I apologize for ignoring my precious little blog for the past couple weeks. I’m a mess. School’s been kicking Ultra Combo-ing my dumbass on a regular basis for the past three weeks but it should all end by 10am tomorrow when I finish my last final exam. There’s so much to write about, too: GTA4, Mario Kart, The World Ends with You, my unhealthy addiction to Call of Duty 4…I’ve missed out on a lot.
Things will change this weekend. Promise.
Oh, what’s that? You’ve heard enough of CoD4? Too bad.
The 360 managed to outsell the PS3 by a mere 5,000 units, proving the few months that MS was beaten by Sony might have just been a fad. We’ll see if that holds up. The Xbox Rainbow Six Vegas faithful probably had something to do with this with R6V2 selling strong on the software side of things. The PSP had two solid releases in Crisis Core and God of War: COO and it performed considerably well.
And then there’s Nintendo. They’re still printing money. That’s about it, really. Oh, and some game called Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out in March, too. Maybe that has something to do with the Wii performing incredibly well. Maybe, I dunno. Just a wild guess.
Nintendo Wii – 721,000
Nintendo DS – 698,000
PlayStation Portable – 297,000
Xbox 360 – 262,000
PlayStation 3 – 257,000
PlayStation 2 – 216,000
[Kotaku]
Ah, memories. About two years ago I remember a friend of mine bursting into my room at 1 AM to show me the megaton of all trailers. Yes, it was the E3 2006 trailer of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The same trailer that wet your pants when you found out Solid (effin‘) Snake would be breaking necks in the Nintendo beat ‘em up. Now that its way in the past, I can safely say I watched that trailer about a hundred times (yes, really) within the next couple of days. The next two years would test my patience unlike any other two years of my life.
Today, I’m almost as happy as I when the game was finally released. Why? Because Brawl sold 2.7 million copies in the month of March. That’s Halo 3 statues people, without the $10 million marketing budget. I’m happy because I can safely that my favorite franchise is now a franchise that can not be ignored. The numbers, please. Continue reading ‘March Software Sales Madness: Consider the Competition “Final Smashed”’
For once I’m actually proud of my college, the Rochester Institute of Technology. Here I was thinking those Brawl Force Ones were the sweetest game kicks I’ve ever laid eyes on, this comes by may: Hi-Top Chuck Taylors with the Smash Bros. Melee cast hand-painted on the side. Brilliant.
This masterpiece is the work of a Cole Ranze, who’s putting these bad boys up for auction on eBay. The gargantuan Smash fanboy in me wants the bid on them so bad but then I realize have to digest food, which costs money, in order to live and breathe. Being a college student sucks.
Bravo, Mr. Ranze. I kindly ask the person who wins the auction to not wear them but instead frame them (preferably in some crystal casing) to forever maintain their beauty.
Want Level: 10/10
It’s “as you were” for the big three in February’s sales numbers. The Wii and DS run rampant like always and the PS3 beats out the Xbox 360 for a second month straight. Is this going to be a trend? Microsoft expect hardware shortages for another month or so. Hmm. I could have believed that back in January but I’ve seen plenty of 360’s in-stock recently. This is going to get interesting especially with GTA 4 on the horizon.
On the software side of things Call of Duty 4 keeps sniping ass even though Devil May Cry 4 was released in the month of February. I’m glad to see Rock Band stay in the top ten. Wii Play, not so much.
01. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) – 296,200
02. Devil May Cry 4 (Xbox 360) – 295,200
03. Wii Play (Wii) – 289,700
04. Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) – 233,500
05. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) – 222,900
06. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) – 205,600
07. Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360) – 203,600
08. Turok (Xbox 360) – 197,700
09. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) – 183,800
10. Rock Band (Xbox 360) – 161,800
[Kotaku]
Here we go again.
Nintendo Wii – 274K
Playstation 3 – 269K
Playstation 2 - 264K
Nintendo DS – 251K
PSP – 230K
Xbox 360 – 230K
Woah. Something looks different. Well, not too different. As always, the Wii appears at the top of the list, but take a look at second place. Yes, the PS3 managed to defeat both the DS and Xbox 360 in sales numbers for the month of January. Now wait, before some of you get all excited and proclaim “Teh end of M$ has come!” and “Sony FTW!!1!” you have to take a lot of things into perspective. Yesterday morning Microsoft released a statement claiming to have had a hardware shortage after the recent money-makin’ holiday season. Hmmm, believable although somewhat skeptical; upon browsing my local electronic stores I did notice a number of Halo Edition 360’s (they’re not very pretty, are they) but not Premium or Elite models. Either way their statement saved them much embarrassment when the numbers hit the net. In December the Wii and DS went Incredible Hulk sales beasts on us and were definitely supply constrained, so as expected they had Bruce a more Bruce Banner like appearance in January. So with Nintendo and Microsoft having only leftovers (table scraps, even) from the holidays to sell in stores is this a huge victory for Sony? It depends on how you look at it.
It’s like pitting two teams against each other yet one team is without their starting line-up. You could defeat the Lakers by 15 to 20 points, but was it a significant win if Kobe was out injured? No. But the fact that you won in the first place is pretty impressive if the Lakers are considered better than you. Supply constraints or not, it’s a solid effort by Sony to top Microsoft especially with only one game in the top 10. Will they win next month? I doubt it. If the hardware shortages the MS claim are in fact true, Kobe (and a fresh new shipment) will return next and change it all. With the Wii staying undefeated in probably it’s most depleted state means the demand is not going anywhere for a while.
On the software side of things Call of Duty 4 is still tearing sh*t up. Rock Band narrowly eclipsed Guitar Hero III for the 360. No More Heroes apparently sold just over 100K units, which is OK for a new mature IP for a child-friendly console. Burnout Paradise debuts in the Top 10, which is a good thing. Look at that GH3 for Wii…
1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) – 330,900
2. Wii Play (Wii) – 298,100
3. Guitar Hero III (Wii) – 239,600
4. Rock Band (Xbox 360) – 183,800
5. Guitar Hero III (Xbox 360) – 182,700
6. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – 172,000
7. Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360) – 144,100
8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) – 140,000
9. Mario Party DS (DS) – 138,500
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) – 133,000
- I picked up Devil May Cry 4 (360) this past weekend and so far I’m quite pleased with what Capcom has done with one of my personal favorite franchises. I’ll keep my impressions short for now since I have a review coming soon (promise). Thankfully it’s not as hard as DMC3, easily one of the most frustrating games of last-gen, so you won’t be throwing your controller out the window anytime. I’m playing on the harder difficulty right now and it is challenging but not stressful. Seeing as Dante is my hero (that guy just doesn’t give a f…) I wasn’t expecting to like Nero, but he really isn’t all that bad. His Devil Bringer, a crazy phantom arm that grabs and throws enemies, adds an extra dimension to boss battles and combos. Plus, his sword has a freakin’ throttle! Yeah, like on a motorbike but on a sword. Why didn’t anyone think of that before? As much as I love what he brings to the game I’d give it all up just to kick tail as Dante. Also, if you’re a DMC veteran playing with the Xbox controller is going to feel pretty weird for a while. If I owned a PS3 (which will happen once Solid Snake is back in action) I probably would’ve picked up the PS version even with the pointless pre-game installation.
- No More Heroes (Wii) is a good game, not a spectacular game, just a good one. Hardcore Wii owners have been rallying up its buzz since it’s the first mature-rated original IP the console has seen. They hope it will justify the reason they own the same console that’s become a regular in retirement homes. The game has quite a few camera issues and as much as I like its art style the graphics could have used a little more detail. What I do love about the game is just how different it is from any game out there. The game is just so odd and out there that it’s easy to fall in love with if you’re an action nut. It brings up the same emotions I had when I first saw Kill Bill and was blown away by its unique image. The best way I can describe NMH is a “Quentin Tarantino-esque” action game with good motion controls. It’s definitely worth playing. I mean, you’re aren’t playing anything else on your Wii anyway, right?
- Is Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS) a big deal? Should I be excited that it just hit the US? I never really paid much attention to it until I realized Nintendo World Store had a launch party for it just recently. I guess it was a big hit in Japan. I decided to give it a go for about ten minutes and it’s pretty cool. Prof. Layton is a regular Sherlock Holmes and travels to a village to solve mysteries and puzzles with the help of your DS. I do enjoy the cutscenes though, which resemble a fully animated anime episode. I hear it has weekly puzzles available as DLC which is a nice touch. I’ll have more thoughts on it later on.
I have a problem. A serious problem. Instead of taking the time to complete the story modes of several games I find myself still getting sucked into Call of Duty 4’s multiplayer. It’s getting pretty bad. I’ve ignored so many quality games because I’m obsessed with getting to Prestige Mode (for the second time) just so I’ll have a cool emblem next to my gamertag. It’s gotten so bad that a copy of Super Mario Galaxy lies next to my TV and has been completely ignored for the past two months. I haven’t even beaten CoD4’s single-player campaign (sad, I know) because I’m trying to get new camo for my M16. And when I’m not playing CoD I’m playing the drums on Rock Band. Terrible.
Ok, Ok. I’ll stop talking about Brawl for a bit. Sheesh.
That better not be the final boxart.
If there’s any other game I love to get into profanity-filled yelling fights with my friends other than Smash, its Mario Kart. The racing game that takes everything games like Gran Turismo and Forza stand for and slaps them in the face is finally coming to the Wii. According to that’s-kinda-skeptical-but-quite-soothing rumors it will be released April 10th in Japan and not too later in the US. According to woah-now-I’m-really-getting-psyched rumors MKWii will feature…
- Bikes have special tricks like wheelies
- 16 remade & 16 new courses
- 12 players online mode
- Race with you Mii’s
- Online league & Global world ranking
- Local ranking
- Mario Kart Channel on your dashboard for online mode
- Send and eceive time attack scores over wifi
- Online ranking for time attack
- Upload/download Ghosts
[via GoNintendo]
Yes, the hype has certainly paid off, or at least in Japan. Brawl has reportedly moved over 800,000 units since it hit the Far East on January 31st. By the time you’re reading this the game has already eclipsed Mario Galaxy’s mediocre Japanese sales. Some of you might look back at Halo 3’s monumental colossal US launch and respond to this with a “meh” but the Brawl sales are quite impressive once you consider that Japan has a much smaller population and that Nintendo only shipped around 800k copies of the mascot-fest. Yes, that means Brawl pretty much sold out its entire week’s stock. Plus, its hype machine didn’t cost $10 million. No, it was a simple, low cost, and effiecient one made up of 30% blog, 10% TV spots and 110% fanboy lust. Yeah, that doesn’t add up but you get the point: Brawl causes nerdgasms.
Much to my delight, Call of Duty 4 managed to drop an airstrike on the competition and top the software sales charts in December. It’s great to see a game get appreciated for its true excellence even though Master Chief casts a large shadow over it. Super Mario Galaxy was happily gobbled up by hungry Wii owners and came in at a respectable second, only seven thousand units behind CoD4. Guitar Hero III continues to sell to the large casual crowd on the PS2 while Wii Play, the John McClane of the 2007 sales charts (it simply refuses to die), makes the top ten once again. The rest is pretty familiar with Halo 3 and Assassin’s Creed selling well, although Mario & Sonic somehow managed to crash the party.
Looking back at 2007 we find that Halo 3 was the best-selling game of the year (no surprises here) followed by Wii Play and CoD4. Again, the remaining cast is quite familiar.
December Software Sales
1.Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) — 1.47m
2.Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) — 1.40m
3.Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) — 1.25m
4. Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) — 1.08m
5.Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360) — 894K
6.Halo 3 (Xbox 360) — 743K
7.Brain Age 2 (DS) — 660K
8.Madden NFL 08 (PS2) — 655K
9.Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) — 625K
10.Mairo & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) — 613K
Software totals for 2007
1. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) — 4.82m
2. Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) — 4.12m
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) — 3.04m
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) — 2.72m
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) — 2.52m
6. Pokémon Diamond (DS) — 2.48m
7. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) — 1.90m
8. Guitar Hero II (PS2) — 1.89m
9. Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360) — 1.87m
10.Mario Party 8 (Wii) — 1.82m
The Nintendo DS is a beast. No, a robeast in fact. It managed to weasel its way to the homes of 2.47 million people in December alone, which is almost as much as the PS3 sold in a year. Scary. It almost doubled the Wii’s numbers, which is saying a lot! The 360 did remarkably well and gave the Wii a good fight, with fists nicknamed Call of Duty and Halo. I’ve got to hand it to Microsoft; with all the hardware failures, bad publicity, and recent Xbox Live issues they still came out of 2007 in excellent shape. Hats off to them. Meanwhile, the PS3 continues to get embarrassed by its older brother as well as the PSP. Hopefully, 2008 will be a different year for them.
December Hardware Sales
DS 2.47M
Wii 1.35M
Xbox 360 1.26M
PS2 1.1M
PSP 1.06M
PS3 797K
Hardware totals for 2007 (life-to-date in parentheses)
DS: 8.50 million (17.65 million)
Wii: 6.29 million (7.38 million)
Xbox 360: 4.62 million (9.15 million)
PS2: 3.97 million (41.12 million)
PSP: 3.82 million (10.47 million)
PS3: 2.56 million (3.25 million)
[Source: GameDaily]
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