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Housekeeping: Coffee Talk and Your Top 5 Games of 2009

Top 5 For next week’s Coffee Talk columns, I’m going to be counting down my top five games of 2009. I’ll be starting of Monday with #5 and closing out the week with #1. In the spirit of the column, I’d love all of you to do the same. It’ll be fun!

Now when I say your top five games, I mean your top five games. It has nothing to do with quality, objectivity, etc. I want to know which five games you had the most fun with in 2009.

So get your thinking caps on and get ready to bust out your favorite games of 2009 starting on Monday!

NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of November 2009

NPD Group has released its console software sales information for Novemer 2009. Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 put up some ridiculous numbers. While nobody should be surprised that MW2 topped the charts, some analysts were surprised by its complete ownage of November (it’s a financial term). All in all, the big titles did what they were expected to do, but there was one oddity in the top 10. Check it out!

New Super Mario Bros

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360): 4,200,000
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3): 1,870,000
New Super Mario Bros (Wii): 1,390,000
Assassin’s Creed II (Xbox 360): 794,700
Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360): 744,000
Wii Sports Resort (Wii): 720,200
Wii Fit Plus (Wii): 679,000
Assassin’s Creed II (PS3): 448,400
Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360): 362,100
Mario Kart Wii (Wii): 315,000

As a BioWare mark, I’m disappointed that Dragon Age didn’t do better. Sure, RPGs aren’t as popular as action titles and it’s a new IP, but I expect people to have better taste. Hmph. Nintendo has to be thrilled with its November. It sold a ton of new and old games. With so many new and excellent games released in November, I was surprised to see something as old as Mario Kart hit the top 10. To steal a line from Keanu Reeves or Joey from Blossom, “Whoa.”

Any thoughts on the November software top 10?

NPD Hardware Sales Figures for November 2009

NPD Group has issued its console hardware sales data for November 2009. As you know, November is a huge month for gaming, with several retailers running “Black Friday” specials and lots of people shopping for holiday gifts. Let’s take a look at the numbers.

PS3 vs Xbox 360

Nintendo DS: 1,700,000
Wii: 1,260,000
Xbox 360: 819,500
PlayStation 3: 710,400
PlayStation Portable: 293,900
PlayStation 2: 203,100

As expected, Nintendo trounced the competition with its Wii home console and DS handheld system. Nintendo topping the charts is nothing new. What’s more interesting is the battle between Microsoft and Sony. While both companies did well, Sony has to be slightly disappointed that its PS3 lost out to the Xbox 360 after outselling it in September and October. That’s just a short-term concern for Sony; things are still looking up for the PS3, which had its third-best month ever. Overall, hardware sales were down 13.4 percent from November 2008, but keep in mind that all three consoles were more expensive last year.

What do you make of November’s numbers? Anything surprise you? Any predictions for December?

Sony Unveils MAG Beta Stats and Official Box Art

MAG box Zipper Interactive senior community manager and jiu-jitsu master Jeremy Dunham has revealed some interesting stats on the MAG beta and unveiled the official box art. First up are the beta stats:

More than 42,000 matches were played over the course of the full public beta (August 17 – December 5).
During October’s beta period alone nearly 534,000+ miles were traveled in-game by MAG players each week.
During the final month of the Beta 4 and 4.5 periods (November 9 – December 5):
Of the more than 65,000 players that logged on, 17,000 of them qualified for Squad Leader, 3500 people qualified for Platoon Leader, 1100 folks made it all the way to OIC, and 206 dedicated warriors made it all the way to the level 60 experience cap.
Nearly 18 million kills were made and an excess of 700 million shots were fired.
The Top 3 most played maps all belonged to the Sabotage mode. They were, in order, Syr Darya Uplink, Darien Network, and Copper Hills Relay.

Hit the break for the box art. Considering my bias for Japanese box art, I’m surprised that I like MAG’s cover so much.

Continue reading “Sony Unveils MAG Beta Stats and Official Box Art”

Conspiracy Theory: EA Setting Up EA Sports MMA to Fail?

EA Sports MMA

CrunchGear has posted an…interesting conspiracy theory regarding EA Sports: MMA: “Is EA Sports MMA intentionally going to stink in order for EA Sports to lose the Strikeforce license and later acquire the UFC license?” The conjecture is that EA wants the game to flop so that it can snag the UFC license when the MMA organization’s deal with THQ expires. Here’s more:

Maybe it knows that there’s no way in hell EA Sports MMA is going to outsell UFC Undisputed, and it’s cool with that. Why? THQ’s license agreement with UFC runs out next year (I guess it was for two games). EA, which has a tremendous amount of money at its disposal, could then go to UFC and say, “Look, we’re EA. We’re big time. Undisputed did well, but with our muscle at your disposal, we’ll make a UFC game so incredibly huge that you’d be a fool to stick with THQ. Also, here’s several truckloads of money to help sweeten the deal.”

Although some of the points are valid, the theory is pretty shoddy. Yes, EA Sports MMA will probably not be as popular as UFC Undisputed. Yes, EA would love to have the UFC license. However, that doesn’t mean it wants to game to fail. That would be idiotic. It would be far more productive to make a good game that gets strong reviews and bring that to UFC. EA could say, “Look, we made a great game without you, but together we could eclipse your success with THQ.”

The notion that EA would purposely want a game to fail seems monumentally stupid to me. What do you make of this conspiracy theory?

Source

AT&T Knows it Sucks in NYC and SF, Vows to Stop Sucking

NYC Skyline

AT&T president & CEO of mobility and consumer markets Ralph de la Vega knows that the company’s mobile service in urban areas is pathetic. He recently acknowledged that the company’s service in New York City and San Francisco is lacking and vowed to improve it. BoyGeniusReport has…er…reported:

AT&T’s very own Ralph de la Vega says that Manhattan and San Francisco’s Financial District “are performing at levels below our standards.” In our own experiences, it seems much worse than that, but we’re happy to finally hear it being acknowledged and addressed. He also says that these issues are going to get fixed. “In both of those markets, I am very confident that you’re going to see significant progress.” Thanks for finally coming out and openly saying it, AT&T, instead of hiding behind figures like “our network covers 97% of the population.”

I remember attending a Giants game at AT&T Park with a friend armed with an iPhone. I found it hilarious that she dropped four calls over nine innings. AT&T can’t even provide decent coverage in its own ballpark! While I’d love to use my iPhone as something other than a glorified iPod Touch, I can’t deal with AT&T’s shoddy service in cities. I’m interested to see if it can improve its network in 2010…or if Verizon and T-Mobile get the iPhone, as many analysts have claimed.

Source

PSA: December Xbox Live Deals of the Week

Coldplay

Microsoft marketing tool Major Nelson revealed the upcoming Xbox Live deals of the week for December. They are:

Week of December 14:
Lips: Coldplay Track Pack for 240 Microsoft Points
December 21 through December 27:
Shadow Complex for 800 points
Week of December 28:
The Maw for 400 Microsoft Points

If you haven’t tried Shadow Complex, it’s worth playing if you like old-school 2D shooters like Contra and Metroid. As a karaoke aficionado, I’m always down for more Lips tracks. I haven’t tried The Maw, but a few of my friends are pretty high on it. Most importantly, saving money is always a good thing, so take advantage of these sales if you have the means.

Source

BioWare Announces Star-Studded Cast for Mass Effect 2

BioWare has announced the large and star-studded cast for the upcoming Mass Effect 2. There are some big stars and sci-fi favorites here (I’m more excited about the latter). Today’s press release stated:

BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts, today revealed the voice actors performing in Mass Effect 2, the second act of the award-winning science fiction trilogy. The game features Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”, “Apocalypse Now”), 2009 Emmy Award-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Saddam”), comedic actor Seth Green (“Austin Powers”), “Chuck” stars Yvonne Strahovski and Adam Baldwin, Keith David (“Crash”) and sci-fi favorites Michael Dorn (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”), Michael Hogan (“Battlestar Galactica”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”).

Tricia Helfer

I’m totally geeked out by the cast. The dude from Robot Chicken meets Worf from Star Trek meets Goliath from Gargoyles meets Trinity from The Matrix meets 6 from Battlestar Galactica. Awesome!!!

Tarver Games’ Ghosts Attack Available through iPhone App Store

Ghosts Attack from Tarver Games, the new studio headed up by the excellent Chris Cross, is now available from Apple’s iTunes App Store (iTunes link). Here’s a snippet from the press release:

In Ghosts Attack, a story unfolds regarding the late 1960’s disappearance of thirteen scientists who were accidentally transported to a parallel dimension in a failed teleportation experiment. Too dangerous for humans, the company that employed the scientists is now dispatching remote controlled Rovers to explore and conquer the new realm.

The Ghosts Attack series will offer multiple features inherent to the iPhone OS 3.1, including regular push notifications and badges, In-app Commerce support for evolving episodic content, streaming video for in-game content and more. New content will be introduced in-game through [in-game guide] Karl, keeping the game and the story relevant. The first game features 17 missions, 5 weapons, and 5 Rover upgrades. On a semi-weekly basis, Karl will alert players of new missions set in different destinations around the world, keeping them engaged in the story and the gameplay.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I encourage you to check out this $4.99 game. I’m going to be downloading it shortly and would love to hear your thoughts on Ghosts Attack!

Coffee Talk #44: The Disconnect Between Game Critics and Gamers

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, Barry Bonds’ agent saying the slugger’s career is over (duh), the Yankees trying to sign Johnny Damon (why?!?), or how much longer “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels will continue to perform for the WWE, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I was watching this excellent Dante’s Inferno developer diary, I started thinking about the disconnect between game critics and gamers. Some writers are just out of touch with what gamers want and expect. Part of it comes from getting too many free games for too many years, which makes some writers forget that paying $60 for a game is a lot of money for many consumers.

Dantes Inferno 2

In other cases, some critics are too busy being critical to remember what’s fun. Dante’s Inferno is a great example of this. A lot of writers are already down on this game, dismissing it as a God of War rip-off. They’re thinking, “This is crap. It’s just like God of War.” At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, one of my friends was telling me that a lot of the people that saw the game at EA’s booth said things like, “This is cool! It’s just like God of War!” Funny how it goes….

What’s your opinion on game reviewers? Do you think a lot of them are out of touch? Or do you think most of them are spot on? Do you think that some reviewers forget what it’s like to be a paying gamer? If so, does it have a negative impact on their reviews?