This Week’s Videogame Releases

There are so many great games coming out this week! PlayStation 3 owners have God of War III to devour. Nintendo DS fans have Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver to suck up hours of their lives. Although Final Fantasy XIII has been the only game I’ve played since I came back from GDC 2010, I’m going to drop it like a bad habit when Dragon Age: Origins Awakening comes out.

But wait, there’s more! If you can’t get enough RPG excitement then you ought to check out Resonance of Fate from the fine people at Tri-Ace. Wii owners have Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon to keep them up at night. I’ve been saying this since last year, but my March is totally screwed. I have no idea how I’m going to be able to write for the site, work on Secret Project 2010 #1, play games, and sleep this month. Sheesh!

Let me know what games you’re planning to pick up this week. If you’re picking up a few, let me know what order you plan on playing them.

NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of February 2010

Here are NPD Group’s console software sales figures for February 2010 (sorry for the lateness!). Along with the usual Nintendo sales, there were some pleasant surprises that should make every hardcore gamer happy.

  1. BioShock 2 (Xbox 360: 562,900
  2. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii): 555,600
  3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360): 314,300
  4. Just Dance (Wii): 275,400
  5. Wii Sports Resort (Wii): 272,500
  6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfware 2 (PlayStation 3): 252,800
  7. Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360) 246,500
  8. Dante’s Inferno (PlayStation 3): 242,500
  9. Dante’s Inferno (Xbox 360): 224,700
  10. Heavy Rain (PlayStation 3): 219,300

I’m thrilled that BioShock 2 snagged the top spot in February. I’m even more thrilled that Heavy Rain managed to crack the top 10, despite being released at the end of the month. As you can imagine, seeing a BioWare game on the list makes me happy (duh). It’s also cool to see a new IP like Dante’s Inferno make the cut. Last month I was surprised that Just Dance made the list, but a lot of people in the business play it (to my astonishment). One game designer I know shocked me at GDC when he said that he plays it for at least an hour a day.

Now’s the important part — let me know what you think of NPD Group’s top 10 games of February 2010. Anything surprise you?

NPD Hardware Sales Figures for February 2010

NPD Group released its console sales data for February 2010 while I was at GDC. The numbers are pretty interesting. Check ’em out!

  • Nintendo DS: 613,200
  • Xbox 360: 422,000
  • Wii: 397,900
  • PlayStation 3: 360,100
  • PlayStation Portable: 133,400
  • PlayStation 2: 101,900

The continued onslaught of the Nintendo DS shouldn’t surprise anyone. It’s a great portable console with tons of games and a huge March release (Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver). I was a little surprised to see that the Xbox 360 beat out the Wii; logically there are more interesting games for the 360 in Q1 and the Wii has to slow down some time (right?), but Nintendo’s systems have been defying logic for quite some time. Sony continues to lag behind Microsoft in 2010, which is bad news if the company hopes to close the gap this year. That said, March should be more interesting for the PS3, with a number of excellent first-party games and the real version of Final Fantasy XIII.

Now unleash your Pach Attack and go after the numbers as if you were a very tall gaming analyst. I can’t wait to hear your analysis of NPD Group’s sales figures!

Coffee Talk #105: Do You Want Products or People From GDC?

After GDC 2009, I got in trouble for complaining about the type of coverage provided by the site I worked for at the time. Almost everything was about product — previews written off of demos shown outside the show. I thought there should have been more of an emphasis on the GDC panels, game developers, and what it’s like to attend the show.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, exotic dancers at videogame parties, one developer you’d love to have dinner with, or TiVo Premiere, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

After GDC 2009, I got in trouble for complaining about the type of coverage provided by the site I worked for at the time. Almost everything was about product — previews written off of demos shown outside the show. I thought there should have been more of an emphasis on the GDC panels, game developers, and what it’s like to attend the show.

The argument against me is that readers are most interested in games. I completely understand that point of view and it’s definitely the way to get the most traffic. Still, as someone that was supposed to be writing about GDC 2009, I wanted to emphasize the “big D” — developers. Publishers can give a game demo whenever, but the opportunity to attend amazing talks given by the top talent in game development is rare, as is the opportunity to give that kind of information to you.

As always, I want to know what you think. Do you like to read GDC stories about developers, trends in game creation, and the wonderful creators in the business? Or are you happy reading game previews that put the focus on products rather than people?

Nintendo DS2 Information Unearthed at GDC 2010

One of my missions for Game Developers Conference 2010 was to get more information on the successor to the Nintendo DS. I heard some cool rumblings about it in February and wanted to use the show to pester developers for confirmation. While nobody would tell me the name of the new handheld or the exact dimensions, I was able to extract some pretty cool tidbits on the “DS2”.

  • The system has two screens, just like the DS, but they are bigger and higher resolution. I’m sure most of you could have guessed that, but the interesting part is that the gap between the two screens is negligible. Developers will be able to use them as one giant screen. At the very least, this will allow for some awesome cutscenes. It also has some potentially cool gameplay potential, with developers shifting the action from dual screen to single screen depending on the situation.
  • The next Nintendo handheld has an accelerometer. I blame the iPhone for this. Everything has to have an accelerometer now. Yesterday I bought a sandwich at the Moscone Center and it had an accelerometer in it.
  • The dev kit is similar in power to the GameCube. Developers that worked on GameCube or Wii games will find it easy to create with. I found this information unusual. The DS successor is rumored to use an Nvidia Tegra chip, while the GameCube and Wii have PowerPC CPUs and ATI GPUs. The people familiar with the dev kit made it sound like there wasn’t much of a learning curve on the new system. I have to admit that I’m not familiar enough with Tegra, but I imagined developing for a system-on-a-chip platform to be different enough from developing for a CPU/GPU system. It could be ignorance on my part or maybe the DS2 uses something other than Tegra.
  • The developers I spoke with will be finished with their games before the end of the year. The Nintendo DS is still going strong and the company could delay the next handheld’s release if it wanted to, but it looks like an E3 2010 announcement and a late 2010 release.

That’s all I have for now. Remember, none of this information came from Nintendo. It came from developers that claim to be working on the new system. Some of them I’ve met before, while some were introduced to me by people that knew I was looking for DS2 details. Hopefully none of them were hammered and thinking, “Hey! Let’s mess with the guy trying to dig up Nintendo information.”

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

*sigh* Game Developers Conference 2010 is coming to a close. I’ve really missed San Francisco (except for the cold-ish weather). It has been amazing catching up with friends, developers, PR people, agents, and game writers. The trip has been super fun and very productive (potentially huge story coming soon!). As much as I want to stay for more catchup and partying, part of me really wants to open my copies of Final Fantasy XIII that are waiting for me in my apartment.

I’m going to be all about FFXIII this weekend. How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?!?

Coffee Talk #104: Is EyePet the Key to Sony’s Future in Motion?

Sony has been getting mixed reactions on its GDC 2010 press conference for PlayStation Move. Some writers and gamers are greatly intrigued by Move’s fidelity and tremendous creative possibilities. Some are dismissing it as “stupid Wii games…in HD”. Developers will determine the immediate future of PlayStation Move, but there’s one product that could shape Sony’s motion-control future for decades — EyePet.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, tonight’s IGDA awards at GDC 2010, Buddha Bar in San Francisco Chinatown, or Sting’s shoulder injury, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Sony has been getting mixed reactions on its GDC 2010 press conference for PlayStation Move. Some writers and gamers are greatly intrigued by Move’s fidelity and tremendous creative possibilities. Some are dismissing it as “stupid Wii games…in HD”. Developers will determine the immediate future of PlayStation Move, but there’s one product that could shape Sony’s motion-control future for decades — EyePet.

EyePet is already a success in Europe and I think it’ll be huge in North America. During yesterday’s Sony presser I tweeted that EyePet could be Sony’s Pokemon. While I doubt it will have the ridiculous success of Pikachu and friends, I do think it has a chance to be a hugely popular fad in its own right. More importantly, with PlayStation Move integration, there’s a chance that million of kids will use PlayStation Move with EyePet and get used to playing games that way.

Gamers like you and me were brought up on gamepads. Sure, there are more buttons these days, analog sticks have been added, and they rumble to match the onscreen action, but the basic concept has been the same for decades. Most gamers are used to playing with a gamepad and are uncomfortable with anything else. With EyePet, a whole generation of gamers will start their gaming lives with PlayStation Move. As they get older, they’ll adapt to future motion-control products. The same way you’re used to a gamepad, they’ll be used to motion devices.

Of course that’s just my theory. Do you agree or disagree with me? Do you think EyePet will help condition young gamers to motion controls? Or do you think it’ll just be an insignificant drop in the bucket?

GDC 2010 Pictures: Sony PlayStation Move Press Conference

Here are a bunch of photos from Sony’s Game Developers Conference 2010 presser on the PlayStation Move. Check out oodles of shots from the presentation and a few from the open demo area. There’s also a shot of the funky dancer chicks that appeared when the event transitioned into a God of War III launch party. Hmmm…what’s up with GDC 2010 and all the exotic dancers?!?

GDC 2010 Pictures: Pole Dancers at Activision’s True Crime Party

GDC was pretty interesting last night. I thought it was just going to be coffee, friend chatting, and sleep. Instead, this hottie producer from the Bioshock team took me out to a fancy dinner. Chris Taylor and Kellyn Beeck from Gas Powered Games were at the same restaurant and we caught up with them after an excellent meal. I remembered that I promised my friend at Activision that I’d stop by her party, so Sugar Mama and I left the excellent GPG people to check out the True Crime event. I was expecting the flowing libations, but I was surprised that there were pole dancers at the event. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

OnLive Pricing and Launch Date Announced at GamesBeat/GDC

OnLive has announced that its streaming gaming service for Mac and PC will launch on June 17, 2010 for $14.95 a month. Publishing partners include Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, 2K Games, THQ, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. There will be up to 25 launch titles including Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, Metro 2033, Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and Assassin’s Creed II.

In addition to the all-you-can-eat games, OnLive customers will be able to create custom clips of their gaming exploits and watch other gamers play games. The OnLive micro-console is still being worked on, but it will come after the Mac and PC versions of the service.

I know that several of you are Netflix and/or GameFly customers. Is there room in your life for another monthly subscription? Anyone leaning towards giving OnLive a shot? Why or why not?!?