Sony’s portable managed to move another 39,125 units in Japan last week, according to sales tracker Media Create, outselling the Nintendo DS platform by a handful of units (the DSi, DSi LL and DS Lite did 39,105 in sales, combined). Half the pie still belongs to Nintendo, though, thanks to continuing strong sales of the Wii and DS.

Here are the top selling hardware platforms in Japan for the week of March 8 to 14.

• PSP – 39,125
• Wii – 31,460
• PlayStation 3 – 26,481
• Nintendo DSi LL – 21,604
• Nintendo DSi – 13,581
• Nintendo DS Lite – 3920
• Xbox 360 – 2668
• PlayStation 2 – 1825
• PSP go – 1191

Back from Game Developers Conference 2010 and trying to get my bearings like everybody else.

On the heels of my Twitter map of GDC 2009, here is a word frequency map of this year’s conference. I think they give a decent picture of what was going on if you weren’t there.

Monday: Day before GDC
Anticipation before the conference starts.

Tuesday: Tutorial and summit day 1
Social games loomed large, as did FarmVille, the iPhone and indie games.

Wednesday: Tutorial and summit day 2
While social games and tutorials were still happening, this was completely overshadowed by the announcement of the PlayStation Move controller.

Thursday: Day 1 of main conference
The expo floor opens (“booth”), Uncharted 2 is big, and the award show dominates.

Friday: Day 2 of main conference
Sid Meier’s keynote, parties, more expo booths. Harmonix, FarmVille. @pocketprotector wins the prize for most tweets.

Saturday: Final day (3) of main conference
Phaedrus’ aka Will Wright’s “surprise” talk takes a lot of space. Mass Effect.

Sunday: Post-conference
A great time, PlayStation move (again), Gabe Newell, time to go home. “See you guys next year.”

Notes: Thanks to Mike Edwards for providing the captured tweets. I have deleted all occurrences of the quite frequent “game”, “games”, “gdc” and “rt” as they did not add any information. “PlayStation Move” on Wednesday is a 100 times more frequent than I would have guessed from going to the conference. This is probably because we are more likely to tweet news items than casual conversation. Made using Wordle.

Jesper Juul has been working with the development of video game theory since the late 1990’s. He is a visiting arts professor at the NYU Game centre, but has previously worked at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Lab at MIT and at the IT University of Copenhagen. His book Half-Real on video game theory was published by MIT press in 2005. His recently published book, A Casual Revolution, examines how puzzle games, music games, and the Nintendo Wii are bringing video games to a new audience. He maintains the blog The Ludologist on “game research and other important things”.

Reprinted with permission from Jesper Juul.

Sega bigwig Mike Hayes tells CVG in an interview that has designs on “sequelising” many of its recent hits and some of its expected hits. That includes titles like Platinum Games’ Bayonetta, a series already identified by its creators as having sequel and spin-off potential.

“We’ve got our shooter with [Aliens Vs Predator] and our RPG with Alpha Protocol – we really want to make that into a franchise. That’s the area where we need some success, to sequel-ise that,” Hayes says. “If you think about it, we can sequel-ise Bayonetta, AVP, Alpha Protocol – if we can make a hit of something like Vanquish – then you add that to Football Manager and Virtua Tennis – we actually have a broad portfolio.”

Maybe not the type of sequels longtime Sega fans have been clamouring for, at least the kind raised on Alex Kidd, Space Harrier, Shinobi, Panzer Dragoon and Jet Set Radio. Those series don’t seem to get as much attention from Sega these days, at least not on par with Sonic the Hedgehog and Phantasy Star.

Hayes also gives the impression that Creative Assembly’s Total War strategy series is ripe for expanding.

“There is still a lot more we can do in the pure historic field,” he tells CVG. “But we also think we can take things in another direction [with Total War] – obviously I can’t give you any more there. But we want to branch into different areas.”

Sega’s Mike Hayes Pt. 2 [CVG]

According to the tweet-reporting of the Official Nintendo Magazine UK, Mr Miyamoto offered the briefest of Pikmin updates. He says the third game in the series, which spawned on the GameCube is “well underway”. Sure, we’ve known for some time that Nintendo is making another Pikmin game, but that it’s “well underway” (and not forgotten) is at least comforting.

Hopefully, Miyamoto and Nintendo will have something more substantial for us at this year’s E3 show than just an apology. We’d love to be able to remove Pikmin 3 from this list.

ONM UK [Twitter via Joystiq]

While not a full-fledged sequel to Calamity Trigger, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift’s incremental updates – three new playable characters, Tsubaki, μ-12 and Hazama – will make the new release that much more definitive for the serious fighting game follower. Aksys Games hasn’t nailed down a specific date yet for Guilty Gear maker Arc System Works arcade port, but it has laid out the new features, including new moves, new Tutorial and Beginner modes, and additional fresh trimmings.

It’s the perfect holdover for your next dose of 2D brawling, which will come whenever SNK Playmore gets The King of Fighters XIII out the door.

(Thanks, Zippi!)

MomoCon is a free fan convention with a focus on video games, anime, costuming, manga, comics and just about anything else geeks can be a fan of. It takes place tomorrow and Sunday, taking over several buildings on the Georgia Tech campus in downtown Atlanta. There’ll be stuff to buy, contests to participate in, videos to watch, cosplay to oogle, and several enlightening panels, one of which includes a rousing discussion on the ins and outs of the video game press, presented by me.

My panel takes place on Sunday at 5.30pm, a time I picked in hopes that most of the attendees will have gone home at that point. IT will mark my first panel appearance, my public speaking debut, and I might just faint halfway through.

Seriously, it’ll at least be vaguely entertaining. There could be puppets.

Check out the MomoCon website for the full schedule of events, and try to be overwhelmingly distracted by something pretty come 5.30pm Sunday afternoon. I know I will be.

The spring update to the first PixelJunk game, PixelJunk Racers, will add the ability for players to summon and race against the ghost of any player on their PlayStation friends list or anywhere on the game’s leaderboard.

How?

Dylan Cuthbert, chief of PixelJunk studio Q-Games, told Kotaku at a recent live showcase of the add-on that PixelJunk Racers: 2nd Lap takes advantage of a PlayStation 3 “user data” service. The technology, he said, popped up on his radar last year. His team wanted to use it in one of their games. The user data service can pull player data from anyone playing a PS3 game programmed to support it. The other game that Cuthbert said uses it is the sword-and-sorcery role-playing game Demon’s Souls, which records of all of its players’ characters. Ghostly renditions of those deaths are then uploaded to other players who will see them as they play Demon’s Souls. Walk up to a bloodstain in the game and press a button – you’ll see the how a player died from that spot. You’ll even see ghosts of other players successful playing the game.

In 2nd Lap, the user data of PixelJunk Racers players is recorded by Sony’s servers and then made available to players. That allows gamers to obtain ghost data for anyone who has raced the game and pit their car against the ghost.

Cuthbert seemed a little bummed that Q-Games wasn’t the first studio to get this technology integrated into a game, but the innovative folks behind Demon’s Souls, the breakthrough innovative darling of last year are not a bad crew to be beaten by.

Trophies and some tweaks to the campaign will also be included in 2nd Lap, which Cuthbert said he hopes will be pretty cheap. The add-on will be available in the spring.

While I’ve merely dabbled in Farmville myself, being more of a Petville man, it’s hard to ignore a game that’s played by more than 1 per cent of the world’s population. Love it or hate it, Farmville has spread like crop disease throughout the Facebook community. My friends are constantly posting game updates on their walls, and even my older brother, a manly construction foreman by day, dons suspenders and milks pink cows after he gets home from work. It’s slightly frightening.

But rather than raging against my fear, I’ve decided to embrace it, and game developer Zynga has generously offered to help, by sharing with us Farmville strategy tips on how to make the most of your land, your crops, and your livestock.

Check out the gallery below for Zynga’s Farmville advice, along with my own colour commentary in italics.

Make The Most Of What’s Around

Utilise the space on your farm efficiently by keeping your plots organised. This will increase your Experience and profit.

My brother is dangerously well-organised. We’re like Goofus and Gallant.

Covet Thy Neighbours’ Gifts

Instead of purchasing animals and trees from the Marketplace, add some Neighbours! Neighbours can send these items as Gifts to you, for free! Don’t forget to return the favour by sending one back to them. Remember, what goes around, comes around!

And then Fahey shared a portion of his Facebook friends list with potential stalkers. Good call.

Take Advantage Of Your Animals

Animals are more than just cute! When your animals’ counter reaches 100% you can collect milk, eggs, wool and other items that you can sell for coins!

My cats never give me milk, eggs or wool. Hmph.

Here’s Why You Build Them Up… Buttercup

Buildings not only look great on your farm but constructing them can provide you with a hefty amount of Experience. Horse Stables, Dairy Barns and Chicken Coops can also be used to store your animals. If you’re lucky, you might even receive a Foal or Calf when collecting from your Horse Stable or Dairy Barn.

The more I read, the more pathetic my farm looks. Buildings?

Expand Your Horizons

Feeling cramped? If you need more room to grow, expand your farm! Additional land can be purchased from the Marketplace for Coins or Farm Cash. Remember, in order to expand your land for Coins, you must have enough neighbours! Check out the Marketplace to review how many neighbours you need to gain additional land.

I have one neighbour. What’ll that get me?

Pimp Your Farm With Your Rides

Vehicles can be purchased from the Marketplace to assist with your farming needs. FarmVille features a Hot Rod Tractor, Harvester and Seeder that can be used to plough, plant and harvest your farm in no time!

Everyone needs a Hot Rod Tractor.

Become A Tree Hugger

When your trees’ counter reaches 100%, you can collect various types of fruit that can be sold for coins! Fruit does not rot, so no need to worry about them withering.

Yes, my farm is a pathetic fallacy, but I have a tree!

Achievement Unlocked

Farmville features numerous Achievements that can be obtained by completing various tasks within the game. In addition to a Ribbon to show off to your friends, you can also gain Experience points, Decorations for your farm and Coins!

If they linked these to Gamerscore, you all would play, and you know it.

Time Your Harvest Well

Farmville features crops that are ready to harvest at varying times. Make sure to plant crops that ripen when you are available. Doing so will ensure that your crops are less likely to wither.

Look at me, ploughing the land like an old farm pro!

Neighbourhood Watch

Assisting neighbours with daily chores and fertilising their crops will provide you with valuable Experience points and Coins. Fertilised crops will reward additional Experience points when harvested, so don’t let them wither.

I don’t know about you, but I get by with a little help from my friends. Just sayin’.

Don’t Keep Your Comments To Yourself

Want to talk to your neighbours? Leave them a comment! The new Comment Box can be used to send messages to and receive messages from your friends. You can also easily keep track of who has visited your farm, fertilised your crops, fed your chickens and sent gifts sent to you by clicking the “visits” tab in the Comment Box.

I wonder if he’ll make the connection?

Save Your Coins

When starting Farmville for the first time, make sure to save your coins. Plant and Plough in moderation for the first few levels. Gradually add more plots of land once you are more familiar with the game and its mechanics. If you add too many plots of land too soon, you may not have enough money to buy crops!

Or buy more coins! That’s the beauty of having money to burn. There was an economic crisis? When?

Take Shortcuts

Farmville features various consumables that will make your daily chores a breeze. Use the “Arborist” and “Farm Hands” items to harvest all of your trees and animals with a single click!

If all else fails, hire someone else to play the game for you.

Now I can’t speak for Stephen Totilo, my partner in PAX crime, but Puzzle Quest is more than a game for me. It’s an obsession. I’ve played the game on every platform available at this point, and when I recently introduced it to my girlfriend, she quickly surpassed my efforts, levelling past 50 and collecting this set of armour that I wasn’t aware of the makes the entire screen explode if you so much as sneeze .

She’s not going to Boston with me, which is just as well; she’d never come back.

Visitors to PAX East at the Hynes Convention centre in Boston next weekend will be able to get their hands on Puzzle Quest 2, which updates the formula with new classes, and weapons and armour that can change the tide of battles.

Your best chance to check out the game will be on Saturday, when Totilo has his panel and I’m using his distraction as an excuse to take a nap in some bean bag chairs.

There are a couple of reasons that may have compelled Apple to remove Zits & Giggles, a pimple-popping game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, from the App store:

Possibility 1: Its co-creator did spend five minutes at last week’s Game Developers Conference “Indie Gamemakers Rant” to declare that he “absolutely fucking hate[s] the iPhone app store”. He likened the iPhone gaming market to that served by the low-quality Tiger handheld gaming systems of the ’80s and ’90s, handheld devices that played crude Mega Man and Street Fighter games.

Possibility 2: Zits & Giggles’ creators also kept raising the price of their game – as an experiment – up to $US400 as of last week.

But Apple hasn’t offered Refenes any clues, leaving him only with theories. “They gave me no explanation at all as to why they took it down,” the developer told Kotaku after trying to get an explanation from Apple all week. “I’m guessing they are mad that I said their store sucks and the iPhone is a Tiger handheld and they took it down.”

Apple has not responded to Kotaku’s request for comment

Zits & Giggles was launched in March 2009. It’s a simple pimple-popping game. It was co-developed by handful of game makers, including Refenes and Adam Atomic, the developer of the hit iPhone game Canablat. The group made the game as a lark, a sentiment that was clear from the summary of the game that used to appear on the App store:

Will you continue to embrace good taste and sensibility, or will you have the courage and the fortitude to go above and beyond your duties as a patriotic citizen? This cultural milestone is not only the FIRST* but the MOST ADVANCED dermatological simulator ever released on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Few people perusing the App store had any interest in Zits & Giggles in March of 2009. According to Refenes, sales were negligible.

In his rant last week, Refenes explained that, about five months ago, he raised the price to $US15. It was an experiment. On the day he raised the price, three people bought the game. He said he raised the price to $US50 and four more people bought it. Refenes was inspired and convinced that people who buy games from the App store aren’t good at sniffing out good games. He would keep raising the price to see how many more people would buy the game. Fourteen people bought the game at $US299, he said.

On Monday, March 15, the day Zits & Giggles was removed from the App store, someone bought the game for $US400, he told Kotaku.

One day after the removal, Refenes received an email from an Apple official. The note, subject-lined “Your App Store submission Zits & Giggles,” began with “We have been trying to reach you” along with a phone number to call but did not refer to the game’s removal. After receiving the email, Refenes figured out that his game had been pulled. He’s been trying to get Apple to talk to him, by phone or email, ever since.

Refenes, who is also part of the development team for the anticipated PC, Xbox 360 and Wii downloadable game Super Meat Boy, told Kotaku that he does not believe his game broke any App store rules.

Kotaku has sought clarification from Apple about whether the pricing experiment, which would have cost consumers far more money than Zits & Giggles is worth, violates any App store pricing rules. In 2008, Apple removed an app called I Am Rich that charged people $US1000 for essentially nothing.

At the Game Developers Conference, Refenes called the App store to the “Tiger handheld game of this generation”, a platform on which big brands are sold but where game quality is not the consumers’ priority. The pricing experiment had confirmed this, he told his fellow game creators: “My conclusion to all of this is that the people you’re selling games to on the App store, they’re not necessarily gamers. There are some games that sell very well on the App store, but for the most part, when you have stuff like Street Fighter and Assassin’s Creed, the are a way to sell a brand, just like the Tiger handhelds were. ”

It is easy to believe that Refenes’ March 10, 2010 rant, delivered a year after the game was launched and several months after the price started to climb, was the impetus for the removal of Zits & Giggles from the App store. But whether Apple made its move on March 15 due to discovering the app via the rant or to punish a trash-talking developer will remain a mystery until Apple speaks up.