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Archive for June, 2010
Red Dead Redemption Is Take-Two’s New ‘Mega Franchise,’ says Analyst
Jun 9th
Yesterday, Take-Two revealed that its new Rockstar IP Red Dead Redemption had sold-in to retailers 5 million units globally since launching on May 18. Prior to the game’s release, some analysts were skeptical that a Western-themed title could be a breakout success, but Red Dead is proving to be a blockbuster in every sense of the word.
It seems the game is just what publisher Take-Two needed. The company has often been labeled as nothing more than a GTA publisher, but Red Dead now gives Take-Two another solid IP to lean on. Mike Hickey of Janco Partners commented that Red Dead is “significantly exceeding our expectations and demonstrating the creative genius layered deeply within the Rockstar studio structure. We believe the franchise can be successfully iterated every several years and offers the Company a new mega franchise.”
Indeed, Red Dead’s success could allow Take-Two to actually post a profitable non-GTA year, commented Ben Schachter of Broadpoint AmTech. “While 2Q was challenging (BioShock 2 under-delivered and capitalized expenses grew), TTWO’s guidance for the year reflects a big win withRed Dead Redemption. The title has shipped over five million units and will be profitable (despite very high development costs). Based in large part on Red Dead’s success, we believe that TTWO will be profitable for the year when adjusting for the baseball deal. This is a major step forward in our opinion, as TTWO’s Achilles heel has long been its inability to generate profits in non-GTA year,” he said.
Date Changes Reported 5-28-10 / 6-1-10
Jun 1st
| Date Changes Reported 5-28-10 / 6-1-10 | ||||
| Item | Title | UPC | Release Before | Release Now |
| SOE41522GM | PS3 DC UNIVERSE ONLINE HERO ED | 814582415226 | 09/28/10 | 11/03/10 |
| SQE91019GM | PS3 DEUS EX HUMAN REVOLUTION | 662248910192 | TBA | 02/28/11 |
| SQE90913GM | PS3 FRONT MISSION EVOLVED | 662248909134 | 06/30/10 | 09/15/10 |
Red Dead Redemption Off to Solid Start in U.K.
Jun 1st
Posted May 28, 2010 by Ben Strauss
Red Dead Redemption was a tale of hype. The very idea that a developer could give gamers a meaningful western oriented story in an age of modern combat type shooters was not something that most analysts believed would happen.
If the U.K. is any indicator, it seems like Red Dead Redemption is not only a hit; it is outperforming every expectation, including retailer estimates. MCV is reporting that the game generated 10 million British pounds (about $14.5 million) at launch.
The underestimation by retailers has led to shortages in stock at many GAME locations as well, and with a possible dispute in distribution between Take Two and Asda, there could be a problem keeping up with demand.
“The launch went incredibly well,” said HMV’s commercial manager for games Jonathan Hayes. “As a relatively new brand, it’s almost done this from a standing start.”
GAME’s head of UK PR Neil Ashurst added: “The game was flying out of the stores. Some branches ran out – particularly of the PS3 version, due to a lower than expected level of stock – but this was apparently felt across all of retail. But we’ve had more arrive and we’re expecting another shipment in the next seven days.”
Even with shortages, the game debuted at the top of the sales charts for the U.K.
Hayes said: “You could argue that a few sales were lost, but not vast amounts. In fact, there’s so much interest now, that this should carry on next week.”
Pokemon Black and White Coming to USA in Spring 2011
Jun 1st
Posted May 28, 2010 by Ben Strauss
For over 14 years now, the media franchise juggernaut Pokemon has torn through ‘fad’ status to become one of the most successful gaming and media brands in the world. Spring 2011, Pokemon plans to continue that success with the release of another set of handheld games for the Nintendo DSi: Pokemon Black and Pokemon White.
To date, sales of the Pokemon video game sales have eclipsed 200 million units, with Pokemon games continuing to draw praise and high scores from various media groups around the world.
“Pokemon is a true worldwide franchise with legions of fans in every corner of the globe,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales and Marketing. “We know these fans will be thrilled to discover this new generation of Pokemon next year.”
The most recent Pokemon games, HeartGold and SoulSilver were some of the highest rated Pokemon games, and were in essence remakes of the original Gold and Silver games from 2000. Sales of those games reached well over 8.4 million units, and Nintendo hopes to beat those sales with an entirely new game.
It says a lot about Pokemon that the original movie continues to be one of the most profitable video game movies ever made. Pokemon truly represents the power of what a motivated company can do with a very imaginative IP to avoid the pitfalls of similar IPs.
Former Supreme Court Justice Calls Games ‘Incredible’ Teaching Tools
Jun 1st
Posted May 28, 2010 by M.H. Williams
In a recent interview with ABC News, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor says she supports interactive entertainment as a tool for teaching. During a discussion on education reform, she admitted that games had been used to help students learn new topics. O’Connor cites a “new way” to learn through gaming on a “website that the young people will find so entertaining that they’ll play it and learn.”
O’Connor said that while No Child Left Behind improved test scores in math, science, and reading, other subjects were left woefully on the wayside. She says, “a number of schools stopped teaching — or giving scores on — civics and government and history.” O’Connor points to gaming as a way to stimulate young minds, noting that middle school children already spend an average of 40 hours a week in front of some screen, be it television, computer, or mobile.
“It’s more than they spend in school, it’s more than they spend with parents. It’s a huge amount of time. Now, if we can capture just part of that time, a little bit of it, to get ‘em in front of a computer screen to play these games, they’re going to learn,” she noted. “And they don’t even know they’re learning. I mean, they’re fun. The games are great.”
Retired Justice O’Connor notes that results have been shown and replicated. “They’re fabulous. And we’ve had tests done. And the students go up 20 percent in their knowledge by playing those games. It’s just incredible.”
She adds that unfortunately, with the way schools are organized by region, it’s difficult to push the proposed system out to all schools. O’Connor continues to meet with schools in order to sell them on the free program.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Developer Interested in Natal, Move
Jun 1st
Posted May 28, 2010 by Ben Strauss
With Call of Duty: Black Ops finishing up the 2-year development cycle, Treyarch is looking for something new to work with. That could come in the form of using Natal or Move specifically for Call of Duty.
“Perhaps not for Black Ops, but Natal and Move is definitely something that we would want to craft compelling gameplay around,” community manager at Treyarch Josh Olin told MCV.
“We wouldn’t want to incorporate Natal and Move technology just to say that we did it – we’d want to make sure that there’s actually some valid gameplay component there.”
“We’ve had people suggest maybe throwing a grenade with a hurling motion of your hand, and that’s a good example of a gameplay mechanic that might work out for a future title, but there’s no plans for any of that in Black Ops.”
Analysts are putting the sales figures for the upcoming Special Operational Forces-oriented game at around 11 million units. Treyarch is definitely going to want to find something that could help top those figures for the next CoD, and like many developers they’ll no doubt be watching the market reception to both Natal and Move very closely later this year.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Confirmed
Jun 1st
Posted May 28, 2010 by Ben Strauss
With rumors circulating around concerning the upcoming Guitar Hero, Nintendo Power has the reveal in the latest issue. The appropriately named Warriors of Rock will focus on the heavy metal genre.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will continue to hold onto “all the cool features” from Guitar Hero 5, as Neversoft’s Brian Bright put it. The development team has taken its time to focus on “hand-picking” the songs as well as ensuring that they are “guitar-centric rock ‘n’ roll” oriented. The game will focus primarily on the guitar as Bright mentions “so many more people play Guitar Hero on guitar than any other instrument.”
The game does feature a story, and Gene Simmons has been called upon to narrate the story. Other than that, gamers can look forward to more information from Nintendo Power on June 8.
Apple Sells Over 2 Million iPads
Jun 1st
Posted May 31, 2010 by paidContent.org
Apple continues to sell iPads at a rapid pace, breaking the two million mark the same weekend the device debuted in the UK, Canada and seven other countries for at least $1 billion in sales. The company is bragging that it took less than 60 days to sell that many but that claim is skewed by pre-orders that were made weeks before the iPad actually went on sale in the U.S. April 3. Still, it’s an impressive number for a new device, especially one that starts at $499. For those keeping track, it took 28 days for Apple to claim one million sales; by comparison, it took 74 days to sell one million iPhones.
Unlike earlier milestone announcements, Apple left out other data some of us are interested in—like the number of app downloads and the number of downloads from the iBookstore. This time, all the company said is that there are more than 5,000 new iPad apps—the same number it offered on May 3. That’s about 2.5 percent of the 200,000-plus apps approved for the iTunes store. It’s not clear if it includes iPhone apps optimized for iPad as opposed to iPhone apps that will run on iPad Steve Jobs may well offers some more details, as has often been his custom, when he appears at WWDC with what is expected to be a launch date for the iPhone 4G.
Two questions: What would the sales number be if Apple kept iPads in supply across the U.S.? And how fast would the iPhone break one million if Apple announced a Verizon version?
PS3 3D Titles Launch in Japan on June 10
Jun 1st
Posted June 1, 2010 by M.H. Williams
Sony is pushing the 3D revolution hard, with flagship franchise titles Gran Turismo 5 and Killzone 3 both receiving the stereoscopic 3D treatment upon release. Prior to those releases, the hardware and software giant has announced that its first 3D ready titles will be releasing in Japan next week on June 10. As previously reported WipEout HD, Super Stardust HD, and Pain will be the inaugural 3D PS3 games.
All titles will require a 3D enabled television, as well as battery-powered 3D stereoscopic glasses, sold separately. WipEout HD and Super Stardust HD will both be getting free updates to enable 3D content, while Pain’s upgrade will require a ¥300 purchase. It is uncertain how Sony will proceed with future titles.
Sony will also be releasing their new 3D ready Bravia line of televisions at the same time. Purchases of any of these new 3DTVs will also include a voucher for the previously mentioned titles and access to a 3D demo of Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.
This launch is Japan only, with Sony telling Kotaku that details for the forthcoming North American and European launches will follow shortly. The company has already updated the PS3 firmware in all regions to enable 3D support.
