Some retrospective reading here, folks. Below is a link to a history of the Commodore 64, the finest brown computer the world has ever seen. It’s required reading. Here, though, is some trivia: the C64 was my first ever gaming machine. Dad bought one when I was 4, ostensibly as a “home computer”. Five years and a few thousand games of Aztec Challenge later it was obvious budget planning and party invites were not its strong-point. This article proves my situation was not unique. A History of Gaming Platforms: The Commodore 64 [Gamasutra]
And the new challengers just. Keep. Coming. Kirby’s archenemy King Dedede has entered the Super Smash Bros. Brawl ring. It’s about time! Originally, he was slated to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros., but ended up only in the Dream Land stage’s background. He didn’t make the cut for Super Smash Bros. Melee as he’s just a trophy. This time around, he’s one of the heavyweights like Donkey Kong and Bowser. Don’t think of that as a consolation prize! Dedede Enters [SB Dojo!!, Thanks Redfield!]
Clive Thompson’s asking questions over at Wired. Tough questions. Like is the Wii Remote really the answer when it comes to the “perfect” control scheme? He’s found a case where no, no it is not, and it’s a case a lot of people could identify with: guy’s been playing a ton of Skate, and thinks it “produces results that are not only better than the average controller, but better than a Wii”. Which leads him to ponder whether the Wii Remote isn’t just as artificial an input method as a D-pad and sticks. Your thoughts, peanut gallery? I say he’s right, for now, but that a lot of Wii titles shortcomings have been the fault of the developer, not the controller itself. So he may not be right forever. Smooth Moves: In Defense of Really Elegant Button-Mashing [Wired]
Seaman! Buckets and buckets of Seaman! That’s what Japanese gamers gobbled up this week, as Sega’s sequel to the Dreamcast test of patience from Vivarium for the PlayStation 2 topped the Japanese sales charts. The voice activated, missing link-raising sim just barely beat out Nintendo’s newest non-game for the Nintendo DS, DS Bungaku Zenshuu, a collection of Japanese literature readable on the dual screen sensation.
The only other exciting sales news was the debut of Beautiful Katamari for the Xbox 360 cracking the top ten and Lair for the PlayStation 3 hanging tough in the top 30. Also, I’m sure many of you were curious about the placement of DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou – Satsui no Wana. It held strong for another week and should best the 100,000 mark any day now. Sleep well, sales figure faithful.
01. Seaman 2 (PS2) Р33,000 / NEW 02. DS Bungaku Zenshuu (DS) Р32,000 / NEW 03. Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor (PS2) Р20,000 / 271,000 04. DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou РSatsui no Wana (DS) Р20,000 / 81,000 05. Gundam Battle Chronicle (PSP) Р19,000 / 133,000 06. Pok̩mon Mysterious Dungeon: Time Expedition Party (DS) Р19,000 / 521,000 07. Beautiful Katamari (360) Р19,000 / NEW 08. Pok̩mon Mysterious Dungeon: Shadow Expedition Party (DS) Р16,000 / 457,000 09. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS) Р15,000 / 646,000 10. Banushi Life Game: Winners Circle (DS) Р15,000 / NEW
Itprintsmoney.gif. Just picture that image, then picture it repeating endlessly across a monitor whose expanse is greater than that of the seven seas. That’s how much money Nintendo is making. They’ve just released their quarterly financials, and to spare you the boring parts, we’ll just tell you they made three times as much money as they did this time last year, have raised their operating profit forecast to $US 3.7 billion and are on track to rake in, oh, around $US 13 billion in total revenue for the year. Think this whole Wii/DS thing may actually be working? Nintendo raises full-year forecast [Reuters]
Mature-rated Conan for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 feature rampant boobs. Just about every level has a topless damsel in distress that needs to be saved. After freeing them, the lady says, “Let me repay you” and Conan kinda stands there for a moment. The developer says “no,” but there’s gotta be a shameful Easter Egg, there’s gotta.
The two, maybe three of you trying to call Midway’s San Diego office, you can stop now. Go back to trying to call Nintendo or whoever it is you’re pissed off with this week. The crazy California bush fires sweeping the state have forced the evacuation of the company’s San Diego offices, with all employees expected to be staying at home for the rest of the week. A cushy week at home, then? Oh good Lord no, they’re still having to work. Even the developers. Guess only the end of days can get you the day off at Midway Heavy Industries. Midway Evacuates San Diego Office due to Wildfires [GameDaily.biz]
Finally! Things are starting to look up for embattled Sony. The electronics giant released its consolidated financial results for the 2nd quarter that ended on September 30th. The results? The company’s operating loss in the game division increased because of “strategic pricing of PS3 at pints lower than its production cost.” Overall hardware sales were up, and thegame division saw a 42.9 percent increase in sales thanks the PS3 and the redesigned PSP. PlayStation 2 sales remained steady. Total game software sales dipped “as a result of a decrease in PS2 and PSP software sales.” Also, Sony has changed the way it reports hardware and software unit sales. Instead of counting shipped units, it now counts actual sold units. The quarter between July and September looks like this:
Worldwide hardware unit sales (increase/decrease year-on-year) PS2: 3.28 million units (a decrease of 0.13 million units) PSP: 2.58 million units (an increase of 0.56 million units) PS3: 1.31 million units
Software units after the jump.
PS2: 38.0 million units (a decrease of 9.2 million units) PSP: 12.6 million units (a decrease of 0.6 million units) PS3: 10.3
Whew. I don’t know about you, but I’m all numbered out. Breaktime! Report Here [Sony]
You may have heard, Nintendo were short a few senior executives. Needed fresh blood. So they’ve gone out and got some! As expertly speculated, Yahoo’s Cammie Dunaway (pictured) will be coming onboard as executive vice president, sales & marketing (Reggie’s old job, before he got shuffled upstairs last year), while Shigeyuki Takahashi, formerly of Nintendo Research Inc. (business research, not product research) has been brought over to the US to serve as NoA’s executive vice president, special assignment. Where, with a title like that, we expect he’ll be battling swarthy terrorist types with nothing but a sharp suit and a heavily-modified Wii Zapper. Full introductory press release follows.
This, yes this, is what we’ve been waiting for: The Red Ring of Death jack-o’-lantern. According to reader Zhao:
Every gamer’s worst nightmare… the centre fell out and had to be taped *cries due to lack of skill*
It’s like the mouth of Hell.
