Game on: Console makers in three-way shoot-out

As the Chistmas season approaches Nintendo has been winning market share from rivals Sony and Microsoft by targeting consumers outside the hard-core market.

The balance of power in the Japanese electronics industry has tipped further towards Nintendo and away from former bellwether Sony after the phenomenal success of the Wii gaming console helped the Kyoto-based company almost triple its profits in the first half of the year.

Both Nintendo and Sony reported results yesterday and heading into the crucial Christmas trading period, the contrast between the fortunes of two companies could hardly be more stark. Nintendo, which overtook Sony in terms of market valuation in May, has continued its upward march after increasing its forecast for the number of Wii and DS devices it will sell this year. The games company behind classic characters such as Super Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda, is now the second most valuable company in Japan, trailing only the automotive giant Toyota. Meanwhile, shares in Sony, which has lost almost 30 per cent of its market value since May, slipped further after the company admitted that it could miss its sales target for its flagship PlayStation 3 console.

The reversal of fortunes within the games console sector has been stunning and highly unexpected given Nintendo's Wii was tipped to struggle to compete with its competitors. Sony – which had achieved unparalleled success with the first two incarnations of its PlayStation mach-ine – and Microsoft were widely expected to dominate the market for next-generation consoles with state-of-the-art machines. With Nintendo's GameCube spectacularly flopping only four years ago, many observers wondered whether it had a future in the console market and whether it should instead focus its energy on handheld devices, due to the success of its GameBoy series, and on developing more hit games around Mario and his adventures.

The failure of the GameCube – which went head to head with Sony's PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox – triggered headlines proclaiming that Mario – the animated plumber that symbolised Nintendo's dominance of the computer games market in the 1980s – had finally run out of tricks and the company's valuation collapsed as analysts fretted that Micro-soft's entry into the video games sector may have been terminal for the Japanese company. Nintendo's demise was attributed to a serious strategic error as analysts derided its attempts to target older gamers and a more mainstream audience at a time when sales of violent action games such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto were all the rage.

Yet Nintendo stuck to its guns and despite concerns that the Wii would be another also-ran compared with the top-end Play-Station 3 and Xbox 360, the console has sold like wildfire and proved the doubters wrong. It has outsold the PS3 three-to-one in the Japanese market and five-to-one in the US and has taken the PS2's mantle as the fastest selling console in history in the UK after shifting 1 million machines in just eight months.

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By Nic Fildes

The future of video games

Quentin Hardy's panel on "Beyond the Video Console" is fascinating. Increasingly video games take centerstage in the online world going forward.

One of the panelists made the point that every generation worries about a new "technology" that will corrupt children: once upon a time, that "technology" was jazz music; then rock and roll. Fast forward and today it's video games.

Video games become a dominant means of telling stories. Even more compelling--multiplayer games where the "community" can engage in playing a game. The "game" aspects, of gaming, matter enormously.

That doesn't make SecondLife the answer, though.

As one panelist pointed out, once you have created an avatar and dressed it, there isn't too much to do in SecondLife.

Call that a work in progress. Eventually, however, the industry will figure out this emerging digital world, and invent engaging ways to play games and interact there.

For now, though, I confess I made a note to myself: better buy the kids more video games!

Source: Forbes

'Simpsons' game delivers big laughs for devoted fans

Fans of The Simpsons, the longest-running animated television series in history, have played through related video games worthy of yelling Woo hoo! (such as 2003's The Simpsons: Hit & Run ) and some deserving of a "D'oh!" (2002's The Simpsons Skateboarding ).

Now America's favorite yellow, four-fingered and dysfunctional family has gone interactive again with EA Games' The Simpsons Game, and the good news is that it's the best The Simpsons game to date — but you do need to be a fan to appreciate all the inside jokes.

With a zany story line crafted by the Emmy award-winning writers from the TV show, the Simpsons family — Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie — are aware they're trapped inside a video game, and so they use their newfound special powers to live out their fantasies and help save their town of Springfield. For example, the overweight father Homer can unleash a serious belch or change into a giant ball of fat to roll over enemies, while bad boy Bart, armed with a slingshot, can peg off baddies with ease or glide through the air with his Bartman cape.

Most missions let you play as one of two characters, and in some cases you'll need to use one in particular to take advantage of their abilities. When playing alone, the game's artificial intelligence controls the other family member, but at any time a second player can pick up a controller to start playing.

Not only have the TV show's cast members provided voice talent to the characters in the game — including all the Springfieldeans you will come across in your adventures, such as Lenny and Carl, Chief Wiggum, Krusty the Crown and more than 100 others — but this video game also enjoys smooth "cel-shaded" animation that resembles the TV cartoon, even with the move to 3-D.The game offers 16 distinct "episodes" and more than 8,000 lines of dialogue.

The hilarious missions include running through Homer's dream in "Chocolate Land" at the beginning of the game; Marge and Lisa trying to get the violent video game "Grand Theft Scratchy" banned (The Simpsons Game parodies many other video games, including the World War II shooter Medal of Honor ); stopping the Lard Lad statue, which has come alive, from wreaking havoc on Springfield; and a personal favorite where Homer and Bart must run through an eating contest divided into different countries.

The game is also loaded with collectible items such as Duff beer bottle caps, "video game cliches" as discovered by Comic Book Guy, unlockable costumes and an optional time challenge mode to add to the game's replayability.

While a fan of the TV show will get a lot more out of The Simpsons Game than someone who is not, it's evident a tremendous amount of effort and detail went into this ambitious game. The end result is an adventure more fun than crank-calling Moe's Tavern.

Source: USA Today

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Atari may borrow up to $10 million

But is it enough?

Atari announced that it has secured $10 million in credit.

Funds affiliated with BlueBay Asset Management plc purchased Atari's outstanding loans totalling USD 3 million under the company's credit facility with Guggenheim Corporate Funding, LLC.

Atari has now entered into a senior secured credit facility with BlueBay High Yield Investments S.A.R.L., as the successor administrative agent. BlueBay is a significant shareholder of Infogrames, Atari's majority stockholder.

The new senior secured credit facility increases the availability of credit to USD 10 million and extends the maturity of the outstanding borrowings two years, to December of 2009.

"This revised Credit Facility is a major step in addressing Atari's liquidity needs and providing financing to support its near term business plan," said Curt G. Solsvig III, Atari's chief restructuring officer.

Atari also said that the USD 10 million does not fully satisfy the company's funding requirements and it is therefore seeking additional financing.

Sony reports revenues up

But games division losses double, dragging down overall figures

Sony Corporation has announced its financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2007, showing an overall revenue growth year-on-year of 12.3 per cent.

However, while the Corporation made an operating profit of JPY 90.5 billion (USD 787 million) during the quarter, up from a loss of JPY 20.8 billion (USD 182 million) last year, the games division's losses doubled in the same period.

Although revenues, largely down to the sales of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable Slim and Lite, jumped 43 per cent to JPY 243 billion (USD 2.1 billion), last year's operating loss of JPT 43.5 billion (USD 381 million) more than doubled to JPY 96.7 billion (USD 841 million).

Sony attributed the loss primarily to "the strategic pricing of PS3 at points lower than its production cost and the increase in PS3-related inventory write-downs recorded during the current quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year."

That inventory value now stands at JPY 248 billion (USD 2.2 billion), up 31 per cent on last year, and the result of the "build-up of finished goods inventory following the introduction of the PS3 platform in Japan, North America and Europe."

Additionally, while sales of the PlayStation 3 have now hit 1.31 million units globally during the last quarter, with PS3 software sales reaching 10.3 million units, sales of PlayStation 2 hardware is down four per cent year-on-year, with PS2 software unit sales falling by around a quarter.

The PSP is still going strong, with over half a million units sold this quarter than in the same period last year, although software sales for the handheld dropped by around five per cent in that time.

Source: Games Industry

Community to Create Custom Band Homepages

Social Website Allows Rock Band Community to Create Custom Band Homepages and Network via "Musicians Meeting Musicians" Classified Section

Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks which is a division of Viacom, along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, revealed today details for the ROCKBAND.com social community website. The site will launch on November 20, alongside the North American release of Rock Band for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game entertainment system from Microsoft. A PlayStation 2 version of the game will also ship on December 18.


The ROCKBAND.com Web site will incllude in-depth Rock Band™ leaderboards, personal and band home pages, and a “Musicians Meeting Musicians” classified section to help form bands online. The site will also give fans the opportunity to create their own Rocker Profile pages and communicate wit h other Community members, blogging about their musical tastes and meeting others with similar interests.

“ROCKBAND.com blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, ” said Melissa Macaulay, Producer of ROCKBAND.com, Harmonix. “The site allows you to hype your in-game band’s accomplishments, while providing a forum to meet other real-life people and potential band mates who share your musical tastes.”

ROCKBAND.com Features:
Personal & Band Pages: ROCKBAND.com will automatically load your in-game characters and game stats from an online database so your personal profile page will always be up to date. Choose from four genres in the game to customize your profile pages with cool background skins that reflect your rock tastes.

Band Classifieds: Find and create your own band through the ROCKBAND.com Band Classifieds page. Here you can advertise your own rocker skills or search through dozens of rocker profiles to choose band mates who share similar music tastes.
Rock Band Leaderboards: Climb to the top of the charts as a solo artist or band! From band rankings to solo scores, the ROCKBAND.com leaderboards will earn you fame and fortune as you progress on your journey to Rock Band stardom.
Rocker Blogs: Find out what’s happening behind the scenes with your favorite bands through their blogs. Use your blog to communicate with band mates about practice times, meet others with similar musical interests and keep your groupies in the loop with the website’s unique blogs.

Rock Band Forums: Interact with other rockers and music lovers about anything and everything rock!
Photo Creator: (Coming Soon!) Take the ultimate promo band or solo shot with the website’s Photo Creator. Pick a location, the right lighting, and a coordinated (or not!) pose for your band. Take it over the top cheesy or seriously intense. It’s all about your band’s total image.

“We see ROCKBAND.com as a true extension of the Rock Band world. It will be an awesome way to meet new people who have similar musical tastes,” said Josh Randall, Creative Director for Harmonix. “With ROCKBAND.com players will be able to come together and express themselves in a collaborative manner, which is what playing music is all about.”

Harmonix has partnered with the San Francisco creative powerhouse Mekanism to build the social networking site.

“We are designing ROCKBAND.com as an online home for your band, and as a creative platform for living out your rock and roll fantasy”, said Pete Caban, partner at SF-based di gital studio Mekanism. “The bands and rockers that you can create in Rock Band are insanely unique, and it’s going to be fascinating to watch this community come to life.”

Rock Band is slated is also slated for release in Europe in Q1 2008. The game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.ROCKBAND.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

King of Clubs fact sheet

With Big Bubba King and co. on the shelves from tomorrow, Oxygen Games would like to make available the following fact sheet:

• Wacky and engaging trick-based mini golf, with the emphasis on alternative routes to the holes

• 1-4 players

• Hundreds of special items to collect, each designed to help gain the advantage over opponents

• Hole in one possible for every hole

• Hole in none possible for every hole!

• 10 x 9-hole courses (1 available at the start, and 9 unlockable), set across 5 environments, each with their own resident course pro

• 1 bonus hole per environment, plus Big Bubba’s ‘shrine’

• Myriad ball and club combinations allow for different play strategies and added longevity

• Five single player and four multiplayer modes to choose from

• Various course elements and hazards include the usual wall sliders, gates, risers, bumpers, trapdoors, water traps, etc. Other hazards include accelerators, decelerators and teleport chutes… all designed to alter the dynamics of the shot

• Distractions and taunts feature during multiplayer modes

• Multiplayer handicap system

• 10 characters to choose from; 4 basic characters available at the start, 6 unlockable playable course pros

• Buy Goofy Gadgets, Wonder Balls and Special Clubs from the Pro Shop

• Other items available in the Pro Shop include Mulligan Tokens, customisations i.e. Ball (colour/pattern) and Trail Tints (change ball trail colour), plus Racket Packets to personalise the sounds made by the player’s club and balls

• Collectable virtual course pro action figures give discounts on equipment; buy them all and the AI becomes unlocked, making for more challenging single player games

The PS2 version also features an exclusive single player mode, Gopher Hunt. The object is to eliminate the gophers by driving the ball through them.**

Each hole features a number of randomly placed gophers, which the player has to eliminate before they get to the flag.

King of Clubs, for PlayStation 2 and PC , is available from all of the usual retailers from tomorrow.

**No gophers were harmed during the making of this game, although the Course Pros will never work again!

The Lord of the Rings Online

Today, Codemasters Online and Turbine, Inc. announce the details of the first annual Harvest Festival in The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, the hit MMO that has taken Europe and North America by storm. The Harvest Festival, the second of many planned seasonal celebrations in Middle-earth, will offer players a variety of quests, vendors and events to highlight this special time of year.

“The Harvest Festival is the second of many seasonal events that we have planned for The Lord of the Rings Online,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “These festivals coupled with content updates demonstrate our commitment to delivering the best online experience for our subscribers through a fun, compelling and evolving game.”

Players can celebrate throughout Middle-earth from October 26th to November 12th by interacting with special vendors, earn unique items and participate in quests designed just for the Harvest Festival including:
Horse Racing – Players can compete against each other in a horse race! Winners will receive a horse race token that can be used to purchase the Harvest Festival Horse.

Games of Chance – The Harvest Festival will host four games of chance. Players can bob for apples in the Shire or try geode picking with the Dwarves to earn Harvest Festival tokens that can be used to buy special festival items.
Harvesting the Crop – This new collection of quests enables players to harvest the crops they planted during the Summer Solstice Festival in June and earn a special item for their house.

Dancing – There will be dancing quests with new race-specific dance emotes as a reward.
The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online is now available for purchase at major retailers across Europe. For more information or to download a free trial, please visit www.trylotro.com

SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!

New SpongeBob Game Will Mark THQ and Nickelodeon's Debut on Xbox LIVE Arcade

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!™ will be one of the first titles in the company’s portfolio of games developed specifically for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and is expected to release in November. SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!, based on Nickelodeon’s hit animated series, will mark the network’s debut on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. In November, THQ also expects to launch Screwjumper™, a new original title, in the company’s portfolio of Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 games. These titles will be followed by new original titles Elements of Destruction™ and Rocket Riot™. The games will all be available for download via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

“We view Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 as a natural fit for many of our established casual brands, as well as an opportunity to serve up new gaming content,” said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. “With more than 20 million units of SpongeBob video games shipped worldwide to-date, we’re so excited to bring casual gamers SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! on the Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360, and we look forward to rolling out more titles with a slate of games that offer a variety of options via the popular Arcade network.”

“We’re excited to add one of our hottest properties to the Xbox LIVE Arcade line up of games,” said Steve Youngwood, executive vice president of digital media, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. “SpongeBob has been a top kids’ video game franchise worldwide, making it the perfect property for Nickelodeon and THQ to bring to this downloadable platform.”

For more information about SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! and the rest of THQ’s Xbox LIVE Arcade portfolio, please visit www.thq.com.

About SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!
In SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!, players will collect Lord of the Sea Neptune’s underpants that have been spread across the sea bottom by a powerful storm current. The game features key locations from the series such as the Krusty Krab, the Flying Dutchman’s ship and the depths of the new Treasure Room of Atlantis, where players will search for the bronze, silver and gold medallions. Game modes include single-player Quest and Time Trial Modes, as well as multiplayer Slam and Tag Modes. Players will gain special powers from pick-ups that allow movement at super speed, invincibility or the ability to steal pants from other players. SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! also features slapstick moves that knock down and slow opponents.