Kotaku

inFamous Defeats Prototype in Cross-Dressing Playoff [Medium Risky]

Owen Good — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:00:00 MDT

In a recent Zero Punctuation review, Yahtzee couldn't declare which blockbuster game "about super-powered assholes" was better, but would give the honor to the studio that best drew the rival game's protagonist in drag.

Astoundingly and to their everlasting credit, both Radical and Sucker Punch participated. First up, Radical sent in two submissions, but that monstrosity takes the cake - Cole McGrath with Vegas showgirl peacock tail, a Marilyn Monroe birthmark and ... oh God are his pubes showing? NEXT.

Here's your winner: Alex Mercer, who shapeshifted up some heaving bosoms thanks to Sucker Punch, in a tableau that "could be the cover of a romance novel." Per Yahtzee's award citation:

It's a close call, but I'm going to declare Sucker Punch the winner by one lovingly-rendered pair of breasts. Also their unicorn is a much prouder, mightier steed, and Alex's expression is delightfully coquettish. Therefore InFamous must be the better game. Buy InFamous. Prototype's still good, though. Buy it as well.

Yahtzee's Prototype vs. Infamous Challenge [The Escapist via Joystiq]

Valve: PS3 Orange Box Players "Got the Stepchild Version" [PS3]

Owen Good — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:00:00 MDT

In an interview with CVG, Valve's Doug Lombardi says the experiences of putting Half-Life on PS2 and Orange Box on PS3 have put them off Sony development for the near future.

He doesn't complain about the differences in developing for one console, or PC, over another, but does say the PS3 versions of Valve products have been inferior to the original releases, and so the company's not interested in doing anything on that console again unless and until they can put something out that gives Sony players the same experience as PC and 360 users.

We look at it as if we were customers of this product, how would we want to be treated and what sort of product would we want out of it?

We've run a couple of experiments over the years of PlayStation in general; we did Half-Life on PS2 with an outside company and then we did Orange Box PS3 with an outside company. We weren't able to deliver the same type of product on PS3 and PS2 for that matter that we were on the 360 and PC.

[...]

Until we have the ability to get a PS3 team together, until we find the people who want to come to Valve or who are at Valve who want to work on that, I don't really see us moving to that platform.

We've kind of learned a lesson in that again, if we were customers of that product on PlayStation, we'd feel like we sort of got the stepchild version of the product while the guys on the PC and the 360 got the sweet version of it.

Translated, what it really means is there is no one inside Valve with any interest in PS3 development, and the company on the whole isn't interested in outsourcing any more ports after the experience with The Orange Box on PS3, which suffered some bad load times and framerate issues.

Still No PS3 Interest From Valve [CVG via TheSavePoints, thanks Meredith B.]

Bank Heist Causes Bank Run in EVE Onlne [Eve Online]

Owen Good — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:00:00 MDT

Last month, the swindling of more than 200 billion ISK resulted in an actual run on a virtual bank in EVE Online. The best part? The loot was sold IRL - just $5,000.

No, griefers from Something Awful are not claiming responsibility. Not that any of them would have the patience to play nice long enough to become a controller for EBank. User Ricdic was, and then he took the dough and sold it off, he says in order to place a down payment on a house and pay medical bills.

The heist dwarfs the earlier 100 billion ISK embezzled by an in-game investments manager. But 250 billion ISK was just 8 trillion of 8 percent of the bank's 2.8 trillion held in deposits. Still a tidy sum, but hardly the whole kitty. That didn't stop EVE Ebankers from rushing the teller windows once word passed of Ricdic's dirty deeds.

He has since been kicked out of EVE, as selling in-game currency for real-world value is a no-no according to the TOS. Had he kept the ISK in-game, he would not have been sanctioned - by CCP anyway. In-game depositors may have had something to say and/or do about it.

Billions Stolen in Online Robbery [BBC]

Donkey Kong Easter Egg Discovered 26 Years Later [Easter Eggs]

Owen Good — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:00:00 MDT

Last year, the coder who wrote the Atari 400 port of Donkey Kong revealed it had an Easter Egg but it's "totally not worth it." Someone has gone to the trouble of finding it.

Donkey Kong for the Atari 400 and 800 was one of the best early ports of an arcade game, and its writer, Landon Dyer, detailed how he built it practically by himself, with no support, reference code, or anything one would expect in a licensing deal. He also revealed the existence of the Easter egg, but incorrectly described how to get it ("something like: Die on the 'sandpile' level with 3 lives and the score over 7,000," he writes.)

Don Hodges, who earlier fixed Pac-Man's notorious kill screen, set to picking apart the Donkey Kong code and finding the egg. He did. It's rather underwhelming, but for posterity's sake, he found the conditions for achieving it.

• Play a game, setting a new high score that is either 37,000, 73,000 or 77,000. The digits for hundred thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones may be anything.
• Kill off all of your remaining lives, but your last death must be by falling.

• Then set the game difficulty to 4 (press the option button 3 times.)

• Wait for the game to cycle through the demo screen where Kong jumps across the screen, then at the title screen, the programmer's initials, LMD, will appear. (Pictured above)

That is a set of conditions so specific I can't imagine anyone discovering the egg without prying apart the code, much less knowing how to repeat it. Hodges shows how he found it in the code, using an emulator.

I think the only question remaining is why Dyer made the egg so hard to discover. Certainly other Atari-programmed games of the time had Easter eggs that were not only easier to find, their methods were widely known and circulated.

Donkey Kong Lays an Easter Egg [donhodges.com via Game Set Watch]

Weekend Coupons: Self-Evident Truths [New Deals]

Owen Good — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:00:00 MDT

We solemnly publish and declare that this weekend, all games are, and of right ought to be, free. Alas they are not. Scan the following for values to which you may pledge your fortunes.

Software
• Gears of War 2 is out there for $37 (free shipping eligible) via Amazon.com. That's only $3 off the current MSRP, but make sure if you're going out to buy it in person, you're not paying more than $39.99 [Amazon]

• If you're a PC gamer and you haven't yet tried Fallout 3, this weekend removes your excuses. Steam's offering it at half off, $25. It's a bargain when you consider what you spend each month on online porn, come on! OK, poor choice of words. [Steam]

• GoGamer's latest 48-Hour Madness has deals on 360 controllers, NCAA 10, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, BlazBlue and others. Don't take notes, just go here and see if they have what you want. [GoGamer]

• Is there a better value than free? This weekend only, Sega is offering Columns Deluxe for the iPhone and iPod Touch, free through the Apple Store. [Sega]

• Stardock's digital distributor Impulse is offering a Red Faction Bundle - $40 gets you Red Faction 1, 2 and Guerrilla. Other features include Prototype for $45, Flock for $7.50 and a slew of Unreals, ranging from Gold and II for $7.49 to a $34 pack of all of them [Impulse]

• Digital distro GamersGate has these three specials throughout the weekend - Today: Men of War, 60 percent off; Sunday: Arena Wars Reloaded, 50 percent off; Monday: Painkiller Universe, 50 percent off [GamersGate]

As always, smart gamers can find values any day of the week, so if you've run across a deal, share it with us in the comments.

Kotaku Originals: Hot Fun in the Summertime [Kotaku Originals]

Owen Good — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:00:00 MDT

This will be the first time I've ever worked on Crecentral Time, as I'm in Colorado hanging with Kotaku alum Adam Barenblat for the weekend. It's also a shortened two days thanks to July 4.

But to everyone who might be kicking back, lighting up and/or grilling out this weekend - Francophones, we realize you're waiting on Bastille Day - we start with a roundup of our reporting highlights, led by the Summer of Gaming package. McMike also got a look inside Blizzard and Starcraft.

Hey, wasn't Frank O'Phone a reliever for the New York Mets? I digress. The week in original coverage.

Summer of Gaming
Sink Or Swim? The Game Designer's Conundrum
Kotaku's 2009 Summer Reading List
Kotaku's Summer of Gaming

Blizzard/Starcraft
No LAN Play For Starcraft II
Three Things We Weren't Allowed To Photograph At Blizzard HQ
Ogle Blizzard HQ's Epically Mounted Orc
StarCraft II Beta Planned To Last 4 To 6 Months
What's Inside Blizzard's Library?
StarCraft II Hands-On: Round Three

Features
How To Name A Video Game Studio - And Hopefully Get It Right
In Defense Of The Classic Controller

Previews, Reviews, Hands-On and Impressions
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Review: Clench The Difference
Battlefield Heroes Review: The Great (Cartoon) War
Frankenreview: The Conduit
Mecho Wars Micro-Review: Landians Versus Wingians... Really?
Sony Expands "Official Licensing Program"
Let's Take A PlayStation Home Survey!
Captain Blood Preview: Errol Flynn He Ain't - But He'll Do
Dreamkiller Impressions: "Emotional Painkiller" Doesn't Sound As Cool
The Conduit Review: A Bland, But Enjoyable Shooter
Death To Spies 2: Moment of Truth Preview: SMERSH is a fun word to say
Bit.Trip: Core Preview: Thumb-Aching Good Fun
Gunstar Heroes Micro-Review: The Perfect Shot
MySims Agents Preview: Spy vs. Sims
Fight Night Round 4 Review: Boxing Beautiful

Rumor
Foot Controlled Silver Surfer Game?

News
PS3 Bundle Includes MGS4, Killzone 2

Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma Premium Box Pack Premium Price
How Many Hours People Play Nintendo's Wii Games (Sorry, Donkey Kong)
Square Enix Brings Hammer Down On French Retailer
Midway Sale To WB Clears Court, Staff At Two Studios Given Notice
Grand Theft IV Auto Goes Discount In Japan
Xbox 360 Game Creation Tool Kodu Now Live - Got Any Ideas?
Dave Perry: How Gaikai Goes Beyond OnLive, Could Spread Gaming Everywhere
Square Enix Mystery Solved - The Four Warriors Of Light
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Dated And Detailed For Japan
Damnation Developers Laid Off
Nintendo Patents WarioWare Take On Othello
Carmack: Just About Everything id Makes Coming To iPhone
Doom Resurrection: The iPhone Game That Nearly Wasn't
Would Natal Enable User-Generated Mo-Cap?

Kotaku Reader
K6

Swag and Toys
Wish I Had A Record Player
Kotaku Kard Man
Check Out This Awesome Akuma Statue

At the Half
2009 Is Half-Done: What's Been Great So Far?

Facts and Figures
How Many Hours People Play Each Wii Sonic Game, Music Games Too
The Ten Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of July 1)

What's you favourite intro. to a game? Not ... [From Comments]

Rhys — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:48:16 MDT

What's you favourite intro. to a game? Not just the opening cut scene but the very first bit of gameplay where you know "this is where it starts."

I've been playing Oblivion and Fallout 3 lately and the first part of those games is just great. I love the whole, "emerging into a huge, unknown world" thing they've got going.

Tecmo Koei: Xbox 360 Is Doing "Well" In Japan [Japan]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:30:00 MDT

Remember when the Xbox 360 launched in Japan? Boy, that was embarrassing! Microsoft has turned things around of late and found a small degree of success in the region.

"Xbox 360 as a business is doing better than the old Xbox," Tecmo Koei boss Kenji Matsubara tells game site Kikizo. "They have a good opportunity for growth, but of course Sony is a Japanese company and Microsoft is known as a business software company, so brand image is one point."

Matsubara adds that "Microsoft is doing well" — especially in regards to how difficult the game market is these days.

"I think they have good growth potential for the future depending on the titles," he says. "We have a close relationship with Microsoft so I hope we can be a part of that."

Interview: Tecmo Koei CEO, Kenji Matsubara [Kikizo]

Designing BioShock 2's Little Sisters [Bioshock]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:00 MDT

Like they did with the Big Daddies, 2K have released some concept art for BioShock's tiniest denizens, the Little Sisters.

Unlike the first lot, which showed the initial designs for the original Big Daddies, these show how 2K Marin - the developers working on the sequel - have gone about depicting the Little Sisters for the second game. And they look...well, pretty much identical. Which I guess was the point!

She doesn't look mean. She just looks like she needs a nap.

Tecmo Koei Boss: PS3 Price Cut Plskthx [Business]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:30:00 MDT

While not as belligerent as Activision's calls, newly-merged company Tecmo Koei would still like Sony to cut the price of the PS3. And are asking them publicly to do just that.

Speaking with CVG, CEO Kenji Matsubara has said "Whenever I discuss this with Sony reps I always ask them: 'Please cut the price', but I don't have a clear view on Sony's situation".

Yes you do, you're just having a whinge. Maybe you should ask "when is the PS3 slim" coming instead?

Tecmo Koei: "Please cut the price" of PS3 [CVG]

Better Look At Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver Pre-Order Schwag [Pokemon]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:00:00 MDT

July 4 isn't only Independence Day, it's also the day pre-orders for Pokeémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver. We previously posted a blurry magazine scan of the pre-order goodies, and here's a crystal clear pic.

In Japan, those pre-ordering Heart Gold will get a Ho-Oh figure, and those pre-odering Soul Silver will get a Lugia. Pre-order both, and you'll get a Arceus figure. The games are bundled with a pedometer.

Heart Gold and Soul Silver are DS remakes of Pokémon Gold/Silver and are slated for release this fall.

Japanese Games Market Down A Whopping 25% [Japan]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:30:00 MDT

Publisher/market research firm Enterbrain this week released some sales data for the Japanese market. And the data is not good.

From a period roughly running from January 2009 to the end of June, hardware sales in Japan were down around 28% from the same time last year. The drop in software sales wasn't quite as bad, but it was still pretty bad, with game sales down 22%. That averages out to roughly a 25% drop in the total market.

To some degree, this is down to the same reason the Western market is down: the first half of 2008 saw some big, big games (like Smash Bros.), which 2009's lineup has failed to match.

That explains a drop, yes, but not such a severe drop. For a few years now Japan's love affair with Nintendo has been the only thing propping up an industry on the slide; now that Wii sales are beginning to slow, things are starting to look grim, to the point where you've got to wonder how much of an impact games like FFXIII and Dragon Quest IX are going to have on the overall figures.

09年上半期の国内家庭用ゲーム市場、24％減の2189億円 [ITMedia]

A Week In Comments [Hyper Multi-tap]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:00:00 MDT

The Great Xbox 360 Robbery
Comment by: The Swearing Gramps
Nominated by: Mr Pappzy lurves Orange Soda

Don't worry. Microsoft will get em all back within a year or so.

Hey Americans, Why The BBQ? Why? Why? Why?
Comment by: monkeysaresilly
Nominated by: (Zombie) Jolan

I doubt there was any actual symbolism with the cookout. Can you imagine Franklin and Jefferson hanging out, having their slaves slather ribs with some secret Liberty sauce, going,
"I do say Benjamin, this meat is delectable! Note how the tomato-based marinade perfectly symbolizes the blood shed from our fallen brothers in the great fight for freedom. We roast it, just as we *fired* upon our hated redcoat rivals!"
"You're an idiot, Tom."

President of Russia in Erotic Game
Comment by: Leave it to Japan to come up with craaazy ideas. A woman president.
Nominated by: Dangeresque the Observer

Leave it to Japan to come up with craaazy ideas.

A woman president.

Toast Your Cursed Existence With The Legendary Lich King Stein
Comment by: The most ornate container you will ever pee into because you couldn't abandon your raid.
Nominated by: svenhoek: Still Happy Pitt Won!

The most ornate container you will ever pee into because you couldn't abandon your raid.

Congrats! You Win An Xbox 360 With A Messed Up Slot
Comment by: zach a mac rack alack
Nominated by: (Zombie) Jolan

Well, Molyneux had to exaggerate it somehow, and in this case it was the functionality.

Video Game Question For The Advice Columnist
Comment by: Southrncomfortjm
Nominated by: NeoStarr

Here's what you do: you ask the kid (1) what he learned at school that day and then you ask him (2) what he learned at his friends house. If the answer to (1) is "nothing" and (2) is "how to get a prostitute to blow me and then get my money back without the cops catching me" then you *might* have a problem. However if answers to both (1) and (2) are "nothing" then you have a perfectly normal boy.

Want to nominate comments? Send to tips any insightful or funny comments you read from other commenters. (Read: NOT YOURSELF). Be sure to include the post's URL, the commenter's page, the actual comment and your commenter page.

Here's a handy guide to commenting. Read it, learn it, live it, love it.

LittleBigPlanet: We're Ready To Believe You [Lbp]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:30:00 MDT

Not much of a teaser this, is it? Unless there's some obscure British pop culture icon that also says "who ya gonna call?" we're somehow not aware of, it's pretty clear we'll soon be getting some Ghostbusters DLC for LBP.

Cuddly proton packs? Big-eyed slimer? The chance to create a level where Janine is brought together with her true love, Egon Spengler? We'd like all of those things. Those and the revelation that the "Sacktue of Liberty" can carry four sackboys in its head, and stomp around a level to Jackie Wilson.

Do You Game During National Holidays? [Tell Us Dammit]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:00:00 MDT

Hi. How are you? I'm fine, thank you. And you?

Today, right now at this very moment, it's Friday. Can you feel it? That means one thing and only one thing: It's time time to talk. Let's TUD it up, you and me and that guy over there. Together.

This is TELL US DAMMIT. What is TELL US DAMMIT? This is TELL US DAMMIT.

Here's how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn't some marketing survey or whatever. It's an emotional investment in you. Yes, we're interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person.

You probably know oodles about us - more than you even want to, we're sure. But, hey, we'd like to know about you. That way you won't be some faceless blob - and we might feel a tinge of guilt when we ban ya. Or not, because really we're incapable of human emotion.

Question: Do you game during national holidays?

PS3 Bundle Includes MGS4, Killzone 2 [PS3]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:00:00 MDT

Normally, hardware bundles are a spotty affair. A game you don't really want, or two games, one you kinda want, one you just do not want. But this bundle, on sale at Best Buy next Sunday, looks great!

Sent in by a Best Buy employee, and confirmed by other BB employees, it's an 80GB PS3 bundled with copies of two of the biggest games on the system: Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2. All that for the asking price of a standard PS3, $400.

It's one hell of a bundle. It's like getting a Wii with Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy, or a 360 with Gears 2 and Halo 3. But perhaps more importantly, it's also one hell of a saving; perhaps Best Buy need to clear out their stock of 80GB PS3s for oh, I don't know, a new PS3?

It's EGM, But Not As You Know It [Kotaku Magu]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:00:00 MDT

Electronic Gaming Monthly died, then was risen. But when it makes its eventual return, it won't be in any form, shape or guise you're used to.

Owner Steve Harris says:

First and foremost, we're planning to incorporate digital content within the magazine. This includes professionally-produced video, audio and other types of content. We're also going to make this content fully transportable. ... There's now a heightened consumer interest in the transportability of information and using applications to do things like read content on an iPhone. We benefit not only from the technology but from the consumer's willingness to use it. The new Electronic Gaming Monthly will let you take your magazine and its content from print to computer to wireless devices — even to your television — as well as enable subscribers and single-copy purchasers to enhance that experience every step of the way. We are embracing that reality [and] will enable it and encourage it.

So you pay for the "mag", and in return receive content that can be read (or watched, or listened to) across multiple formats. Interesting. Very interesting.

Big Hints at EGM's Future [Bitmob]

Blockbuster's Top Ten Selling New Video Games Includes... Haze? [Blockbusters]

Brian Crecente — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:30:00 MDT

Maybe it's because I don't really read newspapers anymore. Maybe it's that I just never noticed it. But I didn't realize that like the New York Times, Blockbuster has gotten into the bestsellers business.

Leafing through the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune this morning I stumbled across a page dedicated to video games. The Game Dork page included a review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10, a used game of the week, a new and coming soon section and a list of the Top 10 best-selling new games, as tracked by Blockbuster.

I'm a bit surprised that Blockbuster and not Gamestop is providing the list for new game sales, but here goes:

1. Ghostbusters: The Video Game for Xbox 360
2. Ghostbusters: The Video Game for PS3
3. Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360
4. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for Xbox 360
5. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for Wii
6. Mario Super Sluggers for Wii
7. EA Sports Active for Wii
8. Wii Play for Wii
9. Haze for PS3
10. Ghostbusters: The Video Game for Wii.

I leave you with this thought: Haze? Are you freakin' kidding me???

Gears of War In Red And Blue Bronze [Comic Con 2009]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:00:00 MDT

Via the Mindzeye Studios comes these three 12 inch tall Gears of War bronze collector's statues of a Boomer, Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago.

All three are limited to a production run of one hundred and priced at US$125. The statues are cast in bronze — bronze is heavy! For example, the Boomer weighs a whopping 11 pounds!

All three are Comic-Con 2009 exclusives.

Exclusives! [Comic-Con Thanks, Matthew!]

Tim Schafer's Brutal Legend Intro Walkthrough [Clips]

Brian Crecente — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:30:00 MDT

In this set of videos Tim Schafer provides a sort of director's commentary for the beginning of his upcoming Brutal Legend.

Packed from beginning to end with spoilers, I'd suggest giving it a pass if you want your Legend experience to be virginal.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Review: Clench The Difference [Review]

Mike Fahey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:00 MDT

Getting the most out of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen requires a steady hand, a keen eye, and the ass muscles of an Olympic athlete.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an action adventure game based on the movie of the same name, telling the story of the return of Megatron and the rise of an even more diabolical enemy from the dawn of time. After a sub-par product from Traveller's Tales for the first film, Activision handed over development duties for the sequel to California-based Luxoflux, the team behind the video game adaptation of Kung Fu Panda. While the new developer brings much to the table, including robust multiplayer on top of the required single player mode, certain aspects of the game are a real pain in the ass.

Let's tense up and roll out!

Loved
Big, Beautiful Bots: No matter what my opinion might be on the Michael Bay-bots versus the more traditional designs, I have to admit that Luxoflux has done an admirable job of recreating the movie machines for the video game adaptation. The developer knows this, kicking off every mission with a crane shot of your character so you can appreciate all the work that went into creating him before the firefight begins.

Heavy Metal Combat: Revenge of the Fallen does an admirable job of depicting giant-robot-on-giant-robot combat. Bullets, missiles, and fists all pack a seriously satisfying punch, and each robot has a different set of ranged weapons and special abilities than makes going back through missions with different characters to try and top your score a worthwhile endeavor. The combat may not be perfect, but it works for me.

Pimping Your Rides: An upgrade system allows you to convert Energon based on how well you complete your mission objectives into power enhancements for your entire team. The selection of upgrade choices is a bit strange – you can power up your melee damage but not your ranged, for instance – but the system does allow for the player to tweak their abilities based on how they prefer to play.

Massive and Multiplayer: Many licensed games are developed with single player in mind, tacking on a multiplayer component at the last minute to add to the feature listing on the back of the box. It feels as if Luxoflux reversed that trend, creating an enjoyable multiplayer experience and then adding the story mode as an afterthought. The multiplayer mode contains more characters (with more on the way in the form of DLC) and quite frankly more excitement than the single player experience. Sure, you'll have to deal with listening to a bunch of early teen boys cussing up a storm…I guess that really isn't that much different than any other online console game.

Unlockables: Despite the fact that I already own all of them on DVD, the unlockable episodes of the original television series may have contributed somewhat to the relative lateness of this review. Just saying.

Hated
Triggered Transformation: Luxoflux has managed to take the one aspect of the Transformers that every other Transformers game has gotten right, and do it wrong. Press a button, and you're a car. Easy, right? Instead, the developers map transforming to the right trigger. Squeeze the trigger and you are a vehicle, with the amount of pressure you apply affecting your speed. Release the trigger and you are a robot. It's the mechanical equivalent of clenching your ass cheeks, and while the special moves you can perform when popping out of vehicle mode can make the release somewhat enjoyable, all in all it's just embarrassing.

We'll Call Them Vehicle Physics: Revenge of the Fallen plays fast and loose with its vehicle physics. Ground-based vehicles aren't so bad, with physics akin to your more arcadey racing games. Flying vehicles, on the other hand, are simply sad. Planes bounce off buildings in comical fashion, and maneuverability is quite limited, with even the simplest of aerial maneuvers out of reach thanks to the simplistic controls. Perhaps it is a matter of game play balance, but car should never be able to keep pace with a jet. An airplane moving at 60 miles per hour is an airplane on the ground.

Welcome To Dullsville: I suppose if I our planet actually did have giant robots doing battle in the streets on a regular basis, we'd probably pack up all of our interesting scenery and leave town as well. While the robots in Revenge of the Fallen look spectacular, the environments simply feel like a collection of random structures with different skins on them, which I suppose is what they are. There's just no real character to the setting.

The Story Unfolding: I somehow managed to avoid seeing the film before playing the game, which might be why the story feels like a disjointed series of occurrences rather than a full, compelling narrative. Balancing telling the tale of the game while trying not to delve to deeply into the plot of a film is a tricky maneuver, and one Luxoflux didn't manage to pull off gracefully.

Required Missions: Sam has been whisked away to a far off land where he could be in great danger! We should rescue him, but first, we need to clear the Decepticons out of one particular area, because we haven't unlocked the rescuing Sam mission yet. Unlocking missions in Revenge of the Fallen requires that you complete a certain number of missions previously, which leads to telling your best human buddy to cool his jets while you rescue generic power plant A and B from the enemy.

Of all of the failings of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the transformation feature is the most damning. It's the main focus of the property, and it deserves to be done correctly. Perhaps my main issue is that you can't simply transform and then pan around the vehicle, admiring the details. Instead, triggering a transformation also triggers movement, so you never get the chance. Instead of alternate modes, they are simply travel forms that disappear when they come to a stop. Call me crazy, but I'd just prefer a Transformers game where I can press a button once and BAM - I'm a Camaro.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an odd title that manages to succeed in categories that licensed games generally fail, while floundering in areas that should have been easy to get right. It's a movie tie-in that excels at multiplayer yet flails where the actual story is concerned. I'd use the term ass-backwards, but those muscles need a little rest.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on June 23rd. Different versions from different developers exist for the Nintendo DS, PSP, PS2, Wii, and PC. Retails for $59.99 USD. Reviewed the Xbox 360 version. Played through Autobot and Decepticon story modes to completion, and played multiple multiplayer matches across all game types.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma Premium Box Pack Premium Price [Tecmo]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:30:00 MDT

Ninja Gaiden Σ 2 has been dated for Japan. Here are details about the ¥9,980 (US$104) Premium Box.

It includes a soundtrack CD, an original accessory set and a special sleeve. Those who pre-order can get a "Starter Set" that includes a Ninja Gaiden guide book.

How Dead Space Extraction Controls On Wii, With Side-Shooting Twist [Clips]

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:00:43 MDT

The Wii's September 29 prequel to last year's Dead Space has a control scheme EA's Visceral Games couldn't put on an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. A new EA trailer shows how it works.

Dead Space Extraction will be out September 29. As you watch, remember, EA calls this a "guided first-person experience." Different platform. Different style of game. Do you like what you see?

What Are You Playing This Weekend? [Lazy Sundays]

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:30:00 MDT

Most of my weekend will be spent playing a little real-life Tetris, as I attempt to find open slots for all the boxes, furniture and knickknacks still in boxes from the Kotaku Towers West relocation endeavor.

First thing I'll be playing in the virtual world this weekend is the iPhone version of Doom: Resurrection, in anticipation of an upcoming review. Probably should update the firmware on that thing so I'm up to speed on all my iPhone needs. I'll also be giving BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger another crack, once the TV, Xbox 360 and all necessary audio-visual equipment is hooked up.

This weekend, I'll also more than likely be picking some games to sell off and give away. There are a half-dozen Sega Saturn games—Shining Force III, Guardian Heroes, Burning Rangers—that will get more use at someone else's house.

What will you be playing this American holiday weekend?

Alpha Protocol Hits Oct. 6 [Sega]

Brian Crecente — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:00 MDT

Spy role-playing game Alpha Protocol will be hitting the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on Oct. 6, according to Sega.

I took the game for a spin during the lead up to E3 and was quite impressed with how well the game blended the best elements of shooter, action and adventure. I'm hoping my time playing the final game will live up to my new, heightened expectations.

How To Name A Video Game Studio — And Hopefully Get It Right [Feature]

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:00:00 MDT

The decision to give something a name, whether that be your struggling rock band, your first dog, your only child, or your game development studio is no simple task. For better or worse, you might be stuck with it.

Names carry weight. They give a group of people and the products they create an identity. For companies like Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sega and others, those names are associated with memories, even if those words have little meaning.

Sega, for example, is simply a portmanteau of the words "service" and "games." Nintendo, officially, a direct translation from the Japanese to mean "leave luck to heaven." And Sony, well, that's a fabricated word, a twist on the Latin word "sonus" and the familiar "sonny."

But how did video game developers decide upon the likes of Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Harmonix, and the recently re-christened Visceral Games? And what the heck is a Capybara, anyway? We asked game development studio founders to explain themselves.

The studio that started us wondering just how one settles on an identity was the young Capybara Games, a Toronto-based independent group of initially a dozen game developers. The team most recently had a double showing at E3 2009, with Critter Crunch for the PlayStation Network and Might & Magic Clash of Heroes for the Nintendo DS.

The studio is named for the world's largest rodent, the capybara, a relative of the guinea pig that can weigh more than 200 pounds. How exactly does one decide to identify oneself with a giant South American mammal?

"Unfortunately, with 12 very different opinions on what makes a cool name, coming to a unanimous decision was impossible," Nathan Vella, Capybara co-founder and Art Director said. "We bitched at each other for far too long before deciding on a fair and democratic process. Names of varying quality, from ‘surprisingly awesome' to ‘literally the worst name ever' were tossed out by members of the group, and each person chose their Top 3 from the pool."

No one, however, decided the name "Capybara" was "surprisingly awesome."

"In the end, Capybara was unanimously everyone's second or third choice… and so it won the name election," Vella said. "It was the name everyone thought was 'ok' but didn't really want to win. That's democracy for you... you're not picking the best, you're picking the least-worst."

There was an unintended metaphor in Capybara's "least-worst" choice, Vella says.

"At this point we had not yet realized the irony or accuracy that we were naming our 'guinea pig' of a company after the world's largest guinea pig. In hindsight we totally should have caught on to that earlier."

The developer informally calls itself Capy, as seen in its logo. But it employs a "modern day mustache hero" known as Hank Hudson as its official mascot, not a capybara—though Vella jokes it has flirted with taking an Argentinean agency up on its offer to open a capybara farm.

Another developer that didn't go with its first choice for a studio name was Resistance and Ratchet & Clank developers Insomniac Games.

Before the Burbank, California area developer shipped its first game—the first-person shooter Disruptor for the original PlayStation—it went by a trio of other names: Planet X Software, Outzone Software and Xtreme Software. That last name almost stuck, as the company had already incorporated itself as Xtreme prior to announcing Disruptor. Then it found out someone else, a database company, was already using it.

"We only had a few weeks to come up with something new," says Ted Price, president of what we now call Insomniac Games. "So we hung a whiteboard in the office and began writing down everything we could think of. There must have been 200 names on the list."

Some of the rejects? Ragnarok, Black Sun, Ice-9 Games and Blue Moon Turtle.

"Seriously, Blue Moon Turtle," Price admitted. "However, every name we liked was already being used by someone else. We actually got permission from Kurt Vonnegut's estate to use Ice-9 but someone else was already using it without permission."

Faced with the prospect of launching Disruptor anonymously, a last minute suggestion arrived—Insomniac.

"It was one of those rare moments when everyone looked at each other and said 'Yeah, that works,'" according to Price. "It definitely described us at the time. We sure weren't sleeping much."

From our discussions with game development studio founders, it seems like the best piece of advice they can impart about naming one's studio is to check early (and often) to see if someone else is using your descriptor of choice.

Such is the case with Harmonix, creators of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and, when it first formed, "music software technology."

Eran Egozy, Harmonix co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, says that he and general manager Alex Rigopulos debated over a key aspect of the developer's name, whether to spell it Harmonics or Harmonix.

"The 'ix' ending won," Egozy says. "Hey, it was the mid-90s." To be clear, the company's full name is, in Egozy's words, the "somewhat awkward" Harmonix Music Systems.

"Unfortunately, we did not check to see that harmonix.com was already taken when we named the company," Egozy says. "So our domain name is harmonixmusic.com. If we had checked, maybe the company would be called something else now."

One video game maker that did get an opportunity to change its identity was Dead Space and Dante's Inferno developer Visceral Games, once known by the more sterile EA Redwood Shores or, unfortunately and informally, EARS.

Glen Schofield, general manager of the newly re-branded Visceral Games explains.

"There were a bunch of names we threw away," he says, culling hundreds of ideas and concepts solicited from Redwood Shores team members. "I got tons of great ones but I really wanted a name that had a real meaning for our studio. Visceral just worked perfect as it is a term we use all the time to describe the feeling we want in our combat. It captured our more mature or action type games we make."

The developer's very web site is behind an age-gate, highlighting its mature focus.

The name change had support from the top, with president of EA Games label Frank Gibeau and CEO John Riccitiello supporting a more autonomous model, already seen at individually named EA developers like Criterion, BioWare and Pandemic.

"They welcomed the idea of studios having a distinct identity," Schofield says. "Once I mentioned it to Frank he kept asking me when we were announcing the name. He wanted it changed right away, it was pretty funny. But obviously once you have a name you then have months of creative and legal wrangling before you can go live with it."

Visceral's coming out party, as it were, was a little different from start up studios who sometimes choose their names under the gun. It had time to plan, hire an outside brand agency, and build a style guide for the new identity. Then it went public with a studio-wide meeting, press release, site launch and a tasty visceral treat.

"We painted the walls and hung up mounted artwork from our games," Schofield says. "We had posters, decals and a shirt for everyone. There was even a huge Visceral skull cake waiting. It's the only time we've ever had to have a cake maker sign an NDA!"

And that was that. "When the meeting was over the entire place was now changed and we were ready to move on as Visceral Games."

That sense of identity is something that Uncharted developers Naughty Dog share, with employees (positively) referred to as "the Dogs." The explanation for that choice is much simpler than some of the other stories we'd heard.

The company, formerly known as JAM—hey, it was the mid-80s—when it shipped its first game Ski Crazed for the Apple II, was changed to Naughty Dog the next decade. Founders Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin were "dog lovers," with Rubin often taking his puppy to work.

That continues today, with current co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra giving their dogs a second home at the Naughty Dog offices.

And the names of their dogs? Pogo and Trumpet. How those names came to be, we'll just have to wonder.

[Photo Credit]

First Dante's Inferno Gameplay Footage [Clips]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:30:00 MDT

So Dante's Inferno is "EA does God of War". Doesn't bother us. Dead Space was "EA does Resident Evil", and it was great. These are the same guys, we expect the same results.

There Are "A Lot Of Factors" For Borderlands Demo [Gearbox]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:00:00 MDT

Trying before you buy. You might not be able to do that with upcoming multi-platform shooter Borderlands.

According to Gearbox's Mikey Neumann, "We talk about a demo every day. We would love to do a demo. There's obviously factors there. If and when we do one, I don't know if it'd be pre-launch or post-launch, because ...there's a lot of factors there."

There are a lot of factors? There must be — Neumann said that twice.

"We would love to promise a demo, we can't quite yet, we just want to get the game done," he adds. "That's always the hardest thing for developers to do—you never quite know how the time's going to work out. We're doing really well, but I can't promise it."

Borderlands will be out this October.

Borderlands Interview: Gearbox's 'Games Are Fun' Epiphany and Why It's Already Thinking DLC [ShackNews]

Eat Up This God Eater Trailer [Clips]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:30:00 MDT

Namco Bandai's God Eater is coming to Japanese PSPs this fall, and it still really looks like Monster Hunter, giant swords and giant monsters and all.

Sesame Street Says Video Games Are OK [Research]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:00:00 MDT

We're not normally in need of celebrity endorsement of our entertainment medium of choice. But when it's Big Bird, Grover and Oscar the Grouch singing gaming's praises, we'll take it.

Game Changer, a report issued by the Joan Ganz Clooney Center from the Sesame Workshop, basically says that governments, the healthcare industry and schools should be spending less time hating on video games and their negative effects, and instead be conducting research into their positive effects on kids.

The report says that games can not only be educational, but in this day and age, active as well, meaning they can be used everywhere from a history classroom to a PE class.

Of course, the entire point of the Joan Ganz Clooney Center is to "foster innovation in children's learning through digital media", so it's to be expected they're pro-gaming. Still. Agenda or no agenda, we're 100% behind anything scientific that can even remotely be associated with a green man that lives in a giant trash can.

Grover, Elmo give video games the thumbs up [The Cut Scene]

Get Some Russian In Your Independence Day [Men Of War: Red Tide]

AJ Glasser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:30:00 MDT

War movies, games and books are a great way to reinforce patriotism on Independence Day; so here's a trailer for a World War II game... that happens to be Russian.

Men of War: Red Tide is a standalone expansion to the March 2009 PC realtime strategy game, Men of War. The game puts players in the shoes of the Black Coats — special Soviet forces that fought a ton of battles along shorelines during WWII. There are 23 missions in the game featuring Soviet, German, Italian and Romanian forces and a ton of military units at the player's disposal like tanks, armored cars, bombers, gunboats and other things that go boom.

This Independence Day... say it with Soviet Russia.

Yup, Looks Like There'll Be A Skate 3 [Rumor]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:00:00 MDT

Sounds like EA are already hard at work on Skate 3. Not the most shocking thing you'll read today, since it is an EA title, but still, it's a great series, so news of more games is always welcome.

Schmitty, from Skate website Epicly Trife, has posted on his Twitter account "I just got told 'tonight we gotta celebrate', one of the bro's got offered to be in SKATE 3". Which reader Ultimate Russ, who first spotted the news, deduces to be skater Chet Childress.

We're cool with a third Skate, on one condition: it has another overblown, live-action intro.

As with all rumours, we've contacted EA. Will let you know if we hear back.

Cute, Fighting And Totally Free [Clips]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:30:00 MDT

Vanguard Princess is a totally moe old school freeware 2D fighter from developer Tomoaki Sugeno. Who's he? Apparently an ex-Capcom employee.

The game can be downloaded here. Enjoy!

生存確認 [Sugeno's Blog via Canned Dogs]

How Many Hours People Play Nintendo's Wii Games (Sorry, Donkey Kong) [Nintendo]

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 MDT

Never mind what's at the bottom of this barrel, here's a list of 29 Wii games from Nintendo and the amount of hours people play them, per gamer.

(The following stats are pulled from the usage data shared by more than two million Wii users through the system's Nintendo Channel. For more information about how we calculate these total playtimes, check out this week's earlier Wii stats post)

Average Per-Gamer Playing Time For Nintendo's First-Party Wii Games (as of July 1)
(Release Dates in Parentheses)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (March 2008) — 68 hours, 51 minutes
Animal Crossing: City Folk (November 2008) — 54 hours, 16 minutes
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn (November 2007) – 46 hours, 40 minutes
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (November 2006) — 46 hours, 9 minutes
Wii Sports (November 2006) — 35 hours, 47 minutes
Mario Kart Wii (April 2008) – 31 hours, 40 minutes
Super Mario Galaxy (November 2007) — 27 hours, 37 minutes
Super Paper Mario (April 2007) — 24 hours, 13 minutes
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (August 2007) 21 hours, 37 minutes
Mario Party 8 (May 2007) — 20 hours, 39 minutes
Pokemon Battle Revolution (June 2007) — 20 hours, 2 minutes
Wii Fit (May 2008) — 18 hours, 18 minutes
Mario Super Sluggers (August 2008) — 17 hours, 39 minutes
Excite Truck – (November 2006) 12 hours, 39 minutes
Battalion Wars 2 (October 2007) — 12 hours, 23 minutes
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (January 2007) — 11 hours, 39 minutes
Excitebots: Trick Racing (April 2009) – 10 hours 56 minutes
Wii Play (February 2007) — 10 hours, 7 minutes
New Play Control! Pikmin (March 2009) – 9 hours, 44 minutes
Endless Ocean (January 2008) — 9 hours, 41 minutes
Wii Music (October 2008) — 9 hours, 17 minutes
Wario Land: Shake It! (September 2008) — 8 hours, 47 minutes
Punch-Out!! (May 2009) – 7 hours, 55 minutes
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (June 2007) — 6 hours, 56 minutes
Mario Strikers Charged (July 2007) — 6 hours, 18 minutes
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (March 2009) – 6 hours, 14 minutes
Link's Crossbow Training (November 2007) - 4 hours, 55 minutes
Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (October 2007) — 4 hours, 41 minutes
New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (May 2009) – No Data Listed

The Characters of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles [Clips]

Brian Crecente — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:30:00 MDT

This new look at Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles gives us a better sense of all of the characters appearing in the game.

We also get yet another chance to see how they handi-cam look and feel of the game help to highlight the tension in the game.

Battlefield Heroes Review: The Great (Cartoon) War [Review]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:00:00 MDT

EA have really got behind the whole "free to play" thing of late, announcing it'll form the basis of future Tiger Woods and Need for Speed titles. The first such game to test those waters, however, is Battlefield Heroes.

The premise is simple: take Battlefield, then make it absolutely free to play, by stripping some elements out and reserving them for paying customers, while supporting the whole thing via front-end advertising.

Such a move is like walking a knife's edge. Make too much free and there's no point running it as a product. Make too much paid content and you'll piss people off who want to play for free.

Question is, then, can Battlefield Heroes manage to walk that line?

LOVED
War Is Not Hell, It Is Gorgeous: Battlefield Heroes' design initially drew "TF2 clone" accusations, but those are unfounded. This game has a look all of its own, part Max Headroom, part, well, Wind Waker. It's charming, it's attractive. Even the theme song is catchy, and we haven't stopped whistling it all week long.

Learner's Permit: Being a Battlefield title, vehicular control is a big part of whether the game succeeds or fails, and Battlefield Heroes manages just fine. Land vehicles are quick and responsive (the tank's power has been reduced in exchange for added speed), while planes can even be controlled semi-successfully with a mouse.

Money Can't Buy You…Poisoned Knives: Had EA restricted certain special powers and weapons to paying customers, this game would be an instant failure. Thankfully, that's not the case. Money can only buy you a few things; mostly avatar clothing, along with a few upgrades that do things like level you up faster. Everything else is paid for via XP, gained only through playtime and accomplishing missions, and while paying customers can get access to higher level weapons faster, they're not locked out for those playing for free. If you think that's slightly unfair, remember, you're playing for free.

Walk Right In, Sit Right Down: Battlefield Heroes is all about jumping right into the action, and once in, staying there. To play, you just visit the site, login, then hit a giant yellow button that says "PLAY NOW". You'll be automatically whisked away to a server. Then, while in the game, respawn times are kept to an absolute minimum, at most 6-8 seconds, but sometimes only 3-4.

Smooth As Ice: We played Battlefield Heroes for a week, and in that whole time, only once encountered connection or server issues. Considering the game is still technically in beta, that's not too shabby.

Spongeheads: There's only a single one-shot kill in this game, and that's if you're run over by a land vehicle. Everything else, from sniper headshots to grenades to dynamite, only takes off part of a player's health. It means that you're never blindsided, and never killed off instantly because of something you never saw coming.

HATED
Spongeheads: Yet this is a double-edged sword. It's great that you can't instantly be killed by a camping sniper from across the map. But if you're the camping sniper – or anyone else tricky enough to lay something like an ambush – it's frustrating as hell. Vehicle damage could also do with a tune-up, as it shouldn't take 3-4 shots from a tank to kill infantry. 2-3 would do just fine.

Matchmaker: Like we said, Battlefield Heroes is all about jumping into the action. Which in some ways is great, but in others, quite frustrating. We only want to play vehicle maps, for example. Just vehicle maps. But there's no way of selecting this. You can prefer to play vehicle maps, but when you hit PLAY NOW, you're automatically taken to a server, and half the time, it's for an infantry map. Nothankyou. Favourite servers can be bookmarked, but we'd love a server list option where we can filter for specific maps, or map types.

Class Warfare: Maybe we've played too much Team Fortress 2 of late, but if a map is stacked with heavies, and we join as a heavy, we'd love to be able to respawn as a commando. Mix things up. But you can't. Because when you create a character, you're bound to that character, as is all the XP you accrue while playing as it. You can create additional characters, sure, but you can only play as one at a time.

There's just something about the mix of clean, cartoon visuals and refined multiplayer mechanics that make Battlefield Heroes an absolute blast. The fact you can play it effectively without paying a cent probably helps. Series purists may turn their noses up at the new visual style and slightly more "arcade" feel of the game, but that's fine. For those people, there's alway other Battlefield games. That they have to pay for.

For everyone else, though, Battlefield Heroes is a fun, accessible shooter that retains the best strategic elements of the series while making the game appealing to a broader range of people. If EA can add a few more matchmaking/server options to the game, Battlefield Heroes could be one of the sleeper hits of the year on PC.

Battlefield Heroes was developed by DICE, and published by EA for the PC. Launched on June 25, and is free to play, worldwide. Created two characters, a level 7 Gunner and a level 10 Commando, in the Royal Army.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Talk Amongst Yourselves [Official Kotaku Forum]

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:40:57 MDT

Happy (uh, early) Independence Day, my fellow Americans. Happy Friday, everyone else. It's time to talk about video games like you've never talked about them before. 3...2...1... start.

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

Hey Americans, Why The BBQ? Why? Why? Why? [Note]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:20:00 MDT

To: American People
From: Bashcraft

Happy Independence Day! Mrs. Bashcraft wants to know why Americans BBQ or have cook-outs on the Fourth of July. So, why? Is it symbolic?

Side note: OH! One more thing, buddy just informed me that illustrator Chinatsu Kurahana is at the AnimeExpo — she's illustrated several best selling titles from Nitro+ like LAMENTO. Check out her site!

What you missed last night
Korean PC Game Rips-Off Team Fortress 2
GameStop Out Of Its Ducking Mind With New Wii Bundles
How One Man Spent $17,500 On A Video Game
Sony Motion Control Patent Shows Coffee Mug Gaming
Milla Jovovich Confirms "Number Four"

British Lifetime Console Sales Figures Get! [Britain]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:00:00 MDT

According to figures released by GfK-ChartTrack, there are now 24 million current-generation consoles in the UK. Let's see how those numbers break down.

The numbers can be found in the latest report from European retailer GAME, and reveal that each console has sold the following:

DS - 9.1 million
Wii - 5.4 million
Xbox 360 - 3.9 million
PSP - 3.3 million
PS3 - 2.2 million

Not many surprises there. There's a few surprises in the sales figures for just the past 12 months, however, with PSP sales falling through the floor (and PS3 sales dropping as well), while the 360 seems to be picking up steam.

DS - 2.7 million
Wii - 2.3 million
Xbox 360 - 1.7 million
PS3 - 900,000
PSP - 500,000

UK console installed base tops 24m [MCV]

Nice To See Capcom Can Take A Joke [Screengrab]

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:30:00 MDT

As seen on Capcom. For reference, see here.