hi all i didnt know where to post this do i thought here was as good as any, i am new.
*drum roll* i am Captain Rush, the randomness at work, and i hope to enjoy this place.
Quote:Courtesy of Media-Create, we have the most recent sales figures from Japan.
This week's sales, while not as strong overall as last week's surge where buyers snapped up a myriad of new releases, nevertheless were robust. As everyone and their babysitter had expected, Jump Super Stars (JSS) led the way with sales of over 200k. While PS2 soccer juggernaut World Soccer Winning Eleven remained strong, it was followed by 4 consecutive Nintendo platform titles (all previous releases.)
Somewhat surprisingly, and likely spurred on by the gravitational forces put in motion by JSS, DS cerebral favorites Gentle Brain Exercises and Brain Training staged a mighty comeback in the charts. Wow...special software indeed: whereas Exercises made a significant jump from last weeks sales, Training returned to the Top 10 from where it had been absent for the last two weeks.
Representing the GC was Pokemon XD in its second week of sales. Meanwhile, the GBA had its champion in the form of the popular beetle-battling game Mushiking. The full top 10 is below...have a look:
No. System Title Publisher
1 DS JUMP Super Stars 220,912 Nintendo
2 PS2 World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 102,048 Konami
3 DS Gentle Brain Exercises 46,973 Nintendo
4 GBA The King of Beetle Mushiking: Greatest Champion 36,309 Sega
5 GC Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness 34,108 Nintendo
6 PS2 Medal of Honor European Assault 33,361 EA
7 DS Brain Training 30,518 Nintendo
8 PS2 Mobile Suit Gundam - Girren's Greed "Blood of Zeon" 28,460 Bandai
9 PS2 Grandia III 27,378 Square Enix
10 PS2 Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 26,567 Banpresto
The fundamental order of the charts has not changed...but this week did indeed bring some shakeup as over 100k new DS' flew off the shelves, outselling all other platforms combined. Many of those new DS' likely sported the shiny new red color, but of course the main factor leading to the sales explosion was the release of JSS. Actually, most of the other consoles saw sales boosts as well, perhaps affected by the coming of Japan's Bon holiday...the good ol' GBA SP itself sold nearly 20k units. Nintendo Handhelds...indeed Japan still loves you.
Here are the figures in detail:
No. Console Week Sales Last Week Sales Year Sales
1 Nintendo DS 103,095 43,665 1,382,040
2 PlayStation 2 37,041 34,057 1,289,389
3 PlayStation Portable 25,100 20,571 1,126,231
4 Game Boy Advance SP 19,958 12,107 466,615
5 GameCube 3,799 4,445 144,385
6 Game Boy Advance 708 419 16,508
7 Xbox 202 228 9,584
Quote:Nintendo-Revolution.blogspot.com have spoken to Yuji Naka at the Leipzig games convention, where he was asked just how revolutionary the upcoming Nintendo console really would be. He replied that he was "under a strict NDA, so I can´t really say much. But I have seen the Revolution and I think everyone will be very pleasantly surprised, when Nintendo reveal everything."
Encouraging comments from him aside, it shows Nintendo are revealing the technology to some of the people who need to know about it in advance. Chances are that we will see a Sonic title sometime on Revolution due to Sega's support of the GameCube with that particular franchise.
Though for now, we'll just have to speculate how it will end up looking on Nintendo's mysterious upcoming console.
With the subcategory 'Games you wish you hadn't asked for for gifts'... 'games you wish you hadn't gotten as gifts' is a good one too, if you have such titles. I don't, actually... I always make nice detailed lists for my parents and stuff so I don't get random games from them, and the few other people who have given me a few games picked well... so all the games that were gifts on this list I'd asked for in some form.
PC
- SimCity 3000 (I thought it'd be a step up like SC2k was from SC... I was very wrong, and never warmed to the game as a result. SimCity 2000 is, was, and always will be, far better.)
- Civilization III (same as SC3k... Civ II is one of the top five games of all time. Civ III... just doesn't match up.)
- TES III: Morrowind (just not worth the time or money. It's got simplstic and overly hard combat, throws you into very hard areas from the start, requires a MASSIVE time commitment not just to play through but to get to the point where you can actually have fun in the game beyond wandering around town, etc, etc...)
- Secret Weapons over Normandy (boring... lacking... unrealistic... shows how far Totally Games has fallen from its early-90s greatness... just an all-around dissapointing title, given the developer's pedigree.)
- Dungeon Siege (gift. Click and hack and click and slash and click and move nad click and hack and click and slash and click and move and ... Gets boring really fast.)
- Age of Wonders II (gift... good game I guess but horribly complex and I'm awful at it. Not worth it.)
- Motocross Madness 2 - overly hard driving model makes it very frusterating to play. Ridiculously tough computers sure don't help either.
-Rally Championship (aka 'Network-Q RAC Rally Championship) (rally racer. Got it because it looked fun, but it's dull, and I greatly prefer racing against other cars instead of just time, and it rails you onto the road, and all the stages look the same so the fact that it's got dozens of courses doesn't matter, and the treewalls look really stupid as usual, but treewalls are one of the game's main graphical features... not a total waste I guess, since it's got nice weather effects and is fun sometimes, but definitely a letdown compared to what I wanted. I should have gotten Screamer 2.)
GB
- The Lion King (gift... tolerable, but hard, has frusterating play control/accuracy requirements, and has no saving...)
- Toy Story (gift, and one of the worst games I've ever played)
- Ken Griffey Jr. Presents: Major League Baseball (parents got a game I already had as a gift so I chose this and Micro Machines in the store to replace that game. One of those games was good. It wasn't this one.)
GBC/GBA, N64, GC, SNES: Nothing. Oh, some of the games aren't great, but they were all at least worth buying, at least for the price I paid... (for instance, if I'd paid $50 instead of $5 for Aero Fighters Assualt I bet I'd have a much more negative opinion of the game...)
If I was forced to pick something for each console, though... hmm...
GBC: Micro Machines 1 & 2 Twin Turbo. Poor ports of fantastic games aren't as fun as the good versions, sadly... (sad given how great MM1 is for GB and MM3 is for GBC)
GBA: FFTA I guess? Fine enough game, but Fire Emblem is much better, I should have gotten FE first and maybe FFTA later... but FFTA is fun too so it was also definitely worth getting.
SNES: Hmm... Super R-Type? Good game but brutally hard since it makes you start the level over if you die... Stunt Race FX? Decent but turning around is really hard and the framerate, of course, is low... both were worth $5 though.
N64: Aero Fighters Assualt I guess... Star Wars Episode 1 Racer sure is annoying though, but the first two thirds of the game make it not quite as bad. But Aero Fighters, while far from great, is just average enough (and cheap enough) that I don't actually regret buying it...
GC: Hmm, none really fit. I guess the closest I'd come would be Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance -- decent, but not as good as Gauntlet Dark Legacy and I should have gotten that game first... Star Fox Adventures was cheap and worth owning (though not finishing), and Burnout's bad soundtrack is more than made up for with good gameplay. :)
Or, pointless post done in order for me to waste my time doing something fun like making a list!
Gamespy has another mostly pointless Top 25 GC Games list ( http://cube.gamespy.com/articles/639/639689p1.html )... these things are always so tricky... I'm never sure how to rank games. Do you go by overall quality judged as objectively as you can? By what you like the best? Based on
just what you've played? Based on what you've heard about games as well?
... I always have a hard time making lists... for PC I have one, since I came up with it years ago and have mostly stuck to it, but consoles... not so much. Somewhat for each console I have, but not as well thought out as my PC list...
Anyway... hmm.
Awards:
-Best GC Sports Game: I haven't played any, unless SSX3 counts as a sports game... it doesn't, of course, so I haven't played any. :)
-Best GC Racing Game: XGRA. Though this may change once the GC gets a copy of Rush 2049 in Midway Arcade Treasures 3... but for now this game is the clear winner. So much more fun to play than F-Zero GX (which is a great game, but just not as good as this...)! Burnout and Wave Race don't even come close.
-Best GC Fighting Game: probably Capcom vs. SNK 2: EO. This is also almost certainly my most-played GC game, as me and my cousin have spent many hours playing it... not to mention all the time I've played it in single player. :) SSBM? Got boring after a few days. Soul Calibur II? Too luck-oriented, and you do too much damage -- fights are too short (which just boosts the luck element). And 3d means less precision. No, CvS2 is better... and besides, it has a FANTASTIC selection of characters...
Best GC RPG: Skies of Arcadia - Legends. Tales of Symphonia was pretty fun, and Paper Mario 2 is cool, but neither matches the greatness of Skies of Arcadia. Oh, I enjoyed ToS... but in the end it didn't leave me quite satisfied in comparison. I beat it in 55 hours and have only put in a little more than that (in the offered replay-with-minor-changes). PM2 I haven't finished... it's good, but SO similar to the first game that that might actually be a downside... the first one is one of the best games on the N64, but for some reason I just didn't love this one as much... but SoA? Fantastic. It was amazing on Dreamcast as is just as great on the GC...
-Best GC Strategy/Sim Game: Pikmin 2... simplistic, but fun, and without the timer it's much more enjoyable. Multiplayer helps too.
-Best GC Action/Adventure Game: Ah... hmm... um... I don't know... like with the overall winner, it's either Eternal Darkness, Zelda - WW, or Metroid Prime, but offhand I can't decide which should be which winner... Nintendo makes so many great games in this category. ED is one of the best games ever, but WW is Zelda and despite not being the best Zelda ever is still Zelda... its only other competition would probably be OoT/Master Quest, of course, but I don't have OoT/MQ for GC and haven't played the port, so I can't comment other than to say OoT is my favorite console game ever. :)
-Best GC Platformer: Mario Sunshine... I guess. Though I'm very, very tempted to give the award to Mega Man Anniversary Collection.
-Best GC Shooter: Smash TV on Midway Arcade Treasures 1... Ikaruga and Rogue Squadron II or RSIII (an underrated game, and it has that complete 2-player version of the RSII campaign too if you preferred that one and have a friend...) are behind this classic. You could also mention Alien Hominid for this category too, but it's not the winner...
-Best GC Game: Umm... can I pass on this one? :) (that is, is it MP? WW? ED? I'm not sure... ED was my first choice, but that was before I played those others...) Eh, okay, I'll give the best game award to Eternal Darkness. Why not... so I guess Metroid Prime wins 'Best Action/Adventure' and WW doesn't get anything except a mention. :)
Special Awards:
-Best 2d-gameplay GC game (this allows 2d gameplay with polyagonal characters): Tie between CvS2 EO and Viewtiful Joe... sorry Alien Hominid, honorary mention perhaps?
-Best multiplayer game: CvS2 EO, SSB:Melee, XGRA, or Wario Ware: Mega Party Minigames, depending on the tastes of who you are playing with... hmm, or maybe Zelda: FSA... that's pretty fun with four people and GBAs. :)
For equality, I'll make (smaller) lists for some other consoles... 'best game I've actually played on "a real (not emulated) console of this type"'... which shortens the list of potential games -- and consoles -- considerably. :)
X-Box: Metal Slug 3! Good! Play! (awesome rental, though level 5 is BRUTAL. Seriously oldschool you-lose-five-hundred-times brutal.) Halo 2? Bah, I just don't care very much... if I had an X-Box I'd get a bunch of SNK Neo-Geo ports, but NOT Halo 1 or 2. :)
PS1: Star Ocean: The Second Story is fantastic and I really want to play it more, preferably sooner as opposed to later... :(
Genesis: MKII I guess... though Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the best platformer.
Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia. No question.
N64: OoT... with Mario 64, Rush 2049, Wipeout 64, and F-Zero X rounding out the top five. :)
SNES: Super Mario World... others are great, but that's the best. (Mario Kart, Super Star Wars, and Tetris Attack are also really fun games though... I'd also mention Super SFII, but it's been completely outclassed by Capcom vs SNK 2...
NES: Mario 3! ... followed by Zelda.
Turbografx: that 2d shooter I played the one time I ever played one, in a demo display in Lechmere or Toys R Us or something...
Leaving out the Gameboys because I have some nice solid lists for GB and GBC... haven't changed recently for the most part (from the versions on my website), but this post is long enough already... so handhelds go later. :)
Let me just say this at the start and get it out of the way, Killer 7 is weird. Not in the same way as people actually liking rap music is weird, but more in the same way that an image of Michael Jackson riding a giant, purple bullfrog on a rainbow in space is weird.
Okay, one thing that's immediately noticable about Killer 7 is that there are a number of cheap thrills, not unlike a certain other series of games made by Capcom, however the world of Killer 7 is also genuinely creapy, like that series of game's major competitor. There is a large cast of characters who talk to you from time to time, all of them are really weird, especially the guy in the red gimp suit who always talking about how bad things are. Killer 7 is also very violent, though much is it is highly stylized. You will quickly notice that any ordinary people you meet up with will soon be brutally torn apart by the Heaven Smile, weird monsters that explode when they get close to, in incredibly violent manners. Such as one woman who has her lower body ripped off accompanied by a spray of blood. There's also a talking head that's in a drying machine, but that's where it really wanted to be anyway.
The shooting parts of Killer 7 aren't really anything special, whenever you hear some Heaven Smile letting loose their creepy laugh you bring up your gun scan the room and blast their week points. There is some variety to the enemy types though, so it's not always the same thing over and over. Moving around in Killer 7 is as simple as pressing the A button and at frequent intervels choosing to turn left or right [or whatever] and in that respect it plays it a lot like a PC adventure game. When you're not shooting up bad guys and roaming corridors, you're looking for keys or other items to open doors or solve puzzles, but so far it hasn't been tedious.
There are seven characters for you to play as, all of whom have different weapons. And some will be needed to access certain parts of the game or solve certain puzzles.
Sparse bits of music play in Killer 7 in certain parts, and it's all really creepy and weird. The graphics in have a very comicbook feel to them, which sets it apart from just about any other game out there.
In a word, Killer 7 is unique. And very much so.
It's not for everyone, and it incredibly violent and there's a lot of langauge, but if you stick with it you'll find a game that pulls you in and make you keep playing to see what weird thing will happen next.
400 bucks for the system, a wireless controller, the 20 gig hard drive and DVD remote.
300 bucks for the system and a WIRED controller. That's it.
GC 2005: Xbox 360 Sells For Two Prices
Two SKUs offer premium and core pricing for US and European launch.
by Douglass C. Perry
August 17, 2005 - Confirming long-standing rumors of two different Xbox 360 set-ups, Microsoft today officially announced two differently-priced SKUs for the North American and European markets. The Redmond, WA company will offer a premium system for $399.99 and a core set-up for $299.99.
The premium and core systems will sell for, respectively, £279.99 and £209.99 in the UK and €399.99 and €299.99 in the rest of Europe. Microsoft said it will announce Asian-market news at the Tokyo Game Show in mid-September.
Microsoft remains officially silent on a release date, confirming only that it is on target for "holiday launches" in all three territories. Since rumors regarding all Microsoft products have generally panned out so far, IGN expects a fall ship date (November) for X360 in North America and Europe.
The premium, or "Xbox 360" package ($399.99), is designed for the hardcore, HD-ready gamer, while the Xbox 360 Core System ($299.99) is your basic set-up.
The premium package includes an Xbox 360, a detachable 20-GB hard-drive, a wireless controller, faceplate, headset, a component HD AV cable, an Ethernet cable, and for a limited time, a remote controller.
The Core 360 System is stripped down in comparison. It includes an Xbox 360, one standard wired controller, a faceplate, and a standard AV cable. The $399 package is designed for the high-definition gaming era; the other is designed for a no-frills, current-gen set-up. Presumably both systems come with power cords, though Microsoft's press releases didn't actually include them.
Taking into account that a memory card for $39.99 (€34.99/£22.99) is required for saving games, a headset for $19.99 (€19.99/£14.99) is necessary for Xbox Live play, a second controller sells for $39.99 (€34.99/£24.99), and a remote goes for $29.99 (€29.99/£19.99), totaling $130, the premium price appears the better deal. The above tally doesn't include a hard drive, which costs an additional $99 (totaling $229).
Microsoft Vice President Peter Moore explained the company learned through extensive research that gamers and consumers wanted options above all else.
"We've learned gamers want choice," explained a confident Moore. "We really believe in the early-going that the Xbox 360 package will be the majority of purchases. It's huge value for the money at $399, with a hard-drive, with wireless controllers, with HD cables, and you get high definition right out of the box, and there will be content loaded on the hard-drive, high definition videos included, and you will be immediately able to see HD broadcast."
IGN's editors responded with their own comments on Microsoft's announcements.
"I think a lot of people will take a look at the $399 price tag for the 'complete' package and balk a bit, but it's actually a great deal in the end. The headset and HD AV pack would cost upwards of $50, even if you bought cheap third-party versions of them. Add in the hard drive that you'd have to purchase separately from the core system, plus a wireless controller and you've got a great package deal, certainly better than any retailers would have put together themselves. Many people will need all this stuff anyway, so Microsoft is actually cutting everyone a deal.
"The major problem I have with the whole thing is the lack of a hard drive in the core system. Sony's optional hard drive was a complete failure from a support standpoint, and while I'm sure the Xbox 360 will see much stronger support for its drive, not every developer will be willing to spend extra time and money to support something that may or may not be there.
"I'll obviously be picking up the full, $399 version myself. I've already got a bit of cash down on one, so now I just need to make sure they've got me in the computer for the right system.
"I do find it funny that Microsoft is listing a faceplate as part of each package. That's like selling a car and advertising that it includes a hood."
"So is that controller on the core system a wired one?
"If it isn't, then they're saying that a headset, hard drive and cables would cost $200 which is somewhat believable, I suppose. I'm still a little disappointed that the hard drive is only 20 gigs since I can currently shove a 200-gig drive into my Xbox for less than $100. In terms of an all-in-wonder device, I'd like to have the capacity to store 20,000 songs and still have room for a few seasons of The Simpsons, but then that's just me.
"I think that the pricing is a great idea since it helps to upsell people to a $400 price point, which is where the system truly begins. Once people go onto Live, they're going to want to have a hard drive and likely a headset so that they can hear the young'uns scream when they get killed in Halo 3/4/whatever. It also makes it look like the Core system is a real system instead of a crippled version of what the 360 is supposed to be. Nice touch."
"I've grown up with one console with one set-up costing once price. Though it sounds simplistic, a single price and a single set-up will be easier for most consumers to understand. Sure, we're not talking rocket science here. Heck, we're not even talking basic geometry, but let's face it, look at all those accessories, add-ons, peripherals, and what not. We're not even talking about the games yet. People are going to get confused. People are, well, you know, not all that smart when it comes to hardware. They need serious help. Microsoft's different set-ups, while pretty simple, will confuse people, sadly.
"And a small portion, probably the hard-edged, HD-ready gaming group that's going to buy the Xbox 360 on day one, won't be confused one bit. They're already pimping out their stereos, TVs, and living rooms in preparation for just such an occasion. For these guys, the Premium package of $399.99 is perfect. I know that's the system set-up I'm getting.
"But if games cost $59.99 and I buy four, that's $240. Add in a $399 set-up, and wham, I'm already at $640. That's a lot of dough. Makes you think twice about which games you'll have to get versus the ones you might get..."
--Douglass C. Perry, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Xbox/Xbox360
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"The announced price of Xbox 360 isn't all that surprising. I would've liked the console to come with a hard drive and a couple of controllers for $299, heck I'd like to have the whole thing cost 10 dollars and come with five free games but Microsoft's price point fits the current market trends to a tee.
"The core package comes in at the same price as the first Xbox at launch - a system with far less functionality that never produced a profit. This allows people to take the plunge into the next generation without veering too far away from that 300 dollar sweet spot for electronics which has been made all the more attractive due to the rampant success of the iPod. The core can be looked at as a starter kit that can be added to over time, or at least that's what Microsoft is hoping.
"The $399.99 version of Xbox 360 is really for those of us who would probably pay far more just to own the new console. This bundle comes with HD cables because it is targeted at early adopters to new technology or those who simply must have the latest toys no matter what the cost. These are the people Kutaragi was indirectly targeting when he touted the plans for a ridiculously high price for PS3. These are also the people who will be dropping another roll of twenties for another controller and a couple of games. Microsoft's pricing of the peripherals also follows Sony's model of cashing in on the little things. Money is not made on the sale of consoles alone and we already know all of those memory cards, Multitaps, and Dual Shocks added up to a big pile of money in the past years.
"With all the recent reports on the skyrocketing costs of development it's no wonder this would eventually be handed down to the consumer. But like most of our readers I'd rather live on canned soup and frozen waffles for a couple of months than miss out on PGR3. Its time to pick your favorite games and return the rest in preparation for launch. I already know I'll be dropping some bills for the hot new hardware, but we have yet to hear a definite price for next-gen games. If the increase is comparable to everything else, I might be more thankful for 360's backwards compatibility out of necessity."
-- David Clayman, Editor, IGN Xbox/Xbox 360
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"I was hoping the 360 gimmick would carry over to the price of the fully loaded system. But, $400 isn't too far off of what I was willing to pay to get all those extras. In fact, I hadn't expected the rumor that component HD cables being included would come true, so that's nice (no HDMI option kind of sucks, though) . That combined with the fact that a remote for the Media Center cababilities is included makes it a fair price for me. I am wondering how much extra controllers will run and I wish I had the option to get a 40GB drive right out of the box.
However, compared to past console launches this is extremely expensive. If I weren't a hardcore industry member-follower, I may not be as compelled to jump on at system launch. If Perfect Dark Zero's single-player doesn't rock my face, I don't know how excited I'll be about the launch line up. Really, in the end, that's what it comes down to for me: I need to see the launch games. Only then can I be sure how worth it owning 360 at launch is.
-- Fran, Chief Video Producer
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"I understand why Microsoft is offering two Xbox 360 packages: the company is ready to take gamers into the next generation (the "HD era" if you must) with slick advances like wireless controllers, hi-def connections, and a hard drive; but the company is out for blood this time -- it wants to reach as many consumers as possible. For most of us, the premium package (which Microsoft notably is calling just "Xbox 360") is the no-brainer choice. It's pretty clear the company wants us to think of this as the standard set-up, while the "Core" system is there to catch the consumers hesitating over price. 'Don't miss out on X360!' Microsoft seems to be saying. 'If you can't afford the full ride, don't go away -- I bet we can make you a deal.'
"Honestly, it's a smart move. If Microsoft wants to dominate this new generation, or even put up a real fight, it's going to have to move as many units as it can starting as early as possible. This is no time to leave launch sales to the hardcore while the rest wait for a price drop. Since the extra goodies in the premium package will be available separately, no one really misses out in the long run."
