There are pretty two games coming out this week. First up is NCAA Football 11
Any of you planning to pick up new games this week? List ’em (please)!
Tag: Nintendo DS
Coffee Talk #175: Handheld Gaming and You
There are a bunch of you that don’t like playing games on portable systems. I’ve never really understood this position. To me, a great game is a great game — it doesn’t matter if it’s on a PC, home console, or portable console. I’ve spent hundreds of hours on Pokemon games and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorite games this generation. I love that I can play a portable gaming system in bed, on an airplane, in the dentist’s office, etc. I feel like a lot of you are missing out.
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, the Yankees possibly picking up Cliff Lee, Harry Potter vs. Twilight, or the wrath of Dan Gilbert, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
There are a bunch of you that don’t like playing games on portable systems. I’ve never really understood this position. To me, a great game is a great game — it doesn’t matter if it’s on a PC, home console, or portable console. I’ve spent hundreds of hours on Pokemon games and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorite games this generation. I love that I can play a portable gaming system in bed, on an airplane, in the dentist’s office, etc. I feel like a lot of you are missing out.
So explain it to me! Tell me why you love or hate portable gaming. It’s totally cool if you don’t dig it. I’m just trying to understand why. While you’re typing your answers, imagine “Getting to Know You” from The King and I playing in the background. Ha!
NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of May 2010
Here are NPD Group’s console software sales figures for May 2010. There were a lot of great releases in May, which is traditionally a slow month for the business. Some of your favorites made the list and there were a few surprises as well. Let’s check out the digits!
- Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360): 945,900
- Red Dead Redemption (PS3): 567,100
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): 563,000
- UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360): 221,100
- UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3): 192,300
- Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii)
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
- Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
- Pokemon SoulSilver (Nintendo DS)
- 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?
NPD Hardware Sales Figures for May 2010
NPD Group released its console sales data for May 2010. The gaming industry is still in a year-over-year decline, but will May’s console hardware sales help the business bust out of the slump? Let’s check out the numbers:
- 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!
Pokemon Black/White Dated for September 18…in Japan
Nintendo of Japan has announced that Pokemon Black and Pokemon White will be released on September 18, 2010. If the company’s pattern holds true then expect a North American release around April 2011. *sigh* I’m kicking myself for dropping Japanese class after one semester. Being able to read Japanese would have been incredibly useful in this line of work. Ah well…capricious youth.
This Week’s Videogame Releases
There are oodles of interesting games out this week — a perfect way to add some sizzle to your summer. On the multiplatform front, you have LEGO Harry Potter
As much as I can’t wait to play Sin & Punishment, my recommendation for the week is Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip
Are any of you picking up new games this week? Let me know what’s on your wishlist (please)!
Shigeru Miyamoto Says That Cats Are Like Girls
During a roundtable discussions at E3 2010, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that cats were originally part of Nintendogs, but they didn’t behave quite right. For example, when dogs are happy they wag their tail. Cats…not so much.
As with several Miyamoto games, a lot of the ideas behind Nintendogs + Cats were derived from his personal experience. As many of you know, a lot of his ideas from Zelda came from playing in caves, likewise for Pikmin and gardening, and finally Nintendogs and his family dog. Miyamoto picked up a kitten and was fascinated by the way it interacted with his dog.
Miyamoto jokingly stated that cats are similar to women:
Cats are interesting. They’re kind of like girls. If they come and talk to you, it’s great. If you go and talk to them, sometimes it doesn’t turn out so well.
Too true Mr. Miyamoto. Too true.
Sony’s Kaz Hirai Dismisses the Nintendo 3DS
In an interview with Sankei Biz, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai brushed off portable 3D gaming. While he didn’t call out Nintendo’s 3DS handheld by name, it was easy to see his target. Hirai said:
Based off internally conducted research, naked-eye 3D for portables does not have high precision, and at present there are limitations.
He surely has a point, but he’s also comparing apples to oranges. Most experts believe that the 3DS will cost under $200. Playing stereoscopic 3D on your PlayStation 3 requires a $2,000 television and $150 glasses. While the PS3 will certainly provide a superior 3D experience, these are two entirely different product categories and price points. That said, it’s always fun when CEOs try to layeth the smack down.
What do you think of Hirai’s comparison? Is he just confident that the PS3 will have the better experience? Or is he threatened by the buzz the 3DS received at E3 2010?
Source via Andriasang
Grading the “Big Three” at E3 2010: Nintendo vs. Microsoft vs. Sony
Another E3 is in the bag and it’s time to judge how the “big three” did at this year’s show. Usually I just rate the companies’ respective press conferences immediately after the last one, but since I was working for the excellent people at Shacknews, I didn’t get a chance to. Using the pressers and what was shown on the show floor, I’m going assign letter grades to Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. I’d love for you to do the same thing in the comments section!
Microsoft: Kicking off the major pressers was Microsoft. The format was very strange. It kicked things off with a third-party game and close the show with a hardware refresh. Sure, it’s a pretty big deal that the Xbox 360 will have first dibs for all Call of Duty map packs and add-ons, but I was surprised that Halo and Gears didn’t get the money spots — they certainly looked fantastic and deserved the rub. Closing out the show with a new product is fine, but updated hardware doesn’t quite fit the bill. It’s cool that Microsoft went all Oprah and gave everyone free consoles, but I thought the company would have been better off plugging a first-party game in that slot. (On a side note, I found it hilarious that Epic’s Mark “Chocolate” Rein was standing up and clapping when he found out about his free console. The dude loses more money having a brain fart than I make in a year. Ha!)
On the non-gaming front, the ESPN announcement is potentially huge. Unfortunately, it’s not for everyone. Your ISP has to be on the ESPN 3 partner list, from what I understand. In something that I’ll have file as “sucks for me!”, my ISP, Time Warner, is not on the list.
Obviously Microsoft had to talk up Kinect at its press conference. Unfortunately, it didn’t play well at the presser. The good news is that the product was much more interesting on the show floor, particular with games like Child of Eden (expectedly awesome) and Dance Central (surprisingly fun).
Grade B-: If I was just going off the presser, it would have been a C+, but Microsoft had a lot of great stuff at its booth. While most of the Kinect stuff I saw wasn’t fun, the cool gamers for Kinect were better than the cool games for Move.
Nintendo: I thought Nintendo absolutely killed it at E3 2010. It had the best games and the most interesting new hardware. I was actually scared that Nintendo’s presser would have put me to sleep with a 20-minute presentation on the Wii Heart Rate Monitor Vitality Sensor. Instead I was bombarded with classic franchise after classic franchise returning to the Wii — Zelda, Donkey Kong Country, Metroid, and Kid Icarus dazzled millions of longtime Nintendo fans.
As a show, Nintendo had the best conference. Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, and Reggie Fils-Aime are the best “personality” executives from any of the big three. The presser also had the best pacing and flow.
I’m not sure how it played for everyone at home, but Nintendo was the talk of the show at E3 2010. It had the tech everyone wanted to see with the 3DS (at times the line took more than two hours) and it had the journalists’ darling game in Kirby Epic Yarn. Disney’s Epic Mickey also played well — yes, a third-party game for a Nintendo system was one of E3’s highlights.
Grade A: Nintendo owned the show. I want to hear some of you that are in the “Nintendo forgot about me” camp complain about the company’s E3 2010.
Sony: Sony’s performance was mixed. In terms of content, I thought it had a better presser than Microsoft, but it was about 30 minutes too long and cut into everyone’s E3 show floor time (which nobody was happy about). Sony did get the loudest pop of any of the E3 pressers with Kevin Butler’s performance. The company also had the biggest shock with Valve’s Gabe Newell on stage hocking Portal 2 for PS3 with Steamworks.
Sony had two pieces of new tech to push — 3D gaming and PlayStation Move. 3D gaming is interesting, but it’s probably not something that will take off this generation. It’s just too expensive for most people. Killzone 3 is okay in 3D, but I thought MLB: The Show was better. As for Move, the tech is cool, but Sony is having a hard time showing that it’s more than just Wii in HD.
In terms of games, there’s a lot for PS3 and PSP owners to get excited about. The two biggest were Gran Turismo 5 and Twisted Metal. I’m not really into the former, but the latter was way fun. The third-party games like Assassin’s Creed 3 (with the beta being PS3 exclusive), Medal of Honor (also with exclusive content), Dead Space 2, The 3rd Birthday, and Kingdom Hearts looked great.
Grade B-: Sony gets points for a wide variety of great games, solid tech, and Kevin Butler. It loses points for taking way too long, keeping everyone from the show, and failing to make the tech seem like fun. Steamworks on PS3 is huge and I’m not sure why people aren’t making a bigger deal out of this.
[poll id=”54″]
Now it’s your turn! Take the poll and let me know which company had the best show in your opinion.
Nintendo E3 2010 Press Conference Live Blog
It’s live blog time boys and girls! It took me a while to get a decent Internet connection, so let’s jump right into it. (I’ll write a proper intro later.)