Project Gotham Racing 4

Update For All Project Gotham Racing Fans!
Racing For The Gold! "Project Gotham Racing 4" Goes Gold

New game web site launches as the latest installment of the legendary racing series gets set to release exclusively on Xbox 360 on 12th October 2007

Microsoft Game Studios and Bizarre Creations today announced that “Project Gotham Racing 4” (“PGR 4”), the latest installment of the best-selling and award-winning racing franchise, has been released to manufacturing. The team also confirmed that the game’s new web site is up and running. Fans can now visit http://www.pgrnations.com for all the latest news, features and updates from the “PGR” universe and the team at Bizarre.

Set to redefine the experience “PGR” fans have come to know and love, “PGR 4” is set to race onto store shelves on 12th October. Featuring a unique, exciting racing experience where dramatic racing action is captured in breathtaking cinematic style, “PGR 4” is sure to capture the attention of racing fans everywhere. The all new addition of motorcycles adds a new dimension to the “PGR” driving experience by allowing gamers to compete and pull off amazing driving manoeuvres not possible on four wheels.

The official “PGR 4” web site at http://www.pgrnations.com contains the most recent news and updates in the Project Gotham universe. Currently, the web site is the home to the game’s full robust vehicles list, including models from the world’s top car and motorcycle manufacturers, as well as the official Achievements list. The site will be continually updated to give fans a true home base with all the “PGR 4” information and content they’re looking for.

From the inspired minds at Bizarre Creations, “PGR 4” offers franchise fans and new players alike exciting new ways to race over Xbox LIVE. “PGR 4” allows drivers to build a global racing community through team-oriented gameplay while making it easy to find their favourite races, friends, ghosts, replays or photos. Additional improvements to the unique Kudos rewards system provides gamers with more incentives to show off their distinctive driving styles including the ability to purchase new vehicles, game modes, gamerpics and more at the “PGR” Shop. “PGR 4” will be available at retailers nationwide on 12th October for an estimated retail price of £44.99.

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl

DISCOVER THE ULTIMATE POKÉMON TRADING DATABASE!

Over 10 million people globally are enjoying the phenomenon that is Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl and in Europe, 1.6 million copies have been sold in just 7 weeks since launch. For the first time in the Pokémon series, these games have allowed fans to trade Pokémon with anyone in the world via the Global Trading Station, using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. Now an all-new and exciting Pokémon service is being made available, as fans are invited to visit the Pokémon GTS website - www.pokemon-gts.net - where they can keep up-to-date on the global Pokémon trade.

From Friday 14th September, 5pm CET, the Pokémon GTS website will be the place to go for fans across the globe, giving them access to top trading information such as the most traded Pokémon, most deposited and wanted Pokémon at the Global Trading Station, as well as discovering which Pokémon are being traded most in each country. The top 50 most traded Pokémon, as well the top 50 most wanted and most deposited Pokémon in the world.

Trying to work out which Pokémon are the best to collect? Using the GTS site, you can simply click on the image of the Pokémon being traded to gain all the information you could ever need, including Pokémon name, type, moves learnt and the time, date and country it was deposited in. What’s more, users have the opportunity to bookmark any Pokémon discovered, adding them to a ‘favourites’ folder to look out for next time they visit the GTS in Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl.

Using the interactive globe element, users can rotate and research Pokémon trading action from many parts of the world. By simply spinning the globe and clicking an area of interest, users can find out more details about the Pokémon but also discover facts about many countries, including capital city, population, language spoken and local greetings!

So log on and discover a whole new world of trading everyone’s favourite Pokémon! Visit www.pokemon-gts.net from 14th September.

Madden NFL '08 scores high

More than 2 million units sold

The NPD Group has released the US hardware and software sales figures for August 2007, with EA's Madden NFL '08 dominating the charts.

The Xbox 360 version of the game was number one, with 896,600 units sold, followed by the PlayStation 2 version, with 643,600 units sold. The PlayStation 3 version of the game sold 336,200 units, which was good enough for fourth place overall.

The Wii, Xbox, and PSP versions of Madden NFL '08 were in eleventh, twelfth, and eighteenth place, respectively.

Bioshock, which is atop the charts in other countries, came in third with 490,900 units sold.

Three Wii games--Wii Play, Metroid Prime 3, and Mario Strikers: Charged--took the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions on the charts. Mario Party 8, also for the Wii, was in the ninth spot.

Guitar Hero II for the PS2, with the guitar controller, sold 145,400 units and was in eighth place. The follow-up, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for PS2, made tenth place on the charts with sales of 127,100 units. The Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II was in seventeenth place on the August sales chart.

Hardware-wise, Nintendo continues to dominate, with an estimated 403,600 Wii consoles and 383,300 DS handhelds sold in the US in August.

Microsoft sold 276,700 Xbox 360 consoles on the strength of a price cut, with Sony selling 130,600 PlayStation 3 consoles. Sony also sold 202,000 PlayStation 2 consoles and 151,200 PSP handhelds.

Overall, videogame hardware and software sales were up 46 per cent from the same period last year.

Sony could cut prices as Halo 3 spoiler

Price reduction would continue overall market growth for '07

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes Sony couldn't pick a better time or place to announce further price cuts for the PS3 and PS2 than next week's Tokyo Game Show.

Not only would a much-rumoured price announcement take some of the shine off rival Microsoft's Halo 3 launch on September 25, but it would also help the US industry see a further increase in sales for the rest of 2007.

"There have been recent rumours about a new 40GB PS3 sku planned for release prior to the holidays at a USD 399 price point, and other rumours about an impending PS2 price cut to USD 99," noted Pachter.

"We think that both of these ideas have merit, and note that SCE president Kaz Hirai is the keynote speaker at next week’s Tokyo Game Show. If the rumours are true, we cannot think of a better forum for making such an announcement, given that the event is less than a week before the launch of arch rival Microsoft’s Halo 3.

"Should Sony cut prices, we think that continued strong industry sales are all but certain," he added.

Recent figures from the NPD Group have shown that sales of the PlayStation 3 are trailing the Wii and Xbox 360 in North America – with Xbox 360 sales double that of the PS3 in August.

Pachter also estimates that Halo 3 will sell over 3 million units in the US in 12 days, helping to drive Xbox 360 console sales over 400,000 in the month of September.

Link

Japan sees hardware sales slump

Console units shifting less than half of numbers compared to last month

Japan's hardware sales have taken a nosedive in the past month, with some platforms now selling fewer than half the numbers of just four weeks ago.

According to figures from Media Create, last week's console sales were the lowest for many months, with top-seller Nintendo DS shifting fewer than 100,000 units for the second week in a row.

It sold 77,488 last week, compared to 153,834 during the week ending August 19, with almost all the other consoles dropping by a similar proportion.

The Wii sold 29,088 last week compared to an August high of 73,938, the PlayStation Portable sold just 15,564 - down from 33,715 four weeks ago - and the PlayStation 3 also fell by around 40 percent, from 21,720 units to 13,248.

Usually it would be possible to point to specific software title releases contributing to strong hardware sales, but comparing the same weekly data shows that the week ending August 19 boasted no new titles in the top ten, with the best-selling game notching up 127,724 sales.

That's compared with last week, when there were three new entries in the software top ten, and the number one game sold 186,422 units.

The complete hardware sales figures are as follows:

1. Nintendo DS (77,488)

2. Nintendo Wii (29,088)

3. Sony PSP (15,564)

4. Sony PS2 (13,360)

5. Sony PS3 (13,248)

6. Microsoft Xbox 360 (1,286)

7. Nintendo GBA (550)

8. Nintendo GameCube (82)