Ultra Combo News Report 10.26.09: PS3 Wins September, Rocket Knight Makes a Comeback, Band Hero Set List, More

Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 10.26.2009

Plus: The Beatles beat Guitar Hero 5, Need for Speed Nitro Release Date and more!



This is the Ultra Combo News Report and I am ace reporter Armando Rodriguez reporting for duty! It has been a week of highs and lows for me, as the week started with a bunch of bad stuff and ended on a fairly positive note. I landed a job at my local Gamestop, so yes; in essence I am selling my soul to the gaming devil, so to speak. But hey, a job is a job and on these bad economic times, I can take any job I can get! This week has a bit slow on the news department, but I have collected the best of them for your reading pleasure. On to the news!


PS3 Tops September, Halo 3: ODST dominates software sales

The official numbers are in and the margin of victory for the PS3 over the Xbox 360 was larger than expected. The PS3 sold 491,800 systems, while the 360 sold 352,600, which means the PS3 had a margin of victory of around 140,000 systems, way over the predicted 30,000 margin. If you remember, two weeks ago I reported that the predicted numbers where 410,000 for the PS3 and 380,000 for the 360. However, neither console could touch the Nintendo DS, who ended up selling 524,200 systems. On the software front, Halo 3: ODST ran way with the sales victory, by a HUGE margin. By selling 1,520,000 copies they absolutely crushed their nearest competition, Wii Sports Resort, which sold 442,900 copies. The only PS3 game to crack the top 10 was Madden NFL 10, who ended up selling 246,500 copies, less than the 360 version, which finished third with 289,600 copies sold.
[Credit: 1UP.com]

The Beatdown: I said it before, I say it again. The PS3 needs to find a way to crack the top 10 in game sales more often, but I guess that will be achievable when the new install base hits a big enough number. Predictions are that the PS3 will outsell the 360 for the rest of the year, which might help matters. However, for that to happen, Sony needs to take a better approach at handling the third party developer's poor ports of existing games. It seems that, in spite of being technologically superior, third party games on the PS3 are worse than the 360 counterparts. I guess that this happens because the game is developed with the 360 in mind and then ported over, which is something that happens every generation, when companies develop the games on the console with the highest install base and then port out to other systems. If Sony wants to crack the top 10 more often, they need to fix this issue, or people who own both systems will always purchase third party games on 360.


Dragon Age Origins Coming to PS3 November 3rd

About a month ago I reported that Dragon Age Origins was set to launch on the 360 and PC on November 3rd, with the PS3 port coming in late November. Well, BioWare has confirmed that the PS3 port is now set to launch on November 3rd alongside the 360 and PC ports. However, this only applies to North America, as the European PS3 release date is still undetermined.
[Credit: 1UP.com]

The Beatdown: With so many games getting moved to next year, Dragon Age Origins is one of the few left that has me really excited. As a fan of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, two of Bioware's previous RPG's, Origins seems like a spiritual successor of sorts and thus, I am really pumped for this game. I am happy for the simultaneous release and I really encourage all third party developers to hit all consoles at once. It might be the gamer in me, but I like fair play and I like it when everyone gets a chance at something at the same time.


Full Band Hero Set List, New Details

If there is someone out there still excited about what feels like the 700th "Hero" game this year, this is for you! Activision has confirmed that 69 of the songs from Guitar Hero 5 can be imported into Band Hero, but only those that are deemed "family friendly", whatever that means. Also, 61 tracks from Band Hero can be imported into Guitar Hero 5. In both cases, a fee of $4.99 is required for the conversion. Below is the full list of tracks for Band Hero:

• 3 Doors Down - "When I'm Gone"
• The Airborne Toxic Event - "Gasoline"
• The All American Rejects - "Dirty Little Secret"
• Alphabeat - "Fascination"
• Aly and AJ - "Like Whoa"
• Angels & Airwaves - "The Adventure"
• Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals - "Steal My Kisses"
• Big Country - "In a Big Country"
• The Bravery - "Believe"
• Carl Douglas - "Kung Fu Fighting"
• Cheap Trick - "I Want You To Want Me (live)"
• Cold War Kids - "Hang Me Up To Dry"
• Corinne Bailey Rae - "Put Your Records On"
• Counting Crows - "Angels of the Silences"
• Culture Club - "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me"
• Dashboard Confessional - "Hands Down"
• David Bowie - "Let's Dance"
• Devo - "Whip It"
• Don McLean - "American Pie"
• Duffy - "Warwick Avenue"
• Duran Duran - "Rio"
• Evanescence - "Bring Me To Life"
• Everclear - "Santa Monica (Watch The World Die)"
• Fall Out Boy - "Sugar, We're Goin' Down"
• Filter - "Take A Picture"
• Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer"
• The Go-Go's - "Our Lips Are Sealed"
• Hilary Duff - "So Yesterday"
• Hinder - "Lips Of An Angel"
• Jackson 5 - "ABC"
• Janet Jackson - "Black Cat"
• Jesse McCartney - "Beautiful Soul"
• Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"
• Joss Stone - "You Had Me"
• Katrina and The Waves - "Walking On Sunshine"
• The Kooks - "Naive"
• KT Tunstall - "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"
• The Last Goodnight - "Pictures Of You"
• Lily Allen - "Take What You Take"
• Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved"
• Marvin Gaye - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "The Impression That I Get"
• Nelly Furtado - "Turn Off The Light"
• N.E.R.D. - "Rockstar"
• No Doubt - "Just A Girl"
• No Doubt - "Don't Speak"
• OK Go - "A Million Ways"
• Papa Roach - "Lifeline"
• Parachute - "Back Again"
• Pat Benatar - "Love Is A Battlefield"
• Poison - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
• Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue - "Kids"
• The Rolling Stones - "Honky Tonk Women"
• Roy Orbison - "Oh Pretty Woman"
• Santigold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
• Snow Patrol - "Take Back the City"
• Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
• Styx - "Mr. Roboto"
• Taylor Swift - "Love Story"
• Taylor Swift - "Picture To Burn"
• Taylor Swift - "You Belong With Me"
• Tonic - "If You Could Only See"
• The Turtles - "Happy Together"
• Village People - "YMCA"
• Yellowcard - "Ocean Avenue
[Credit: 1UP.com]


The Beatdown: Okay, I have to admit a few of these tracks sound like fun, but….why is this not a simple DLC pack? I mean they could call it the "Family Fun Pack" or something and release it in a few installments or something. The fact that this is like the 5th or 6th full-priced band game released this year is just overkill. I understand they are going for a kid-friendly game, but at the same time I believe it will lack the challenge of the Guitar Hero series and turn off the die-hard fans. I guess sales numbers will speak for themselves. Talking about sales numbers….


The Beatles: Rock Band Outsells Guitar Hero 5 in September

According to numbers provided by Gamespot, The Beatles: Rock Band outsold Guitar Hero 5 on the month of September. The Beatles: Rock Band sold 595,000 copies, while Guitar Hero 5 sold 499,000 units. This numbers contradict earlier comments made by Activision in which they said they where "outselling The Beatles: Rock Band 4 to 1". However, both franchises managed to pull around $100 million in sales, which was far less than the predicted $210 million combined in sales.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: I hate having to say this about one of my favorite game companies, but it serves Activision right that they lost the sales battle after looking so comfortable and ego-driven during their "prediction" announcement. As far as the rest of this bit of news, September was a slow sales month all around (outside of Halo 3 ODST), so it's no wonder they did not meet the combined sales target. Also we have to attribute some of this to the fact that there are so many a music game out there right now with more on the way and the market is just flooded right now.


Avatar Release Date Set

With the Avatar movie getting ready for release on December 18th, the video game tie-in will arrive a few weeks early on December 1st. The game will be released for the PS3, 360, PC, PSP, Wii and DS. The game will feature a story that is unique to that of the movie and will also feature new characters and vehicles that are not shown in the movie. James Cameron said that he has been collaborating with Ubisoft since March 2005 in the creation of the game.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: I am actually intrigued about the movie and about the game. I am a sucker for sci-fi movies with big budgets and the premise is interesting enough to make me want to buy a ticket. However, when it comes to the game, I have my reservations. I mean, movie-tie in games tend to suck big time, but since this does not follow the plot of the movie, it might actually be good. By this I mean that the developers where not restricted to follow a specific format and instead are allowed to use their own creativity to fuel the game.


Need for Speed Sells 100 Million Games

Electronic Arts announced this week that the Need for Speed franchise has sold 100 million units as a franchise. The series began with "The Need for Speed", released in 1993 for the Panasonic 3DO and most recently saw the release of Need for Speed: Shift, with a couple more titles on the way. The total profit obtained from the series? $2.7 Billion.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: I usually don't comment on this type of achievement, but this is a series I have followed since the first installment and I can't believe how many games there have been…and the fact that I have played them all. That's right, 15 NFS games have been made and I have played every single one of them. I don't think there is a series I have followed with such devotion, which is why I am usually very critical of the games. While cleaning my gaming room last week I stumbled upon the PC version of Need for Speed II. It felt like finding a long-lost favorite toy or something. I really want to play it again, but my PC is messed up and I need to fix it. Oh well. Congrats on the achievement and please, keep feeding my Need for Speed!


Need for Speed Nitro Release Date Set

Need for Speed: Nitro is really fast. So fast, that it will arrive in stores two weeks ahead of schedule. Originally set for a November 17 release date, Nitro will race into the Wii and DS on November 3. The game will be an exaggerated arcade-style racer.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: Now, this is an NFS title I am concerned about. If it turns out to be the second coming of San Francisco Rush, I will be thrilled. If it turns out to be Mario Kart with real life cars, I will be pissed. Either way, I am going to make sure I play it at some point.


Rocket Knight Makes A Comeback
One of the many mascots during the 16-bit days is making a comeback. Sparkster, the opossum star of the Sega Genesis platformer Rocket Knight Adventures and its self-titled Genesis and Super NES sequel Sparkster is making his return to gaming in the form of Rocket Knight, a 2D Platformer that will be released on PSN, Xbox Live and PC next year. The game will retain the 2D gameplay, but will feature 3D graphics.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown Oh yeah! I loved Rocket Knight on the Genesis, although I never played the sequel. Of the dozens of mascots that came out during that time, he was one of a handful that was actually cool and had a great game to back him up. With a 2D Sonic also coming out this year, is this the platformer resurrection we all have claimed for?

The Quick Hits:

- I hope you retained your Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction saves, because those old saves unlock new content on Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.

- Sid Meier stated that Civilization will be coming to Facebook next year! Like I needed another reason to procrastinate.

- If you like those lovable blue penguins, Prinny: Can I Really Be a Hero? Will get a sequel next year.

- Good news: Hideo Kojima will make Zone of the Enders 3. Bad news: He will make it "some day".

- Queen will be playable in Lego Rock Band. What happened to a Queen: Rock Band game that was rumored?
Finish Him!



Until next week folks! Just to screw with Mark, I want everybody that has played Target Terror to leave a reply. I am sure Mark will make a few dozen posts with different names, but that's the idea!