The founding of a nation is pretty significantand well worth getting excited about. The best way to display said excitement is, of course, with massive, colorful airborne explosions, a.k.a. fireworks. Tomorrow night, towns across the USA will be putting on fireworks displays, big and small — but why should you have to wait for it to get dark? The games you’ll find after the break will let you get all explode-y from the comfort of your living room, without the charred mess and frantic 911 call. So, put on your favorite patriotic tune (it’s “The Stars & Stripes Forever” for us) and make with the clicking!
In case you needed it confirmedyetagain: Nintendo totally wins at selling stuff. Gamasutra went through the NPD statistics for 2008 software sales with a fine tooth-comb, and discovered that Wii and DS titles formed almost half of all games sold during 2008.
Of the 268 million games sold in the U.S. last year, 132 million (49%) were for Nintendo platforms, compared to 86 million (32%) for Sony consoles, and 50 million (19%) for Microsoft. Furthermore, the Wii software tie-in ratio isn’t looking too shabby: an even six games per system, an identical figure to that of the PlayStation 3.
For more statistics that make us want to joyously high-five a bobcat, hit up Gamasutra.
Here’s the full list of all 104 of the PlayStation (2, 3, Portable) games that Sony have said make up their Christmas 2007 list. Which of these games would you put on your Christmas gifts list?
Take a look and find out if you see anything you like…
PlayStation 3 First-Party:
* The Eye of Judgement
* Heavenly Sword
* NBA 08
* Lair
* Folklore
* Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
* Uncharted: Drakes Fortune
* Warhawk
Third-Party:
* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision
* Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Activision
* Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, Activision
* Jericho, Codemasters
* Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Eidos
* FIFA 08, EA
* Medal of Honor Airborne, EA
* Rock Band, EA
* Orange Box, The, EA
* Simpsons Game, The, EA
* Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War, Koei
* LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Lucas Arts
* BlackSite: AREA 51, Midway
* John Woo Presents Stranglehold Collector’s Edition, Midway
* Unreal Tournament 3, Midway
* Time Crisis 4, Namco Bandai
* SEGA Rally Revo, Sega
* College Hoops 2K8, Take 2 Interactive
* WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, THQ
* Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, THQ
* MX vs. ATV Untamed, THQ
* Assassin’s Creed, UbiSoft
* Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII, UbiSoft
* Haze, UbiSoft
* TimeShift, Vivendi
* Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition, Zenimax
PlayStation Network
* High Velocity Bowling
* PAIN
* Everyday Shooter
* Go! Sports Ski
* Go! Sports Skydiving
* Mesmerize 1
* Trials of Topoq
* MotorStorm Christmas Livery
* Toy Home
* Twisted Metal 2 (PS One)
* MotorStorm Premium Pack 2
* Resistance: Fall of Man: Map Pack 2
* Operation Creature Feature
* Aquatopia
* Snakeball
* flOw Download Pack
* MotorStorm Vehicle and Livery Pack
* PixelJunk Monsters
* Folklore Download Packs 1 and 2 (more…)
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), has named Honorary Chairman and former President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi, the recipient of the coveted 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award which will be bestowed at the Interactive Achievement Awards (IAA) ceremony on February 7th 2008 at Red Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in conjunction with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit 2008. Congratulations Ken!
Recognized internationally as the “Father of PlayStation,” Kutaragi will be honored for revolutionizing the global in-home entertainment market with the creation and monstrous success of the PlayStation computer entertainment systems. The launch of the original PlayStation which was launched in 1994 and the PlayStation 2 which launched in 2000 went on to become the most popular gaming system of the era, resulting in combined shipments of more than 230 million units worldwide.
“Ken Kutaragi’s passion, innovative thinking and business savvy sparked a monumental movement that was unstoppable,” said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS. “If it wasn’t for Ken and his concept of the original PlayStation, there wouldn’t be the billion dollar industry there is today. His contributions have clearly set new standards for developers, publishers and consumers worldwide.” — Via Dicesummit
Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY) and Epic Games today announced that the PLAYSTATION 3 system version of Unreal Tournament 3 is scheduled to ship to retail outlets in North America on December 10th. It is expected to begin arriving in stores in limited quantities the following day, with a U.S. suggested retail price of $59.95. [...]
Remember the 700L$ Reperes-Second Life survey? The survey required respondents to visit 1 Real Life brand’s island or sim from their given list. I chose to visit Sony & BMG Island and while I was there I took a video of my visit.
The survey also required respondents to submit 2 or 3 screenshots and so I did. I took 2 screenshots and submitted them to Reperes-Second Life and today I received the second part of the survey and completed it. In 10 days I’ll be 700L$ richer. LOL!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my simple video of my visit to Sony & BMG Island.
Alexis Glick interviews Consumerist editor Carey Greenberg-Berger and dusty-and-broken PS3 owner Reid Godshaw about the warranty-voiding debacle on the Fox Business News show Money for Breakfast.
Alexis talks about this being all the rage on the blogosphere and how much people are outraged. Quite the PR nightmare for Sony right before the holiday shopping season. While Sony should replace his PS3 because of all the games and movies the guy bought for it, I still have to admit that when I first saw the dusty PS3 pictures a while back, I thought it was a joke! The owner must have never dusted or cleaned it in any way at all for it to get THAT dusty, seriously, cleaning your house once or twice a week isn’t that hard. But the real issue here is Sony’s lackluster customer support, while this may be negligence on the owner’s behalf, there’s no denying how far friendly support goes. Watch the report for more details.
On the other side of the coin are Nintendo who go out of their way to be good to their customers. A recent story tells of a DS Lite owner’s friend spilling beer on his DS Lite by accident (officially called neglect/abuse). He called Nintendo saying it didn’t work anymore with the result being Nintendo sending him a brand new DS Lite within 2 days without asking questions and only wanting him to send the damaged DS Lite back to them. By just being friendly they earned a good reputation. Which is how it should be done anyway, since both Sony and Nintendo earn most of their money from software sales, so working hardware is kind of required.
PS: classic NES reference from Carey in the interview.
October’s American video game sales data from NPD is in, and with the exception of Halo 3 making Xbox 360 sales fly last month, it looks like the other 11 months this year will show a clear pattern: the Nintendo DS and Wii are beating the other systems by a landslide.
This year’s video game sales have already achieved the annual sales number for 2005… and the two biggest months are yet to come. We’ll see not only record-breaking revenues but record-breaking year-over-year growth when the final numbers are tallied.
Video game hardware overview:
1. Nintendo Wii — 519,000
2. Nintendo DS — 458,000
3. Xbox 360 — 366,000
4. PlayStation Portable — 286,000
5. PlayStation 2 — 184,000
6. PlayStation 3 — 121,000
Video game software overview top 20: 1. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) — 433,800
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Xbox 360) — 383, 200
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Wii) — 286,300
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (PlayStation 2) — 271,100
5. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS) — 262,800
6. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) — 239,700
7. The Orange Box (Xbox 360) — 238,400
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/o guitar (PlayStation 2) — 231,700
9. FIFA Soccer 08 (PlayStation 2) — 129,700
10. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo DS) — 116,900
While October’s 433,800 Halo 3 sales are nothing compared to September’s 3.3 million, nearly half a million more is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, Halo 3’s cumulative sales currently stand at 3.7 million, which outpaces the combined sales of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl at 3.6 million. The (Half-Life 2) Orange Box turned in at a disappointing 7th place in the software top ten, while Ratchet & Clank Future didn’t show up at all, despite having two weeks on shelves, reports 1UP.
The Wii has managed to skedaddle back on top, enjoying the comfortable cushion of the NPD throne. In resting its behind in the big chair, you can see the Wii made sure that the Xbox 360's time at the top was short-lived. Welcome back, Nintendo. We've missed you.
The hardware sales:
Nintendo Wii: 519K (5 million total)
Nintendo DS: 458K (13.6 million total)
Microsoft Xbox 360: 366K (7.1 million total)
Sony PSP: 286K (8.8 million total)
Sony PlayStation 2: 184K (39.4 million total)
Sony PlayStation 3: 121K (1.9 million total)
The top 10 software sales:
Halo 3 (all three SKUs - Xbox 360) -- 433.8K
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Xbox 360) -- 383.2K
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Wii) -- 286.3K
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (PS2) -- 271.1K
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) -- 262.8K
Wii Play (Wii) -- 239.7K
The Orange Box (Xbox 360) -- 238.4K
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock standalone (PS2) -- 231.7K
FIFA Soccer '08 (PS2) -- 129.7K
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS) -- 116.9K
While the idea of a portable Super Smash Bros. has us all tingly in our everywhere, we find this video only makes us nauseous. Not because the game is being played on Sony's PSP system, but rather because the person filming this apparently had an epileptic seizure whilst doing so. It's a shame, really, because we would've liked to see how this played. Oh, and heard, as well. The video has no sound.
Three games to light up your 4th originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
