Ultra Combo News Report 11.15.09: Final Fantasy XIII Release Date, Modern Warfare 2 Breaks Records, More

Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 11.16.2009

SouthPeak Picks Up TNA, Madden Arcade Ready For Thanksgiving, The Quick Hits, More.



You can thank God today is Monday morning and you get to read the awesome news column known as the Ultra Combo News Report. I am your favorite writer not named Todd Vote, Armando Rodriguez. Technically I am writing this on Saturday, a few hours before I have to go to work, flu and all. I have been taking a cocktail of pills, from Panadol Cold & Flu to Comtrex, Robitussin, Vitamin C, Chicken Soup and Orange Juice. With this I have been able to go to college and go to work, stressing myself to my limit. On Thursday I literally crashed. I came home after talking in front of a crowd of 36 people as I presented by investigative work/report on collective bargaining agreements. After 127 slides and over 40 minutes of non-stop talking and explaining my throat was really sore and maybe because I was so tired and sick I literally crashed on my bed when I came home. I just fell down on the bed, with a full penguin suit on (jacket, tie and the works) and fell asleep until the very next day. This was around 7 PM mind you and I woke up around 9 AM the following morning. Really, I don't know how I am doing it; I wake up and feel relatively fine, carry on with my day and then crash when I get home. Hopefully this flu (which is not H1N1, otherwise I might be dead by now) goes away soon, because I am feeling spent. Still, I have a ton of work left to do and I can't stop now. So if this entry ends up being shorter than usual, cut me some slack.


Final Fantasy XIII Release Date Set

A few months ago Square Enix revealed that Final Fantasy XIII will be released in Japan on December 17, 2009. Now it is time for the official American and European release date to be revealed and Square Enix has confirmed that the game will hit US and EU stores March 2nd, 2010. With the game hitting the PS3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously, Square Enix is expecting to sell 6 million units worldwide.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: To be honest, I have lost interest in the Final Fantasy series, so I am not as excited as I would have been a few years ago. Still, it is nice to finally have a concrete release date and quiet the speculation once and for all. The expectations are high and the sales number will be huge, but I don't think it will match Modern Warfare 2.


Nintendo Wii, NBA 2K10, Uncharted 2 Dominate October

The official NPD numbers for October are in and once again they are significantly smaller than last year's. A 19% drop on non-PC domestic sales was reported. Nintendo's Wii returned to the top spot in console sales with 506, 900 systems sold, with the DS taking the second spot with 457,600 systems sold. Sony's PS3 came in third with 320,600 systems, followed by the 360 with 249,700.

On the games front. NBA 2K 10 dominated with a combined 575,000 units sold between the Xbox 360 and PS3. 2K10 sold 60% more copies than last year's version during the same month. Sony's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves finished in second place in overall sales and first among single-system SKU's with 537,000 copies sold. Wii Fit Plus finished in second place with 441,000 copies sold and third place belonged to the Xbox 360 version of Borderlands, which sold 418,000 units.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: Well, the king is back on top. Nintendo's $199 price seems to have worked wonders and helped them achieve the top spot once again. Will it stay that way? Well, we have Christmas around the corner and that is Nintendo's perfect chance to continue selling well, as cash conscious parents will pick the cheaper console. Once again we saw the PS3 outsell the 360 by a significant amount, which doesn't bode well for Microsoft. I was surprised to see NBA 2K10 sell as many copies as it did (I blame Kobe!) and Uncharted 2 dominated sales like I expected. Now I am eagerly awaiting the November numbers next month just to see how much Modern Warfare 2 sales impacted the hardware sales front.


Modern Warfare 2 Sells 4.7 Million in 24 Hours

Activision had predicted that Modern Warfare 2 would be the biggest launch in entertainment history. Well, consider it mission accomplished. 4.7 million copies of Modern Warfare 2 where sold on day one, which is roughly one third of the 14 million copies the original has sold during it's lifespan. That amounts to $310 million dollars in revenue, which beats the movie The Dark Knight which made revenue of $158.4 million dollars on day one.

What is even more impressive is that those 4.7 million copies are between the USA and UK only and numbers could climb as high as 7 million when other territories are counted. The game sold 3.38 million copies in the USA and 1.32 million copies in the UK. By comparison, Grand Theft Auto IV also made $310 million in revenue on day one sales, but that number included all territories.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: I knew numbers where going to be insane. At my local Gamestop we had over 400 pre-orders, a new record for the store. In comparison, we had around 200 for Metal Gear Solid 4 and less than 150 for Grand Theft Auto IV. I know that someone at Nintendo (Miyamoto?) predicted that New Super Mario Bros. Wii would outsell Modern Warfare 2. Well, I don't know what the hell they are smoking but there is NO WAY that will happen. I think it will be years before a game comes close to this record, and yes, I doubt Modern Warfare 3 is able to break it.


Command & Conquer 4 Release Date Set

EA has confirmed Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight will be released on March 6th 2010 in North America and March 9 in Europe. The game is a direct follow up to 2007's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and is billed as the conclusion to the story between the Brotherhood of Nod and the GDI.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: One of the greatest RTS series of all-time is coming to a close with this game and I am really excited about it. Plus, we are talking about a marquee AAA release for the PC, which is getting shunned when it comes to killer games lately. This game might be the reason I finally upgrade my PC next year.


Guild Wars 2 Delayed To 2011

Well, it seems not everything is good news for PC gamers. Guild Wars 2's development has been more difficult than originally expected. During a conference call last week NCsoft confirmed that the game won't hit stores until at least 2011, although they are planning a beta for 2010. The game was first announced in 2007, with plans for a beta in late 2008 and then the game's official launch in 2009, but as you can tell, those plans are out the window.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]


The Beatdown: As someone who truly enjoyed Guild Wars back when, you know, I had a PC that could actually play games, I am not surprised by this bit of news. Guild Wars still has a big user base and they should focus on making part 2 the best game it can possibly be. There is no sense in rushing something out when they are still making money from the original.


SouthPeak Picks Up TNA

During a conference call, SouthPeak confirmed that they had acquired the TNA Impact license and that they will be releasing two new games on portable systems. TNA Impact: Cross The Line will be released this winter for the PSP and TNA Impact: Dual Slam is in the works for the Nintendo DS, but no release date was given. No further details about Midway's TNA Impact 2 where given, although they commented that they had acquired certain assets from Midway, which might be the game's engine.
[Credit: Gamespot.com]

The Beatdown: We need more wrestling titles. Yes, the original TNA Impact was average at best, but having another option is always nice and competition pushes developers to work harder. I don't know if portable systems are the best place to play wrestling titles, but hopefully the experience they get from developing these two titles allows them to create an even better console game.

The Quick Hits:


- Silent Hill: Shattered Memories will hit the Nintendo Wii December 8th. The PS2 and PSP versions still lack an official release date.

- Madden NFL Arcade's release date will be earlier than expected. The game will hit the PSN on November 24th and Xbox Live Arcade on November 25th. The game will retail for $14.99.

- Brutal Legend, the game Activision let go because it could not sell, outsold DJ Hero last month, with Brutal Legend getting a combined 216,000 copies sold and DJ Hero getting around 175,000.

- Gamestop will start selling console DLC next year. According to the report, you can buy DLC in store and will be able to pay with trade-in credit. The DLC will be instantly added to the user's account.

- Rumor has it that Borderlands 2 is already in the works.

Finish Him:


Crimson Viper Wins

Until next week folks! I better hit the bed for a few hours before I have to get up and work again. I am really happy that this is my last semester of college, because this is the first time in years when I feel so tired and burned out and I really want it to end. Of course, when it ends I will need to work twice as hard to see if I can land a good job, so I guess it never really ends. At least I have the pleasure of making Todd Vote mad by putting yet another Street Fighter chick on the finish him. Have a good week and good gaming!