Industry news articles

In the industry's most-read NPD analysis, Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews looks at the state of the U.S. game market going into 2009, from Nintendo dominance through Call Of Duty's evolution. The reality is that Nintendo rules this industry. This year will likely determine whether publishers can continue to justify big budget cross-platform games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 -- even as Wii software dominates the top slots in the sales charts.
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Newly-released sales data from the NPD Group shows American consumers purchasing several older software titles for Nintendo platforms in large numbers. Specifically, the top 20 selling titles from last January included games across five years, from 2005 to 2009. Full list in comments
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PlayStation 2 101.2K PlayStation 3 203.2K PSP 172.3K Xbox 360 309K Wii 679.2K Nintendo DS 510.8K For S/W and nicer looking H/W list, see comment.
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Square Enix has revealed that it is the company behind the offer to buy UK publisher Eidos, first noted in the middle of last month, which could end the long-running saga of uncertainty that's surrounded the Tomb Raider house since late 2007.
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Blockbuster announced today that it will begin offering game rentals as part of its Total Access online movie rental service. The company will start a pilot program during its second quarter, with a goal of implementing the integrated system nationally by the second half of the year.
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Nintendo are showing no signs of over-exertion, as their fitness drive moves into a fourth consecutive week at the top of the All Formats Chart. Sales of ‘Wii Fit’ are only down 2% on last week – the lowest sales decline of any All Formats Top 10 game this week. Nintendo manage 5 games in the All Formats Top 10 (+‘Mystery Case Files: Millionheir’, ‘Professor Layton’, ‘Mario Kart Wii’ and ‘Wii Play’)
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In a shocking move this morning, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Australian retailers will no longer be allowed to sell any online game that has not been classified by the Australian Classification Board. This move directly affects games such as World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan and Pirates of the Burning Seas – titles that don't contain a single-player experience, and therefore did not apply for classification.
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Sega is set to reduce its workforce by 18%, which represents approximately 560 jobs. Edge reports that if all goes according to plan, Sega may only see a one time loss of ¥4 billion ($43.8M), with an annual savings of ¥5 billion ($54.8M). The company also plans to close 110 amusement facilities, along with reducing research and development by 20‭%.
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Here are the life-to-date sales numbers for the U.S. These numbers come by way of NPD. Resident Evil 4 -- 759,000 units sold Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles -- 398,800 Okami -- 165,900 Zack & Wiki -- 116,600
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Capcom has officially announced the title not just for Xbox 360, but for PS3 and PC as well! The sequel occurs years after the events of the first game -- with the zombie virus now spread throughout the United States. The action will take place in the "gambling paradise of Fortune City".
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