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No, this story has nothing to do with KISS. It’s got more in common with South Park, actually.

You probably wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at their financials, but Electronic Arts produced a total of 15 games that went double platinum — selling two million copies — in fiscal year 2008. That’s up from ten in fiscal year 2007, and is helping EA to declare itself the number one publisher across all platforms, with a 19% share of sales in North America and 20% in Europe.

EA also boasted that it was the number one third party publisher on the Wii in Europe (they really had to qualify that, didn’t they?), with a 15% share of sales on the system. That’s up from 7% the previous year. They also managed an 11% share in North America on Wii.

But as you already know, EA still ended up losing $454 million in the full fiscal year, compared with a profit of $76 million the year before. For more on that story, see our previous coverage.

via GI.biz

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Namco Bandai has announced plans to release its answer to Wii Fit; the Family Trainer game complete with Dance Mat for Europe. The game will be released as Active Life: Athletic World in the US. The dance mat takes a number from the DDR mats with middle controls for each foot.

Family Trainer will have you performing feats of “total body fitness” in fantastical settings.  In addition to racing mine carts as in the picture above; players can go rafting on the river, jump over logs or skip ropes. The settings are whimsical such as  fairytale worlds and zombie infested haunted houses.

The action is both multiplayer and single player for those self-conscious people who hate looking silly playing video games. There’s no word whether the trainers are programed to make you cry if you don’t perform to their satisfaction. Expect to see Family Trainer in stores this September.

via Eurogamer

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

The track record of useful accessories to come out of Nyko is all over the place. The Nyko Intercooler has often been blamed for causing overheating problems with the Xbox 360; the Wiimote Charge Station has been absolutely wonderful for me; and the Nunchuk Wireless Adapter is just downright silly, if you ask me.

But their newest accessory for Wii looks to be quite useful for anyone planning on picking up Wii Fit or the Wii Balance Board — the Nyko Energy Pak will fit right into the Balance Board’s battery compartment and provide you with up to 30 hours of balance acts, and will also allow you to charge and play at the same time.

For $20, it sounds like this is a pretty good bet for anyone that wants to save themselves from the woes of batteries. The Energy Pak (why does it have to be called “Pak”?) releases on May 19.

via Wii Fanboy

The fourth annual Games for Health Conference will be showcasing the expanding role of video games in the Health profession. Video game technology is being applied in the field for rehabilitation, training and to encourage exercise.

Some highlights of the conference will be familiar to most gamers. A new version of Activision’s Guitar Hero is being introduced, which will be used in the rehabilitation of arm amputees. The results of studies based on the “Corrupted Blood Syndrome” form Blizzard’s World of Warcraft are also being presented.

Attendees will have the chance to play training games like 3DiTeams and the K.I.C.K. (Kid’s Interactive Creation Kiosk). 3DiTeams offers emergency health care training to medical professionals in virtual worlds. The full press release follows the break.

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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.

Sorry to burst the bubble hovering over my fellow gamers heads but if you were planning on pre-ordering the Wii Fit, you are out of luck. GameStop has stopped taking pre-orders for the highly anticipated game/balance board combination and have it listed as out of stock and are asking gamers to check back for stock updates.

Basically, if you have not already pre-ordered the thing, chances are you will not get it. Amazon is sold out as well, and unless you just happen to come across one at Best Buy or Wal-Mart you will have to wait.

Thanks for the heads-up: Videogaming247

EA Sport’s Peter Moore has confirmed to Eurogamer that the company is currently at work on a Wii Fit game and said that EA plans on making it more strenuous than the current offerings for the Balance Board. Speaking at an EA Sports conference, Moore stated:

“We’re watching very closely what the Wii Fit board does. We think we have to have a role to play with that mum - the kids have gone to school, she’s got 45 minutes on her own, the Wii is there, it’s the first console she’s ever liked because she can do things herself. And we’re working on stuff, trying to work out how we can use EA Sports applications there.

“We also need to make sure we’re delivering something that’s truly exercise. I’ll call [Wii Fit] more eastern fitness, where it senses weight and balance, like Tai-Chi. It’s more about holistic fitness. I don’t think the board is going to take a pounding. We need to look more at western fitness in which I can actually be moving and start to sweat a little bit, and that’s what we’re working on right now.”

No details on the game were given, and no release date was even hinted around at but lets hope that this Wii Fit title will not tell you that you are fat. If it does, I am going to smash the board to pieces and hand deliver the carnage to EA myself. You may want to start raising bail money for me now just in case.

Via: Eurogamer

Forbes has published their list of the 40st richest people in Japan and topping the list is former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi. Running the company from 1949 to 2002 and retiring from the gaming giant completely in 2005, over the past year his wealth has increased by $3 billion dollars - thanks mainly in part to the Wii, DS and the game sales for both systems. This has increased his overall wealth to a whopping $7.8 billion.

Hiroshi’s wealth has tripled over the past three years, and one can only imagine how much wealth he will accumulate once the WiiFit hits the states.

Via: Forbes

In 2007, THQ raked in a whopping $38 million in earnings, but unfortunately for the company, this year they have reported a loss. A $35.3 million loss to be exact.

According to THQ President and CEO Brian Farrell:

“In fiscal 2008, we did not achieve our revenue and profit targets and we are taking aggressive steps to ensure that we significantly improve execution in fiscal 2009 and beyond. Going forward, we are focused on three key initiatives. We are rolling out a stronger slate of products. We have put in place and are executing against initiatives to improve our product quality and competitiveness. We are also realigning our cost structure to generate significant operating leverage in fiscal 2009. We believe these initiatives will restore profitable growth and improve value for shareholders.”

In addition, according to GamesIndusrty.biz, THQ’s Colin Slade has announced that some restructuring will occur, and unfortunately that will lead to the loss of 200 jobs at THQ.

“In terms of the restructuring action in the near term we’re probably going to be taking at about 200 headcount. However, over the course of the year, we do expect to see overall headcount growth from around 2,400 as we exit this fiscal year to under 2,700 at the end of next fiscal year.”

Bad news for THQ, but hopefully the restructuring they are planning will help them out. You can read the full press release after the jump which is full of figures, quotes and other interesting financial wording. If you plan on reading it, you may want to fix yourself a pot of coffee to stay awake.

Via: Press Release; GamesIndustry.biz

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Well, this is certainly the most random video of the day. This new video from Ubisoft strongly suggests that the balance board for WiiFit will be used for the next Rayman Raving Rabbids title. Unfortunately, the video is really all that Ubisoft has unveiled on the matter, but you can probably assume the new title will involve playing a series of mini-games to thwart the little bunny-like things’ latest plot. You know, I normally can’t stand the advent of a new mini-game collection for the Wii, but those crazy Rabbids just crack me up every time.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the mind behind everyones favorite plumber and Wii Fit is already looking towards the next step.

Wii Fit is an unprecedented success despite pessimistic predictions. Wii Fit is a harsh and demanding personal trainer. It keeps track of your weight and BMI, asking you to explain yourself if you show an increase. It compares you against your family members and criticizes you when you fall behind. Despite this people are buying the game in droves. Amazingly enough, there has been no reported rise in collateral damage from Wii Fit players destroying stuff out of frustration.

“We thought they might, but the evidence from Japan is that they get cross with themselves — not the machine. They don’t blame the game.”

Miyamoto is naturally pleased at the success of Wii Fit and is already moving towards taking the punishment to the next level. Wii Fit will be evolving to include web based game play, to allow players to compete with people outside their household.

Lest people embrace Wii Fit with too much enthusiasm, Miyamoto does offer a word of caution and encouragement for players to emulate the Wii balance board in their real lives:

“Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good,” said Miyamoto. “I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together.”

via TimesOnline

In Edmonton of Alberta Canada, Greg Chin is conducting an experiment to determine whether virtual exercise is as good as the real thing. Chin, a teacher at Archbishop Joseph MacNeil, is using students from his eighth grade class as guinea pigs. He monitors the students’ heart rates for regular exercise against simulated activities on a video game system. Chin is very optimistic about the data so far.

Teenagers should be getting their heart rates up to around 180 beats per minute. In some of the games, his students were reaching 170 beats.

“I was surprised at some of the heart-rate readings,” he says. “So far, the Wii has been better than I expected.”

The study is on going at this time, but I would venture to say I have to agree with many experts in the physical fitness field. I doubt that exercise from Wii-sports,Wii-play or Wii-fit are as effective as a regimented workout routine is the long run. However I do also agree that many kids that are completely turned of by sports, especially competitive games will gladly play the Wii or Dance Dance Revolution. That’s where the advantage of video games over physical fitness education and team sports lies.
via Vancouver Sun

Another Resident Evil game is headed to a Nintendo system, although only Japan will reap the benefits. As originally reported by Famitsu, Capcom is planning on porting the GameCube’s Resident Evil Zero to Wii, although the game won’t see any sort of update in terms of graphics or content. There will, however, be some sort of Wiimote functionality, although we’re not sure what it’ll be just yet.

It seems like a strange decision to port a game that’s fully backwards compatible with any Wii. If they’re not going to do anything more than add some Wiimote controls — which could very well be an optional, minor thing — why would anyone pick up a copy on Wii versus GameCube? It’s not like the game can adopt Resident Evil 4’s controls on Wii, as Zero plays like the classic games in the series with fixed cameras and relative controls.

Capcom VP Christian Svensson confirmed that the game is coming only to Japan. “There are no plans for a Western release for the title at this time,” he wrote on the Capcom message boards, where he also mentioned the fact that Capcom will inevitable be ripped for the decision to only release the game in Japan.

via Shacknews

We always hear a lot about attach rates or tie-in ratios, which are basically the average number of games sold per system. So, if you’ve got an attach rate of 1, that means you would have sold, say, 10 million systems and 10 million games. Microsoft constantly boasts its large attach rate, but how do the rest of the current generation of systems hold up by comparison? You might be surprised to find out.

After Nintendo announced its global attach rate, Joystiq inquired with the NPD Group to find out their attach rate for the five major platforms. Xbox 360 of course leads the way with 7.5 games, followed by the Wii at 5.3, DS at 4.7, PS3 at 4.6, and PSP at 4.2. Honestly, I’m not sure if I should be more surprised by the Wii’s being as large as it is, or the PSP being so close to the rest of the pack. It’s rare to see a PSP game crack into the top ten best selling games each month, while games like Call of Duty 4 and particularly Wii Play have taken up permanent residence on the list.

The last time we got these figures, the PS3 was in the threes, so you can see that PS3 owners are slowly expanding their game library. (Well, either that or Blu-ray owners can’t help but pick up a copy of Uncharted.) With Grand Theft Auto IV, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii all releasing very soon, you can expect to see the consoles’ attach rates jump. The only thing guaranteed aside from that is the next Microsoft press release touting their historic attach rate.

According to SCi, the parent company for Eidos, they are so pleased with the developmental progress of Tomb Raider: Underworld, that they have seen fit to provide gamers with a minuscule update on their latest Lara Croft undertaking.

According to SCi:

“Progress with Tomb Raider: Underworld remains encouraging and the game is scheduled for worldwide release before Christmas 2008.”

Tomb Raider: Underworld was originally slated for a June release, Eidos announced back in January that they would be pushing the game back and instead releasing it around Christmas, but this was even pushing it. SCi also reported that because of pushing the game back, the money they were banking on earning through the release would have them report a loss.

However, with the Christmas shopping period being a definite now, the company should garner more profit during such a advantageous time. If you take into consideration that it is being released on multiple platforms, this becomes even more evident - therefore it was probably in their best interest to do this in the first place.

Tomb Raider: Underworld will be released on the DS, PC, PS2, Ps3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Via: Spong

Perhaps, in a way to to quell excitement regarding Nintendo’s announcement yesterday that the Wii console has sold nearly 25 million units globally - Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox 360 has sold over 19 million units worldwide.

While this may seem like the antics of a child jumping up and down screaming “look at me too, look at me Mommy” - you have to remember that most companies fiscal year ended in March and sales numbers and profits are going to start being fed to the press. So, while Microsoft does indeed act like a spoiled brat sometimes, this time it is just doing what everyone else is - call it peer pressure if you will.

The most compelling thing about this announcement is that the Xbox 360 has sold a million units a month since the beginning of 2008. Microsoft reported over 17 million sales in January and 18 million in February. While these numbers are impressive, you have to take into account that the system was launched in Japan last year for the first time with Oblivion, and Microsoft also dropped the price of the system in the UK which caused a huge surge in consumers purchasing the unit.

But, every silver lining has a flaw. While the Xbox 360 is doing a bang up job on the market, Windows software dropped 24% and earnings from online advertising were much lower than originally projected. Plus, when Microsoft decided to try and purchase Yahoo for 44.6 billion, it had a negative impact on their stock prices.

So you see, while it is indeed nice to think of yourself as King of the World, Bill sometimes makes horrid decisions that not only affect his company, but the general public as well - however, like anything else any negative impact on stock or another Widows fiasco won’t hurt them much. Microsoft and Rupert Murdock own the world whether we realize it or not.

Thanks: Eurogamer

GoNintendo has revealed a list on upcoming Nintendo games for 2008. Some of these have already been released, but if you look past those you will see many a title that has not. Granted, the majority of them have vague release dates and are for Europe, but at least you get an idea of what to expectThe good news though is that WiiWare and Super Smash Bros. Brawl have been dated for Europe. WiiWare - May 20th and SSBB June 27th.

You can get the full list of Nintendo titles headed our way (and ones that are already available) after the jump.

Thanks: Videogaming247

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Someone, somewhere within the cubicles of the Capcom offices is getting their ass chewed off, or at the very least has egg smeared all over their face because of a snafu over the cover of the Okami port for the Wii.

Apparently, you can see an IGN watermark on the cover, and after being reported to Capcom, they have promised to make good on this strange mistake. Here is an excerpt pulled from their US blog:

As fans know, the real art of Okami is on the game disc itself, but given the artistic nature of this game, we’d like the outside of the box to match the beauty contained within. To that end, we’re offering a free make-good gift to our fans. If you purchased Okami for the Wii, for a limited time, you can choose from one of the three art pieces below and Capcom will ship a high-quality version of the box cover straight to your door.

Each piece is sized to fit perfectly into your Okami Wii box and will transform your copy into the best-looking game on your shelf. Just head to http://www.capcom.com/artredemption/, fill out the form, and go back to playing Okami while you patiently wait for your new, improved art to make its way to you.

Poor Capcom, I honestly feel bad for them over this, and the cover art they are promising to replace the original cover with is drop dead gorgeous. Personally, I prefer the third option which you can check out via their US blog (hit the link above).

Thanks for the heads up: Videogaming247
Offensive IGN Watermark: Kotaku

I can almost guarantee that, if a year ago I went around asking people what they thought the name of a Nintendo fitness game might be, a majority of the answers would include Mario’s name. And why not? His name has graced(?) so many different titles that the expression “I’ve lost track” doesn’t quite encapsulate it all.

So why is the classic mascot’s face nowhere to be seen? Shigeru Miyamoto explained it as a matter of wanting to make the game feel like something for anyone, regardless of age. “We wanted to create [Wii Fit] so that people of all ages could look at it and feel it was for them. I think [including Mario] might have limited its ability.”

What you will find in Wii Fit, though, is the Balance Board as a type of character, but that wasn’t something Nintendo set out to do.

“Actually, when we created that character and were creating Wii Fit, our ultimate goal wasn’t to create a new character for Wii Fit. I do like the idea of trying to introduce new characters periodically. But really, with Wii Fit, what we were trying to do is if you look at fitness DVDs or other sports training type products, they have a very predefined atmosphere to them. They’re very health and sports-oriented. Our feeling was that, if we are going to create Wii Fit and have Nintendo put this out and sell this as a Nintendo product, it needs to feel like a Nintendo product. And creating an interface and trying to design how the gameplay work, we felt it needs to feel fun and fresh and maybe feel a bit silly too. That’s ultimately how the Balance Board came to be [as a character] in Wii Fit,” Miyamoto explained.

In fact, Miyamoto also said that the intention for Wii Fit wasn’t to design a new peripheral, but the very nature of the game required one. “Once we made that decision to create the Balance Board our goal was to make it the least intrusive peripheral that we could. And what we found was that, through that process and the process of implementing the different functions of the balance board, we felt we created something that was truly a new and unique interface. And with that interface we had something that was a strong selling point as well.”

You can read the full interview at MTV Multiplayer.