Joystiq

Rumor: $199 Xbox 360 Arcade with motion controller

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-08-22T12:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Peripherals

Building on reports of an impending Xbox 360 price cut, which allegedly will drop the Arcade SKU below Wii to $199, comes the reemergence of Microsoft's elusive motion controller, now rumored to be included with the Xbox 360 Arcade this holiday. A source "close to Microsoft's marketing department" detailed the bundle to X3F, claiming the new Arcade system will feature a 512MB memory card (in place of a hard drive), the New Xbox Experience pre-loaded and a motion controller, along with a few compatible minigames developed by Rare.

The motion controller supposedly will be sold separately as well, in a package that includes even more minigames. The controller is said to be compatible with all versions of Xbox 360. So how 'bout it, Nintendo -- you gonna trump this by tacking on HD?

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GC 2008: 160GB PlayStation 3 hitting Europe Oct. 31

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-08-20T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

With game installations, downloadable content and digitally distributed titles cluttering up our PlayStation 3's brain, it comes as little surprise to see Sony announcing yet another SKU with increased storage capacity. The word from its 2008 Games Convention press conference is that a 160 gigglebyte model -- which is otherwise identical to others units -- will be hitting Europe on October 31st, complete with €70 worth of downloadable game content. But is the €449 price tag a trick or a treat?

We're checking with Sony regarding any plans to release this model elsewhere.

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The Sony Hardware Reciprocal: PS3 losses surpass PS2 profits

Kevin Kelly — 2008-08-19T17:27:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

According to DFC intelligence figures cited by Dave Perry, Sony has lost more money on the PlayStation 3 hardware than it made on the PlayStation 2 during its five most popular years. In pure numbers speak it's lost $3 billion on the PS3, which is about equivalent to everything it made selling PS2s during its peak years. This story would actually have a lot more impact if Carl Sagan was around to say "beelyuns."

Perry, best known for his stint at Shiny Entertainment, was speaking at the really long-named Games Convention Developers Conference, which appears to be both a Convention and a Conference, and was just using the figures to underscore how much Sony was spending on hardware development. However, the 1UP article doesn't mention until near the end that the original PS2 lost money in its first year, and that Sony (and the other console makers) does this so it can make bank on the software/games that people need to fuel their systems.

In all fairness, the article goes on to explain that Microsoft lost $4 billion on the original Xbox, and has had to spend over $1 billion replacing faulty hardware in the 360 and extending the warranty for original purchasers. So, we tend to think $5 billion trumps $3 billion. The real winner in this struggle? Nintendo. It has been churning a profit on that little Wii since it hopped out of the gate. Rassin' frassin' wand-wagglin' profiteers.

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July NPD: Everyone sees red, Nintendo still on top

Ross Miller — 2008-08-14T19:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

After everyone saw gains last month (with one devilish exception), July's NPD figures revealed North American hardware unit sales declined across all companies, but otherwise the list is the same as it was in June. What's starting to unnerve us is Nintendo's data. To be able to say a company went from 666 to 555 (a difference of 111) is a bit creepy, dontcha think?

In terms of software, the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Football 09 barely eked out Wii Fit, while Wii Play w/remote still manages to move up a slot from 5 to 4 this month. Here are this month's NPD hardware sales figures:

- DS: 608K175K (-22.35%)
- Wii: 555K111K (-16.7%)
- PS3: 224.9K 180.1K (-44.5%)
- PSP: 221.7K 115.3K (-34.21%)
- Xbox 360: 204.8K 15.2K (-6.91%)
- PS2: 155.5K 33K (-17.6%)

You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.

July Software

1. NCAA Football 09 - Xbox 360 - 397.6K
2. Wii Fit - Wii - 369.6K
3. Guitar Hero: On Tour - DS - 309.7K
4. Wii Play w/ remote - Wii - 284K
5. NCAA Football 09 - PS3 - 242.5K
6. Soulcalibur IV - Xbox 360 - 218.9K
7. Mario Kart w/ wheel - Wii - 174.5K
8. Rock Band Special Ed. Bundle - Wii - 165.8K
9. Soulcalibur IV - PS3 - 155.8K
10. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - Xbox 360 - 147.6K

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PSP-3001 unmasked by FCC, good parts remain veiled

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-08-14T12:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PSP

The PSP-3000 series is real, folks. And that's about as far as we get in today's episode. The FCC filing for the "PSP-3001" has been pulled, thumbed and returned. What was found looks disappointingly similar to the current PSP hardware model, though there is that thick wall of confidentiality standing in the way (the one we're just dying to take a sledgehammer to). From what we can see, there appears to be no evidence of the rumored built-in mic or "Home" button redesign, and the metallic ring doesn't look any thinner. You can see for yourself in the alternate views posted after the break.

[Via Engadget]

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In a hardware sales photo finish, it's a Sony Nintendo tie!

Kevin Kelly — 2008-08-11T16:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Business

It's a race that won't be finished until 2011, according to Chris Deering (former head of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe), but he's already calling it a tie between Sony and Nintendo. Keep in mind, this was after week ending numbers came out showing over 40,000 Wii units sold in Japan, with the PS3 a distant 9,500 units sold. So, clearly there's a lot to do in three years.

Deering arrived at these figures "by triangulating Screen Digest and IDG data. He also took into account factors such as the growth of hi-def and the grey gamer market, the emergence of new game engines and increasing ubiquity of wi-fi access" and we imagine he probably tried out runestones, tarot cards, and a ouija board just to be safe.

What's impressive are the sheer numbers alone. He predicts that by 2011 both Sony and Nintendo will have sold 230 million total machines each (Sony: PS3 + PS2 + PSP; Nintendo: Wii + DS), and that the Xbox 360 will have reached a user base of 40 million. The only thing is, the 360 has already reached the 20 million mark, so he thinks it'll continue on that track for the next three years at exactly the same pace, due to the "set-top box hi-def phenomenon."

He also concludes that the number of potential gamers will reach 2.5 billion due to the amounts of consoles, computers, and mobile phones sold, to which we say... isn't everyone a potential gamer?

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Logitech crafting 'premium' Guitar Hero peripherals

Randy Nelson — 2008-07-31T16:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Peripherals

In an effort to create more realistic fake instruments, Logitech is partnering with Activision on a line of "premium" peripherals for the latter's upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour. Multiple products are in development, although Logitech would not comment on exactly what they are, confirming only that the first of them will hit this year. Given that it already has the market cornered on USB microphones (nearly every music game's mic is made by Logitech) we're guessing all educated-like that guitars and drums are the core of the lineup. Also, while this news is obviously geared toward hyping World Tour, we're looking into potential Rock Band compatibility for the products.

The peripherals are being designed to work with every platform Guitar Hero World Tour is launching on, specifically PS3, 360, Wii, and PS2. Logitech gaming devices VP Bruce Lancaster likens this move to the one the company made with steering wheels for Gran Turismo, saying, "A few years ago, Logitech refined the consumer steering wheel market with high-end controllers that enhance racing games. Now we are looking forward to elevating the market for premium music-based video game controllers in a similar fashion." Here's hoping that one of the "premium" drumkit features is a steel kick pedal like the one used by our house band, the Blueberry Muffintops. What would you like to see?

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Next Nintendo console could be less 'revolutionary' than Wii

Randy Nelson — 2008-07-29T22:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Business

We've often wondered how Nintendo could possibly out-do the Wii in terms of innovation. Now we know the answer to our question is possibly "nothing." Speaking with Forbes on the topic of future consoles, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted it will be difficult to one-up its latest console effort. When asked about the importance of hardware innovation, Iwata explained that "This time around, it happened to be we had a revolutionary user interface. Will it be the same for the next generation? I really can't tell."

"It's natural for the current customer to expect Nintendo is going to once again do something different," Iwata added, admitting, "If the people are expecting so many different things from Nintendo, it's going to be difficult for us to go beyond that expectation again." In the article, Iwata confirms that Nintendo is actively developing its next machine, but seems far more interested in software offerings. "The hardware is a kind of box that consumers reluctantly buy in order to play our games," he said. Reluctantly, Iwata-san? People are practically buying Wii without knowing what it even does.

[Via NWF]

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Rumor: Target selling 60GB Xbox 360 'Pro' early

Randy Nelson — 2008-07-28T23:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure

Someone obviously didn't get the memo. Joystiq tipster Vincent sent along a photo snapped at his local Target and ... what's that? The new Xbox 360 SKU that's not supposed to be on sale until "early August?" Sure looks like it. This wouldn't be the first time the retailer has broken the street date on new Microsoft hardware. Remember the 360 Elite slip? We've seen similar reports cropping up this evening, including this one on Penny College (via Engadget). Have you spotted MS's latest console repackaging at Target (or anywhere else)? Let us know in the comments!

[Thanks, Vincent!]

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Sony announces 80GB PS3 will be $399 in Sept.

Kyle Orland — 2008-07-15T15:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

At its E3 press conference today, Sony announced that, starting in September, the 80GB PS3 would be available for $399.99, down from the $499 Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle currently in place for the 80GB configuration. The newly priced 80GB system will be on par with "the current functionality of the 40GB PS3," according to Sony CEO Jack Tretton. We're not sure if this means the cheaper 80GB system will be losing functionality (like SD card readers and software PS2 emulation) that the 40GB system doesn't have, but we'll let you know as soon as we get this clarified.

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New PS2 bundle has Lego Batman, Justice League movie, $149 price

Kyle Orland — 2008-07-15T15:16:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Retro

At their E3 press conference today, Sony announced a new hardware bundle for their still-running-strong PS2 system. The package will come with a copy of Lego Batman and a DVD of the Justice League animated movie, all for $149. Not a bad deal, especially considering the system alone costs $129 these days. Sony also stressed the strength of the still-growing PS2 library at the conference, mentioned 130 games coming to the system in 2008, including Yakuza 2, Force Unleashed, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods, Warriors Orochi 2, Singstar Pop vol. 2, Madden, and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

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Third-party 360s 'unlikely,' analyst says

Randy Nelson — 2008-07-01T14:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

Last week's rumor that Microsoft is planning to license the 360 hardware out for use in other electronics has yet to be officially confirmed or debunked, but a key industry analyst reckons such a plan just doesn't make sense. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Patcher says that it would ultimately prove "too expensive" to licensees to make for good business.

Patcher does feel that a move like this might benefit Microsoft "as a way to penetrate more difficult markets like Japan," but that he doesn't see it being beneficial in other territories. The licensing of 360 tech would cause electronics makers to incur additional cost per device, which "would place the hybrid device at a disadvantage" in terms of retail pricing, he explains.

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Rumor: Microsoft green-lights 360s from other companies

Randy Nelson — 2008-06-26T15:34:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

EGM's Quartermann has been in the business of rumor mongering for 20-odd years, but his latest tip-off has to be one of the more interesting we've seen yet. According to the Q-Man's most recent EGM column, Microsoft is set to announce that it will be licensing the core Xbox 360 tech to other companies. Meaning that they can then build their own 360 consoles, or other home electronics (TVs, Blu-ray Disc players) with "360 inside."

In setting up their E3 appointment with MS, New Zealand gaming blog Geekpulp reports that the company listed time on the itinerary to discuss two "surprise games" and one "surprise thing." That last one could be anything - 360 avatars, motion-tracking controllers, a scent-emitting peripheral - but the Geekpulp gang reckons it could be the hardware licensing deal.

If true, this wouldn't be the first time console makers have allowed other companies access to their technology. We've seen Aiwa's Mega Drive (Genesis) / Mega CD / boom box combo, a Pioneer Laserdisc player that ran TurboGrafx-16 games, and arcade machines that accepted Neo-Geo cartridges. Oh wait ... that was something totally different.

[Via X3F]

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Analyst blames Xbox RRoD on MS-designed graphics chip

Kyle Orland — 2008-06-11T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

With Microsoft remaining officially mum on the reasons behind the wave of Xbox 360-killing red rings of death, owners and experts have speculated on causes ranging from cheap heat sinks to bad soldering to power surges. Now, Gartner Research Vice President and Chief Analyst Bryan Lewis thinks he's honed in on the real reason behind the system failures: cheap, Microsoft-designed graphics processors.

Speaking at the Design Automation Conference, Lewis said Microsoft tried to save a few million dollars by designing the Xbox 360's GPU in-house, rather than farming the design out to an experienced, approved application-specific integrated circuit vendor. Lewis chalked the high failure rate to Microsoft's inexperience designing such chips. "How many ASICs per year does Microsoft design? Not many.," Lewis said. "The ASIC vendor could have been able to design a graphics processor that dissipates much less power."

The irony is that Microsoft is widely believed to have gone to experienced ASIC-designer ATI for a redesigned Xbox 360 graphics chip in the middle of 2007. So, in addition to spending over a billion dollars on a warranty extension, Microsoft probably still ended up having to spend the few million dollars they were trying to avoid in the first place. Smooth move, ex-lax.

[Thanks copa.]

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Sony sells 9 million PS3s, sets bar (slightly) higher for '08

Randy Nelson — 2008-05-14T18:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business

GameDaily brings news that the house Ken Kutaragi built -- and Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai currently holds the lease to -- has dropped ~~farm~~ factory-fresh PS3 sales data in parent Sony Corp's latest earnings report. The bottom line: 9.24 million PS3s were sold world-wide during FY08, and SCE projects bettering that by 8% for the current period ending March 2009, expecting its FY09 unit sales to number at least 10 million.

PS3 sales for FY08 were up a whopping 156% over FY07, which saw only 3.61 million systems leave the warehouse. Despite the impressive upturn, Sony's current-gen box continues to trail behind PSP and last-gen's champ, PS2, which sold 13.39m and 13.73m units during the same period, respectively. Still, Next-Gen reports that SCE has managed to make a significant dent in its losses over FY07 (￥124.5 billion [US$1.18b], down from ￥232.3b [US$2.21b]) and predicts that it will finally be back in the black by this time next year.

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Nintendo sells 6 million Wii units in Japan

Ross Miller — 2008-05-13T22:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Business

We're getting pretty sick of the money-printing jokes so we're just going to avoid it. Famitsu owner (and trusted sales data tracker) Enterbrain reports (via IGN) that Nintendo has sold six million Wii units in Japan, bringing the worldwide total to 25 million. Other fun statistics (assume exactly 6 million as of the start of May 13):

With a population of 127.4 million, that's approximately 4.71 percent of all the people in Japan.
The Wii launched midnight on December 2, 2006, exactly 527 days ago. That amounts to 11,385 per day, 474 per hour, and 7.9 per minute (in Japan).
Nintendo passed the 5 million mark as of January 20, or 113 days ago. So specifically, the 5 million went at an average of 503 per hour, with the latest million going at about 369 per hour (again, in Japan). That doesn't mean the Wii is slowing down, given the higher rate includes a launch and two holiday seasons.

In terms of software, Mario Kart Wii has become the sixth game to pass the one million mark, while Wii Fit has passed the two million mark as of May 13. Only two other games have gone double platinum: Wii Sports (not bundled with console in Japan) and Wii Play.

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Poll: Are you having technical issues with GTA IV?

Ross Miller — 2008-04-30T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Polls

We've heard about various reports of the technical problems with Grand Theft Auto IV. We're conducting a network-wide poll with our friends at X3F and PS3 Fanboy to see how the Joystiq community has been afflicted with the issues. After voting, please let us know your specific problems in the comments below.

Are you having problems with Grand Theft Auto IV?
	Yes, and I use the Xbox 360
	Yes, and I use the 60GB PS3
	Yes, and I use the non-60GB PS3 (please specify in comments)
	No problem (Xbox 360)
	No problem (60GB PS3)
	No problem (non-60GB PS3; please specify in comments)
	Don't own the game, I just felt compelled to click something

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Ask Joystiq: Chex Quest, He-Man and broken 360 gamepads

Ross Miller — 2008-04-18T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Retro, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure

Making up for last week's barren edition, today's Ask Joystiq is a little heftier. Topics covered include He-Man and Day of the Tentacle, Chex Quest, PS2 boxes, broken Xbox 360 controllers and region downloading (again). If you have any burning questions, unsolved gaming mysteries, or just a desire for musings from our knowledgeable cadre of writers, drop us a line at ask AAT joystiq DAWT com (and yes, we write it that way for a reason).

Q: Do any of you remember the 1997 PC game "Chex Quest"? When I was 9 I got it in a box of chex cereal and thought it was amazing. Recently my 5 year old cousin came over to my house and told us about a game with chex and cheerios and "zorch". Amazingly enough he had been playing Chex Quest on his friends computer! What ever happened to quality games being released in cereal boxes?
- Curtis C.

The question here is more rhetorical than anything, but once we learned more about this game we absolutely needed to post about it. In 1996 a small newmedia company called Digital Café created Chex Quest, a Chex-themed first-person-shooter that has the esteemed honor of being the first video game ever distributed for free through cereal boxes.

If that alone wasn't cool enough, Chex Quest was actually a total conversion of id's Ultimate Doom, meaning that cereal-munching munchkins were playing a re-skinned version of the violent revolutionary series just two years after the height of its controversy. According to the Chex Quest wiki, the inclusion of the game helped increase sales of Chex cereals by over 200%, and it won several awards for promotional achievement.

Chex Quest has since been made freeware (PC only), and can be found for download here. As for releasing quality games in cereal boxes, we're all for it. If indie games can be distributed along with trendy t-shirts, we see no reason why indie developers can't strike similar deals with Kellogg's. Get on it, guys!
- Scott Jon Siegel

Q: So, the other day I randomly caught an episode of He-Man: Masters of The Universe or whatever. The voice of Skeletor sounds really similar to Dr. Fred Edison from Day of the Tentacle. Are they one and the same or is it just me?
-Mike

It's just you. Nick Jameson (who voiced Zed and Dwayne in addition to Dr. Edison in DotT) didn't provide the voice for any of the three versions of Skeletor that have appeared in various versions of the He-Man cartoon. You may be interested to know, though, that Jameson has lent his voice to a whole boatload of cartoons and video games -- everything from The Critic and Clone Wars to Psychonauts and 50 Cent: Bulletproof, according to IMDB. He even got some face time as President Yuri Suarov in the fifth and sixth seasons of 24. Always nice to see a local boy make the jump from video games to TV. Keep up the good work, Mr. Jameson.
-Kyle Orland

Q: This weekend I was out and about with my wife. She decided we should get Singstar 90's Edition for PS2. ... I was a little surprised to find that the PS2 game case didn't have the handy tabs inside that allow you to snap a PS2 memory card in to the case. ... I am wondering why Sony has taken this feature out of the game case.
-Patrick D

Indeed, current PS2 games do seem to be shipping in cases that don't include the memory card holder slot holder that became standard shortly after the system's launch in North America. We weren't able to find any official information on when this practice started, but online discussions suggest it was sometime late last year. Some have theorized it's a cost-cutting measure (perhaps Sony can now buy generic, mass-produced DVD cases at a cheaper rate). Or perhaps the move is a nod to the PS3, which doesn't even have a PS2 memory card slot. Those pining for the old-style cases can always turn to eBay.
-Kyle Orland

Q: Last week I was between games of COD4 when I realized my 2nd Xbox 360 controller's left joystick was loose. I figured I just needed to open it up and snap it back down, but come to find out the joystick piece had snapped off its connector point. Is there a way to fix this?
- Marshall D

Sounds like you have a problem similar to this guy. If you want to go the more official route, the instruction manual (PDF file) for the controller states that the controller is under the system's warranty, so try calling 1-800-4MY-XBOX (1-800-469-9269) to see if you can send the gamepad back for repairs.

If you can't wait that long or feel the urge to pull a MacGyver, so to speak, there is a video how-to for fixing the analog stick using a toothpick, scissors and super glue. For further assistance on disassembling the wired or wireless controller, check out Llamma's Adventures. See also: Xbox.com system setup page.
- Ross Miller

Q: I live in the UK (England to be exact) and I want to buy an Xbox 360 year's live account online from a US site. The benefits of this would be that I save money with the exchange rate. But will a code from a US site be able to work on the PAL SKU?
- Kye

Update: "I mees-interpreted the question." Re-answer to follow in next week's addition.

This was actually already answered by us in the April 4 edition, skim through the first question. As noted there: "Xbox Live users can also create dummy accounts to get around regional restrictions, but there are reports that Microsoft has been blocking downloads from accounts where this practice is detected. As always, let the international buyer beware."

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Famitsu publisher thinks new DS will be shown at E3

Kyle Orland — 2008-04-11T13:19:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Portable, Retro

All you jerks out there who are used to lording your shiny new DS Lites over Phat-owning early-adopters might have to get used to playing second fiddle soon. In the latest issue of Japanese gaming rag Famitsu, publisher Hirokazu Hamamura speculates that a new version of Nintendo's best-selling handheld may be revealed at this summer's E3 trade show.

As detailed in a Bloomberg Japan report (sketchy machine translation), Hamamura's comments seem based on nothing more than industry chatter and pure conjecture on his part -- Nintendo predictably offered up a no comment. The timing does seem about right, though -- going back to the Game Boy days, Nintendo has released a new portable hardware revision roughly every two years since 1996's Game Boy Pocket (1998: Game Boy Color; 2001: Game Boy Advance; 2003: GBASP; 2004: Nintendo DS; 2005: Game Boy Micro; 2006: DS Lite). What would you like to see on a potential DS upgrade? Let us know in the comments.

[Via DSFanboy; picture source]

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"Red Light of Death": The new Red Ring?

Kyle Orland — 2008-04-08T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

The brouhaha over Microsoft's ever-present Red Ring of Death is sooooo 2007. The "Red Light of Death" is the new Xbox 360-breaking craze for the oh-eight ... if a Consumerist post is the front end of a trend, that is.

Unlike the distinctive three red lights of the RRoD, the "E74" error is characterized by a blinking red light in the lower-right corner of the ring and graphical problems on the television. The problem has been known for a while but is currently not covered by Microsoft's extended three-year Xbox 360 warranty, which only applies to traditional Red Ring problems -- E74 sufferers have to shell out the money to ship their system in for repairs.

Of course, we don't know just how widespread this E74 problem is, so it's not necessarily a cause for alarm just yet. Still, we have to agree with the Consumerist that the warranty extension should apply to all sorts of hardware malfunctions, not just the common ones that get a lot of media attention. How about it, Microsoft?

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