but itself to blame for expectations that a "next-generation Final Fantasy" means a more realistic and movielike experience, not just upgraded graphics layered onto the same gameplay formula.
Square Enix says Final Fantasy XIII will be available in winter 2009 in Japan, where it will only be released on PlayStation 3. In the United States, where the game will also ship on Xbox 360, we’ll have to wait until 2010.
Will the final version live up to the hype? We can’t tell from this demo. It’s not that there are any issues with what’s being presented here — it’s that there’s not much of it, and the brief look raises more questions than it answers.
How will battles feel when you can control three characters? Can you control three characters? Do you have to spend "magic points" to cast spells, or are they free as in the demo? Can you buy, find and equip your characters with new weapons and armor? How do your characters grow and learn new techniques? How much freedom do players have to explore the worlds of Pulse and Cocoon, outside of these prescripted battle sequences?
In short, how does Final Fantasy XIII address all the things that make an RPG an RPG, and not just a brief series of simple battles connected by lengthy computer-animated story sequences?
All that is beyond the scope of this demo. We’ll just have to keep waiting.
Source article: Battling Through Final Fantasy XIII’s Brief Demo
The hour-long demo, which shows an action-packed segment that occurs during the game’s opening moments, has been a long time coming: Developer Square Enix showed the first trailer for Final Fantasy XIII in May 2006.
Since then, the game has never been demonstrated to the outside world, even at trade shows. The PlayStation 3 demo disc, bundled with a Final Fantasy movie and currently available only in Japan, marks the first time that anyone outside Square Enix has played the company’s flagship next-gen title.
To call this demo "long-awaited" would be a drastic understatement: Development of the Final Fantasy sequel has proceeded at the approximate pace of a very cold snail. Wired.com got its hands on a copy shipped overnight from Japan and gave the game a thorough thrashing.
The demo focuses almost entirely on battling small groups of weak enemies. Final Fantasy XIII does not diverge significantly from the formula pioneered in the original 8-bit game released in 1987 — you select attacks or magic spells from a list, and watch what results from your choices. There are a few tweaks that make XIII unique, which we’ll explain in depth below.
Will the final version of Final Fantasy XIII be worth the wait? It’s too early to tell from such a tiny slice of gameplay.
The demo version of Final Fantasy XIII is included with the Japanese Blu-ray disc release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, a straight-to-DVD movie based on the series that was originally released in 2006. The sneak peek is not a freebie — the version of the movie that comes with the demo is about $10 more expensive. Since the PlayStation 3 is region-free, and Japan and the United States share the same Blu-ray region, American PS3 owners can play this demo and watch the movie on their consoles. Both the game and the movie are in Japanese, with no English-language option.
Briefly stated, XIII’s plot revolves around a battle between two worlds. Led by a mysterious superhuman race called the fal’Cie, many humans have left their world, Pulse, to establish a paradise floating in the sky called Cocoon. The Cocoon dwellers have been battling those left on Pulse ever since. (I got that off Wikipedia.) Very little of the plot is explored in the demo — it consists mostly of an epic battle scene taking place on Pulse.
In the first segment of the demo, you control Lightning, who comes from Cocoon but seems to have thrown her lot in with the Pulse side. She’s backed up by her partner, Sazh, who has a baby Chocobo living in his afro.
In the first battle, against a stereotypically elaborate Final Fantasy robot with giant sawblades for hands, you’re introduced to the new game’s battle system. After Final Fantasy XII’s brief dalliance with a completely new combat system inspired by MMO games, Final Fantasy XIII returns to traditional turn-based combat. The series’ usual spin on this is to run the battle in real time while you’re selecting your fighting options — if you sit there and deliberate, the enemy is still attacking you.
XIII’s twist on the battle system is that during each turn, you can queue up as many as three different attacks, which your character will execute in rapid-fire sequence. You can combine physical attacks and magic spells (Fire and Blizzard are available in the demo). If you want to use one massive spell that affects all areas in a certain radius, you can, but it takes up all three of your slots.
In general, you want to unleash combinations of moves, because that’ll do the most damage to an enemy and contribute to the "Chain" counter in the upper right corner. Stringing together unbroken chains of attacks will occasionally put the enemy into a state that the game calls "Break." Your opponent will flash orange, indicating that it’s ready to be pummeled. At this point, you’ll want to use the "Lift" command, then follow it up with two normal attacks. Put this combo in, and Lightning will uppercut the enemy into the air, then jump up after it and attack it, in its vulnerable state, for massive damage.
In the second half of the demo, you play a character called Snow. He’s joined by two partners, Gadot and Lebreau — like Sazh, they’re controlled by the computer. It’s not clear from the demo if you’ll only control one character in the final game, or if you’ll have control over all of them.
Final Fantasy XIII’s battles, going by the demo, move so quickly that they are chaotic enough with just one character to babysit. In the battle against a Behemoth shown above, I had to cast the "Cure" spell on Snow every few seconds to keep him from dying.
The idea behind the combo-based combat, besides adding an additional layer of strategy to the battles, seems to be to make Final Fantasy XIII’s visual presentation more dynamic. From the earliest days of the series to games on the PlayStation 2, the default behavior of heroes in battle has been to stand absolutely stock-still while waiting for their turn to begin. In XIII, characters move around while they wait; they pace and lunge and dodge. None of this has the slightest bit of effect on the battle, though; it’s all for show.
Are the moves and camerawork as over-the-top as the battle shown in the aforementioned mocked-up 2006 trailer? No. Square Enix has no one but itself to blame for expectations that a "next-generation Final Fantasy" means a more realistic and movielike experience, not just upgraded graphics layered onto the same gameplay formula.
Square Enix says Final Fantasy XIII will be available in winter 2009 in Japan, where it will only be released on PlayStation 3. In the United States, where the game will also ship on Xbox 360, we’ll have to wait until 2010.
Will the final version live up to the hype? We can’t tell from this demo. It’s not that there are any issues with what’s being presented here — it’s that there’s not much of it, and the brief look raises more questions than it answers.
How will battles feel when you can control three characters? Can you control three characters? Do you have to spend "magic points" to cast spells, or are they free as in the demo? Can you buy, find and equip your characters with new weapons and armor? How do your characters grow and learn new techniques? How much freedom do players have to explore the worlds of Pulse and Cocoon, outside of these prescripted battle sequences?
In short, how does Final Fantasy XIII address all the things that make an RPG an RPG, and not just a brief series of simple battles connected by lengthy computer-animated story sequences?
All that is beyond the scope of this demo. We’ll just have to keep waiting.
Source article: Battling Through Final Fantasy XIII’s Brief Demo
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
PlayStation 3: Gaming and Much More
Navneet Prakash, Apr 25, 2009
The PS3 is a great gaming console, it already boasts of some really big gaming titles with more coming each year. There is no denying that the Xbox 360 is just as good as the PS3 in terms of exclusive gaming titles and also offers a lot of value for its price.
But to be honest, technically, the PS3 offers more out of the box than the Xbox 360; it's a gaming console that can do much more. The following feature is not an attempt to glorify the PS3, but a list of features that most users are unsure/unaware about.
1) Blu Ray: For movie buffs the Blu-ray drive is a blessing, and although blu-ray movies still cost a fortune (in India), the option of having a future-proof player is quite exciting. Locally blu-ray is an alien format and most people don't know what a blu-ray is, which isn't a surprise, as there people who are still getting used to DVDs. But with time and higher sales of HDTVs, we are sure that blu-ray will eventually gain popularity.
2) Media Streaming: The PS3 is also an excellent media device, both for PCs and Macs. Let me explain this in detail:
a) In most cases people use separate LCDs for their gaming console and PC/Mac, relying on the more traditional 17"-22" LCDs for their PC and a 26"-42" TV for their consoles. Now it is possible to stream all the media that you have stored on your PC/Mac to your PS3, and watch it directly on your TV.
b) It's a very easy set-up and requires very little effort; PC users should use Tversity, while Mac users should give Vuze a try. There are guides available for both the programs, which should take care of most FAQs. We will soon be publishing a guide on how to set-up media servers for your PS3 and Xbox 360, so keep watching this space.
3) Custom HDD: The PS3 uses a standard 2.5" laptop HDD, which means you can replace the 40 or 80 GB HDD with a sizeable 320 GB HDD, without any issues. The extra space can be used to store data directly on to your PS3, so in case you are not a big fan of streaming your media, copy it and play it directly from your PS3. The more games you play on the PS3, the more space you will need for the obligatory install. And with some games taking as much as 2-3 GB of space, the extra 300 GB will help. Here is a guide on how to replace your PS3 HDD on the PS3 forums.
See full article here: PlayStation 3: Gaming and Much More
The PS3 is a great gaming console, it already boasts of some really big gaming titles with more coming each year. There is no denying that the Xbox 360 is just as good as the PS3 in terms of exclusive gaming titles and also offers a lot of value for its price.
But to be honest, technically, the PS3 offers more out of the box than the Xbox 360; it's a gaming console that can do much more. The following feature is not an attempt to glorify the PS3, but a list of features that most users are unsure/unaware about.
1) Blu Ray: For movie buffs the Blu-ray drive is a blessing, and although blu-ray movies still cost a fortune (in India), the option of having a future-proof player is quite exciting. Locally blu-ray is an alien format and most people don't know what a blu-ray is, which isn't a surprise, as there people who are still getting used to DVDs. But with time and higher sales of HDTVs, we are sure that blu-ray will eventually gain popularity.
2) Media Streaming: The PS3 is also an excellent media device, both for PCs and Macs. Let me explain this in detail:
a) In most cases people use separate LCDs for their gaming console and PC/Mac, relying on the more traditional 17"-22" LCDs for their PC and a 26"-42" TV for their consoles. Now it is possible to stream all the media that you have stored on your PC/Mac to your PS3, and watch it directly on your TV.
b) It's a very easy set-up and requires very little effort; PC users should use Tversity, while Mac users should give Vuze a try. There are guides available for both the programs, which should take care of most FAQs. We will soon be publishing a guide on how to set-up media servers for your PS3 and Xbox 360, so keep watching this space.
3) Custom HDD: The PS3 uses a standard 2.5" laptop HDD, which means you can replace the 40 or 80 GB HDD with a sizeable 320 GB HDD, without any issues. The extra space can be used to store data directly on to your PS3, so in case you are not a big fan of streaming your media, copy it and play it directly from your PS3. The more games you play on the PS3, the more space you will need for the obligatory install. And with some games taking as much as 2-3 GB of space, the extra 300 GB will help. Here is a guide on how to replace your PS3 HDD on the PS3 forums.
See full article here: PlayStation 3: Gaming and Much More
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel goes "gold" for PlayStation 3
Lydia Sung - Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Slinking onto Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in May
Between the blockbuster releases of spring and fall, we have games trickling in with considerably less fanfare. Here's one of those games -- doesn't help that Sacred 2 has already been out for PC since last year.
cdv Software and Ascaron Entertainment have announced today that Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has gone gold for PlayStation 3. Gamers can expect the console release on Xbox 360 and PS3 on May 12, 2009.
Basically, it's a hack-and-slash action-RPG in a fantasy setting, boasting a seamless world with intelligent enemies that adapt to the player's skill level and the number of players on the map. Needless to say, co-op is available in addition to single player, with support for up to four in total.
Source article: Sacred 2: Fallen Angel goes "gold" for PlayStation 3
Slinking onto Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in May
Between the blockbuster releases of spring and fall, we have games trickling in with considerably less fanfare. Here's one of those games -- doesn't help that Sacred 2 has already been out for PC since last year.
cdv Software and Ascaron Entertainment have announced today that Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has gone gold for PlayStation 3. Gamers can expect the console release on Xbox 360 and PS3 on May 12, 2009.
Basically, it's a hack-and-slash action-RPG in a fantasy setting, boasting a seamless world with intelligent enemies that adapt to the player's skill level and the number of players on the map. Needless to say, co-op is available in addition to single player, with support for up to four in total.
Source article: Sacred 2: Fallen Angel goes "gold" for PlayStation 3
Friday, May 1, 2009
Playstation 3's Death Spiral
Is the Playstation 3 doomed? Given the continuing spiral of reduced sales of the console, and of games that ship for the PS3, the situation has never been more dire for Sony's premiere gaming console.
April 17, 2009 -By Loyd Case
Every month, market research firm NPD releases the sales figures for the US for the top selling consoles and video games. Let's look at the numbers for console games for March, 2009:
Nintendo Wii 601K
Nintendo DS 563K
Xbox 360 330K
Playstation 3 218K
PS Portable 168K
Playstation 2 112K
To put this into some context, let's take a look at numbers from March, 2008:
Nintendo Wii 721K
Nintendo DS 698K
PS Portable 297K
Xbox 360 262K
Playstation 3 257K
Playstation 2 216K
Several things have occurred since March, 2008. First, the worldwide financial meltdown accelerated, which no doubt has an impact on buying habits of items like game consoles, which are certainly not necessities. Secondly, standalone Blu-ray players have substantially improved in performance and dropped in price.
So while you can argue that the PS3 is still one of the better Blu-ray players, a number of lower cost models that integrate better into A/V systems are now available.
And third, Microsoft dropped the price on the Xbox 360.
That third point is probably one key reason Xbox 360 sales are up in March 2009, compared to March 2008. In fact, the 360 is the only console whose sales are up relative to a year ago. (On the other hand, even though the Nintendo Wii is down from a year ago, it's still nearly double the Xbox 360 figures.)
Of the top ten, Xbox 360 software crushed the competition in terms of units, with a total of 1.78M games sold. Of course, Nintendo's Wii software sales probably made them more money. In that top ten, the Wii represents 1.1M units, but the Wii Fit, at 541K, is a game and controller combo that goes for around $90. The PS3 did eke out second place in software sales, falling just shy of 1.2M units.
There are two key points to consider in those numbers. First, Resident Evil 5 on the Xbox 360 outdid RE5 on the PS3 by 60%. The second point is that Killzone 2, a PS3-exclusive and a major release for the PS3 didn't hit 300,000 units sold. That has to be a blow to Sony.
Right now, the PS3 is simply too expensive, particularly in today's harsh economic conditions. $400 and up, is not competitive. And if PS3-exclusive titles keep selling poorly, developers who aren't owned by Sony are going to be very skittish about doing exclusives for Sony's current gen console.
Finally, one key advantage of the PS3—its stellar Blu-ray playback—is becoming eclipsed by the wave of cheaper and, arguably, equally good dedicated Blu-ray players.
That's the story for the US. Of course, Sony's home is Japan, and Bill Harris has a cogent analysis of just how poorly Sony is doing in its mother country. Bill plots a 12 month rolling average of console sales over the past decade, and it's quite illuminating.
Sony's PS3 is in dire trouble. It's notoriously difficult to program, which doesn't endear it to developers. Games don't sell as well on the PS3 as other consoles, which makes publishers skittish. Sony's flagship console needs a big price cut, but it's unclear if the PS3 can be cost-reduced enough to support it, given the continuing high cost of its components. The company may have no choice, if it wants to remain in the game.
Source article: Playstation 3's Death Spiral
April 17, 2009 -By Loyd Case
Every month, market research firm NPD releases the sales figures for the US for the top selling consoles and video games. Let's look at the numbers for console games for March, 2009:
Nintendo Wii 601K
Nintendo DS 563K
Xbox 360 330K
Playstation 3 218K
PS Portable 168K
Playstation 2 112K
To put this into some context, let's take a look at numbers from March, 2008:
Nintendo Wii 721K
Nintendo DS 698K
PS Portable 297K
Xbox 360 262K
Playstation 3 257K
Playstation 2 216K
Several things have occurred since March, 2008. First, the worldwide financial meltdown accelerated, which no doubt has an impact on buying habits of items like game consoles, which are certainly not necessities. Secondly, standalone Blu-ray players have substantially improved in performance and dropped in price.
So while you can argue that the PS3 is still one of the better Blu-ray players, a number of lower cost models that integrate better into A/V systems are now available.
And third, Microsoft dropped the price on the Xbox 360.
That third point is probably one key reason Xbox 360 sales are up in March 2009, compared to March 2008. In fact, the 360 is the only console whose sales are up relative to a year ago. (On the other hand, even though the Nintendo Wii is down from a year ago, it's still nearly double the Xbox 360 figures.)
Of the top ten, Xbox 360 software crushed the competition in terms of units, with a total of 1.78M games sold. Of course, Nintendo's Wii software sales probably made them more money. In that top ten, the Wii represents 1.1M units, but the Wii Fit, at 541K, is a game and controller combo that goes for around $90. The PS3 did eke out second place in software sales, falling just shy of 1.2M units.
There are two key points to consider in those numbers. First, Resident Evil 5 on the Xbox 360 outdid RE5 on the PS3 by 60%. The second point is that Killzone 2, a PS3-exclusive and a major release for the PS3 didn't hit 300,000 units sold. That has to be a blow to Sony.
Right now, the PS3 is simply too expensive, particularly in today's harsh economic conditions. $400 and up, is not competitive. And if PS3-exclusive titles keep selling poorly, developers who aren't owned by Sony are going to be very skittish about doing exclusives for Sony's current gen console.
Finally, one key advantage of the PS3—its stellar Blu-ray playback—is becoming eclipsed by the wave of cheaper and, arguably, equally good dedicated Blu-ray players.
That's the story for the US. Of course, Sony's home is Japan, and Bill Harris has a cogent analysis of just how poorly Sony is doing in its mother country. Bill plots a 12 month rolling average of console sales over the past decade, and it's quite illuminating.
Sony's PS3 is in dire trouble. It's notoriously difficult to program, which doesn't endear it to developers. Games don't sell as well on the PS3 as other consoles, which makes publishers skittish. Sony's flagship console needs a big price cut, but it's unclear if the PS3 can be cost-reduced enough to support it, given the continuing high cost of its components. The company may have no choice, if it wants to remain in the game.
Source article: Playstation 3's Death Spiral
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)