In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last several years, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is coming out this week. This will be the biggest PC game release of 2010 and one of the world’s most important games. I’m pretty sure the release is a national holiday in South Korea. On consoles, hardcore fighters have a treat in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. Last but not least is Arc Rise Fantasia for Wii. These are the only three releases that I thought would interest you. I was going to include Clash of the Titans as a joke…but it’s not that funny.

Any of you picking up new games this week? Are you attending any midnight StarCraft launches?

1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360): 582,900
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): 548,400
3. Red Dead Redemption (PS3): 380,300
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii): 200,900
5. Just Dance (Wii): 174,800
6. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
7. Toy Story 3 (Nintendo DS)
8. UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360)
9. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Wii)
10. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3)

Ugh. Just Dance is back on the list and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver didn’t make it?!? Come on people!!! Oh well, as a Harry Potter nerd at least I can be happy about the number nine spot. Expelliarmus bitches!

What did you think of June’s top ten? You surprised that Red Dead is still dominating? Wasn’t it interesting that the only version of Toy Story 3 that made it on the list was the handheld one?

• Nintendo DS: 510, 700
• Xbox 360: 451,700
• Nintendo Wii: 422,500
• PlayStation 3: 304,800
• PlayStation Portable: 121,000

Nobody should be surprised that the Xbox 360 beat the Wii in June. Hardcore gamers bought the new version of the console while bargain hunters snatched up the older model at marked down prices. Sony recently claimed that its inventory problem will no longer be an issue, so it will be interesting to see how the PS3 does for the rest of the year. As for Nintendo…it keeps putting up excellent numbers.

Nintendo reminds me a bit of the Boston Celtics’ Robert Parish; every year sports writers predicted a decline in his stats, but dude put up the same numbers for like 20 years. Some analysts and a lot of enthusiast gamers keep saying, “This is the month Nintendo will decline,” and the company keeps posting excellent sales figures.

Anyway, let me know what you think of NPD Group’s June 2010 console sales figures. Were you surprised that Microsoft did so well? Or was that what you expected from its console refresh?

There are pretty two games coming out this week. First up is NCAA Football 11 on multiple platforms. More importantly, Dragon Quest IX for Nintendo DS is here! I’m super looking forward to playing this. While Dragon Quest isn’t as popular in America as its sister franchise, Final Fantasy, it has a huge following in Japan. Sure, it doesn’t have Reona Rewis, but I’m expecting to dig this game as much or more than Final Fantasy XIII.

Any of you planning to pick up new games this week? List ‘em (please)!

Activision has released a video that reveals all the songs in Act One of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Some of them are just frickin’ awesome and I can’t wait to play ‘em! Check out the clip and let me know which songs you’re psyched for.

1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360): 945,900
2. Red Dead Redemption (PS3): 567,100
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): 563,000
4. UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360): 221,100
5. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3): 192,300
6. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii)
7. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
8. Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
9. Pokemon SoulSilver (Nintendo DS)
10. Skate 3 (Xbox 360)

Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m used to seeing more Nintendo games in the top 10. Ha! Obviously Red Dead Redemption was May’s killer title. UFC 2010 did well, which shouldn’t be a surprise. I was happy to see games like Alan Wake and Skate 3 on the list; they didn’t get as much hype and commercial time as some of May’s other titles, but they did well. Naturally, Nintendo continued to do well with Mario and Pokemon.

Anything on May’s list surprise you?

• Nintendo DS: 383,700
• Nintendo Wii: 334,800
• Xbox 360: 194,600
• PlayStation 3: 154,500
• PlayStation Portable: 59,400

The Wii and Xbox 360 are up from April, but the rest of the systems are down. For the Nintendo DS, the difference isn’t that big of a deal since it’s trouncing the competition and continues to sell extremely well. Sony was slightly down and put up decent numbers, but not enough to compete with the Xbox 360. With a lot of gamers excited about the 360 hardware refresh, I’d be surprised if the gap didn’t widen in May.

Any thoughts on these lovely numbers? Uh…fore?!? Ha!

Here’s another hilarious video from the peeps at Mega64. This time around they reveal TruthPhones — a peripheral that helps you understand what’s really going on at the E3 press conferences held by Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. Check it out! It’s awesome!!!

Yesterday I updated the software for my HTC Evo 4G and PlayStation 3. Both had updates that were released yesterday. I was actually surprised that I updated so soon. Usually I wait a few days to see if there are any bugs or annoying quirks caused by the new software. For various reasons (okay, it was cloudy…and updating firmware makes me happy), I jumped the gun and didn’t following my usual updating pattern.

How do you handle updates for your consoles, mobile phones, etc.? Do you update straight away, like I did yesterday? Do you wait a few days to make sure everything is kosher? Perhaps you only update when it’s absolutely necessary, like when a certain game require a newer firmware version. Kindly share your console and consumer electronics updating patterns in the comments section.

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