A recent Gamespot interview discussed the February’s NPD sales figures with representatives of both Microsoft and Sony. The writer, Brendan Sinclair, closed the piece by making the following statement:

“The [Microsoft] representative added that Microsoft expects entries in other formerly Sony-exclusive series such as Resident Evil 5 and Final Fantasy XIII to also sell better on the Xbox 360 than the PS3.”

Wha? The Gamespot interview lounge must serve more than milk and cookies to their guests. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Xbox 360 (I loved it more before it broke), but I’d like to have some of whatever that representative was smoking. Now, it’s worth noting that in the Gamespot interview touting this alleged comment, that the wording is that of the writer and not an exact quote by the MS rep.

While I am in not directly doubting the legitimacy of the statement, I always find it hard to take anything outside of a direct quote at complete face value. It’s my belief that if the individual said it verbatim it would and should be quoted as such.

That aside, if he/she did make that comment I see it as more of a thumb to the eye of Sony more than anything else. The PlayStation 3 still has quite the stranglehold on the Japanese market, not to mention exclusive rights to the next gen Final Fantasy release in that region.

Source: Gamespot

I published the cinematic intro for Sonic Unleashed a few hours ago, and I’m back with yet more Sonic video to feed your speed addiction — and by speed I mean running really fast. Anyway, here’s a look at some opening dialog between Sonic and Chip, the Hub World area, and the Windmill Isle level which was playable at TGS 08.

I know there are some hardcore Chip haters out there, and while I admit he isn’t needed in terms of gameplay, a game does benefit from character interaction on multiple levels. Does Sonic absolutely need a sidekick? No. Do I think it breaks the game? No.

Overall, I think Sonic Unleashed is shaping up nicely. I was impressed by the title at E3, and I continue to remain impressed. What are your thoughts?

Source: Ruliweb

Sonic Unleashed Image Gallery – Click Here To View

Ubisoft has released two new video interviews highlighting the combat and acrobatic aspects of their upcoming Prince of Persia next-gen title. I have taken the time to watch each and put together a some detailed notes and opinions for your reading pleasure.

Hit the jump, double jump, co-op jump, and prepare to “jump jump” your ass straight out of your seat. Anyone who saw previous footage of the game and said” it looks good but I just don’t understand how the controls are going to work” is going to have their questions answered — right now.

Prince of Persia Combat Interview

Combat Highlights

Ubisoft’s goal with the latest Prince of Persia was to reinvent the way people fight in an action game. This brought on the development of a new 1-on-1 fighting system, which they describe and being similar to that of Soul Calibur.

The relationship of combat to acrobatics has changed, as the two are more clearly defined and separated this time around. Exploration type acrobatics will navigate your to battle, but once engaged in a fight, you will be locked in until either you or the enemy has been killed. This is a significant change over previous Prince of Persia games which allowed gamers to escape and essentially reset a fight.

In addition, you will not be able to use moves like the Grip Fall and your co-op jumping ability while in combat, but that certainly doesn’t mean the fights will lose their acrobatic feel. As you have likely seen in the previously released footage of the game, you will still be able to interact with your environment during a boss fight (as will the enemy), however your interactions will not mirror those available in exploration mode.

One example shows the Prince pushing a boss off a ledge causing him to plummet to his death. The interesting thing here, is that you can supposedly do this regardless of your enemies current health state. In other words, you could potentially maneuver a boss at full health towards a ledge and push him off for a quick win. No word as to how many encounters will feature environments that make this possible, but it’s definitively a nice treat.

In terms of attacks, the team describes melee and magic as the two major forms at your disposal. The sword being the main weapon for the Prince, capable of faster attack speeds, and greater damage when compared to Elika’s magical counterpart. The drawback to the sword is that it requires you to be within melee range, and can be countered as well as deflected by the enemy. Of course, you will be able to perform all those nasty damage dodging abilities too if you keep your eyes open and your reflexes sharp.

As stated above, Eleka’s attacks are based on magic, and while they can be utilized from a greater distance (which will likely prove to be key in certain battles), they take longer to perform and don’t do as much damage as the Prince’s sword.

What about the combat acrobatic maneuvers we promised? And to think I thought you would never ask. The action button, which is also used to perform acrobatic moves when out of combat, serves the same purpose in battle. It allows for a movement the developers describe as “quick steps”, which can be activated while in strafe mode. With this button, you will also be able to jump up onto your enemy as long as you are within melee attack range.

The last ability mentioned in the video utilizes the “Lift/Gauntlet” button, granting you the ability to launch your enemy into the air for a few quick juggle type combo hits. I’m not sure that I am completely in love with this one, as it would seem to take the edge off a more daunting enemy such as The Warrior. There is a chance that some bosses are immune to certain attacks, although they have yet to mention anything like that.

Prince of Persia Acrobatics Interview

Acrobatic Interview Highlights

The developers talk about the game’s “ingredients” in this segment, specifically referring to interactive objects in the game. Each object that you can utilize to make your way through world has been coined an ingredient. Hmmmm, maybe someone was baking a cake during one of their brainstorming sessions.

Regardless, “ingredients” are a key element in this installment of Prince of Persia, and it is worth noting that all of them, be it pole or ledges, will require the same gameplay mechanic in order to interact with them.

I’m all for this idea. It’s very possible that the goal was to simplify things, helping to make repetitive actions such as swinging and grabbing a ledge become second nature to the user. Gears of War did this well with their one button approach to most of the things you could do in their blockbuster game. Kudos Ubi, here’s to hoping it works as well as I’m envisioning it will.

With new gear, comes new moves, and even more responsibility. The Prince (as you may have seen) is sporting a new gauntlet on his hand, and that little puppy opened up the game like a — well, like something being opened up.

Grip Fall, the Prince’s new wall scraping ability, allows him to slowly lower himself from one point to another. Think nails on a chalkboard — a really really big chalkboard. The addition of this new ability, forced the developers to rethink how they looked at the level design, as this one move alone opened things up for a much more vertical type of environment.

Remember how I said jump, like three times in the intro? Yea, well here’s why. The game is going to feature ass-loads of jumping. More jumping than some Man Show Juggies on a trampoline. You chew on the video for a bit while I hit the head.

[writer away from keyboard - requests you watch the clip below]

[writer returns to keyboard and begins typing]

So yea, you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to jump your heart out. According to the developers, the “jump centric” controls are the backbone of their “jump anywhere philosophy”, allowing for single jumps, double jumps, and the occasionally sexy co-op jump.

So what is the next-gen version of Prince of Persia all about? Speed and rhythmic movement. Previous iterations of the game had acrobatics that were slower and more puzzle like, but those days are long behind us now. The new Prince is in town, and he’s got places to go.

Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia hits stores on December 2nd, 2008, and is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

TGS 08 brings us a new Prince of Persia trailer featuring artist “Sia” performing her song “Breathe Me”. The Prince and Elika acrobatically make their way through the world and close with a battle against The Warrior .

At the risk of my sounding like a broken record, I simply have to say that no matter how many times I see footage of this game I inhale a little each time.

Have at it after the epic Prince like leap.

The month is over and stats are in: The Xbox 360 has sold more units in Japan than the PlayStation 3 during the month of September.

Attributed mostly to the price cut, Microsoft’s jolly green (but sometimes red and not all that jolly) giant sold almost twice as many consoles as Sony’s black box. Shifting 53,547 units from store shelves to Japanese homes, the Xbox 360 was the preferred “next-gen” console as the PS3 moved a mere 33,071.

Of course, both systems were greatly outsold by Nintendo, selling 109,548 Wii’s and 234,477 DS’s. Not really a surprise when you consider the fact that there are more casual douches in the world than there are hardcore gamers, and we all know that Nintendo is catering to the casuals.

To be completely honest, I still find the number of Wii’s being sold every month to be confusing. Apparently nobody does research on the thing before buying one, otherwise they’d know that most Wii owners are bored out of their minds.

Yeah, I said it.

Source: Yahoo!

As we just reported, Sony’s PlayStation 3 led hardware sales in the month of January. According to research firm iSuppli, that trend is going to continue, with the PS3 becoming the market leader by 2011.

They expect the Wii to hold on to the top spot until the PS3 overtakes it, with the Xbox 360 seeing the least number of console sales from here on out. They predict the 360 will sell only 7.5 million units by the end of this year, while the PS3 will double its install base to over 20 million total.

The thing I find most surprising, and leads me to doubt these people, is that the 360 and Wii will somehow lose some installed base in 2011. How is that exactly? I don’t know if they assume the Wii’s and 360’s successors will be coming out and people will be trading up, or if they are just a bunch of idiots that assume Sony will win simply based on the past two generations. In other words, they don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.

While I certainly believe the next-gen console race is far from over, I wouldn’t trust numbers like these from people who don’t do anything to explain how they came up with them. All research firms and analysts can only make “educated guesses”, but in this case, it doesn’t seem that iSuppli is very educated.

Feel free to agree with me in the comments section.

Source: International Business Times

See, it’s not all doom and gloom for the 360 after all! According to the NPD Group’s data, Microsoft is leading the videogame industry in several areas. They had a big year overall – December hardware sales were on par with the Wii ,while 360 software sales took the lead with games like Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and Assassin’s Creed.

Microsoft sure is proud of their accomplishments and wanted to let you know how awesome they are. Read on to see their take on this information.

Xbox 360 Drives the Video Game Console Industry in 2007:
NPD data released today confirms consumers spent more dollars on Xbox 360 in 2007, with more than $13.7 billion in total consumer spending. Xbox 360 won 2007 with $4.8 billion in total consumer spending compared to Wii with $3.5 billion and PlayStation 3 with $2.2 billion. This wraps up a historic year, with NPD reporting consumers have spent nearly 45 percent of total industry figures on Xbox 360.

Here is a quick snapshot of what is driving revenue for Xbox 360, based on the latest reports from NPD and Microsoft data:

* XBOX 360 WIDENS THE GAP OVER PS3 WITH CONSOLE SALES: According to NPD, Xbox 360 sold 1.3 million consoles in December alone, and has steadily widened the gap between Sony’s PlayStation 3 console sales. In December, NPD stated that Sony sold 798,000 PS3 hardware units. Since PS3’s launch in November 2006, Xbox 360 has outsold PS3 by nearly 2:1 on average, bringing a total U.S. Xbox 360 install base of 9.2 million consoles, compared to and installed base of 7.4 million Wii consoles and 3.3 million PS3 consoles.

* GAMES DRIVE INDUSTRY GROWTH: Xbox 360 robust games portfolio spans across the highest-ranked AAA titles to the largest collection of “Everyone” and “Teen” rated games. According to NPD, of the top 20 best-selling titles in 2007 for this generation, 11 were on Xbox 360; while only seven were sold on the Wii and two sold on the PS3.

** NPD reported that this holiday’s leading multiplatform blockbusters continue to sell better on Xbox 360: + “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” for Xbox 360 was the leading game last month with 1.5 million copies sold, outselling the PS3 version nearly 3:1.

+ “Assassin’s Creed” for Xbox 360 was the fourth best selling title, having sold 894,000 units. It outsold the PS3 version more than 2:1.

+ “Guitar Hero III” outsold the PS3 nearly 2:1, having sold 625,000 copies.

+ “Rockband” continues to rock the charts, selling 463,000 units for the Xbox 360 platform, compared to 174,000 units for the PS3

** To date, 33 third party games on Xbox 360 hit the top 10 list across all consoles compared to five third party games on PS3, and four on Wii. These results confirm that third party partners create better games and reap more sales on Xbox 360 than any other platform.

** In its fourth month on the market, Halo 3 continued its strong performance and was the sixth best selling title in December, selling another 742,000. In 2007, NPD projects that Halo 3 has sold 4.8 million units in the U.S. since its launch in September.

** Xbox 360 continues to lead in number of games sold per console, setting another record with an attach rate of 7.0 games per console.

* XBOX LIVE SETS NEW HEIGHTS: Xbox LIVE’s network is 10 million members strong and growing, achieving membership goals six months ahead of schedule. Only on Xbox LIVE can members experience the largest catalog of on-demand, high-definition content in the U.S., including movies and television shows from our most recent partners: Disney-ABC Television Group and MGM Studios.

We’re not slowing down in 2008. The next versions of powerhouse franchises like “Grand Theft Auto,” “Resident Evil” and sports games like “Madden”, “FIFA”, and “Pro Evolution Soccer” open up a new arena for game play on Xbox 360. This year we will make great strides toward improving our brand appeal to consumers interested in more physical game play. With titles like “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock,” “Rock Band” and “Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action” we’re creating interactive experiences on Xbox 360 for the entire family.

Whether or not you believe this information makes Microsoft the market leader is entirely up to you. Regardless, these numbers certainly are positive for Microsoft and the gamers currently enjoying their Xbox 360s. Now if only they could sort out these hardware issues…

Source: Team Xbox

Have you had enough of First Person Shooters? It was such a dominant genre this year that it seemed to define what it meant to be “next-gen.” We’re not quite out of the woods yet, but 2008 promises to bring us a more diverse line-up. What games or concepts will characterize the industry as we move into the second generation proper?

It wasn’t that long ago when I considered writing an editorial complaining about the lack of variety in games this generation. Some developers will always be making software outside the norm, so it would’ve been by no means absolute if I’d said “can’t you guys come up with anything else?!”

Let’s face it, First Person Shooters get a lot of attention in a lot of different ways and few games have been fawned over as much lately as HALO 3, Orange Box (Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2), Crysis, or Call of Duty 4. Then there’s Unreal Tournament III, Resistance, Timeshift, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Hellgate: London, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Red Steel, Shadowrun, Soldier of Fortune Payback, Blacksite: Area 51, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Even, in many ways, the inimitable Bioshock qualifies. Not all are good, but some are great, maybe even “best game ever” material.

So why did we see so many this past year (and before you ask, yes, I’m aware some were technically released in 2006)? Part of the answer might be found in the types of technology they’re pushing, making them great showcases for what new gaming platforms can do.

There were also some hotly anticipated sequels released, with HALO 3 in particular having the “biggest day in entertainment sales ever.” Multiplayer features have also been a big draw, keeping players hooked for the long haul. And, of course, there’s also the socio-political pressure that’s been put on the genre since day one (though, ironically enough, most of the attention has been focused on Manhunt 2, which isn’t a shooter at all).

Taking all of that into account, maybe it was just a perfect storm of sorts — one grand coincidence created by the combination of a strict holiday deadline and finally-finished development times.

But 2008 looks remarkably different with fewer First Person Shooters on the docket. Thinking of the top of my head, only three stand out – Ubisoft’s delayed HAZE, hype-machine Killzone 2, and, well, Duke Nukem Forever (good one, Broussard!). There will unquestionably be others, but it looks like my original fears were unwarranted. I’ll no longer need to be writing that article.

So, with the FPS taking some much needed time off, what other genre will we be sick and tired of by the end of next year?

2008: Year of the Free-Roamer?

It’s a no-brainer that Grand Theft Auto IV is going to rule the gaming scene. Whether it comes out in the Spring (as planned), or in the Fall (as expected), it will serve as the anchor for free-roaming sandbox games to sail into port. Like a ship-load of liquored-up seamen on shore leave, though, we should probably hope they don’t overstay their welcome.

Remember what happened last time? Free-roaming elements shoehorned into every orifice of a game which otherwise might’ve been good, checkpoint races that take you from zero to frustrating inanity in four seconds flat? A redux of this kind of game design without appropriate context built around it would be unfortunate for an industry that really needs to start finding new ideas.

That said, I’ve got a feeling that we’re in for a few tasty treats. Last year’s GTA clone du jour, Saints Row, should be having another go-around. Up against the king itself, this time, the court jester’s got to become the assassin. Or at least some sort of bizzaro-world, evil twin assassin, considering that the more Volition tries to differentiate itself from its inspiration, the closer it seems to come to it.

“Saints Row has a much darker and more sinister story that leads your character down a path of betrayal, revenge, and redemption against the city that left him for dead, although we’ve blended that with the same light-hearted humor from the original.”

That’s from the official announcement press release. Bittersweet story of revenge with cheeky, culture-skewering laughs thrown in to balance out (or sometimes compliment) the wanton bloodshed? Sounds like a crib notes version of Grand Theft Auto to me.

If Volition’s up to the task and rolls out a quality product, though, I don’t think anybody’s willing to complain.

Speaking of inspiration, ‘08 should see at least two from the school of Crackdown (and hopefully expanding on its great, but underdeveloped concepts). Prototype comes from the makers of Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, another last-gen free-roamer, and from the recent footage shown at the Spike Video Game Awards, it looks like your character’s super-destructive powers improve the more you use them.

Sucker Punch’s Infamous, of which we’ve seen nothing since E3, also looks to hit next year. Featuring a similarly-endowed avatar, it’s easy to draw comparisons to Prototype, but from what we can glean, it leans more towards a super-hero morality tale. The early trailer seemed to imply that you would do more than just play around in a sandbox, you’d shape it, and that you might have the delightfully villainous ability to destroy man in the process.

Assuming other titles like L.A. Noire and Mercenaries 2 also show up in ‘08, sandbox games look poised to, er, rule the sandbox once again.

2008: Year of Game 2.0?

Game 2.0’s a fancy term, but it’s not at all a new concept. The idea that a someone could effectively change, hack, or recombine elements of a game has bred a healthy, if somewhat exclusive modding community. I say “exclusive” because of the technical know-how often needed to produce any worthy results, let alone something other people would actually enjoy fooling around with.

Game 2.0 aims to bring those capabilities down to the average human being, just as Prometheus did with fire. Hopefully no vengeful gods are angered in the process.

Leading the charge is Media Molecule’s Little Big Planet, now firmly locked as a 2008 title. Voraciously cute and brimming with creativity, it puts almost all of the game’s development possibilities in the player’s hands. Levels are completely customizable. If you can do it with physics, you can probably do it in LBP. Likewise, being able to import various stamps and graphics allows you to add your own, unique look to creations.

Often times, though, we don’t know a whole lot about a game’s customization features until later on its development cycle when it becomes a fully fleshed-out concept. It’s tough to say what may or may not come out way in 2008, but this year’s offerings gave us a tease.

HALO 3’s Forge was a great way to appeal to casual modders, stripping away the need to meddle around in screens of code for half a year before quitting, resurrecting your project two weeks later, and then another two weeks later finally telling the whole affair to sod off for good. Plus, we get some really neat things out of it, like Rit Dye’s self-portrait.

And that’s really the spirit of Game 2.0, isn’t it? Flexing your creative muscle and accomplishing things even the original developers would never have conceived?

Some of the other things that have impressed me lately are custom paint jobs. Forza 2’s liveries were a huge hit. Using up to a thousand different shapes, modified for size and color, players have concocted some truly elaborate skins for their cars.

With features like this, Forza becomes just as much a canvas for budding artists as it does a game for car enthusiasts.

Rock Band’s character customization has a similar, if slightly less elaborate, system for creating tattoos to slap on your avatar. Even I was able to construct a basic Pokeball, clearly making my rocker the coolest dude in town.

Ah, and then there’s the unique art of making a complete fool of yourself. Perhaps latching more onto the “unfortunate internet celebrity” bandwagon instead of the “express yourself” bandwagon, Sony’s SingStar lets you record videos of yourself singing like banshee and shuffling back-and-forth as awkwardly as possible in your very own living room! Though it hasn’t hit the US yet (licensing issues, to be sure), the game is beginning to leak out around Europe, and the results couldn’t be more embarassing.

In 2008, modders will continue to mod, but you don’t need to be a coding whiz to participate in the creation of something new. The concept of Game 2.0 is just beginning to hit its stride, dragging every undiscovered genius along with it.

2008: Year of the Downloadable Content?

Not all predictions are hopeful. The DLC model has introduced us to the concept of microtransactions, and we’re bound to see more in the coming years, both good and bad. For every The Godfather cheat in the world, you’ve also got new songs for Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

But if we’re talking about digital distribution in general, then we’re getting some pretty keen stuff through the same channels – fully, downloadable games, many of the “independent developer” persuasion. Highlights of 2007? Everyday Shooter, Super Stardust HD, Gripshift, Warhawk, PixelJunk Racers, High Velocity Bowling, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Bomberman, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and others. That’s some serious pedigree right there.

Nintendo’s entering the fray next year with WiiWare (Virtual Console aside, of course), which should only push the phenomenon further.

There’s also the hope that we’ll see bigger titles available online, like the aforementioned Warhawk. Older titles are great (VC, Xbox Originals, PS Classics), but new games are even better. Since we know this is the direction that the industry is moving towards in the future (how can we forget about the crazy success of Steam?), I don’t think it would be far-fetched to say we’ll see a lot of DLC in 2008.

2008: What It Probably Won’t Be

Perhaps the most ideal year will be one in which no particular genre or concept will dominate. We’ll all live together in harmony and skip down Candy Cane Lane as unicorns soar overhead dropping rainbow-colored gumdrops straight into our mouths. Then one bold individual will realize that our utopia is a sham and that human nature always has a way of breaking out of its shackles. We’ll suffer through the Great Fluffy Bunny War for a few years before society can be rebuilt, and then a clever author will write a best-selling book about the whole affair.

Or maybe I’m thinking of 2012, when the Mayan calendar ends. Oh well, we’ll deal with that when we get to it.

Something we can’t deny, though, is the entertainment industry’s penchant for taking a good idea and driving it into the ground. That’s the one constant we can depend on.

That said, 2008 probably won’t be the Year of the RPG (FFXIII won’t hit until 2009, or later), it probably won’t be the Year of Waggle (it’s either outlived its welcome or already become so ingrained in our collective gaming consciousness that we won’t think about it so much anymore), and it probably won’t be the Year of Sports Games (bold prediction, I know!).

And, thank the gods, it probably won’t be the Year of the FPS again!

For what it’s worth, I’m banking on my very first pick (Year of the Free-Roamer) to be the right one. What about you, dear readers? What do you think will define the world of gaming in 2008?