B3yond the Report 07.21.09
Posted by Mark Salmela on 07.21.2009
This week we take a look at the June NPD numbers. Also, what’s with 2009’s biggest titles being sequels from 2007? Plus news on Namco Museum Essentials, DiRT 2, MAG, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Killzone 2, Infamous, Shatter, Wipeout HD Fury, and more when you go B3yond the Report!
Salmela!
What's up Shaqy?
This whole trip to Asia has reinvigorated me! I feel so alive!
I can tell Shaqy, you're using multiple syllable words…
Can it Salmela, after watching the best martial artists Asia has to offer I've decided it's time to get back into the action.
Oh god don't tell me…
That's right, I want to make Shaq-Fu 2 baby!
Shaq-Fu-Two? That'll be the biggest sequel nobody asked for since the announcement of a new A Boy and His Blob game.
Salmela this is the perfect time to make a brand new Kung-Fu action game. The NBA doesn't start until October.
You think you can make a full-fledged video game in 4 months?
Of course. Why wouldn't I?
You realize Shaq-Fu was nothing more than you fighting a bunch of generic horror-movie creatures like a Mummy and a Ghoul right?
Hold it right there Salmela, this is perfect. Look at this box-art I just whipped up.
Now that's a potential game of the year.
No punch-line this week, it's B3yond the News of the Week~!
June NPD numbers are here
The NPD Numbers for June 2009 are out, and I must admit I'm a little surprised at the numbers. First, here they are for reference.
01. Prototype (X360) - 419,900
02. UFC 2009: Undisputed (X360) - 338,300
03. EA Sports Active (Wii) - 289,100
04. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii) - 272,400
05. Wii Fit (Wii) - 271,600
06. Fight Night Round 4 (X360) - 260,800
07. Fight Night Round 4 (PS3) - 210,300
08. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 202,100
09. Red Faction: Guerrilla (X360) - 199,400
10. Infamous (PS3) - 192,700
I must admit that I did not see Prototype taking the number one slot. I also didn't see UFC Undisputed taking number 2 and beating Fight Night Round 4 in its second month of release. I really thought that June was going to belong to FNR4. It looks as if Mike Tyson isn't as big of a draw as I thought. After that the list is about what I expected, although I'm a little surprised to see that Ghostbusters did not make the top ten *it was in the top 20 though*.
So in the end Prototype did outsell Infamous 419 thousand to like 362 *give or take* thousand for the two months Infamous was out versus the one month Prototype was out. The only real thing I can say in Infamous' defense is that given the choice of Infamous or Prototype on the PS3 Infamous won out pretty easily.
As for the hardware numbers
Nintendo DS - 766,500
Wii - 361,700
Xbox 360 - 240,600
PlayStation 3 - 164,700
PSP - 163,500
PlayStation 2 - 152,700
Sony, you need that PS3 Slim and price drop, and you need it now…
I expected more.
PlayStation Store update for the week of July 16
This week's PlayStation Store had a pretty nice surprise in the Summer Special where select PSN titles are severely discounted in price. Pixel Junk Eden, Wipeout HD, Brain Challenge, Savage Moon, and more are $5 off. In my opinion Wipeout HD is the best of the bunch, and with next week's Fury DLC pack coming I'd strongly recommend picking up WipeOut HD at a discounted price.
Besides the summer special there is also Namco Museum Essentials, which features Pac-Man, Galaga, Xevious, some new version of Xevious, Dig-Dug, and Dragon Spirit for $10. I highly recommend this set of classics that if purchased on XBLA would cost over $20 *since all games are separate purchases*. As a huge fan of Galaga just seeing Galaga in the package made it worth $10 easy. There technically are online leaderboards but shit are they difficult to find. Also this is just nit-picking but I surprisingly find Galaga easier to play on the 360 analog stick rather than on the DualShock 3 controller.
Finally on the PSN there was Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This for the PSP. I hear it's pretty decent, but I only listed it so I could type the insanely long title. The sequel to Spec-Ops was released as a PS1 classic, if anyone knows whether the two Spec-Ops PS1 classics are any good I'd appreciate it.
Retail releases for the week of July 21
This week will see the retail release of 2 different games, as well as allegedly 2 PSN titles. First off is G-Force for the PS3, which is absolute garbage. I was unfortunate enough to go hands-on with this game at E3, and it's pretty terrible. They have 3D glasses to use with the game, but that just makes the shit on screen stick out even more. But don't worry I'm sure the movie will be awesome.
Second off will be Watchmen: The End is Nigh Complete experience. Apparently it comes with the Blu-Ray version of the movie if you get the special edition. I played a little bit of the first game and thought it was complete garbage. It tries to play like a classic brawler like Streets of Rage but fails pretty miserably. I can't imagine the second game will be much better.
On the PSN this week will see the release of Wipeout HD Fury, which for $10 features a butt load of new content including 12 new tracks, although I have the feeling that it's actually 6 new tracks with 6 reverse versions of the new tracks. Either way for $10 you can't go wrong. Also allegedly the game Shatter will be coming out, although I can't confirm that 100%. Shatter is a breakout style game that's been getting a lot of praise from people around the industry, so I'll be sure to keep my eye on it.
Shatter
Once again there was no news to report
So, for the second week in a row, we'll see the return of B3yond the Tabloids for all the minor news I wouldn't normally comment on.
B3yond the Tabloids
ThatGameCompany, the guys behind Flower and Flow, have announced that they're currently working on a third title for Sony. While no platform was listed I'd have to imagine it is going to be for the PSN, like Flower and Flow. Well, I guess the potential for Flower PSP is there, but I'd imagine someone else would handle that at Sony and ThatGameCompany would start working on something new.
Both Gamestop and Gamefly are listing MAG with a January 2010 release. While some people hoped the game would make a 2009 release I can almost guarantee MAG won't make it out this year. I mean come on, it's a Sony first party game. I must say however January 2010 isn't a bad time, and most likely will be pretty wide open in terms of competition.
Here we go again, Guerilla Games is claiming that Killzone 2 only used about 60% of the PlayStation 3's power. Doesn't everyone always end up saying crap like that? Look, we get it, the PS3 is really powerful, and as time goes on the graphics will get better. It's happened for every system in the past and it's going to happen for the PS3, everybody knows. But Guerilla also said that they're "not done" with the PS3 and will be making another game for it. Hmmm… I wonder what it could be… Another sequel maybe?
Sucker Punch has a job listing on their site for an art director who could create a game with "current urban style and street fashion." Hmmm I wonder what they're making next? While I would like to see Sly Cooper come to the PS3 it seems as if Sucker Punch is getting ready to develop a sequel to Infamous. I like Infamous a lot, but it's too bad Sucker Punch is such a small team they can only develop one game, and not two.
Valkyria Chronicles 2 has been announced… for the PSP… Well shit, so much for that series. I'm sorry but I'm not going to bust out the crappy PSP to play an RPG. I really liked Valkyria Chronicles, but I hate the PSP for gaming. Also what's with the academy part? I want either a continuation of the story or a prequel, not boot camp with random characters. Also, I have a good feeling the graphics aren't going to look anywhere near as good on the PSP as they did in HD on the PS3.
Marvel vs Capcom 2 is coming to the PSN on August 13, over 2 weeks after the XBLA release. What the fuck?! How did Sony go from an exclusive demo of MVC2 to having the full XBLA game come out 2 weeks earlier? I hate the 360 d-pad but even I'm tempted to say screw the waiting and get it on the 360. *Looks at 360 d-pad* On second thought, I think I can wait…
Here's DiRT 2. It looks alright, although I'm not sure I'd pay $60 for it. DiRT 2 releases this September.
The One Man Water Cooler~!
When the hell did 2009 become 2007 part 2?
I mean Modern Warfare 2, Ratchet and Clank Future 2, Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed 2, DiRT 2, and up until last week BioShock 2. Hell, throw in games like Halo ODST *Halo 3 part 2* and this year is just turning out to be 2007 part 2. The biggest titles coming out this winter are just sequels from 2007. How the hell did that happen? I mean I'm sure I'll like most of these games, and besides DiRT 2 I'll probably buy all of them *ok maybe not Ass Creed 2 either*, but what happened to the amazing 2009 line-up? Final Fantasy 13, Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, White Knight Chronicles, God of War 3, MAG, and more are all going to be 2010 now. I'd even be willing to bet money that Gran Turismo 5 doesn't make it out this year.
2009 was shaping up to be one of the best years in video games, and suddenly this holiday just got blown wide open. November will still be packed with Modern Warfare 2, Ratchet and Clank 2, and Assassin's Creed 2 all shipping but as far as I'm concerned September, October, and December are wide open for the taking. I was under the impression that Uncharted 2 was going to be September but now I'm starting to hear from various people that it's going to be November too! Everyone seems to be crowding their best games into November and leaving everything else wide open which is stupid in my opinion. Uncharted 2 and especially Ratchet and Clank 2 should not be launching in the same month as Assassin's Creed 2 and Modern Warfare 2.
Either March 2010 is going to be one of the biggest months ever in video games or 2010 is going to be packed full of hit after hit. Heavy Rain is really going to be hurt in my opinion. October is virtually empty and I could picture the middle of October being the perfect time for Heavy Rain to hit the PS3. Last year Little Big Planet and Fallout 3 did very well for themselves launching in mid-to-late October before avoiding the November crisis of World at War, Gears 2, and Resistance 2. Now I fear that Heavy Rain is going to launch sometime in the spring where it will only manage to sell marginally well due to all the other massive titles coming.
This is just one writer's opinion but I am not all that excited for this year's holiday line-up. Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2 will be awesome, but I can't imagine it being anywhere near as awesome as the previous 2 years. I'm also predicting that the Xbox 360 has a much better holiday line-up, since if Forza 3 does make it this year that means that the 360 will have more exclusives launching this holiday than the PS3. Halo 3 ODST, Splintercell Conviction, and Forza 3 will most likely beat anything the PS3 has to offer at this point, judging by what I can see. Not to mention Modern Warfare 2 is going to clean up on the 360. Sony has a lot of work to do with that PS3 Slim…
I'd like to end this week with a serious question to the readers. Do you guys like the inclusion of Shaq and Vince Offer in B3yond the Report? While I haven't gotten any negative feedback I want to ask you guys. Should I keep including segments from Vince Offer and Shaq or should I go back to being more serious and keeping the focus 100% on Sony news? Please let your opinion be known.
With that said I can be contacted in the comments section below, via email at marksalms@gmail.com, or via the PSN as Fester. I'm feeling a little burnt out from writing right now so I believe I'm going to take next week off, although you should be in good hands with Mr. Drew Robbins. With that said thanks for reading, I'll cya when I cya!
To your Spec-Ops question, a long time ago, one of Derek's friends unloaded a bunch of random PS1 games on us. Among Mortal Kombat 3(I think? It was some kind of MK game) and a bad Rockstar game was the first Spec-Ops game. It umm...wasn't very good, to put it mildly.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on July 21, 2009 at 12:10 AM
That's about what I figured Drew.
Unfortunately ever since the release of Metal Gear Solid almost a month ago now the PS1 Classics section has been very disappointing.
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on July 21, 2009 at 12:52 AM
Prototype sold ~180,000 on the PS3, out of the top 10 by 13,000 or so.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on July 21, 2009 at 01:01 AM
Where's the fun in being serious all the time? I say do whatever makes you happy. I'm a Shaq fan anything he's in I'm up for watching(RAW) Vince on the other hand I'll leave up to others
Posted By: Guest#1683 (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 01:15 AM
I'm not really a fan of the Shaq/Vince stuff, but if you're having fun with it, it certainly doesn't bother me enough to stop reading.
Posted By: degree (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 02:29 AM
Thanks everyone so far for the feedback on the Vince/Shaq stuff. I was hoping that the negative side would say something along the lines of "I don't like it, but it doesn't stop me from reading the report".
It is easily skipable after all. But yeah. keep the feedback up, as I don't even know if anyone actually likes reading the Shaq/Vince banter other than myself lol.
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on July 21, 2009 at 02:39 AM
S**t who cares as long as people read your column do what you want. People can scroll past what they don't like. If somethings boring skip it and move on. Saves time :)
Posted By: joesand (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 02:48 AM
I'm a fan of the Shaqy stuff but I could do without Vince like the way you had it before.However, he doesn't really bother me. I read your entire report every week and I think Shaqy should stay.
Posted By: The Genocide (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 05:00 AM
I forgot to ask: Do you know if the 3rd Killzone map pack comes out this week? I read somewhere that it's supposed to come out this week but since you didn't mention it I have doubts. Thanks to anybody who responds.
Posted By: The Genocide (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 05:03 AM
2009 becoming 2007 Part 2 has everything to do with the economy. Companies are less likely to take chances on new IPs because their is more of a risk. They would rather sell a sequel because it doesn't really need as much publicity as a new IP.
About Prototype, more people own 360's than they do PS3. Regardless, sales figures do not equal the quality of the title, just look at Halo 2.5...errr...Halo 3.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 08:09 AM
i skip a lot of the vince/shaq stuff. just don't find it that funny. but as the others said it most certainly doesn't stop me from reading, u'd have to be a whopper of a douche bag to refuse to just skip down the page.
Posted By: stronelis (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 09:52 AM
I have been very tempted by the NAMCO classics... although if they sold JUST Pacman for like $4 I'd buy that instead.
Also- Mortal Kombat 2 on PSN has been calling to me for some reason-- but I can't remember if I liked it or not, because that was so long ago.
Posted By: McObvious (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 09:55 AM
'About Prototype, more people own 360's than they do PS3. Regardless, sales figures do not equal the quality of the title, just look at Halo 2.5...errr...Halo 3.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 08:09 AM"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Flame bait much?
Vince and Shaq crack me up.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 11:27 AM
You sound so defeated. You used to always have a counterpoint to the bad news for Sony fanboys. You literally had nothing this column...nothing. Is it me or does it kinda sound like Sony is conceding this year already?
I have done my part and purchased MLB Show and Prototype for the PS3 but everything else this year is going to be 360 be it exclusively 360 or just a matter of preference.
What has happened to Sony? How bad is pushing all these back going to be. I have a feeling it could be the beginning of the end for Sony's current gen console.
Posted By: dman (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Todd,
Not really. That is my personal opinion. I was shocked how ugly everything looked in the game. I feel that the character models were atrocious for something being on the 360. It was like a slightly improved Halo 2. I will not even begin to illustrate my displeasure with the story.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 11:52 AM
As you can tell by my column, I like the shaqy stuff. It makes the column fun to read instead of just another column. Also, Sony needs a price cut asap....
Posted By: Armando Rodriguez (Registered) on July 21, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Thanks for the feedback everyone.
For those unaware I'll be gone next week due to Shaq hosting Monday night raw. I'll be backstage as his personal advisor.
Posted By: Mark Salms (Guest) on July 21, 2009 at 03:27 PM
I guess I'm a fan of the Shaq/Vince stuff. I do read it, and usually get a chuckle. By all means, if you enjoy it keep it up! It's not like I'm gonna skip a great article because the writer's a little nutty. Like Armando said, you make the column fun. Bring on the silliness! =P
Posted By: Adam (Guest) on July 22, 2009 at 12:31 AM
I don't mind the shaqy/Vince stuff you do! I really love beyond the report it's one of favorite columns to read at 411!!! Keep up the good work Salms! C u n 14!!!
Posted By: Hdj360 (Guest) on July 22, 2009 at 05:24 AM
Seeing how you asked I don't care for the Shaq stuff personally but it is not my column so I was not going to bitch about it regardless of how I thought.
I prefer more straight news but with your unique twist on it.
As for the release schedule for this next year. It sucks that some stuff will not be coming out this year but if it extends the window for good games from October to December to October to April then that leaves a shorter dry period over the summer.
Posted By: Squishy (Guest) on July 22, 2009 at 02:30 PM
It's a shame that Prototype sold more. After repeated plays its a vastly inferior game to Infamous. Side missions have no effect on the main game, control system makes it impossible to be precise, and story is no where near as interesting. I played 10 hours and was bored to death by then. Infamous is far more interesting.
Posted By: Weng (Registered) on July 23, 2009 at 11:06 AM
If Shaq leaves the report, heads are gonna fuckin' roll! Vincent sucks but I only have to look at his ugly half tongued picture so that doesn't bother me as much. So you get to be Shaq's hype man at raw huh. I'd recommend a mouth of the south style entrance...even though you couldn't be more far North unless you were Canadian.
What I miss is re-calling previous comments from the week before by answering people's questions or just putting a-holes in their place.
Posted By: Bell-SKA (Guest) on July 23, 2009 at 02:17 PM
Weng, you have to consider that while overall Prototype outsold inFamous, the PS3 version did not sell as well as inFamous. Of course it couldn't sell as well as the 360 version, most people have an Xbox, but when PS3 owners were given the choice, they tended to side with inFamous.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on July 23, 2009 at 03:41 PM
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