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Welcome to the latest edition of Pachter Predicts, where Wedbush Morgan analyst and my sworn adversary Michael Pachter makes his predictions for the past month’s console sales here in the United States. For the second straight month, Pachter has predicted that the PlayStation 3 outsold the Xbox 360. (Although last month his prediction turned out wrong, as the 360 had a 5,000 unit edge over the PS3.)

Here are his predictions, with last month’s numbers in parentheses:

Wii: 600,000 (721,000)
PS3: 290,000 (257,000)
Xbox 360: 275,000 (262,000)
PS2: 160,000 (216,000)
DS: 550,000 (698,000)
PSP: 235,000 (297,000)

If Pachter turns out to be right, it looks like the 360 and PS3 won’t have seen a major boost in sales as many have thought they would. He attributes his predicted higher sales of the DS and Wii to their greater availability.

As for Grand Theft Auto IV, he expects it to have sold 3.3 million units in its first six days in the US alone, and also notes that he expects 20 games to have cracked the 100,000 unit mark in April, compared with only nine last year.

Those of you who still find yourself looking for a Wii, Pachter thinks that situation might be soon resolving itself: “We believe that Nintendo has diverted a significant portion of its available supply to Europe since April 2007, as the weakening dollar has made US sales less profitable for the company… We expect the supply situation will begin to improve over the next several months. We expect a surge in supply in the US for Wii Fit’s May 21 launch here, and believe we could see as many as 900,000 Wii units show up at retail this month (May).”

via Next Gen

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Twenty Sided has an article up on how have flawed main characters can be fun. The example used here is the lead character from BioWare’s Jade Empire. For those of you who have always wanted to play it but haven’t got around to it; you might want to skip this article. However for those gamers who understand the inside joke, this is a fun piece of truism.

Personal, I like a little roughness in both my NPCs and player characters. It makes them more realistic and easier to relate to. It also helps to build tension in a story. If everything single obstacle is too easily surmounted, I tend to lose interest quickly.  This especially applies to RPGs and games with RPG elements.

The unstoppable Kratos retains a human touch as he mourns the loss of his family. Similarly, the new Viking: Battle for Asgard features a less than perfect main character as well. Not all player characters are as clueless as the lead character in Jade Empire, but it’s nice to have three dimensional characters that have some room for growth.

via Twenty Sided

Namco Bandai has released a new Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2 trailer for the PSP. The footage shows off the game’s unique combination of one-on-one combat and interactive storytelling. It’s all about team building using new jutsu, secret techniques and characters to defend the Hidden Leaf Village from the forces of the mysterious Phantom Fortress. The “extreme ninja action” is looking good on the PSP. Fans of the original shouldn’t be disappointed

Gamers can pick up Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: Phantom Fortress for the PSP in North America on June 24th, 2008.

via FileFront

Aside from World of Warcraft, the biggest MMO of 2007 and so far this year isn’t one you would name off the top of your head. According to the author of an article up on Eurogamer; it’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The piece goes on to defend the position that although CoD4 isn’t an MMO in the strictest sense of the definition, it does share many of the same gameplay elements that typify an MMO.

Call of Duty 4 proves that it’s possible to take some of the things that MMOs do right and distil them for a game that wouldn’t traditionally be seen as an MMO. The potency of the idea, even in this form, is obvious; the drive to play just a little bit more, because there’s a reward waiting just up ahead, is an incredibly powerful and addictive force for players

I can actually agree with the author on most of his points, and the idea isn’t one that hasn’t been presented before. The success of MMOs is changing the way traditional video games are being designed. One of the latest examples of this trend is the multi-player mode in RockStar’s Grand Theft Auto IV. I think we’re going to see the games industry moving ever closer to this formula as gamers demand more of a social element to their gaming experience.

via Eurogamer

The Drawn to Life : SpongeBob SquarePants Edition Trailer is ready for viewing. SpongeBob’s evil creation DoodleBoB has taken over Bikini Bottom and it’s up to players to take it back. Gamers will draw their own characters, tools and vehicles to use in this action platformer. Here’s a look at the inaugural trailer:

You can catch DtL: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition on the Nintendo DS third quarter 2008.

via FileFront

EA issued a press release yesterday regarding another bid at trying to take over Take-Two, and while we felt that this was just another chapter in the soap opera not worth mentioning, today, I just had to post something about it because our favorite analyst has thrown his two cents in on the subject.Michael Patcher, whom one of our writers calls “his nemesis” has had plenty to say regarding the back and forth between both companies, and while visiting Game Politics this morning, I came across this lovely bit of information.

Apparently, EA has only $1.7 billion in the bank, and the deal they have offered Take-Two deal is $2.1 billion, so they have talked to Morgan Stanley, the Bank of Nova Scotia and several other financial institutions who have all agreed to loan them some money so as to secure the deal.

Here is what I pulled from Game Politics:

It is something that should be expected. After [the acquisition of] Pandemic/BioWare, EA has only around $1.7 billion in available cash… The Take-Two deal is around $2.1 billion… so they’re short. They also probably need around $400 million in available cash for working capital needs, so they need to raise around $800 million to complete the deal. The extra $200 million is just a cushion, although I suppose it could be construed as how much higher they’re willing to go [for Take-Two]…

The timing isn’t particularly unusual, a bit later than I would have thought, as they should have started the process on March 13 (when they went hostile). However, I have no experience in credit markets like we’re experiencing now, so maybe it’s normal to take 8 weeks to get something like this done. It’s also possible that they waited for their new CFO [Eric Brown] to start in order to allow him to negotiate terms…

I would not read any significance into the filing, other than to say that if they want to raise their offer price [for Take Two], they will likely need a higher credit line…

So EA, what are we going to do tonight? The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!

Via: Game Politics

Honestly, there’s nothing you’re going to learn in this story that the title couldn’t tell you. The only piece of content on the PlayStation Store for PC is a demo of SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2, which you can also download through your PlayStation 3 and send to your PSP. You can’t go wrong with a portable demo, but if SOCOM isn’t really you’re thing, I guess you’re just SOL this week, PSP owners.

When Mad Catz announced it would be producing a line of Arsenal Football Club branded peripherals, it wasn’t hard to predict more of the like would follow. The latest team to sign up is Manchester United Football Club.

“Manchester United is one of the world’s most popular and historic sports teams, with millions of dedicated fans worldwide, and we look forward to providing retailers and customers across Europe with entertaining accessories that bring the excitement of Manchester United to the gaming experience of its fans,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “The addition of the Manchester United brand further strengthens and diversifies our growing portfolio of high-profile licenses and allows Mad Catz to continue building on its success and product penetration in key European markets.”

Manchester United fans can expect to see videogame controllers, faceplates, Console Skinz™ and carrying cases featuring the Red Devil for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, DS Lite, and Wii gaming consoles.

via Business Wire

Yesterday I told you all about the new Sierra movie/game tie-in for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Today, they sent us some screenshots for the game and after looking at them I came to the same conclusion I did yesterday when I heard the news. So what.

Sorry Sierra, but I just cannot get excited about this. But, if any of you out there are, you can look at more screens for the game by clicking here.

2K Sports and Konami are teaming up once again to hit MLB Power Pros 2008 out of the park. This game depicting super-deformed caricatures of Baseball greats is a favorite in Japan, and will be making its second appearance in the US.

Players will be able to choose from ten different game modes including Practice, Exhibition, League and Home Run Challenge. They can also choose to play the part of a team’s General Manager in Season mode.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Konami again, and with the Baseball™ season now in full swing, we’re proud to offer our fans a refreshingly smart and exciting baseball game that is easily accessible for all ages,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Baseball enthusiasts will appreciate the variety of newly added features, intuitive game modes and improved overall feel, and we look forward to hitting one out of the park this season with MLB Power Pros 2008.”

Gamers can catch MLB Power Pros 2008 for the Wii and the PS2 this July. The game will be available for the DS this fall.

via Business Wire

Looks like Tony Hawk is taking a break from the game business for a little while. Activision recently confirmed that there is no Tony Hawk game set for release in 2008, making this the first year without a Hawk game on consoles since the first one came out in 1999. Well, there will be one coming out for the DS sometime this year, but that doesn’t really count — though Activision is saying that it will “utilizes new technology not yet seen on the DS.” The publisher claims that the extra development time will be used for “reinventing Tony Hawk from the ground up.” We should see a new Hawk game in fiscal year 2010, which begins in April 2009 for Activision.

Oh no. No new Tony Hawk game in 2008? That’s…just…terrible…you know, I can’t even fake disappointment here. It took me hours to wash out the stink that Proving Ground left in my 360, and it still kind of lingers there a little. Sometimes there just isn’t enough Febreze.

Via DarkZero

They may have launched a teaser site for Quantum of Solace recently, but the one thing that Activision failed to mention about the game was that it will run on the same engine as CoD4.

While sitting here at my computer listening to the boring audio from the conference call - and wishing I had Irished up my coffee just to make it through the thing, I heard this interesting tidbit after the news that the game would launch the same day as the movie.

According to Chief Executive Officer of Publishing Mike Griffith, Quantum of Solace, “uses the Call of Duty 4 engine and technology to bring Bond games to a new level.” Since the game will be released onto multiple platforms, it will be interesting to see how it will differ from port to port. CoD4 was not released for the Wii, so I imagine (correct me if I am wrong) that either they will have to tweak things a bit or use a different engine for the Nintendo Console. Plus, a myraid of developers will be creating the game for different versions. Treyarch (Xbox 360 and PS3 developers), Vicarious Visions (handheld developer), Beenox (confirmed as the developer for the Wii) and Eurocom (PC devlopers.)

What this means, is that like most multiplatform games, you can expect each one to look drastically different from the next. Unless of course you are looking at PC/PS3/360 comparisons, which mainly just differ in matters of clarity - or so I have found. Of course, this could be because I added a bit of whiskey to my espresso earlier.

For more information on the Activision conference call, check out all the posts related to this bevy of information by hitting this link.

We have known for quite some time that Activision has planned to release Guitar Hero IV sometime close to the holiday shopping extravaganza, but during their conference call yesterday they confirmed that it will be made available for all three major consoles plus the PS2 and DS. Still, that is no surprise.

What is surprising though, slightly at least, is that this yet unnamed title will provide what Activison calls a “significant leap forward in innovation” for not only the franchise but for music simulation gaming as a whole. Could this be the extra instruments they have been talking about recently? Who knows at this point, but during the call it was stated that information would be forthcoming soon.

As far as new concerning Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS, Activision announced that the company and Nintendo are planning to release a bundle which will include a Nintendo DS, Guitar Hero: On Tour and the DS peripheral. Also, an add-on pack of new music will be released for Guitar Hero: On Tour sometime this year but contents, release date, and price was not given.

Stay tuned for more information on the ever growing assortment of Guitar Hero titles. I am sure Guitar Hero: Fergie is next somewhere down the line. God I hope not.

Thanks: Videogaming247 (here and here)

A new television series aimed at gamers began airing in the UK this week on cable and satellite channel Bravo. “Playr” is a topical weekly magazine program which reviews new releases, reports from the major gaming events and previews the biggest games. The series will also have 2 spin offs, “Playr 2″ and “Playr Guide”.

Executive producer Richard Wilcox commented,“It’s a good time to be launching television series about games. We expect to reach around 100,000 gamers every week in the UK and many more than that on TV networks worldwide.”

Clips from the show will also be available to watch online each week at yahoo.co.uk and if you live in the UK, you can watch it on Saturdays at 2:30 PM on Bravo 2, and Sundays at 11:00 AM on Bravo.

For those of us in the States that have Bravo on Cable or Satellite you may want to check your local listings for times, because the UK is five hours ahead of us who use EST.

Via: Press Release

Codemasters has secured the exclusive video game rights to Formula One in a worldwide licensing agreement with Formula One Administration Ltd. In turn, the developer/publisher will create a new generation of the multi-million selling Formula One game franchise across multiple consoles, handhelds and PC.

Here are some “gushing” quotes pulled from the press release:

“FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East and China. It is also ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally,” said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters.

“As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack.”

“Codemasters’ success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge,” said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters.“The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen.”

This deal will provide Codemasters with rights to feature all Grand Prix circuits, Formula One teams, cars, and driver likenesses. In addition, the FIA Formula One World Championship games will be developed using the evolution of the EGO Game Technology Engine, Codemasters’ cross-platform middleware technology. The EGO Engine is currently being deployed in the creation of Race Driver: GRID, the latest in Codemasters Studio’s international circuit-based racing series which will be released on May 30th.

The first FIA Formula One World Championship game is set to launch in 2009.

Via: Press Release

Activision has published results for the company’s 2008 financial year and the numbers are pretty impressive. Raking in over $2.9 billion in net earnings gave them a 92% increase in monetary gains over last year’s figures. Activision’s net income stands at $344.9 million, up from $85.8 million last year and kudos goes out to Guitar Hero III and CoD4 helping them out by bringing in one billion dollars each in sales.

Head honcho Robert Kotick stated during a conference call following the published figures:

“During the fiscal year, we were the number one US console and handheld publisher in dollars for the first time ever, according to The NPD Group, and we grew our worldwide share of the console, handheld and PC markets year over year.”

Also mentioned during the conference call was the confirmation of a fifth Call of Duty game, the reinvention of the Tony Hawk series, the announcement of a new Marvel: Ultimate Alliance title and discussions relating to Guitar Hero 4 and its holiday release date.

This means that Activison will be another contender for number one publisher next year, especially considering that they have merged with Blizzard. Just think of the money they will earn when Wrath of the Lich King is unleashed upon the world.

Via: Eurogamer

Over the past decade, THQ and Nickelodeon has been able take advantage (read: exploit) children’s love for Nickelodeon properties to the tune of more than $1 billion and more than 50 million units sold worldwide. This announcement comes alongside the companies’ announcement of their 2008 portfolio, which includes games based on shows I’ve never heard of such as Tak and the Power of Juju, Back at the Barnyard, and The Naked Brothers Band. (What the hell?)

THQ attributes much of the success to the popularity of both the Wii and DS. “With the enormous popularity of Wii and DS coupled with our exceptionally diverse portfolio of Nickelodeon-based games, THQ continues to lead in family entertainment,” said THQ’s Jim Huntley. “Featuring new forms of gameplay such as the music-based The Naked Brothers Band and the drawing-based Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition, we expect our upcoming titles to offer completely new ways for families to play together.”

Nickelodeon continues to view gaming as an important activity to their audience, so don’t expect to see a lack of SpongeBob games anytime soon. “Gaming is one of the primary activities of our audience, whether it’s online or on the console,” said Nickelodeon’s Steve Youngwood. “THQ’s interactive video games based on our hit shows have continued to help Nickelodeon maintain its position as a leader in gaming entertainment for the family, and we look forward to the addition of these new releases to our library.”

That’s a crapton of money. But you know what’s scarier? The Hannah Montana franchise is expected to total around $1 billion in 2008 alone.

via 1UP

Those of you who employ the Skype support on PSP will be happy to know that the one piece Skype headset, originally scheduled for release last month, has finally been released. You’ll no longer need the two separate pieces that were used previously, but that convenience will cost you $30 — $10 more than Amazon originally had the headset listed at back in March.

$30 is too rich for my blood, considering I don’t really use Skype very often (at least on my PSP) and I don’t play PSP games online enough to justify wanting to really talk to anyone else. Bring on the cheap third-party alternatives!

via PSP Fanboy

Over at the University of Michigan, some neuropsychologists have conducted a study that shows how mental exercise can make you smarter. Ok, but how does this apply to games? According to them, the more you play and the harder you play it, the “more smarter you’ll git”. Yes, I stated it that way intentionally.

During the study, participants were shown a computer screen with square patterns and if the pattern matched the same pattern that the participant was shown two squares earlier, they were suppose to hit a button with one hand while listening to letters being transcribed over a set of headphones. Just like the squares, id the said letter matched the one said two letters earlier, the participant would then hit a button with the opposite hand. One hand for letters and one for squares - basic multitasking I would think. The longer the game was played the longer the intervals - which means more squares and letters over time.

The study revealed to the neuropsychologists that 20 minutes of daily training over a period of time led to “significantly increased IQ vs. a control group”, and the “longer people played the game, the higher their IQ got”.

While this may sound a lot more boring than Brain Age, Christopher Null over on the Yahoo Tech Blogs has listed a few games that sound a lot less boring than the one the participants in the study were forced to endure. Null has listed five titles that will ” help you improve logical thinking, reaction time, and coordination”.

Here is the list pulled directly from his blog:

• Lumosity (Web): This browser-based game offers about a dozen mini-games, each designed to help with one area of cognition, including memory, processing speed, attention span, and “cognitive control.” Many games are surprisingly similar in design to the one in the Michigan study and some present a real challenge. ($9.95 a month, pictured)

• Brain Challenge (Xbox Live Arcade): Similar to Lumosity, this used to be a cell phone game that was ported to the Xbox. A series of mini-games asks you what comes next in a sequence of graphic designs, count items quickly, do basic math questions, and more. 30 types of rapid-fire games are available, and your progress is tracked by the game over time. (800 points)

• Rocky & Bullwinkle (Xbox Live Arcade): No, I wouldn’t have expected a game based on a hapless cartoon duo to be good for the brain, but this set of WarioWare-like micro games are great for those looking to boost reaction time and improve eye-hand coordination. Nothing here is too complex (quick: click the correct button in the next 2 seconds!), but it’s all good for working on the “twitch” reflex. (800 points)

• Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship (PSP): This challenging board game comes to the PSP, offering a grid in which you have to place your Tetris-like pieces in such a way that they touch only on their corners. It really works on your pattern recognition skills and gets exceptionally tough when playing with a group of four. ($20)

• Wild Earth: African Safari (Wii): No, it’s not a brain game at all, but really little kids won’t be able to manage the controls and strategies of most of the above titles. Still they shouldn’t be left out of the fun. Wild Earth isn’t exactly the most thrilling title on the market, but youngsters will enjoy looking at the animals on this virtual photo hunt while learning the names of all the beasts of the wild. Good for very small minds. ($30)

I guess this means that the more LotRO I play the denser I get. Oh well, at least I am in ignorant bliss.

Via: Yahoo Blogs

In Code Lyoko: Fall of X.A.N.A., William is being held captive somewhere in Lyoko by the evil virus X.A.N.A. and it’s up to you to help the Code Lyoko Warriors find and free him. To achieve this goal Ulrich, Yumi, Odd an Aelita must complete a number of challenging missions in the different sectors of the digital world of Lyoko. X.A.N.A. has created a new virtual world consisting of Replikas based on Lyoko.

To get to William the Code Lyoko team must first destroy all of the Replikas from inside as well as the Super Computer linked to each of them hidden in strategic locations around Lyoko and protected by tough high tech bosses. Their final challenge is to defeat the mysterious and dangerous Volcano Replika containing the very core of X.A.N.A.: a crater containing a number of towers one of which contains William…

Journey to the virtual universe with your favorite Code Lyoko heroes and experience another chapter in the RPG franchise for the DS which is slated for a Jun 17th release.

Key Features

• Explore the five different environments of the Digital World: Forest, Desert, Mountains, Ice field and Volcano territory
• Fight against more than 20 different enemies, super tough bosses and the brand new monster from season 4, the Kolossus. Each enemy is characterised by their own individual visual, behaviour and stats
• Carry out exciting missions with Odd, Yumi, Ulrich and Aelita each with individual skills, weapons and stats and get back-up from Jeremy by summoning special attacks only he can program!
• Some attack commands triggers mini games. Complete them successfully to increase the effect of your attacks!
• There are 5 missions to complete – one per territory. Each territory holds 10 battle areas as well as a boss fight resulting in 50 battle areas on Lyoko, 50 battle areas on Replika and 5 boss fights for a total of 105 battles!
• Battle against your friends in 3 different multiplayer modes using the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection and find out who has the genuine team of Code Lyoko Heroes and whose team is made up of Replicas