The Xbox Live Arcade is mirroring the times, says a recent analysis, and that may leave you strapped for cash.

The fine folks at XBLA Fans, so driven by their fandom of XBLA, completed an expansive inquiry into the sales and statistics for 2011, and the results are interesting to say the least.

Right off the bat, you’ll notice that the prices for many new XBLA releases are at the 1200 point mark ($15) as opposed to 800 points ($10). You probably also noticed the same if you’ve been browsing the XBLA catalog lately. It’s become the buzz phrase of the community; “1200 is the new standard.” But is it really?

Well, compare 29 games with the 1200 point price tag to the 59 games sold at 800 points. While there definitely are more 1200 point games than in the past, they are definitely not the new standard. At least, not yet. Currently, most of the games demanding 1200 points are high-profile, highly advertised games. This means that the games you want are going to cost more, it’s the same situation you would see at your local GameStop: Better game equals higher price. That’s just supply and demand, or the equivalent in an infinite-supply environment.

But what if the games aren’t really better?

The XBLA benchmark for “better” is undoubtedly defined by the Summer of Arcade promotion. Anyone who purchases the five Summer of Arcade featured games gets entered into a drawing for some truly epic prizes. In 2011, the average Metacritic score for these games was at 78.8, down 6 points from 2008′s score of 84.8. Plus, the average cost has gone up by 160 points.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for the frugal amongst us. XBLA Fans also looked at the frequency of game sales and found that a whopping 73% of games go on sale within a year of their release. Although some of the games are on sale for as short as one day’s time, being diligent and observant can snag you some killer deals.

Times are getting tougher, but with the similarity of XBLA’s situation to the real world, learning to catch a deal on Xbox Live might just help you out in life.

Check out the full study at XBLA Fans for some more exciting info, and good luck; it’s a jungle out there.

• Ripten Review: Monday Night Combat
• From Dust Sets Ubisoft Digital Sales Record
• RipTen Review: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (XBLA)
• Xbox Live Summer Of Arcade Starts Today – Dates and Prices
• Torchlight Reaches 1 Million Sales Across All Platforms
• My Wallet Is Divided On The 2010 Xbox Live Summer of Arcade

Reverb Publishing proudly announced today that  Dungeon Defenders has sold 1 million paid downloads since its launch in October 2011 through Steam, PSN and XBLA

In a conversation with Joystiq, Reverb CEO Doug Kennedy excitedly exclaimed,

“It is tremendously successful franchise, we have lots of plans to support it both with DLC and additional add-ons for the franchise.”

Plans are in motion for DLC for the PC version of Dungeon Defenders. Unfortunately, such plans do not exist for console versions.

Source: Joystiq

• Torchlight Reaches 1 Million Sales Across All Platforms
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Ships One Million
• Call of Duty Elite Releasing Third Xbox 360 Map, PS3 Owners Still Waiting for First
• Forza 4 “American Le Mans Series Pack” Available Today
• Xbox Live Prices Go Up Despite Decline in Metacritic Scores (XBLA)
• Total PS3 Sales Close to Xbox 360 But Gap May Widen

While it’s probably unfair to assume that no one wants the next generation of consoles right now, it’s undeniable that the majority of gamers are still quite content with their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Recently, Sony hinted that they would be the last to reveal their plans for the next generation system (presumably named the PlayStation 4), with Microsoft being demure about what they would be bringing to E3 in early June.

The first Thursday of the month is typically “earnings call day,” and Sony revealed that their total PlayStation 3 sales have now reached 47.9 million units, compared to the Xbox 360′s 50 million units (as disclosed during Microsoft’s final CES keynote). While the numbers seem fairly close, it’s important to look at the trends.

In the quarter ending December 31, 2011, Sony moved 6.3 million PlayStation 3 units. This is down .2 million from the same period last year. In contrast, Microsoft is boasting 2.7 million Xbox 360s sold in the same period which is up a monster 70% over last year. The Kinect, which has disappointed core gamers but, clearly, found a place with the younger and casual markets, saw sales of 2.4 million and throttled past the overall 10 million unit mark. Microsoft continues to see growth, where Sony’s sales of gaming hardware has stagnated and shrunk.

There are some factors that might help explain away a portion of the sales figures, but nothing terribly significant. Microsoft is likely seeing a portion of sales from users replacing out-of-warranty, red ringed 360 consoles. On the flip side, Sony is experiencing very weak PSP sales as the Vita launched, though too softly, in Asia and will be in other major territories in a matter of weeks. Sony can turn the ship around with some clever marketing and bundles that tie a complete Vita experience to owning a PS3 (and vice versa).

Put up alongside Microsoft likely showing something about the next Xbox at E3 and Sony vehemently denying that they will match, one has to wonder if the positions should be reversed. Clearly, Microsoft knows that there is a lot of life left in the 360 whereas Sony might have too much faith in the PS3. With E3 quickly coming upon us, we’ll have all the news you can handle soon.

• Sony: Re-branding the Way We Talk About the Way We Talk
• RipTen Review: BurgerTime World Tour (XBLA)
• Pyramid Head Sculpture Now for Sale! Rape Sold Separately.
• Xbox 360 Slim Outselling Wii and DS
• Warner Bros. Announces Blu-Ray Exclusivity
• Gears 4? Epic Hiring Technical Artist to Prototype for Next-Gen Hardware

While EA might not have taken the shooter crown from current-king Call of Duty, it’s off to a very good first step. Electronic Arts has just revealed its third-quarter earnings for the fiscal year of 2012 and things are looking very good.

EA has revealed that the DICE-developed shooter, Battlefield 3, has now amassed over 10 million units sold across all platforms. Mind you, this is not moved, shipped or any other marketing term, but actual units sold to consumers.

The figure, which saw a two million increase since last November when the publisher revealed that BF3 has already shipped 12 million units with eight million sold.

In the same fiscal report, EA claims that FIFA 12 has also reached 10 million units sold; while its biggest US sports franchise – Madden NFL 12 has sold five million units to date.

What does this mean for the FPS genre? Nothing much. Call of Duty and its publisher Activsion is still the king of the roost, but this proves that another FPS can make a pretty significant dent in the saturated genre if done well. Does this mean Battlefield 4 will outsell Call of Duty 27? Who knows, but it’s a fun war to watch.

Are you one of the 10 million players who bought Battlefield 3?

Via: [IndustryGamers]

• There’s a Giant in My Battlefield 3!
• Possible Battlefield 3 DLC Announcement Next Week
• Modern Warfare 3 Hits $1 Billion Milestone In Just 16 Days
• Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Records with $775 Million in Sales Worldwide
• Battlefield 3 Sells 5 Million Copies in First Week, Fastest In EA History
• New Modern Warfare 3 Trailer Is Full of Awesome (and Explosions)

Ubisoft announced today that their motion controlled dance series Just Dance has exceeded 25 million sales worldwide. The most recent release Just Dance 3 sold through over 7 million units alone. Other games in the series include Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Just Dance 3, Just Dance Kids, Just Dance Kids 2 and Just Dance Summer Party.

For the month of December, Just Dance 3 was recognized as the top selling motion controlled game on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Via  Gamasutra

• Nintendo Bringing Game Demos To North American Malls For The Holidays
• E3 2011: Just Dance 3 Announced to Release October 11th for All Platforms
• Michael Jackson: The Experience Sells 2 Million Units
• Survey Says: Nintendo Wii Loses Holiday Season
• Just Dance 2 Due October 14th. Keep an Eye on Your Drink, Keys, and Phone.
• You Lot Have Bought Over 4 Million Nintendo 3DS Units

Sales of the Nintendo 3DS have passed the 4 million mark in North America, no doubt thanks to the Christmas period.

Similarly the system’s Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have both shot to the million sales mark, the fastest selling titles in the franchises so far.

Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive VP of sales and marketing, ‘said’:

“One of the strongest software lineups in our history helped Nintendo have a great holiday season and to close 2011 with a full head of steam.”

Nintendo sold over 12 million hardware units in 2011 (in the US): 4 million 3DSs, 4.5 million Wiis, and 3.4 million DSs. It’s an impressive figure and shows that there’s life in the old girl yet, no matter how much they ignore Call of Duty.

Via Shacknews

• Rumor: Nintendo Condsidering Name Change for Wii U
• Nintendo Announces North American Q1 2012 Lineup
• Nintendo Bringing Game Demos To North American Malls For The Holidays
• Nintendo Announces New York Comic Con Lineup
• Nintendo Dates Several North American Titles Across All Platforms
• Nintendo Announces PAX Lineup

It looks like we’re going to be having a very Dovahkiin Christmas.

Skyrim has outlasted Modern Warfare 3 for the top spot in the UK sales charts at last. And no, Modern Warfare 3 isn’t even #2.

#2 would be Just Dance 3.

Modern Warfare 3 comes in at #3.

Here’s the full UK sales list pulled from GamesIndustry.biz:

Last Week This Week Title
1 1 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
3 2 Just Dance 3
2 3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
4 4 FIFA 12
8 5 Saints Row: The Third
6 6 Battlefield 3
5 7 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
11 8 Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games
13 9 Need For Speed: The Run
7 10 Professor Layton And The Spectre’s Call
15 11 Batman: Arkham City
10 12 Mario Kart 7
14 13 Forza Motorsport 4
9 14 Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
12 15 Super Mario 3D Land
New 16 Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo
17 17 Zumba Fitness
16 18 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5 – 7
New 19 Sonic Generations
20 20 ABBA: You Can Dance

For more on Skyrim be sure to check out these 150 Ultra quality screens and the RipTen Review.

• Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Records with $775 Million in Sales Worldwide
• Bethesda Announces Skyrim Has Uber Successful Launch, Ships Way Over 9000 Copies
• Modern Warfare 3 Tops Skyrim in UK Charts
• Addicted to Skyrim? You Need An Intervention (Video)
• Mod Tools Coming for Skyrim Next Week
• Geeked Out: Bored in Math Class? Play Skyrim on Your TI-84

Yep.  10 million physical copies shipped and the fastest selling game in the history of Steam.  Wow.

Here’s what Bethesda had to say:

December 15, 2011 (Rockville, MD) – ZeniMax® Media Inc. today announced that 10 million units of Bethesda Softworks’® The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have been shipped for the Xbox 360® video game entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and PC, representing approximately $650 million in retail sales since its release on November 11. The PC version of Skyrim in North America outsold all other PC games by a factor of over three to one in the month of its release. Large retail reorders across all platforms and record-breaking digital sales reflect the ongoing global demand by consumers excited to explore this extraordinary fantasy epic.

Bethesda Softworks’® Skyrim has already garnered over two dozen ‘Game of the Year’ awards from major outlets worldwide, including winning the top honor of Game of the Year at the 2011 Video Game Awards which are voted on by a panel of editors from the industry’s most respected magazines and websites. In addition, Skyrim has received ‘Game of the Year’ awards from numerous other game critics, which, to date include such respected media outlets as G4TV, Official Xbox Magazine and Machinima.com. Skyrim was named ‘Most -Played Game of 2011’ by Raptr, based on research data which confirms its highly popular gameplay experience.

“We are gratified that Skyrim continues to garner high review scores and accolades around the world,” said Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax Media. “We are most grateful to our fans for their support and enthusiasm for the game, and their love of the hundreds of hours of gameplay it offers. We continue to strive to deliver the highest quality entertainment experience for everyone. 2012 will be another huge year for our fans, with the release of the Creation Kit, as well as exciting DLC which will add to the richness of this epic adventure.”

“Skyrim is the fastest selling title in Steam’s history” said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve Corporation. “Bethesda’s commitment to and understanding of the PC as a gaming platform shows in the great review scores, spectacular launch, and continued high player numbers that Skyrim has received.  We are delighted that Bethesda chose to use Steamworks to support Skyrim both at retail and digitally.”

Skyrim Is the third consecutive game developed by the team at Bethesda Game Studios® to earn ‘Game of the Year’ honors.  Bethesda Game Studios, which was named ‘Studio of the Year’ at the 2011 Video Game Awards, also created the 2006 ‘Game of the Year’, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, and the 2008 ‘Game of the Year’, Fallout® 3.

For more on Skyrim be sure to check out 150 ultra quality screens to die for as well as the RipTen Review.

• Skyrim Creation Kit Coming Tomorrow
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• Geeked Out: Skyrim Kinect! Your Dreams are Now Reality
• Fan Made Skyrim Trailer Gives Bethesda a Run For Their Money
• Calibur11 Speaks Out On Possible Skyrim 360 Vault & Accessories
• Bethesda Announces Skyrim Has Uber Successful Launch, Ships Way Over 9000 Copies

It’s no surprise that Call of Duty breaks every friggin sales record known to man year after year, but this year is something special. In just 16 days after release, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 crossed the $1 billion sales mark overtaking the record set in 2009 by the feature film “Avatar“, which reached $1 billion in 17 days.

Here’s some other interesting facts. With more than 30 million gamers, the Call of Duty community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid. That is nucking futs!

CEO of Activision Publishing Eric Hirshberg, released a statement saying:

“Call of Duty has become that rare entertainment franchise that transcends its own genre. Core gamers love it, as our stellar reviews show. But every year, new people are drawn into Call of Duty, and while the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more, demonstrated by our record setting start on Call of Duty Elite. We are committed to helping everyone connect, compete and improve their game, Call of Duty style.”

You can hate on the franchise all you want for not changing, but with money like this, there’s no way Activision is changing the likes of Call of Duty anytime soon.

• Activision CEO Talks About Transparency, Getting Past the Modern Warfare 3 Leak
• Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Records with $775 Million in Sales Worldwide
• Modern Warfare 3 Stolen – Leaked on the Internet
• Modern Warfare 3 Gets Second Multiplayer Trailer
• Modern Warfare 3 To Have Dedicated Servers On PC
• Modern Warfare 3 Spec-Ops Survival Mode Trailer

I love the holidays. Besides the good food, free things, and the holiday-themed candy, there are the deals.

Ever since the commercialization of Christmas, people just tend to be a little more loose with their wallet during the holidays. If they’re already splurging on ridiculous amounts of Ferrero Rocher chocolate and Christmas-themed wrapping paper in preparation for the great generic gift hand-out, why not spend a little extra on things that they want themselves? It’s not like they’re going to get anything else besides Ferrero Roche chocolate in return.

Anyway, in the spirit of holiday deals, Rockstar is hosting a ridiculous Mac/iOS sale for the Grand Theft Auto series. If you’re an iOS/Mac kind of person and you’ve never had a chance to play Grand Theft Auto, here’s your chance. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the iPad and the iPhone is only $2.99.

But here’s the kicker: Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, AND San Andreas are all available on Mac for $6.99 each. This deal lasts until November 28th, so it’s probably a good idea to buy them now, particularly Vice City and San Andreas, which are, in my opinion, the two best in the series.

Head over to the iTunes app store to take advantage now!

• 75% Off Grand Theft Auto Classics On Steam
• GTA: Chinatown Wars HD Heading to Apple’s iPad
• This is The GTA V Trailer Recreated in GTA: San Andreas
• What We Saw In The GTA V Trailer: Dogs, Jets, Blimps, BMX, Two Interesting Characters and More
• Five O’Clock Fan Art: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• This Is The First Grand Theft Auto V Trailer

Not sure what to get that nerdy nerd in your life for the holidays?  Well, iam8bit is here to help!

Have at it, nerds.

• Mobile Thanksgiving Sales – Mo’ Cheap Gaming On The Go
• Microsoft Kicks Off Xbox LIVE Fan Appreciation Sale
• Hey, There’s Finally a RAGE Demo Out on Xbox Live! (PSN Coming Soon)
• Left 4 Dead 2 / Supreme Commander 2 75% Off
• PlayStation Network’s ‘Stock Up for Winter’ Sale’s Awesome Deals
• Awesome PS3 Black Friday Deals

It’s almost Thanksgiving and you know what that means – tons of stuff is on sale! To make it easy, we’re working on compiling a list of all the iOS games that are on sale. Check it out below! Know of any deals we’re missing? Let us know in the comments or email me.

G5 Games: 

Namco Games:

• Microsoft Kicks Off Xbox LIVE Fan Appreciation Sale
• iam8bit Having Crazy Nerdy Sale on Crazy Nerdy Stuff
• Namco Celebrates Valentine’s Day With iOS Sale
• PlayStation Network’s ‘Stock Up for Winter’ Sale’s Awesome Deals
• Awesome PS3 Black Friday Deals
• Xbox Live Prices Go Up Despite Decline in Metacritic Scores (XBLA)

Modern Warfare 3 has shat all over Skyrim‘s successful launch by selling $775 million worldwide in just five days.

Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard’s CEO, said:

With $775 million of sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days, Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for three consecutive years across all forms of entertainment. Call of Duty is one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world.

…While rolling in the buckets of money he’s made off of it. The game has also set a world record for consecutive players on Xbox Live at one time, with 3.3 million unique players online in a day.

Is it worthy of the attention? You can read our review to find out, or just tell each other the answer in the comments below.

• Modern Warfare 3 Hits $1 Billion Milestone In Just 16 Days
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Overtakes Modern Warfare 2 as UK’s Biggest Selling Game
• Call of Duty Elite Releasing Third Xbox 360 Map, PS3 Owners Still Waiting for First
• Activision CEO Talks About Transparency, Getting Past the Modern Warfare 3 Leak
• Skyrim Tops Sales Charts In Time For Christmas
• Moron Bids $1,725 for Modern Warfare 3 on eBay

Really, is anyone surprised that Skyrim is doing well?

According to Bethesda: in just a week, Skyrim has shipped a whopping 7 million units for just the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and it’s expected to make somewhere in the ballpark of $450 million in retail sales alone.

Concurrent with its financial success, Skyrim has also snagged over 50 perfect review scores, including RipTen’s.

Hell, I’d say a mark of Skyrim‘s success are the Skyrim horsie defying gravity posts plastered all over the Reddit Gaming front page.

Alright, you can go back to your regularly scheduled dragon slaying now.

• Skyrim Update 1.4 is Live on Xbox, PS3 Later Today – Full List of Changes
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• Total PS3 Sales Close to Xbox 360 But Gap May Widen
• Mod Tools Coming for Skyrim Next Week
• Geeked Out: Bored in Math Class? Play Skyrim on Your TI-84

EA today announced that “internal estimates” have revealed that Battlefield 3 has sold through five million copies in it’s first global week of release, making it the fastest-selling game in EA’s history.  How in the hell did it get there?  Well, it could be because of the metacritic rating averaging 85 on consoles and above 90 on the PC (as of today), it could be because of the 2.5 million “likes” over on Facebook, or it could be because of all of the other great games in this storied franchise.  That all might be well and good facts EA, but in my opinion, I think the street magician David Blaine has something to do with it.  Didn’t he get locked into an ice cube with a copy of the game and couldn’t play it for a week?

Gamers all over have already logged unprecedented numbers in multiplayer to team up and join the battle online. Server stability was solid in the first weekend (wait, where are they getting these facts), delivering EA’s highest-ever usage rates. Some online players experienced “intermittent disruption” of services with the unknown factor of high volume, but internal estimates show that servers and service uptime stabilized is roughly 98.9% throughout opening weekend, ensuring that players were connected and enjoying the game.

With a pretty nifty little info-graphic spelling out just how far the Battlefield series needs to go to catch-up, there’s no doubt that Battlefield 3 has a long way to go to catch up to Activision’s Call of Duty franchise.  Battlefield – 31 million copies sold;  Call of Duty – 98 million copies sold, with Modern Warfare 3 just on the horizon to sell ass-tons more.

For more on Battlefield 3 be sure to check out the RipTen Review!

• Sweet Battlefield 3 Jet Stunt Videos Take You To The Danger Zone
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• Battlefield 3 ‘Gulf of Oman’ Gameplay Trailer Calls in New Vehicles
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Warner Bros and Rocksteady have proudly announced that Batman: Arkham City has shipped more than 4.6 million units in the first week alone. This number more than doubled Arkham Asylum first week figures from 2009.

It is important to note that while units shipped do not directly equal sales, they are a great indication of retailers reacting to and estimating consumer demand.

With this news combined with the Metacritic averages of 96 on PS3 and 95 on Xbox 360, there is little doubt that future Batman sequels are on their way.

Don’t worry PC gamers, you’ll be able to share in the awesome called Batman: Arkham City on November 18th.

• Warner Bros Working to Fix Missing Arkham City Saves
• Batman: Arkham City Suffering From Major DLC Code Issues
• Batman: Arkham City’s Launch Trailer is Awesome – Watch it
• Arkham City Requires Online Pass To Unlock Catwoman
• Nightwing Joins Batman: Arkham City via DLC
• Hooray! More Batman Coming After Arkham City!

Cliffy B’s pockets have started to overflow with money so much that it is contributing to rising sea levels. Gears 3 sold more than 3 million in its first week.

Major Nelson reports that with the huge sales figures for Gears of War 3 the franchise is now “beyond one billion dollars in lifetime sales”.

Whoever made that little gif of Miyamoto and Iwata shouting “It prints money!” needs to make a new one, I think. Congrats to Epic on making such a fantastic series. They deserve sales figures like these.

• RipTen Review: Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
• If Gears 3 Sells Well, Cliff Bleszinski Says Another Game is, “Business 101″
• New Gears of War 3 Campaign Trailer Gives The “War Pigs” What For
• Buy Replica Retro Lancer from Gears of War, F**k Shit Up IRL
• Gears of War 3 Public Beta Announced with Epic Multiplayer and Execution Footage
• Top 10 Wants for Gears of War 3

In early November 2006, one of the greatest franchise fights of this console generation began: Gears of War vs. Resistance. It started as a battle between exclusives to showcase the capabilities of each respective console. Surprisingly, both series had many parallels and further cemented the rivalry by releasing each successive game in the same month, with release dates often less than two weeks apart. Two Sci-fi shooters designed by respected studios featuring characters fighting for humanity’s survival against far more powerful mutated alien invaders. While there is no doubt that the Gears of War series proved more dominant, the Resistance series has more than held its own in many respects as one of the PlayStation 3′s standout franchises.

The rivalry has included six games, three from each studio: Gears of War, Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 from Epic vs. Resistance: Fall of Man,  Resistance 2 and Resistance 3 from Insomniac Games.

Origins

Back in November 2006, the Xbox 360 had been basking in the sun for a year as the only “next gen” console. This was soon to change with the coming release of the of the Nintendo Wii and PS3. Out of the new contenders the PS3 was considered the more likely rival with expected greater computing power and graphical capabilities.

Prior to the PS3′s release, two major exclusives were being trumpeted to showcase the system’s prowess : one being the now infamous Killzone 2 “gameplay” trailer and the other being Resistance: Fall of Man. Both were hyped to be  superior to anything found on the Xbox 360.

ORLY?!

At the time, Microsoft had not released a console defining game. Halo 3 was still in development and would not debut until 2007. Microsoft knew they needed a champion – a showcase title to release as a counter to the PlayStation 3.  Luckily a young and ambitious developer from Epic games named Cliff Bleszinski had an idea for a 3rd person shooter which involved using cover and tactics. It was a new approach Cliff came up with after enjoying paintball outings with friends. Rather than a simple backstory, the ambitious Cliffy B created a complex sci-fi adventure featuring inhabitants of the earthlike planet of Sera in a desperate situation fighting for existence against a recently emerged overwhelming menace – the Locust.  As the first Xbox 360 game using Epic’s propriety Unreal 3 engine, early in development Gears looked amazing and after it won several “Xbox 360 Game of Show” awards at E3 2oo5, Microsoft was sure they found their champion.

Sony was also in a desperate position.  The PS3 launch needed marquee titles and as the launch date came closer more than a few expected titles would be delayed. Luckily Insomniac’s Resistance: Fall of Man would be ready. Resistance was developed as a “Halo Killer”. Insomoniac looked at the popular FPS’s of the time: obviously the console king Halo and World War 2 shooters such as Call of Duty.  What they created was an alternate timeline sci-fi shooter which took place in 1950′s England.  This world, while similar to ours, never experienced the second World War. Instead they faced an alien invasion which extended beyond simple miltary conquest with futuristic weapons, as the enemy Chimera could spread by virus. The focus would be entertaining and innovative weapons. Sony had found its first “killer app”.

The stage was set for battle with the success of each competing title tied at least some part to the success of their consoles. The two Sci-fi shooters with more than a few similarities debuted just a week apart.

This is 'Slightly' More Scary A Nazi Invasion

Resistance: Fall of Man vs. Gears of War

Gears of War debuted first on November 7th, 2006 to universal critical acclaim with an aggregate score of 94% on Metacritic.  Critics praised the game for its graphics, solid gameplay, innovative cover system, multiplayer and reload mechanics. Resistance released ten days later on November 17th as the most celebrated launch title for the PS3.  Fall of Man received generally positive reviews from critics. The game received an average score of 86% on Metacritic as reviewers enjoyed the game’s setting, story, variety of weapons and 40 player multiplayer.

Although Gears of War outscored Resistance by an average 8% points, many critics were divided as to which exclusive was superior. Furthermore, Gears lead in sales which could easily be attributed to the higher install base at the time of Xbox 360s.

Screw You Major Nelson!

Head to head, both had their strengths and weaknesses. Critics praised the story in Resistance while many described Gears as being “shallow” and a “missed opportunity”. Clearly, Gears had better graphics and distinguished itself with a excellent cover system, but Resistance had more interesting and varied weapons. Both games had excellent but far different multiplayer components however.

All in all both titles could claim victory because both had accomplished their individual goals.  Gears of War raised the bar for console graphics proving that Microsoft’s console would be able to compete, while Resistance gave the the PS3 the killer app it would need to sell consoles in the first place.

Like with any good fight, the first round ended, both combatants had gotten a feel for each other and adjusted their tactics for round two.

• Gears of War 3 Epic Media Blowout – Videos, Gameplay and Much More
• Gears of War 3 ‘RAAM’s Shadow’ DLC Announced – Available Dec 13th
• Gears of War 3 First Week Sales Hit Three Million Units
• Highlights From The Gears of War 3 Launch Event In Times Sqaure
• Gears of War 3 – Epic Achievement Completion Guide with Video
• RipTen Review: Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)

FLAWLESS VICTORY! Warner has announced that Mortal-Kombat  has sold over 3 million units – making it the highest selling fighting game of the year!

Pretty impressive sales figures considering former owner Midway went belly up in 2009. Briefly the future of Mortal Kombat was in limbo until resurrected by NeatherRealm Studios and Warner.

NetherRealm Studios is delighted about the impressive sales.

“NetherRealm Studios delivered a high quality game which has exceeded our sales goals. We’d like to thank our entire team and all of our partners for their innovative campaigns and tremendous support of Mortal Kombat, as the game sales continue to grow,” said Warner Interactive boss Martin Tremblay.

Ed Boon added:

“All of us at NetherRealm Studios are very excited that players have embraced Mortal Kombat. The game was a labor of love for us and we could not be more pleased with its performance. Fan reaction to this latest installment has made all of our hard work worth it.”

MOORRRRRTAL KOMBAT!

• Mortal Kombat ‘Komplete Edition’ Announced, Drops February 28th
• New Mortal Kombat Freddy Krueger Trailer Haunts Your Dreams
• Mortal Kombat Freddy Krueger DLC Trailer Is F***ing Brutal!!
• Rain’s Stormy Mortal Kombat Vignette Falls In
• Mortal Kombat’s Rain – Stormy New Trailer
• Mortal Kombat Kenshi DLC Trailer Will Poke Your Eye Out

Deus Ex: Human Revolution had a pretty damn big launch. There were fears that since the last Deus Ex title to see the light of day had been released about 8 years ago that Human Revolution would be as subpar as a certain other overhyped but disappointing summer title.

However, when the critics weighed in with rave reviews, RipTen’s Stephinator among them, it was obvious that Eidos had worked their magic once again and that Human Revolution was going to live up to the reputation of the original.  As i write this article, the DX:HR Metacritic ratings for PC, PS3, and 360 are all at a ridiculously good 89%.

In no small part due to the positive ratings, Human Revolution has moved 2 million units in just two week’s time.  Since its been so successful, Eidos and Square Enix have already announced Human Revolution‘s first DLC, The Missing Link which is to be made available in October of this year.

Stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of Deus Ex and all things Eidos and Square Enix.

• Watch Adam Jensen Do The Safety Dance
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Has Gone Gold
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