Games Industry Wire

According to Goldman-Sachs this falls Halo 3 blockbuster will finally make Microsoft’s Xbox division profitable. According to the report the first week of the release will boost their profits by $170 million, giving them a profitable quarter for the first time in its history. The figure may even be low by as much as $50 million giving them plenty of room for healthy profits.
For those who are unfamiliar, console manufacturers produce consoles and sell them for under cost, making money back on the markup of games. Current predictions estimate 1/3 of all Xbox 360 owners will purchase the game.
According to …read more

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NPD has released their top selling PC games from May 13th-19th. Not surprisingly Blizzard’s announcement of Starcraft 2 boosted Starcraft: Battle Chest into the top 10. Here is the complete list:

World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade
World Of Warcraft
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows Of Angmar
The Sims 2 Seasons
The Sims 2 Deluxe
The Sims 2 Celebration Stuff
Starcraft: Battle Chest
Civilization IV
The Sims 2

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This week Mario Party 8 rose to become the most requested game through game rental service GameFly. Here are the complete charts from Gamasutra:
Xbox 360
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Disney Interactive), 2. Shadowrun (Microsoft) 3. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 4. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 5. Call of Juarez (Ubisoft).
Nintendo Wii
1. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 2. Resident Evil 4 (Capcom), 3. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Disney Interactive), 5. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo)
PlayStation 3
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Disney Interactive), 2. MLB 07: The Show (Sony) 3. …read more

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Chinese game company The9 has received an investment from gaming behemoth Electronic Arts (EA). The company specializes in online play. According to sources from the company the deal equates to upwards of $160 million dollars in exchange for 15 percent of the company.
The deal based around the companies involvement in the limited release but popular FIFA Online game. The game is currently only released in South Korea but holds a very dedicated user base.
The company is dedicated to MMORPGs, so much so that the companies name is derived from the thought that the game genre is the ninth art. Currently …read more

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This week it was learned that Sony was being sued by Target Technology Company over their Blu-ray discs. The discs are the leading DVD format for next generation, HD DVDs along with Microsoft supported HD DVD format.
The suit apparently has to do with alleged patent infringement by Sony on their discs. In greater detail, it has to do with a patent surrounding a silver-based film that offers advantages of gold for less cost. The company was awarded the patent last year.
Sony is apparently not the only people infringing on their patent as most DVDs being produced today are violating their …read more

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- Nintendo On Top in April, PS3 Sales Remain Low
- Nintendo Announces Summer Releases
- First 6 Month Sales; How Much Should We Read Into Them
- Video: Forza vs. Forza 2 Graphics Comparison
- Loads of Call of Duty 4 Info Leaked
- Saturday Playback: Halo 3 Banshee

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A member of the COD4 Forums has (somehow) come into possession of a list of potential features the game may feature when it is finally released in Q3 of this year. The game is a departure of tradition for the series which, prior to this game, had focused of WWII combat. Among the potential features the game may include on launch are:

Online co-op play with up to 4 total people
Helicopter gameplay allowing the player to control a cobra helicopter or be the gunner (also, plane gameplay)
Mission objectives include: “Rescue captured hostages, photograph dead bodies to identify targets, infiltrate enemy positions, …read more

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After I posted a Forza 2 commercial a few weeks ago, I found this video comparing the graphics between the first version of the game and the newest edition. Check it out…

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Joystiq has compiled a list of the console sales figures at their 6th month birthdays based on April’s NPD figures. Here’s the list:

Wii (2,470,000)
PS2 (2,200,000)
Xbox (1,900,000)
GameCube (1,540,000)
Xbox 360 (1,384,000)
PS3 (1,271,000)

Obviously the Wii sales are very, very impressive given the mixed opinions before it launched but even more importan to consider are how well the Xbox 360 and PS3 have fared so far. Both have come in under the GameCube’s sales over it’s 6 month launch, a console that has been criticized for many reasons. Although the sales differences are almost surely a result of the cost of the next gen …read more

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