Sony to consider bigger PS3 HDD for Japan

While Americans and Koreans sun themselves from the collective glare bouncing off their shiny, whopping 80GB PS3s, other parts of the world make do with 60GB models. Japan, surprisingly, is one of them, but Japan's COrporate News are reporting that might not be for much longer, Kaz Hirai saying that Sony are considering "boosting" the Japanese model's HDD capacity, and also that they'll take user requests into account when making the decision. Japanese readers, if you're going to fire off a request to Sony, try and keep it sensible, OK? The thing's expensive enough as it is, it doens't need a gagillion-billion GB HDD. That would be silly.

PS3 helps Tiger Woods top UK charts

MySims debuts at number two

Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 has climbed the charts to become the number one selling game in the UK thanks to its release on the PlayStation 3.

The sports game has jumped from number three to number one, knocking the publishers' own Medal of Honor: Airborne off the top.

MySims, another EA property for Nintendo consoles, has entered the charts at number two, with the game seeing 58 per cent of sales on the Wii and 42 per cent on the DS.

Super Paper Mario climbs the charts to number three, with Midway's John Woo Presents Stranglehold at number four.

Elsewhere in the charts, Codemasters' Colin McRae: Dirt enters the top ten at number eight and the second highest new entry is VU Games' World in Conflict at 15.

Sony's SingStar Rock Ballads has entered the charts at 25 and Sega's Sonic Rush Adventure breaks into the top 40 at 26 on its second week of release.

The only other new entry is Sony's PS3 title Warhawk at number 38.

Elite tempting new gamers

Latest Xbox SKU is bringing a new audience to the platform

The Xbox 360 Elite is selling well, and market research is indicating a high proportion of those buying it are people who don't already own an original Xbox 360.

That's according to Neil Thompson, senior regional director for the UK and Ireland at Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, who spoke exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.

"It's gone very, very, very well. Our data is saying so far that a lot of people buying it are new to the platform."

"It was interesting to us, because we thought that a lot of people who came to the platform early would have chosen the Elite, but a lot of the data we're getting out of store visits, etc, is showing it's new people, which is fantastic."

Thompson added that he wasn't sure what the overriding reason for that was, but felt it was vindication for Microsoft's plan to offer differing price points for its hardware.

"I don't know if that's because it's got great memory capacity and people are anticipating Marketplace and those sort of technologies, or whether they just like black. I don't know."

"But certainly here and what we've seen in the US there's a very strong trend to the Elite being a major proportion of the overall mix of consoles that we sell."

"What we're starting to find is the balance between the different levels of console that we have now, it is evening out somewhat - which I think is a great testament to the strategy that we had to begin with said that we need to offer to people at different points in their gaming experience, what they want from gaming and what they're prepared to invest in gaming."

In the second part of the exclusive interview, available tomorrow, Thompson also talks about the success of the Xbox 360 to-date, whether Microsoft will pursue a handheld gaming strategy, and if there's such a thing as too much hype for a videogame.

Source: games Industry

TOP 40 ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE

TOP 40 ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE (ALL PRICES), WEEK ENDING 22 September 2007

TW Title
1 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 08
2 MYSIMS
3 SUPER PAPER MARIO
4 JOHN WOO PRESENTS STRANGLEHOLD
5 WII PLAY
6 MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE
7 MORE BRAIN TRAINING
8 COLIN MCRAE: DIRT
9 DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING
10 TRANSFORMERS: THE GAME
11 BIG BRAIN ACADEMY: WII DEGREE
12 HEAVENLY SWORD
13 THE SIMS 2: BON VOYAGE
14 BIOSHOCK
15 WORLD IN CONFLICT
16 STUNTMAN
17 COOKING MAMA
18 GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY STORIES
19 HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
20 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS.
21 NEED FOR SPEED: CARBON
22 MARIO PARTY 8
23 RUGBY 08
24 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 6
25 SINGSTAR ROCK BALLADS
26 SONIC RUSH ADVENTURE
27 RESIDENT EVIL 4
28 RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN
29 BOOGIE
30 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: WARFIGHTER
31 THE SIMS 2: PETS
32 FIFA 07
33 WORMS: OPEN WARFARE
34 POKEMON DIAMOND
35 FORZA MOTORSPORT 2
36 CARS
37 MOTORSTORM
38 WARHAWK
39 POKEMON PEARL GAME
40 SURF'S UP

Halo 3 gamers going ballistic over scratched game discs

Microsoft and Bungie pulled of what appears to be a successful launch of the third installment of Halo. However, by noon today, reports about scratched game discs were surfacing. Retailers confirmed the damaged DVDs to be a "known problem."

One of our readers pointed us to what appears to a slowly but surely developing issue for the first batch of Halo 3 copies: Some buyers of the Limited Edition silver tin box of Halo 3 are complaining about game disks that were scratched enough to prevent the game from loading. Pictures of the damaged disc have been posted on NeoGAF.

Three stores of three major retail chains confirmed to TG Daily that there in fact is a "known problem" with "damaged discs." As we were told, the DVDs are not mounted correctly inside the box, which causes the disc to "slide around" and scratch. The store managers declined to comment how widespread the problem is, but one employee told us that there in fact a "good portion" of all Limited Edition Halo 3 disks "is not functional".

All three stores said they are allowing buyers to open the tin box before a purchase to make sure the game disk is not damaged.

Microsoft confirmed the problems with the Limited Edition box and posted information about a replacement program on its Xbox website. The program covers the the Halo 3 Limited Edition disc and Essentials Disc until December 31 of this year.

Microsoft demos in-game advertising

Microsoft showed off its Massive advertising platform in Times Square in New York on Tuesday.

The tech giant wanted to show the advertising world, which is gathered in New York for the annual Advertising Week conference, exactly how the dynamic in-game advertisements work.

Flashing high above 43rd Street were clips from a series of games that showed avatars stopping to view a movie trailer for the Hollywood blockbuster 300. A Toyota advertisement also lined the outfield wall in a baseball game that's played on Microsoft's Xbox game console.

"The idea is to have advertisements appear and fit in naturally to the games just as they would in real life," said Jay Sampson, vice president of North American and Asia Pacific sales for Massive, Microsoft's in-game advertising marketplace. "But these advertisements are also dynamic. So the ads can be updated or changed by the advertiser at any time."

Microsoft, which bought Massive in May 2006, is a leader in placing dynamic advertising in games. The market is filled with many smaller players, such as a company called Double Fusion. But it's also attracting other big technology names, including Google, which bought AdScape Media for $23 million earlier this year.

Analysts say the in-game advertising market is worth about $514 million today. And dynamic in-game dynamic advertising, which allows advertisers to change the advertisements at will, is expected to reach $675 million by 2012 in the United States, according to consumer research group Parks Associates.

Microsoft sees its early lead in the in-game advertising market as a strategic opportunity that fits well into the company's overall advertising strategy.

"Emerging media, like in-game advertising, is a huge component of our overall strategy," said Matthew Carr, senior director of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. "We're already in a leadership position here. And we see this as being where the future growth will be."

Source:CNet

British Academy Video Games Awards

Nominations Announced

Wii Sports leads the way with seven BAFTA nominations

London, 25 September 2007: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts today announced the nominations for The British Academy Video Games Awards in association with PC World. The Awards ceremony will reward the individuals behind the very best in artistic, creative and technical innovation in video games, and will be held at Battersea Evolution on 23 October.

Wii Sports which enables players to try their hand at a range of sports including baseball, tennis, boxing and golf received the highest nominations with seven, for Best Game, Casual, Gameplay, Innovation, Multiplayer, Sports and Strategy and Simulation. Crackdown, Gears of War, Okami and God of War 2 all secured five nominations each, while Guitar Hero II garnered four.

The nominations in the Best Game category exemplify the breadth of genres for players to enjoy today; from squad action and adventure in Kane and Lynch: Dead Men and Gears of War to battling mysterious undersea creatures in Bioshock, countering alien invasions in Crysis to rocking away in Guitar Hero II or enjoying a workout, playing Wii Sports.

In the Sports category, Colin McRae’s racing game Colin McRae: DiRT, is joined by the off-road rally racer MotorStorm, FIFA 08, Football Manager 2008, Wii Sports and Virtua Tennis 3.
In the Innovation category the nominations spanned the sensory experience of aquatic critters in flOw, the nature adventure game Okami, the quirky role-playing Super Paper Mario, the card battle game The Eye of Judgement, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, and Wii Sports.

This year’s nominations show the real diversity of today’s video games and their increasing appeal to both sexes and all ages, exemplified by the fact that the forty three different games nominated are rated 3+, 7, 12, 15, 16 & 18. This year’s categories have been fine-tuned to encapsulate the ingredients which contribute to making the video game one of the most exciting and engaging moving image art forms of today’s popular culture. The Academy will recognise excellence in Artistic Achievement, Technical Achievement, Gameplay, Innovation, Original Score, Use of Audio, and Story and Character as well as achievements in the genres of Action & Adventure, Casual, Multiplayer, Sports, Strategy & Simulation plus Best Game.

This year’s Awards will include the publicly-voted PC World Gamers Award and a new BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital. Online voting for the PC World Gamers Award will be live on October 3 at www.obsessedwithgames.co.uk

A FULL LIST OF ALL NOMINATIONS ACCOMPANIES THIS RELEASE

Notes to editors:
The Awards will be broadcast on both E4 and Channel 4’s T4 – date to be confirmed.

About BAFTA:
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the fields of the moving image. Renowned for its high profile Film & Television Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence.

About the judging process:
Games were entered by both developers and publishers into all the categories listed in this release and were initially whittled down by BAFTA games members and a carefully selected list of industry experts via a secure website.
The reduced list of titles for jury consideration was then divided into released titles and pre-release titles. The released titles were sent to jurors’ for them to play in their own homes. The pre-release titles were played on test units in a secure room at BAFTA by every juror over a period of some five weeks.
Once every juror had played every game, each category jury convened to create the 6 nominations in each category. The voting is done on paper by each juror, confidentiality papers are signed and the results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.

XLEAGUE.TV Gets Ready For Halo 3 Launch

WORLD'S BIGGEST GAME NEARLY HERE!!

With everyone excited and anticipating the launch of Halo 3, it is clear to say XLEAGUE.TV cannot wait for the latest Bungie classic to hit the shops. Not only will gamers be able to take on the role of Master Chief once again, using the newly added “Man Cannon” and re-emergence of the “Assault Rifle” but they can also get the chance to pit their skills against the best, Live on Television, and win upwards of £10,000. Not bad eh?!

The whole world has been waiting for what seems like an eternity for this game to be unleashed, and XLEAGUE.TV is obviously no exception. The 4 vs 4 Team League registration opens on 26th September to coincide with the game’s release. “The launch of Halo 3 is a landmark in the gaming world. The prize fund of £10,000 is a significant increase to our previous prize funds, but we felt it necessary to give such a game the prominence it deserves” Ray Mia, XLEAGUE.TV Channel Manager.

The prize breakdown is as follows:

1st Place - £5000
2nd Place - £2500
3rd Place - £1500
4th Place – £1000

XLEAGUE.TV is the UK’s first dedicated eSports channel and fully integrated website launched in May 2007. The revolutionary channel, which broadcasts on Sky channel 279, offers a comprehensive range of services to its members including leagues and tournaments, customisable user profiles, match scheduling and club and team creation. By competing on www.xleague.tv, gamers can win the opportunity to be invited to the studio for the chance to play on television.

Check out www.XLEAGUE.TV or tune into Sky Channel 279.

About XLEAGUE.TV:

The channel was launched at a cost of £5 million and is part of the Portland Media Group. XLEAGUE.TV has a wealth of In-house facilities include production, post-production and play-out, as well as an advertising agency, a media buying and planning department and a modelling agency.

Nintendo becomes second most valuable stock in Japan

Investor confidence rises ahead of Christmas sales

Nintendo stock has become the second most valuable in Japan following investor confidence in the company's performance ahead of the crucial Christmas period.

As noted by Reuters, the games giant has passed Canon and sits behind only the Toyota Motor Company to become the second most valuable traded company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has a bigger market value than Nintendo, but shares are currently suspended due to a imminent share split.

Shares in Nintendo were up to 59,200 JPY on Tuesday, or 3.1 per cent, bringing its market value to 8.39 trillion (GBP 36.4 million).

GAME profits up

Sales up 45 per cent, profit at £6.2 million

GAME has reported soaring profits for the first six months of 2007, driven by the new consoles on the market.

First half profits were GBP 6.2 million compared to a loss of GBP 5.6 million for the same period last year, with group turnover at GBP 482.4 million, up from GBP 272.9 million in 2006, with expansion and the acquisition of Gamestation central to the rise.

"The strong performance reported today is a result of our hard work in getting GAME properly positioned ahead of the new technology cycle," commented Peter Lewis, chairman of GAME.

"We have a fast growing international business and are well placed for further organic growth. We look forward to the key Christmas trading period when our store portfolio will exceed 1,120 across the UK, Continental Europe and Australia," he said.

Like for like sales were up 45.6 per cent as the company benefited from strong sales of all new consoles and associated software.

The company now intends to focus its efforts on its strongest retail territories – UK and Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, Scandinavia and Australia.

GAME continues to integrate the Gamestation business into the Group's infrastructure at an approximate cost of GBP 5 million, and the company also revealed the cost of compliance with the Office of Fair Trading's review of the Gamestation acquisition will be an additional GBP 4.5 million.