GTA: Chinatown Wars Sales Analysis Update - I Was Right

Not to tout my own horn or anything, but it looks like I was right about Chinatown Wars' sales.

Quick recap: the game sold slightly under 90,000 units in its first two weeks at retail and everyone from analysts to "game journalists" jumped right on the "third-party sales on DS/Wii" bandwagon. I cited two major reasons behind the game's "slow" start: people holding off on buying until the launch of the DSi, and DS games selling through word of mouth over a period of time. Turns out, I wasn't wrong.


Here as some nice quotes from Nintendo, Gamestop and Take Two concerning the two-week sales period:


First up is Nintendo's vice president of licensing, Steve Singer. Says the man in charge of third-party relations to MTV:

“‘Chinatown Wars’ is performing in line with AAA titles that have come to our platform like ‘Spore‘ or ‘Lego Star Wars,”

“Those games went on to have very different life-to-date sales numbers.”

Nintendo then points to the sales of Call of Duty 4 on DS...an amazing 500,000+ units sold life-to-date.



Next up is Denise Kaigler, Nintendo's VP of Corporate Affairs. Says Kaigler:

“Remember that many games for Nintendo DS have a nontraditional sales pattern. The trend is toward ‘evergreen’ games that sell well over an extended period of time instead of in a one-month spike. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Nintendo DS is a good example. In its first month (November 2007), it sold only 36,000. To date, it has sold through nearly 500,000. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game that has received tremendous reviews. We expect that with continued backing, it will follow the same long-tail/evergreen sales route that other top sellers have taken.”

And now, on to Alan Lewis, Take Two's VP of Corporate Communications, who had a whole lot to say about how T2 sees GTA's performance on DS:

"Chinatown Wars received critical acclaim and is the highest rated DS title of all time,

"In terms of performance, we think it is performing in line with other triple-A games on the platform.

"We are very confident in Chinatown Wars long-term potential for success," he said. "We think it will have a long life in the market.

“We have and we will continue to support the platform. We think the mature segment of the DS market is growing.

“We’re confident in the game, and we think it has long-term potential for success. We’re trying to pioneer mature games on the platform.”

Huh. Seems like Chinatown Wars didn't do so badly after all. I wonder what the retailers think.

Oh, here's what:

“‘GTA: Chinatown Wars’ is exceeding our expectations and illustrating the power of the franchise on a new platform. We’ve seen a solid lift in sales of ‘Chinatown Wars’ following the launch of the DSi and believe that the product will continue to enjoy a long life at our stores as the buzz around the new handheld gaming experience continues to grow.”

That's Chris Olivera, representative of Gamestop in this whole analytical mess, proving once again that most people outside of retail still don't know how the DS and Wii markets work, or have yet to come to terms with them.

For all their research and numbers and stats, analysts always seem to be the first ones to jump the gun when it comes to spreading wrong information. It's sad, really, because this kind of trolling does hurt the image of the companies involved.

I always think it's funny how we, as an industry, actually pay heed to the words of people who don't know the first thing about game development and the costs involved when it comes to talk of sales and performance. Do any of these analysts know how much it cost to develop and publish Chinatown Wars? Have any of them been observing sales patterns on the DS and Wii for the past two years? Do they know what T2's expectations for the games were?

Top-tier publishers like Take Two aren't stupid, and they don't need uninformed parties suggesting to them what to do. It's about time we learnt this. I'm just amazed we haven't already.

[ADVANCE]

GTA: Chinatown Wars' Retail Performance Analyzed

I haven't had much time lately, so I've been playing the hell out of two games. GTA: Chinatown Wars on DS during slow hours at work and in bed, and Rune Factory Frontier for the Wii on weekends.

While I don't know how well RFF is doing at retail (certainly hope it's well enough to warrant a sequel), Chinatown Wars is off to a bit of a slow start. I have a few theories on why this may be, but since I can't really back these up with any concrete evidence, I'm going to be ranting here instead of penning them in an organized manner on Siliconera.


Theory #1: Pokémon

Chinatown Wars launched around the same time as Pokémon Platinum (aka suicide). However, considering the target audience for both these games is pretty different, this may not be the biggest reason behind GTA's slow start.


Theory #2: Charting time

This one is a little more valid. EEDAR have been predicting around 200,000 units sold, while my personal favourite Michael Pachter predicted around 450,000. I'm willing to bet Pachter would have been right on the money had it not been for theory #3, but theory #2 is that GTA only sold 88,700 because it only charted for two weeks. Another two weeks and it would probably have met EEDAR's 200k projection.


Theory #3: DSi

People planning on buying a DSi are holding off on buying GTA until they have their new handheld. Buying the two side-by-side would make sense, and DSi launched on April 5. Going by this theory, Chinatown Wars should see some nice sales in April. NPD numbers for April and the following months will tell if I'm right or not.


Either way, people shouldn't be writing Chinatown Wars off as a flop. I'm willing to bet 90k in the U.S. + European sales means it will be a profitable title for T2 and DS games are known to have long legs. This is without factoring in Japanese sales where DS and PSP games dominate the charts each week and GTA happens to be one of the select few Western developed games that Japanese gamers are warming up to.

It's GTA, it's on DS where software tends to sell well through word of mouth over a long period of time. Let's give it some time before we start proclaiming gloom and doom for a third-party game on a Nintendo system.

[ADVANCE]

The Melancholy of Visual Novels

Here's a feature I wrote on Siliconera a few months ago. I've been trying to give this as much exposure as I can. Much to my surprise, it got a great response, and if you're into a visual novels (or are planning on developing or publishing one), you might want to check it out.

Here's a snippet:

How do you convince the existing game market that visual novels and visual novel adventures are worth looking into?


For the answer to that question, consider this: what if you don’t target the current generation of “gamers” with these products?

[Siliconera: The Melancholy of Visual Novels]

[ADVANCE]

Wavebirds No Longer Shipping To Stores?

Say it ain't so! Is the Wavebird is getting the axe? GoNintendo reports that is is.

I haven’t heard of any plans to offer the WaveBird Wireless Controllers in stores again (I did some checking, and we are still shipping the original Nintendo GameCube Controllers to stores).
If you’re unable to find the original
Nintendo GameCube Controller locally, you can still order this item from us.
- Nintendo customer service rep

Okay, so they aren't going to stop selling them completely, just in stores. The Wavebird is probably my favorite controller of all time and was one of the first reliable and consistent wireless controllers out on the mainstream market. This is to be expected since it was made for a last generation console, but I still am a bit surprised. I use my silver Wavebird I've had for probably three or four years with the Wii all the time, for playing Virtual Console and Gamecube games. I would think Nintendo would want to keep it around as a part of the whole "wireless controller" fad going around these days. I also wonder if the upcoming game, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl would help push sales of Gamecube controllers since the game supports it. I know I'll be using mine. I just hope they don't bump the price up like outdated sort of things tend to do.

Would it be wise for Nintendo to continue selling Gamecube controllers and Wavebirds altogether? Actually, I think it'd be better if Nintendo gave the controller a face lift and started selling them as another controller for the Wii. How about Bluetooth and Gamecube support? Make it white and light blue? Good idea, no? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think it will happen, but it would be nice.

[Source: GoNintendo]

[ADVANCE]

Rumour: Matsuno’s ‘Final Fantasy Killer’ For Wii

You've heard of Rumor Reporter. The Advanced Media Network's game industry rumour blog has enjoyed a fair bit of attention this year, thanks to the intriguing posts of its editor Bruce Kelly.

Now, regardless of what anyone else thinks, I do think "Bruce" (if that is indeed his name) is fairly legit. A lot of his "predictions" have come true over time, and yes; they might take a while, but if you keep track of everything the man has said, he's a bit more reliable than EGM's rumours.

Lately, Bruce has decided to take one - just one question every two weeks and do some snooping around to answer it to the best of his abilities. The question that kickstarted his new column this week just so happened to be mine.

Hey Bruce,

Glad to see you’re back in action after a bit of a break. What’s gaming without a few rumours, eh? So, recently you pretty much asked for readers to send in hard questions, and I’m guessing that’s exactly what most of us are going to do. The gloves are really off now.

Here’s my question: What exactly is the deal with Monolithsoft and Nintendo? At this point, all we know is that Monolith is now a second-party developer and that they’re working on Disaster: Day of Crisis for the Wii, and a DS game as well. Now, anyone would think that Nintendo acquiring the studio means Day of Crisis is turning out to be one hell of a game. However, the chaps down at NeoGAF had other theories to present.

To make a long story short, this is what they believe:

* Yasumi Matsuno, the Director of Final Fantasy XII left Square Enix.
* Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has been pushing for a role-playing game that rivals Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy
* Matsuno landed up at Nintendo.
* He worked with Entertainment Analysis & Development for 8 months.
* Soon, Matsuno pitched a role-playing game tech demo to Nintendo.
* Iwata loved it, but Matsuno had no team of his own at the Big N.
* Nintendo acquired Monolith to provide Matsuno with his own team.

Sounds far-fetched doesn’t it? I’m not ready to believe Matsuno would walk out from Square and next thing you know, he just happens to land up with Miyamoto’s team. Obviously, it would be mindblowing if anyone could confirm if this is true, but hey; that’s where you come in, right? Right?

– Ishaan Sahdev

His extremely lengthy and thought-provoking reply after the jump.

Bruce’s Take:

Interesting you ask this, because it’s been something that I’ve been dodging to answer for a while now. Not because of the subject, but because so many things weren’t as clear when Monolith had just been picked up by Nintendo from Namco Bandai.

This is what I hear, with the source being a former producer at Namco Bandai who had caught wind of some of Matsuno’s developments. Unforunately, that producer no longer works for the company and now works for a certain San Francisco-based gaming mammoth. Still, his reports on this have been recent tinkerings of rumors brought to the table with numerous publications and forums aiming to judge their validity.

Here’s what I was told:

- Yatsumi Matsuno left Square-Enix because the guy’s an opportunist. After seeing potential with the Wii, the former FFXII director decided to aim towards a brand-new, non-linear RPG project.

- Many sources have claimed the project to be Vision Red, a rumored Square-Enix RPG “apparently” shown at E3 2007. That is not the case, and the original post is clearly fictional based on its written structure.

- Some sources have claimed it to be Baten Kaitos 3, but this isn’t the case, even though I know for a fact that the game is already in its beginning stages.

- Disaster: Day of Crisis was delayed for a reason. The game will use the familiar “quick-press” Resident Evil 4 quick-reaction system to further immerse the player with a sense of danger and urgency. The game will release sometime in 2008, but it will definitely be before Matsuno’s actual new IP is announced. This is to test the waters towards interest of Disaster’s type of gameplay, which the new IP hopes to mimic in a more advanced way.

- Matsuno interest in the Wii is simple: “He wants to stress gameplay controls living up to high-quality, immersive environments.”

- So where does this leave us with the rumored Matsuno “Final Fantasy Killer?”

The new IP, at least in its design stages stressed the following elements of a brand-new RPG franchise aimed at a late-2008 announcement:

- A fully-immersive non-linear action-RPG set in a brand, new fantasy world which stresses the continuity of gameplay progression through team work and motion-controlling movements, mimicking interactions with objects and environments in the world. The game will be played in real-time, unlike Matsuno’s previous turn-based projects (Ogre Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story)

- The game is not currently planned for an expansion with an online aspect (MMO), but multiplayer gameplay is heavily stressed. “Imagine Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GameCube) with a 3D environment.”

- Definite Wii Connect 24 support with brand new worlds to explore and interacting with other players.

- Being developed by Monolith Soft and Matsuno with Iwata and Miyamoto’s supervision possibly.

- Clearly obvious: Will be Nintendo Wii’s direct competitor to the PS3’s Final Fantasy XIII releases.

- If all goes well, will be planned as a series for the Wii and differentiate the system’s low reputation for RPGs on the console. A DS version is also in the planning stages simultaneously.

- So when will gamers be able to hear more? It’s hard to tell given even Disaster’s shaky release date, but expect GDC 08 to have more rumblings of Matsuno’s involvement with his Wii project.

Intriguing. Clearly, he isn't bullshitting, considering just how specific some of his information is. Then again, with the games industry you never know. Thoughts?

[Source: Rumor Reporter]

[ADVANCE]

The REAL Reason Behind Sonic's Bad Rep

Go to Google Image Search. Turn off your safe search filter. Type in "Sonic".

I wonder if SEGA knows...

Do note that this post is filed under "Hentai".

[ADVANCE]

CGSociety and Ubisoft Discuss Assassin's Creed Development

If you're a 3D artist, chances are you've heard of CGSociety. In recent times, I've had a ton of exposure to the CGSociety community due to my workplace, and I am just incredibly baffled by the sheer amount of talent overflowing their forums.

Modeling artists, texturing artists. MAX, Maya, Zbrush ... CGSociety has a plethora of talent in every corner of the CG art industry.

Recently, the site had a chance to speak to Raphael Lacoste, Art Director of Assassin's Creed and other members of the art team. Originally hired by Ubisoft's Yannis Mallat to work on a Prince of Persia game, Lacoste soon found himself part of a team creating an entirely new concept. The CGSociety feature gives readers a considerable amount of insight into the art direction process for the game.

When we arrive on the edge of a cliff and discover a whole city, the impression is of an incredible open space. When we get lost in small crowded streets full of smoke, we are feeling oppressed. If we climb up on the roofs of the city, the feeling is far more liberating. We are mastering our moves, on the top of the living, breathing world. The contrast is also between the cities and the different quarters of the cities. We tried to make definite variations in the mood, even with edgy and almost monochromatic filters.”

That's just the obligatory quote. If you're a fan of videogame art, and especially if you're a CG artist, this is highly recommended reading.

[CG Society Production Focus - Assassin's Creed]

Picture courtesy of Raphael Lacoste's CGSociety Gallery

[ADVANCE]

Street Fighter 4 Teaser Trailer

No clue why the hell Games Radar took their Capcom Gamer's Day post down. Ah well, who cares? Street Fighter 4! Now, let's just hope it's on all three systems...

[ADVANCE]

Hellgate: London Special Edition Includes Graphic Novel

Even more game / manga publisher collaboration news for the day! This time, it concerns Flagship's Hellgate: London special edition (because we all know any game without one sucks).

Flagship has chosen Dark Horse to publish a Hellgate: London graphic novel that will be included in the special edition box. According to the press release, "In addition to the Hellgate: London game and the exclusive, special-edition, 104 page Hellgate: London graphic novel, the collectors set will also include a bonus DVD of The Making of Hellgate: London, as well as the game soundtrack, and a special Hellgate: London world map. "

And here's the obligatory quote:

“Dark Horse has been a perfect partner for graphic novels,” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “Their attention to detail, creative talent, and dedication to representing the Hellgate: London world has been second to none.”

Press release after the jump as always.

EA AND NAMCO BANDAI GAMES ANNOUNCE OCTOBER 31ST RELEASE DATE

Redwood City, CA (August 6, 2007) –- Get ready to hack, slash, and shoot your way through a demon-infested London this Halloween! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that Hellgate: London, the premier title from Flagship Studios, will start hitting retail stores in North America on October 31, 2007 and in Europe on November 2, 2007 for the PC. Hellgate: London represents the next leap in the evolution of the action RPG genre, combining the depth and addictive gameplay of traditional RPGs with the visceral action of first-person shooters.

“We wanted to hit the sweet-spot for release in terms of the development schedule and delivering the highest-quality game to our players,” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “Halloween was the perfect fit as it ensures that Hellgate: London will have an appropriate amount of beta testing, while also being an incredibly fun time to unleash the game.”

One of the most anticipated PC games and RPGs of the year, Hellgate: London offers infinite re-playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through an innumerable amount of demons to advance through a deep, rich story-driven campaign. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow each player to create his or her own unique hero.

While some may prefer to slay demons solo, players will also be able to take the fight online*, teaming up with friends to save London in a secure, client-server environment and playing through the entire story-driven campaign for free. For those players who want to extend their Hellgate: London experience, Flagship is offering an optional subscription service which will give players access to huge amounts of content on an ongoing basis in the form of quests, character classes, demons, items, etc. More details about Hellgate: London’s online options are coming soon.

The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB, PEGI or BBFC. Visit www.esrb.org, www.pegionline.eu or www.bbfc.co.uk for updated rating information. For more information about Hellgate: London, log onto http://info.ea.com or the game’s official website at www.hellgatelondon.com.

* Internet connection required.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

About Flagship Studios

Flagship Studios is a creator of innovative entertainment software, designing games that focus on ease of play, replayability, and fun. The studio was formed in 2003 by former executives and developers from Blizzard North® and represents the creators of the worldwide, best-selling Diablo® franchise. With members that are renowned within the gaming industry, Flagship Studios embodies a team that has worked together for over a decade and have numerous #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards to their credit. For more information about Flagship Studios log onto www.flagshipstudios.com.

About Namco Bandai Games America Inc.

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., is a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer based in Santa Clara, CA. The company is a part of the NAMCO BANDAI group of companies known for creating and publishing many of the industry's top video game franchises including the PAC-MAN®, SOULCALIBUR®, NARUTO™ and Tekken® brands. For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., and our products log onto www.namcobandaigames.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries. Hellgate™: London is a trademark and/or registered trademark of Flagship Studios, Inc. throughout the world. Licensed by NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

[ADVANCE]

The Woes of Indie Developers

Jess Ragan over at 1UP has a fairly interesting piece up about the challenges of indie game development, with a considerable amount of everything that makes up a good investigative piece: history, quotes and numbers.

While the write-up is a tad long, it's still extremely refreshing and comes as a real wake-up call to anyone hoping to pursue game development in the future. With both down-to-earth and inspiring quotes, the article would certainly appeal to anyone interested in the more obscure, quirky side of the games industry. Give it a read at the link below!

[Filling a Niche: Bold Videogames that Buck the Mainstream]

[ADVANCE]

Capcom To PS3 Owners: Look Over Yonder, to Next Week!

Looks like my hopes might not end up getting shattered just this once. It seems that, regardless of all their Xbox 360 support and increasing Wii support, Capcom is still planning on backing the PS3 as well.

1P Start's forum recon unit brings us this bit of intelligence: A forum user by the name of "Vampire_Saviour" posted the following message on Capcom's message boards:

Capcom is losing fans. They obviously don’t care for their PS3-owner fans.

In response to which, Capcom's ever-vigilant and forum-savvy Senior Director of Strategic Planning & Research, Christian Svensson replied:

Let’s see how they feel at the end of next week about us.

Intriguing, no? Capcom's big announcements are due on the 15th. What could possibly make up for the betrayal that was Devil May Cry 4?

[ADVANCE]

Capcom Re-Confirms Big Upcoming Announcements

Keeping in line with what they said earlier, Capcom is now confirming that their big announcements will start to roll in come October 15th. I really cannot for the life of me figure out what these could be, but I bet you anything the 360 is going to seeing some more extremely strong support from the company.

Will Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2 be given a mention? No clue. Everyone I know is hoping to hear a Street Fighter 4 announcement from Capcom this week. Personally, I don't know what I want to hear. Some increased PS3 support would probably brighten up my day.

[Via Kotaku]

[ADVANCE]

Itagaki on Creating Globally Appealing Games

Tomonobu Itagaki means business. He isn't one to fool around or pull any punches. The man calls it as he sees it. No mercy. Of course, what else would you expect from the famously outspoken head of Team Ninja? When it comes to game development, Itagaki-san knows exactly what he's doing ... even if what he's doing isn't very conventional.

Considering the first Dead or Alive was on the Sega Saturn, and both of Itagaki's first 3D Ninja Gaiden games were on the Xbox, you'd think his choices when it comes to supporting gaming hardware couldn't get any stranger. And that's where you'd be wrong.

As everyone with a DS is probably well aware by now, the next Ninja Gaiden game will be gracing the system, and will be fully stylus controlled. It may sound crazy, but it's really one in a long line of ideas that has kept Itagaki-san and Team Ninja highly competitive on a global basis. Says Itagaki in an interview with Gamasutra:

In Japan, there is a saying "kachoufuugetsu", which is "flowers, birds, wind, and the moon." That basically is a vague summary of things that human beings might find appealing. You look at a flower and say, "Oh, this is beautiful." You look at a bird that can fly, whereas humans can't, and we see it as a symbol of freedom, something to aspire to. The wind, you know, if you were to have a cool wind blowing, that would help to convey your mood at that moment. And looking at the moon, you may think that not only is it visually beautiful, but it may bring to mind things like wanting to see the moon, wanting to go to the moon, and wanting to know what's there. That sort of inquisitiveness.

So, I think that if you look at those key human emotions that cross national boundaries, and don't rely on the circumstances surrounding each country, then it's relatively easy to make a game that can be enjoyed anywhere.

Just prior to this, Itagaki-san commented on the tendency of American developers to create games that they think the public wants ... something that, in his opinion, keeps them from releasing software that truly enjoys a worldwide appeal.

You can check out the full interview with Itagaki at the link above. From the differences in PSP and DS design to creating high quality visuals for games, the talk covers it all. This is by far the most interesting interview yet with the man, and definitely a recommended read for Team Ninja enthusiasts.

Screencap courtesy of Gamasutra.

[ADVANCE]

TGS 2007: Three New Kingdom Hearts in Development

...And they're all for portables. Which is and isn't a surprise for various reasons. Let's look into what exactly the deal is here.

Square Enix is, by now, well known for its attachment to "polymorphic content", which they believe makes their games more accessible (even though games from polymorphic franchises are not necessarily multiplatform). What the company did with Final Fantasy VII is indicative of what they have in mind for the future of Kingdom Hearts.

Not surprising then, that two of the new Kingdom Hearts games are on DS and PSP, and the third is for mobile phones. Sound crazy? You bet. But hey, development times are lower, cheaper and raise (more) funds for Square to invest in the development of their bigger titles for home systems, one of which will undoubtedly be a new Kingdom Hearts game.

More surprising than the fact that all three new games are portable is the fact that Birth by Sleep, the teaser trailer for which is extremely popular among Square fans, is not the next major iteration of the franchise on PS3, but instead, a PSP game. Say the lads from IGN:

On display were trailers for Kingdom Hearts Coded for mobile, Kingdom Hearts 358 / 2 Days for DS, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for PSP. No specific release dates were given for any of the titles, save for a "work in progress" text flashed at the end of each trailer.

Story details were sketchy, but it appears Birth by Sleep will be set in "the distant past," according to text in the trailer. 358 / 2 (called 358 over two), whose title, said Square, will apparently make sense once you play the game, will take place somewhere around the events of Kingdom Hearts 2. Coded appears to be set somewhere during the course of the first KH and its sequel, indicated in the trailer with a line of text reading "time has gone by." The overall timeline is a bit muddled, though, something a Square representative admitted to while we were asking for further explanation.

Coded's gameplay had Sora running around various dungeons filled with floating red and black blocks. During battle it's possible to engage a "debugging" mode to clear away the blocks, but their exact nature and implications with regard to gameplay were not clear. 358 / 2 had a darker thematic element than KH games of the past, with all the characters, including Mickey, draped in flowing black robes. It appeared to support some kind of four player mode, though it just may have been one human player with three AI companions. Birth by Sleep featured an unidentifiable playable character during the gameplay portions of the trailer.

A dark DS game? Interesting. And goddamn it, does this mean I'm going to have to buy a PSP? Because I'm one of the many who watched the Birth by Sleep teaser on loop for hours when it was first released. As usual, don't care about the mobile title. But the DS and PSP ones ... definitely something to keep an eye out for.

[ADVANCE]

No More Heroes Finds Publisher in Ubisoft

Yes, you heard correctly. Ubisoft is going to be publishing No More Heroes, and the game is due for a Feb 2008 release.

This is excellent news in my opinion, and in light of all the kickass games coming from their end this year and the next, Ubisoft is slowly turning into my favourite non-Japanese game developer/publisher. More power to them!

In an interview with IGN, Ubisoft's VP of publishing Jay Cohen touched upon the reasons the publisher decided to pick up the title:

"Suda 51 is one of the most creative minds in gaming and No More Heroes is shaping up to be a visually stunning and immersive game with an extremely engaging storyline players will no doubt be drawn to."

Fair enough, Jay! A new trailer is also up at IGN. What's more, even this latest trailer features the music track that we've all come to associate with No More Heroes over the past year. Let's hope the piece makes it into the final game in some form as well.

For Ubisoft, this is an extremely smart move, as they could probably make a ton of money off of this game in addition to proving their dedication to the Wii. Where the funds generated by No More Heroes will go is completely unknown of course, but here's hoping that at least some of the moolah Ubi will be making off of their holiday titles will go into better Wii games.

Looks like Wii owners will be getting off to a fairly decent start in 2008. BUSTEEEERRRRRRR!

[ADVANCE]

More Than Meets the Eye to Assassin's Creed

Upon reading Gamespot's impressions of the game, I really am amazed by Ubisoft's ability to keep something as huge as Assassin's Creed's underlying gameplay under wraps, especially considering the "Ubi-leak" that took place last year, revealing a bunch of concept art from their upcoming titles.

The game, for all intents and purposes, sounds like a unique blend of gameplay
elements from Metroid, Grand Theft Auto and Ubisoft's own Prince of Persia ... some of the best elements from each of those games at that.

What excites me most is the ability to actually live the life of a lone assassin on the run. Sure, GTA is kind of cool in that it allows you to run around, be a dick and not give a rat's rear about consequences ... but putting GTA's free-roaming gameplay into context ... that is truly something. Ubisoft, I applaud you.

It seems like there's a touch of detective work amidst all the extremely gory violence. As important as it is to gut your target in the most gratifying way possible, equally important is the task of actually finding him. To me, that is probably going to be more exciting than crossing swords with many a town guard, to be honest. As I said, in this game, I hope to live the life of an assassin.

But then again, there's that touch of sci-fi to the game's overall presentation (and presumably plot) which keeps you wondering whether or not your assassin life will be quite what you expected it to.

It's a good thing a PC version and a DS version (which I'd feel compelled to check out just to put my curiousity at rest) are in development. They should more than suffice until I manage to pick up a PS3 (Goddamn you, White Knight Story) sometime next year.

It's a bit early to be talking about sequels (or maybe not. maybe it's never too early), but I would love to see Ubisoft use a different setting for each Assassin's Creed game. One in the medieval European era (this first one), one in a Japanese "Edo-era" setting, one perhaps, set in the distant future.

Looking forward to this game hitting retail!

[ADVANCE]

Factor 5's Julian Eggebrecht on Wii Graphics

Once again, Julian proves everything FWA believes about the Wii to be true. In a recent interview with Revogamers, Mr. Eggebrecht spoke his mind on the possible causes for the crappy graphics syndrome on Wii. Revogamers translated the important parts of the interview for our reading pleasure:

- On publishers not taking advantage of the Wii’s power for graphics: “the traditional, more photorealistic route, because there you really have to push it, and they’re really not pushing it. Why not? Hmmm I don’t know, the hardware is very, very easy to understand. Now the problem might be –and it just might be- is that some studios -or some publishers specifically- are discarding the graphical capabilities automatically simply because it is a Wii title and they’re basically telling the developers “look, we won’t pay for any advanced graphics”.”

- On Wii’s “shaders” and possibilities: “If you connect you can get a lot of shader effects which would’ve been on the 360 or the PS3.” (…)”it’s got so much more power compared to the GameCube. If even with the extremely similar shader hardware, the system clockrate is so much higher, you can do so much more advanced things” (…)”in the photorealistic route there’re certain things which the basic structure of the graphics hardware was not meant for and which you have to find really clever tricks to basically make up.

Publishers refusing to pay more for decent-looking graphics? Not surprising. More after the jump, including Factor 5's next possible projects.


Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of Factor 5 developing for the Wii. Luckily, it seems the possibility isn't being ruled out entirely. And considering that Lair hasn't done nearly as well as it should have, the company could do with making some moolah. What better way to do that than work on a polished game on a system you're extremely familiar with?

And then there's that little matter of the Wii already having outsold the 360.

- On porting their old tools (SW engine): “If we would do a Wii version of that, certainly that could be something which somebody could license. (…)” “But I can imagine that there will be several engines coming out, also for the Wii ”

- On casual gaming: “I really hate the current trend of the hardcore people very much getting into this bubble of being very defensive and not wanting the whole casual thing to happen. In the end it’s all one big market we’re, essentially we’re all casual.”

- On F5’s next project: “We’re honestly at this point thinking about several titles in development (…). So might be PS3, might be Wii… we’re totally open to that.”

- On Mario Galaxy: “is so inspired that it seems to be worth the success of Mario 64. (…) “yes, this thing is actually taking advantage, (…) it’s basically doing new graphical things with the hardware”

- On the German and European industry: “now that the consoles are coming back, specially with the Wii selling so extremely well, I think for the first time in many, many years, you actually have a pan-European situation where you can develop quite nicely”

[ADVANCE]

Multi-player Components in Games Attract More People

Multi-player; one of the greatest components ever implemented in video games. At least in my own opinion. Aside from a few single-player oriented franchises I like to play every few years a new game is released, a video game, specifically a first person shooter has probably a ninety-five percent chance of not being bought by me due to a lack of solid multiplayer. That's just me. I view large amounts of solitary gaming where I am playing pre-fabricated opponents with algorithms for brains, as a waste of my time. I love nothing more than hoping on Teamspeak with a bunch of people, splitting into teams, coming up with a strategy and then going at it with the other team. I am sure you well know that not all gamers are like that. But according to Ars Technica, games that do offer the opportunity to play with and against other human players does to a large degree, affect the maximum potential revenue that can be generated.

"Developing and publishing video games is a competitive business, but based on research from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, there are a few things that can seemingly lead to guaranteed higher sales. That's not to say that there aren't interesting trends to spot, however, such as the critical role online support plays in a game's success.

The study found that by adding online functionality into a game—more specifically the ability to play against or with others—developers can generally double the amount of money your game makes. The finding in the study is more intuitive: high quality games (defined as having a Metacritic score of 90+) can sell up to 531 percent more than the average. So now, the job is clear: make high-quality games, and don't forget the online component. "

I hope reports such as these send a strong message to the industry about the subject. Which is actually ridiculous because this should, and probably is to some extent, a well known fact. Gamers don't want just multiplayer. They want good multiplayer -- fun multiplayer! Not something just added on for the sake of it.

Easier said than done, right? Of course! In many cases, adding multiplayer functionality can decrease the overall quality of a game. This is all constituted by how hard the studio, company, publisher works at it and markets it. People want to make money and the financial aspect that makes these companies run smoothly do tend to get in the way many times. Receiving twice as much revenue is worth the extra time and resources required, but sometimes dilemmas appear and decisions have to be made. That's understandable. In many cases, great multiplayer requires a lot of work. Sometimes developers have to take many steps backwards from their original design to make something that runs smoothly from a technical perspective which may interfere with the gameplay.

As the article said, the online component shouldn't be neglected. Games with a great single-player experience and multi-player aspect are essentially a double threat. It appeals to both types of gamers. I'm sure game developers realize this already, I just hope they take seriously.

[Source: Ars Technica]

[ADVANCE]

Gabe Newell Tells Game Informer All About the Wii

I have two video game developers that I really love. One is Retro studios. The other, is Valve. All the games that come out from either of these two studios seem to be instant gold, and are considered the some of the best, if not the best, games on their respective platforms. Another common characteristic is that both of these companies take complete advantage of the hardware they use and we are then presented with a game with excellent art style and graphics that continue to look good well into future video game generations.

Gabe Newell, one of the co-founders of the Valve corporation, and one of the original creators of the PC first person shooter franchise, Half Life, recently told Game Informer what he thought about the current generation of consoles that are out today, specifically the Nintendo Wii.

"I think the Wii represents more of a challenge because of its input. You can think of the Xbox 360 as pretty much a PC and a PlayStation as kind of a PC. The Wii gives you a bunch of problems that don't fit into that model," Newell told Game Informer.

"I think it's more valuable. I think it's more interesting than just graphics chip - CPU combination. It's the machine I have at home. The fact that we don't have anything in development on it even though it represents big opportunities as a whole is an obvious hole in our strategy."

This could be a hint of something big for the Wii in the near future. If any company can push the Wii to it's maximum potential in terms of graphics and innovative gameplay, it would be Valve. What I wouldn't give for a Half Life game on the Wii. I don't care if it's a mini-game compilation where you beat citizens with a shock stick as a Combine police officer, or harass innocent civilians as a head crab.

More after the jump.

Now that I think about it, out of all the games in Valve's upcoming lineup, Portal would most definitely be most suited for the Wii.


Portal is probably one of the most innovative PC games I've seen in a very long time. I'd even say it is more innovative than some of the Wii games out today. I'm not sure if the Wii can pull off some of the graphics that have been portrayed in recent trailers and demos of Portal, but I'd absolutely love to see Valve give it a try. Valve also has a long history when it comes to first person shooters. Many journalists have said that Retro Studios Metroid Prime 3 has pretty much nailed down the first person shooter formula for the Wii. I'm not saying whether they have or have not, but I will soon find out seeing how I have the game still in it's shrink wrap laying on my entertainment center.

If Valve puts it's chips on the table, all the more better for the Wii. If good studios such as Valve and Retro continue to set the bar so high, other companies will have to try to do as good or better, or they will know their game has already failed before it is even released. Up until the release of Metroid Prime 3, no arch-type existed in terms of the first person shooter for the Wii. Red Steel should have been it, and I refuse to beat that dead horse. Call of Duty 3 was passable, but not solid. Medal of Honor: Vanguard had, in my opinion, the best first person shooter control scheme. When it came down to taking cover and firing, I would honestly say it is as good, if not better than a mouse and keyboard.

The only problem was, you could not move while aiming; you had to stand still. Of course you could move and fire from the hip, but that made your weapon accuracy plummet so you were lucky if you hit anything at a long distance. On top of all that, the actual game itself was extremely mediocre and a shame to the franchise.

Back on the subject of Metroid, Prime 3 may have after all, tamed the FPS beast on the Wii. But as many people including myself have said hundreds of times in the past, Metroid Prime is not a true first person shooter. Rather, it is an adventure game from the first person perspective. I know I am being nitpicky here, but what else can I say? The first person shooter is my favorite genre when it comes to video games, so I do feel obligated to be extremely politically correct about the subject.

What do you think? First off, is Newell's slight disappointment with his company enough to say that software for the Wii is indeed coming? What would Valve create, and more importantly, what would be better? Existing software or something brand new? Valve has already gotten their feet wet in the console market. They have not exactly made a big splash in that pool, but they are poised to with their upcoming release of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and all the other games that come with it. Why not the Nintendo Wii as well?

Marketing and distribution would be no problems since they will team up with EA. Valve is a company that loves to make games. They love to make great games that are unforgettable. I am sure you will agree that the Nintendo Wii is an excellent platform to use to continue to create great games just like they have in the past.

[Via: GamePro]

[ADVANCE]

Too Much Negativity in Game Journalism

It isn't like me to poop over other game journalists and sites, but this time, I really couldn't resist the urge. Following the jump are my thoughts on the previews we've read this week for Metroid Prime 3 from IGN, Gamespot and 1UP respectively.

First up is IGN's piece on the game. Personally, I thought it was very well written and had just the right amount of criticism and hype.

Not only does Corruption run in both 480p and 16:9 widescreen (another first for the series), but it dishes out larger, more detailed environments, crisper textures, dramatically improved particle effects, depth of field blur, screen shakes, and what is easily the best utilization of bloom lighting in any Wii game to date. It may seem like a trivial inclusion to some -- games like Ico, for example, have developed visual styles that revolve around bloom lighting -- but developer Retro Studios has taken it to the next level. Environments, objects and particle effects alike are illuminated with a neon-like hue that fits exceptionally well within the game's science-fiction setting. Other visual additions are more pronounced. When bringing up Aran's scan-visor (activated by pressing the minus button on the Wii remote), you will now see the bounty hunter's face clearly reflected -- not just for a split second, as in previous titles, but permanently. That face may even show signs of change as you advance through the game.

The first thing I appreciate about that paragraph is the attention paid to the game's style, not just the graphical resolution. I think it's great that Matt took a second to point out the details about the visor, which is part of what made the first two Prime games feel so immersive.

Secondly, he also points out the improved visual presentation of the game, which is definitely something that deserves praise, seeing as how the "Gamecube 2.0" issue has been going around for a while now. He goes on:

Retro has also utilized the Wii remote and nunchuk for context-sensitive actions that create very immersive play scenarios. Samus oftentimes interacts with environmental pulleys and levers, all pushed, pulled and twisted with the Wii remote. You'll actually make the appropriate gestures with the peripheral to perform these functions. For instance, you might have to pull backward on the Wii remote to pull a lever down, then twist left with the controller to twist the on-screen device, and finally push forward to lock it back in place. In our experience, these maneuvers work very well and do not feel at all gimmicky.

Overall, an extremely positive hands-on preview of the game. In comparison, Gamespot's hands-on was neither critical, nor praising. The reason for this is that they are probably saving most of their words for their final review of the game. Still, overall impressions seemed to be positive.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption looks a lot like its predecessors, both in style and technology. However, everything is a little crisper and more detailed. For a Wii game, it also looks quite nice. The addition of voice acting--and lots of it--also seems fine, but we doubt we'll get a chance to hear Samus herself speak. But we'll find out for sure very soon. Look for our full review of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption next week.

Next up, we have 1UP's hands-on preview with the game:

The manner in which Corruption presents its narrative feels like a step forward for the franchise, expanding the previous game's underwhelming realtime cinemas with interactive voiceovers and scripted events delivered Half-Life style. The story itself -- a seemingly predictable follow-up to Echoes that has the villainous Dark Samus infecting good Samus and her bounty-hunting buddies with Phazon -- amounts to little more than a premise for some old-fashioned space spelunking. Honestly, the presentation and scripting seem amateurish compared to what's going on in megabudget productions such as Halo 3 and Heavenly Sword.

Similarly, it's tough to stack Corruption's graphics against what you'll see in first-person games on other consoles. As expected, the same sublime artistry and cohesive aesthetic sensibility from the previous Prime titles return here, but at the same time, this looks awfully close to its GameCube forerunners. A few new blur effects and a rock-solid frame rate give it a negligible "next gen" sheen and crispness, but one look at the hyperdetailed, evocative visuals in BioShock will make the most ardent Wii-faithful envious.

First off, I'd like to point out that that first paragraph is self-contradictory. Narrative step forward, yet the presentation is amateurish? That doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Second: Comparing the game's visuals to Bioshock? A game on the 360, which was clearly designed with high-definition visuals in mind? That's extremely amateurish in my opinion, and I think that the editor writing the piece would have done well to keep the differences between the two systems in mind. A comparison to Bioshock should not even be present in the preview, forget complaining that Prime 3 doesn't hold up graphically to other FPSes on "next-gen" systems. If 1UP's final review is better than their preview is, I will gladly take back my harsh words. However...

I'm going to say it: If Metroid Prime 3 scores less than a 9.0 without a damned good reason to support its score, I will be convinced that the concerned site's reviewing system is very, very broken. A game that is clearly superior to its prequel, pushes the limits of the system it was designed for, has the potential to bring about a change in trends for console FPS controls, and above all, is extremely polished deserves no less.

[ADVANCE]