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Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review Alright, it’s official. Sony just sent through a press release with all the info on the Bravia/PS3 deal we were informed of earlier today.
According to the release, the offer is valid for anyone who purchases a full HD (that’s the XBR, X and W series) Bravia LCD TV between Dec 21, 2007 and Jan 28, 2008. After your purchase, you’ll be able to lodge your PS3 redemption via the www.sony.com.au/bonusPS3 URL.
It goes on to say that it doesn’t matter where you buy your LCD TV, you’ll still be eligible for a PS3.
That’s the long and short of it, but the full release can be found after the jump.
When the NPD numbers hit, Guitar Hero III was all over the place. Rock Band was not. Didn’t even crack the top 10. Which meant we couldn’t get an idea of exactly how many units it shifted, and were left to wonder “maybe not that many”, since they were hard to find, the guitars didn’t work and they cost $US 170. Well 1UP have got hold of the NPD numbers, and…it’s not that bad! In fact, it did quite well considering the issues above. 296000 copies were sold on 360, while 68500 were moved on PS3, leaving a grand total of 364500 copies sold. That’s not a scratch on Guitar Hero III’s 3.18 million, of course, but Rock Band didn’t launch on PS2 and Wii, either, which accounted for 2.18 million of GH’s sales. NPD Fallout: Rock Band Proves its Worth [1UP]
Here’s something you might not have expected. Despite having debuted in the second week of November, Mario Party DS for the Nintendo DS tops this week’s Japanese software sales chart. It beat out the recently released Wii Fit—now past the half-million mark—and new debut Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for the PlayStation 3. In fact, this past week represents Mario Party DS’s best sales week ever. In general, software for Nintendo platforms was way up, with Wii Sports and Wii Play returning to top ten glory. Probably going to be a good week for the console.
What didn’t perform too well? The long-awaited sequel NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, which, according to Media Create, charted at #27 in its first week. Poor Sega. I almost feel bad for them! I’ll try to maintain a straight face while you check out the top ten for the week of December 10th to 16th. More after the jump.
Microsoft sold a lot of Xbox 360s in 2007. Halo 3 certainly helped in that little endeavour. But, man, you should wait and see how many they’ll sell in 2008. They’ll sell even more! Even without Halo 4! Well, that’s what Microsoft are saying, at least, Jeff Bell telling Reuters: We will sell more consoles next year than this year.
Blunt, but effective. He also says Europe will be the key battleground for Microsoft in the new year, where aside from the UK the 360 isn’t really taking off like MS would have hoped. Almost as if Europeans aren’t as interested in shooters and American sports games… Microsoft sees Xbox 360 sales growth in ’08 [Reuters][Image: Getty Images]
Konami of Japan has released Silent Hill: The Escape for mobile phones today on FOMA 904i and 905i hand sets, making fantasies of shooting faceless hordes of sexy nurse zombies with your phone a reality. Silent Hill: The Escape uses the phone’s built-in camera to monitor a user’s movements allowing for aiming and reloading of your character’s gun. The game also supports 3D sound and vibration to emulate the series’ radio static feature that lets a player know how close enemies are and from where they are approaching.
Given that the Silent Hill spin-off, which seems to share more with Silent Hill: The Arcade than anything else in the series, doesn’t attempt to use a cell phone keypad for control gives it a much lower chance of sucking. Say, 98%. Not bad for a cell phone game!
Silent Hill: The Escape [Game Watch]
An advertising and content sharing deal between Microsoft and Viacom, valued at some half-billion dollars, could bring even more Paramount, MTV and Comedy Central content to the Xbox Live Marketplace, including the MTV show Cribs, which could qualify as a rare win-win-win. Specifics on the “broad selection” of shows and movies that will be licensed as part of the deal weren’t given but Live Marketplace already enjoys plenty of content from MTV, MTV2, VH1, Comedy Central, Spike and other Viacom brands. That content could increase to include the as-yet unavailable via Marketplace housing program Cribs. Yes, Cribs.
While major portions of the deal won’t directly impact Xbox 360 owners, as if also includes shared advertising revenues and content for MSN, the prospect of increased Cribs access is too enticing to not report on. I can only hope this alliance will bring the criminally overlooked TV Funhouse to the available Comedy Central list of available programs.
Microsoft, Viacom Ink $500 Mil Ad Deal [CNN/Money]
According to a story up at Atomic, if you choose to buy one of Sony’s 1080p Bravia LCD TVs, it’ll throw a Playstation 3 into the deal – free.
At the moment, all the page says is “Coming soon – Bonus PLAYSTATION®3 promotion.”, but tipster Dave is confident that the promo will start tomorrow and run until January 28. So there’s plenty of time to take the company up on its offer.
We don’t have any additional details, but we’ll knock on Sony’s door and see if it’s willing to shed some light on the situation. However, I think it’ll take more than walking into your nearest electronics store and requesting the offer.
Coincidentally, the 21st is my birthday. If I only had the cash for a Bravia and didn’t already own a PS3. Oh well, I’ll just have to put up with that whole tiny text thing for a while longer.
And yes, this is an Australian deal by the looks of things. Nice to get one up over the States for once.
Update 1: Maybe you can just waltz into a store and snag the offer! Kotakuite eckymosis reports that their cousin bought a Bravia at JB Hi-Fi and was provided a special code that can be redeemed for a PS3.
Update 2: Correction, that should be “Dick Smith” not “JB Hi-Fi”. Plus, we have official info from Sony.
BRAVIA PS3 Promotion [via Atomic (thanks David!)]
This cosplay performance of the [spoiler alert!]last level in Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 may scream “amateur hour” and have a distinct lack of cheerleaders that don’t look like spindly boys, but it’s the thought that counts. You can barely hear the Sambomaster and the camera looks to be mounted on a radio controlled helicopter piloted by a drunk being tasered, but you have to give these attendees of Singapore’s Anime@Expo EOY con credit for giving it a go.
Thanks, Michael!
Infinium Labs Phantom console will never see the light of day, but it seems that it’s finally going to release something as the long-in-development Phantom Lapboard—a wireless keyboard and mouse combo—is available for purchase and may actually ship sometime soon. For $US 130, your pointing, clicking and typing needs can be met easily from the comfort of your lap should you choose to risk a purchase from the Phantom online store.
Caveat emptor and all that.
A Gaming Miracle [Just Press Play via Game|Life]
Weekly Famitsu magazine asked hundreds of gamers and dozens of video game retailers to sum up the year in gaming in Japan—and the results aren’t too surprising. As the Nintendo DS and Wii continue to dominate sales charts, the collective consciousness pointed to publisher and hardware manufacturer Nintendo as the standout company of the year. It also took first place in developer mindshare, with Nintendo exec Shigeru Miyamoto topping the list of industry figures putting on the “best showing” this year. He bested prolific (and financially underperforming) Mistwalker creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who took second.
Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy beat out competitors as the most engrossing release of 2007, beating out the bestselling Monster Hunter Freedom 2. Capcom shouldn’t feel too bad, though, as Monster Hunter releases and announcements put the Osaka-based developer in first place for software “defied expectations”. Good to see these multi-billion dollar corporations are appreciate by their fans.
