Xbox | Xbox Live dropping original Xbox support April 15

Cessation of online play will affect all XBL-enabled games for Microsoft's original console, including Xbox Originals and Xbox 360-optimized games like Halo 2; single-player games will function normally.

Halo 2 players better get their last frags in. At midnight, Microsoft announced that it is ceasing support for all original Xbox games, including digital copies of Xbox Originals that were bought for the Xbox 360. Disc-based Xbox games optimized for the Xbox 360, such as Halo 2, will lose their online modes on that date. Any offline single-player modes will still function normally, and single-player games with no online component will be unaffected.

"By high decree, I order all Xbox Live Halo 2 games to cease!"

"On April 15, we will discontinue the Xbox Live service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals," Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten said in a statement. "I want to start by saying this isn’t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community." Currently, Xbox Live has over 23 million users.

Without going into too much detail, Whitten said the reason behind the cessation of original Xbox support was that Microsoft "need[s] to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games." Whitten said that Microsoft would be contacting players "directly impacted" by the loss of service via e-mail to discusses "more details and opportunities," but he did not go into specifics. "We view you as a partner in this process," he concluded.

The original Xbox Live Menu.

Xbox Live began in 2002 on the original Xbox and was the most robust online network of the last generation of consoles. NFL Fever was the first game on the service, and online play boosted the popularity of such games as MechAssault and Project Gotham Racing 2. However, it was Halo 2 that became the most popular original Xbox title on Xbox Live. The game is still played on it and has been for over five years since its November 2004 release. The original Xbox ceased production in 2006.

E3 2009: Project Natal Xbox 360 Announcement

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/halo2/news.html?sid=6249542

Xbox 360 | Perfect Dark casting shadow on X10

Rare's Xbox Live Arcade rework of its classic N64 shooter to be playable at Microsoft's upcoming press showcase in San Francisco.

Get the full article at GameSpot

---

"Xbox 360 | Perfect Dark casting shadow on X10" was posted by Mark Walton on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:05:17 -0800

Simple plan- Perfect with lyrics

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/perfectdark/news.html?sid=6249541

PSP | ModNation Racers drifts to PSP

Portable version of United Front Games' customizable PS3 racer will be based on Wipeout engine; set for spring launch alongside its console cousin.

The ModNation has annexed some new territory. Sony today revealed its upcoming PlayStation 3 game ModNation Racers will also arrive on the PSP.

It's like Days of Thunder all over again.

As with the console edition, ModNation Racers on the PSP will combine kart racing with the customizable focus of Sony's Little Big Planet franchise. In addition to creating drivers and karts using a bevy of unlocked bits and pieces, players will be able to create their own tracks from scratch. Users will also be able to upload and share their customized content with the rest of the world.

The handheld version of ModNation Racers will include a single-player story mode that has players run a gauntlet of races with the occasional "boss" opponent thrown in. For multiplayer action, gamers will be able to play locally or online in races for up to six players. All of the PS3's multiplayer match types will be included, in addition to a PSP-exclusive mode.

Sony has entrusted the development duties for the handheld edition to its San Diego studio, with guidance from PS3 ModNation creator United Front Games. The San Diego crew also received an assist from Sony Liverpool, as it is building the PSP ModNation game on a tweaked version of the Liverpudlian engine developed for the portable Wipeout games.

Both the PS3 and PSP versions of ModNation Racers are set to launch this spring. For more on the portable version, check out GameSpot's exclusive first look at the title.

Modnation Racer - PS3 - Gameplay

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/psp/driving/modnationracers/news.html?sid=6249545

PlayStation 3 | Bayonetta platinum, Mario & Sonic sells 5.67 million

Japanese publisher reverses fortunes, posts pachinko-fueled $189 million profit; despite two hits, software sales slide.

After leading its fiscal year off by posting a ¥10.29 billion ($115 million) loss on revenues down 19 percent year-over-year to ¥60.46 billion ($679 million), Sega Sammy has slowly been retaking ground. Reporting on the first nine months of its 2010 fiscal year today, Sega Sammy announced net sales of ¥285 billion ($3.19 billion), down just 7.7 percent from a year prior. The Japanese publisher also managed to get back in the black, posting a ¥16.9 billion ($189 million) profit for the April-December period.

Platinum Games scores platinum sales.

Sega Sammy attributed its turnaround in large part to its pachislot and pachinko machine business in Japan. The segment posted revenues of ¥126 billion ($1.41 billion) during the nine-month period, up 17.7 percent from the year before. Operating income, which the publisher said was bolstered by increased sales and decreased cost of production, skyrocketed 409 percent during the period to ¥26.9 billion ($301 million).

As for the company's home gaming software business, Sega Sammy said that while the Japanese market remained strong, it saw sales declines in the US and Europe due to "adverse market conditions" and the delay of unspecified games to its next fiscal year. On the whole, Sega Sammy's home software business posted a net sales decline of ¥83.1 billion ($930 million). Notably, the segment reversed its ¥5.6 billion ($62.9 million) operating loss from a year ago to post a ¥1.4 billion ($15.7 million) income during the period.

To date, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is the publisher's top-selling title launched during its current fiscal year, selling 5.67 million units on the Wii and DS in the US and Europe. Though its US and European launch occurred outside the reporting period, Sega Sammy said that PlatinumGames' critically acclaimed Bayonetta has sold 1.1 million units in the US, Europe, and Japan across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Other top sellers during the period were Football Manager 2010, which sold 740,000 units on the PSP and PC in the US and Europe. Phantasy Star Portable 2, which is thus far only available in Japan, rounded out the company's top software, selling 540,000 units on the PSP since its December launch.

Bayonetta OP1

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/bayonetta/news.html?sid=6249690

Xbox 360 | Big in Japan Jan. 25-31: Dragon Quest VI DS

Square Enix's portable RPG dominates the week's sales as Tri-Ace's Resonance of Fate charts on both PS3 and Xbox 360.

The latest stint atop the charts for New Super Mario Bros. Wii was a brief one. After dethroning Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, the Nintendo platformer lasted just a week in the top spot before being supplanted by another handheld Square Enix hit.

"Just a few more experience points and I can level up my trigger finger!"

According to Japanese tracking firm Media Create, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie was the country's best-selling game for the week of January 25-31. The DS remake of the series' Super Nintendo swan song sold a whopping 906,458 copies for the week, coming just shy of doubling the rest of the top 10 combined. Square Enix has confirmed a North American release for the final installment in the role-playing game franchise's Zenithia trilogy (which has never received an international release) but has yet to specify a launch window.

The only other game to break the six-digit mark for the week was another RPG, Sega's Resonance of Fate (pictured), called End of Eternity in Japan. The latest effort from Star Ocean studio Tri-Ace racked up sales of 118,088 on the PlayStation 3 for the week, good enough for second place on the charts. The Xbox 360 version of the game also cracked the top 10, landing in eighth place with 27,048 units sold.

Those weren't the only new arrivals on the software charts. Namco's latest entry in the Ar tonelico RPG series sold the fourth most copies of the week, finishing just behind New Super Mario Bros. Wii with 81,633 units sold. Sony's 256-player online shooter MAG also established itself with a top 10 performance in its debut week, selling 19,139 copies.

The hardware numbers were similar to those of previous weeks, with the standard PSP being the best-selling system of all (47,875 units sold) and the PSP Go bringing up the bottom of the chart (1,645 units sold). The Wii was the best-selling console of the week (42,309 units sold), while sales of Nintendo's various DS models were all up week-over-week, thanks in part to the big Dragon Quest VI debut. The finishing order of the systems was identical to the previous week, except for the DSi XL (34,863 units sold) barely pulling ahead of the PS3 (34,431 units sold) to swap third and fourth place with the Sony console.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JANUARY 25-31, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1) Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie / Square Enix / DS / 906,458
2) End of Eternity / Sega / PS3 / 118,088
3) New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Wii / 83,930
4) Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hiku / Namco / PS3 / 81,633
5) Tomodachi Collection / Nintendo / DS / 45,474
6) Wii Fit Plus / Nintendo / Wii / 32,888
7) Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep / Square Enix / PSP / 30,225
8) End of Eternity / Sega / Xbox 360 / 27,048
9) Valkyria Chronicles 2 / Sega / PSP / 24,048
10) MAG / Sony / PS3 / 19,139

Hardware:
PSP - 47,875
Wii - 42,309
DSi XL - 34,863
PS3 - 34,431
DSi - 24,783
DS Lite - 6,811
Xbox 360 - 4,089
PS2 - 2,182
PSP Go - 1,645

Notorious B.I.G

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/endofeternity/news.html?sid=6249693

Xbox 360 | Wii development in decline - Survey

Game Developer Research finds fewer developers working on Nintendo's console, surging iPhone support more than doubles DS, PSP.

Although Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the Wii has recovered from the 2009 doldrums thanks to a lineup of higher-quality games, the system's future is cloudy when it comes to the quantity of games.

GDR's survey found a significant slide in the number of developers making Wii games this year.

Snippets released today from a Game Developer Research survey indicate that development for the Wii has declined in the last year. The firm polled more than 800 members of the development community about which platforms they were working on, among other topics.

Roughly 41 percent of the respondents said they made games for consoles, with 30 percent of them working on the Wii. That's down from the 42 percent of console developers who said they made Wii games last year.

One possible warning sign of that decline came last month, when Ubisoft said it was refocusing resources on making games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Some 69 percent of console developers reported making games for the Xbox 360, with 61 percent working on the PlayStation 3. Both of those figures were in line with console developers' responses from the previous year's survey.

As for platforms with improved support, the survey found substantial growth in development for mobile phones and the iPhone, specifically. One-quarter of all respondents said they were making games on mobile platforms, up from 12 percent the previous year. The iPhone was the most popular of those devices, accounting for three-quarters of the mobile support and doubling up developer support for either the DS or the PSP.

However, easily the most popular platform for game development was the computer. More than 70 percent of developers said they were working on at least one game for the PC or Mac. As for why the game makers chose the systems they did, ease of development and market penetration were the most often cited factors in their decisions. Also relevant to the developers were their team members' skill sets, the cost of development kits, and how easily code for one platform could be moved to another.

Shii - The Wii for Women

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6249714.html

Xbox 360 | XBL revenues hit $103 million in 2009 - Analyst

Market research firm FADE says Microsoft's online platform sales grew 34 percent last year, thanks to rising average sales prices, top-performing games.

As part of its most recent financial report, Microsoft said that Xbox Live surged in popularity by 35 percent in 2009, with 23 million gamers having now signed up for the service. And according to a new independent study by Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment, those gamers spent an estimated $103.4 million on the service's wares during the year, up 34 percent from 2008.

Battlefield 1943 made off with the most XBLA loot last year.

FADE attributes the dramatic rise in its revenue estimates to an increase in average selling prices for Xbox Live Arcade titles as well as "incredible sales" for a number of downloadable games. The market research firm found that average sales prices gained nearly a dollar last year, rising from $8.33 in 2008 to $9.12 in 2009.

EA's Battlefield 1943 topped the list of XBLA titles in 2009, selling more than 800,000 units during the year, according to FADE. In July, EA announced that DICE's World War II shooter had sold 600,000 units across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of the game. EA had not returned requests to verify Battlefield 1943's XBLA sales numbers as of press time.

The Behemoth's highly regarded 2008 beat-'em-up Castle Crashers finished second behind Battlefield 1943. According to FADE's research analysis, the downloadable game sold 485,000 copies on the Xbox 360 in 2009, bringing its lifetime sales to nearly 1 million. RedLynx's Trials HD, Epic Games' Shadow Complex, and EA's Family Game Night rounded out the top five, though FADE did not break out individual sales estimates.

FADE did not indicate how it compiled its data and had not responded to requests for comment as of press time. A Microsoft representative did comment on the report, however, saying, "Microsoft does not disclose revenue estimates or comment on speculation for Xbox Live or Xbox Live Arcade."

Estimated Top Titles by Revenue in 2009 (Average Price):
1) Battlefield 1943 (EA DICE) - $12.5 million ($15)
2) Castle Crashers (The Behemoth) - $7.3 million ($15)
3) Trials HD (RedLynx) - $7.1 million ($15)
4) Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment / Epic Games) - $6.1 million ($14.38)
5) Family Game Night (EA) - $4.2 million ($9.53)
6) Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Capcom) - $4.2 million ($15.00)
7) Magic: The Gathering (Stainless Games) - $2.8 million ($10)
8) Worms 2 (Team 17) - $1.8 million ($10)
9) Peggle (PopCap Games) - $1.8 million ($8.86)
10) Turtles in Time: Reshelled (Ubisoft Singapore) - $1.7 million ($10)

Hitler gets banned from Xbox Live

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/castlecrashers/news.html?sid=6249715