Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD), responsible for the Xbox and PC/Windows gaming posted revenue increases over last year during the same quarter. While the entire division was up 27% to nearly $1.8 billion, the Xbox 360 business alone went up 33% over the same quarter in 2009. Total revenues were sitting around $1.2 billion, with everyones favourite FPS Halo Reach generating over $350 million by itself.
In total, the division was able to generate $382 million in profit from July to September. This represents a 46% increase over last year. Sales figures were strengthened by the sale of 2.8 million xbox units, about 38% higher sales than the equivalent period in 2009.
The company is optimistic about the future and has said it expects 30 percent revenue growth in the current second fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31. Because of holiday game sales, including the launch of Kinect, Christmas sales can certainly confirm their expectations.
In total, Microsoft posted record-breaking revenues of over $16 billion. The main driver in sales came from the company’s Windows and Windows Live division.
Lifetime sales of the Xbox 360 are at 43.9 million units, according to VGChartz. The Wii has sold 74.6 million units and the PS 3 has sold 38.9 million units. Microsoft said the Xbox Live online gaming service continued to grow, but didn’t confirm any data.
Thats right folks got some MAG Downloadable content coming your way. The pack is called Escalation. If you played the second beta some of these maps may look familiar to you. As a celebration though, Zipper interactive, the developer of the game, is offering some special deals.
Escalation pack – $9.99
Interdiction pack – $4.99 was $9.99
MAG Starter Kit – $14.99 – Interdiction and Escalation Add-on packs, a 30-day trial for MAG character slots B and C, six official MAG PS3 avatars that have Raven, SVER, and Valor characters and badges, and three dynamic PS3 themes, one for each PMC. Rack up the stuff by itself and its about a 30 dollar value.
The X Games have started to be pretty tame lately. Â I mean, come on, skateboarders are only going up like 40 feet into the air. Â Lame. Â What can they do to spice it up?
1. Take Shaun White Skateboarding as an example.
1a. Build half pipes off buildings.
2a. Â Advance science 1,000 years; transform pipes and park benches to their liking with the press of a button.
3a. Â Do more gnarly and awesome tricks!
4a. Play Shaun White Skateboarding on Xbox 360, PS3 now or on PC October 29.
Could you imagine that just twenty five years ago, Mario was nothing more than a character first being introduced to gamers. He could have simply fallen by the wayside as a basic character but instead he has stayed strong and has appeared in hundreds of different games. Well now he is getting even more love because Super Mario All-Stars is going to be packaged up and released for the Wii in time for the Holiday season.
Bundled with the Wii game, Soundtrack CD, and a 32 page book containing the history of Mario. Super Mario All-Stars contains the four games you can see above; Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Sure they are the NES versions of the game and that boxart up there is for the SNES, but they are the same games regardless with upgraded graphics.
Releasing on December 12th the Super Mario-All Stars collection will sell for $29.99 on the Wii alone.
With Halloween only days away, it’s time for game companies to be releasing a variety of different horror titles and scary games right? Well Capcom at least has an announcement about a game with a ghost in it. Though this ghost is more of a Phantom Detective if you catch my drift. Capcom has announced their US release date for Nintendo DS puzzle game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
Designed by Shu Takumi, famous for designing the Ace Attorney series, has players taking control of their main character, too bad he is already dead when the game begins. The main character named Sissel chooses to use his new ghost form to interact with the real world through various objects so that he can solve the mystery to his own murder and save the lives of others. I’ve been anticipating this one for quite a while thanks to its Ace Attorney pedigree. Catch a bit of gameplay below:
I feel bad not even knowing about this one until just recently, but the newest collaboration due to Capcom and Level 5 now has a Japanese trailer out, that being Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright. Yep, you heard that right, this crossover will take elements from both titles and arrive sometime in 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS.
As someone who is a huge fan of the Professor Layton series as well as Phoenix Wright this news in incredible. In the trailer we see the Professor shout out the famous catchphrase of Phoenix Wright as well as a first look of what to expect story-wise for the game. Keep in mind it is all in Japanese, but trailers like this is why the word “teaser” is put in front of the title. So check it out below and we will be sure to bring you everything we hear in the future for Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright! (Man, I never thought I would get to say that)
Konami recently revealed today that the Japan exclusive No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise will now be headed to the U.S.. Travis Touchdown will make his triumphant return exclusively on the Playstation 3 with full Move support.
Originally released back in April in Japan, Heroes’ Paradise puts players in the city of Santa Destroy as Travis Touchdown, out to eliminate some of the world’s deadliest assassins. Equipped with a razor sharp Beam Katana sword, players start off as the 11th ranked assassin and try to move up the ranks to position themselves as the ultimate killer. During the course of the game, players encounter Sylvia, a mysterious woman from the United Assassins Association, who arranges fights with other higher ranked assassins to help Travis become the number one in the world . Players will either ride through the town on Travis’ trusty motor bike or travel on foot to arrive at Travis’ next assignment.
The Playstation Move comes into play with Travis’ Beam Kitana, allowing for each bout tracked by a dynamic camera that showcases the game’s stunning visuals and cinematic fight sequences. There is even cinematic finishing moves to add the exclamation mark on each battle.
Here is a bit more information from Konami’s official release:
Travis’ progression is enhanced via a series of sub-missions as well as the ability to hone his skills and upgrade his weapon within the lab. Santa Destroy is a living, breathing place, and the anti-hero can enter shops, visit a gym to train, and collect special icons that will enhance his attack options. As players progress through the game, they will have the opportunity to complete deadly missions and side jobs as they make their way up the ladder of the United Assassins Association.
Aside from the side missions, players will also be able to enjoy newly added game modes like “Rebout Mode” where former foes can be challenged again. Also, players will have the opportunity to encounter additional boss characters that were not available in the original episode but will be on the PlayStation 3 version of the game. Additionally, “Viewer Mode” is also available allowing players to re-watch infamous cut scenes in crystal clear HD graphics. With its stunning visuals, additional levels of action, improved AI and an incredible level of control, No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise represents a welcome return for one of gaming’s most daring creators.
I am all for seeing this title brought out of Japan as the No More Heroes series was spectacular on the Wii and I am sure the level of quality will only improve with the Playstation 3’s hardware and Konami producing the port. No date has been given but the release will be sometime in 2011. We will keep you updated as more news releases and if any other regions get listed as well.
Though the demo has been out for nearly two weeks on the XBLM it is about time the PSN got it’s Super Saiyan on. The demo for Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 has just arrived on the PSN for download and not a moment too soon as the official release date for the game itself is on November 2nd, less than a week away.
This demo will allow players to fight as Ultimate GOhan, Kid Buu, Super Saiyan Goku, and Demon King Dabura. The fights themselves will take place on the Glacier stage and Rocky Land field. Fans of the series will note that every thing they love about the battles in the Anime are represented now in the game itself, and with more fighters than ever before no one’s favorite fighter will be left out of the action.
Alert to the people. There is going to be a PSN maintenance tomorrow. Playstation Store, Playstation Home, Account management and even signing in could be down. Sony expects it to last from 7:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. pacific. That is a whole day. Get your downloading in early because tomorrow it will be shut down.
Myreview of Fallout: New Vegas went up just a few days ago and I reported a handful of the large number of different glitches I experienced during my time playing at that point. Though thankfully it seems Bethesda has been quick to release a patch for the console versions of the game today. PC copies already received a patch during the weekend though apparently problems are still occurring on that platform.
The patch itself is said to contain over 200 different fixes to quests and script errors but there has been no actual list of what was repaired. You just can’t keep a good game down, as glitches and programming errors can be fixed, but bad gameplay can’t. Thankfully Fallout: New Vegas doesn’t fall under that category and stands on its own.
