It’s been almost three months since High School Musical 3 hit theaters, but it just won’t die. Disney Interactive announced yesterday that Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year will be released for the Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, and PS2. One can dare to purchase it on February 17th. The title has already making Europeans suffer since November.
The karaoke game will feature ten songs from the High School Musical 3, and fifteen from the first two movies. One can sing along with up to eight preteens all at once to the same song. The game comes bundled with a Logitech microphone, or can also be bought standalone.
While the gameplay of rhythm games hasn’t changed from its basic format they keep things fresh by adding new songs and souping up the overall package. Rock Band took the social idea of Guitar Hero and made it even more social by adding multiple instruments and even the ability to play online with friends. You can even customize your characters and band as you play, going for whatever look or style you want to have.
Despite that the Wii and PS2 versions of the game lack online play, customization options and downloadable content they still managed to do quite well. According to data published by the NPD these hobbled versions of Rock Band sold more copies than either the full fledged versions or the sequel on the other consoles last year. Rock Band for Wii was the 29th best-selling game of the year with the PS2 version just behind at 31st. The two together sold over a million copies.
This doesn’t reflect any diminishing of the series’ popularity though as the original on Xbox 360 sold just under 800,000 units. Had the sequel, Rock Band 2, been released earlier in the year than September it probably would have had a serious chance of beating that million figure sales mark since it was only out for three months and sold 600,000 copies.
If this report by Play Online is true then the first title in Atlus’ Persona series could be headed straight to the PSP.
This comes from the most recent issue of Hong Kong magazine GameWave, which claims that Revelations: Persona is being ported to the PSP in Japan. The game was originally released on the PlayStation in 1996, telling the story of a group of high school kids who battle demons using magical Personae.
Persona 4, the latest in the series, was released last month on the PS2.
Going by a rough translation of Seaman creator Yoot Saito’s blog by Offworld, a DS version of the classic Dreamcast game is currently in development.
Originally released for the Dreamcast, Seaman was a virtual pet-style game centered around a fish with a human-like face. Players could interact with the character by using the console’s microphone support.
The blog also suggests that an iPhone version of the game has been finished for some time, but that the game could not be released due to Apple having “expressed displeasure” with the unique gameplay.
MTV Multiplayer reports that if you are one of those unwilling to give GameStop $5 for early access to the Killzone 2 demo, you will get to play the demo on February 26. Those who have pre-ordered the game through the retailer will be able to play the demo starting February 2.
Sony previously said that the demo would be exclusive to GameStop pre-orderers until the game shipped. The Guerilla Games-developed shooter will be out on February 27, so they are technically staying true to their word.
Sure to get lots of flack over such a controversial decision, Sony decided to justify it by stating that this approach “helps seal the deal”. Here’s what SCEA product marketing VP Scott Steinberg had to say:
Offering a playable demo to motivate preorders speaks to our confidence in the appeal of a game such as Killzone 2. We take this approach when we are convinced that the experience will cement a consumer’s interest in purchasing. Retailers will then merchandise those demos within their stores and online to maximize their visibility. Through this process, consumers are often times able to reserve their copy of the final game, which provides an incentive to purchase and helps seal the deal. We also offer demos on the PSN, which we have done in the past with great success, and will continue to make that available. Killzone 2, for example, will have a downloadable demo launch in North America the week that the game is launching, for consumers who prefer that option.
EA sent out word that Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box will be shpping to retailers across North America on February 5.
Now a PC exclusive, the new edition of the game features all downloadable content released so far on the PS3 and Xbox 360 so far and even more content. It can be noted that console versions of the game will get the Party mode as premium DLC, though Europe will get the Ultimate Box on all three systems.
The Party mode is an offline multiplayer mode where up to eight players can compete in challenges, one at a time, by passing the controller.
Along with the Party mode, the PC version also supports higher resolution graphics, more graphical pizazz and multiple monitors.
While the PSP is certainly not a failure, it failed to make a dent in the success of the Nintendo DS, with its touch-screen gameplay. Keeping that in mind, Sony might be looking into developing the successor with a touch-screen built-in if a Sony-issued survey is true.
PSP Fanboy claims that the survey mentions touch-screen controls, which has now gained traction due to the success of the DS and iPhone, along with increased storage, a smaller profile, social networking, book downloads and more.
It can be noted that Sony has so far released two hardware revisions to the PSP, giving it a smaller, lighter frame and a better display, among other things. The company has gone on record to mention that it is not working on a PSP successor, but if this survey is true, then they most certainly are.
Despite lukewarm reviews and a general distaste for the title being expressed on forum boards across the internet Wii Music has performed quite well. According to the NPD the rhythm game sold 865,465 copies in North America alone last year. It wasn’t quite enough to break into the top ten for the year, but with a release date so late in the year it managed an impressive 35th overall.
Why would such a game be so successful in the face of existing franchises like Rock Band and Guitar Hero? Likely the holiday season had a lot to do with it, especially when you figure how often parents and grandparents buy their young relatives something that’s ‘similar’ to what they wanted only cheaper. The price tag of Wii Music relative to buying a full Rock Band or Guitar Hero bundle is much lower. Wii Music also doesn’t have the (slight) disadvantage of having separate instrument controllers to store. Throw in the sheer popularity of the rhythm game genre and it’s not the biggest surprise that the title has sold well.
NPD is reporting the total video game sale numbers for last year. Video games sales in total have topped $21 billion, which is an impressive 19% up from 2007. Surprisingly, the top selling game of the year was released in February of last year; Wii Play. Let’s take at the raw data:
Category / Total / Change
- Video Games: $21.33 billion +19%
- Video Games Hardware: $7.81 billion +11%
- Video Games Software: $10.96 billion +26%
- Video Game Accessories: $2.57 billion +14%
Game Software (in units sold)
- Wii Play with Wii Remote (Wii, Nintendo) – 5.28 million
- Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo) – 5 million
- Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo) – 4.53 million
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, Nintendo) – 4.17 million
- Grand Theft Auto IV (360, Take-Two) – 3.29 million
- Call of Duty: World at War (360, Activision) – 2.75 million
- Gears of War 2 (360, Microsoft) – 2.31 million
- Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, Take-Two) – 1.89 million
- Madden NFL 09 (360, Electronic Arts) – 1.87 million
- Mario Kart DS (DS, Nintendo) – 1.65 million
Hit the jump for December’s sales data.
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Most people were expecting Final Fantasy XII to be released this year. It turns out that Japan will indeed be getting their hands on the game this year. However, the rest of the world will have to wait another year for the RPG title.
Yoichi Wada, president of Square-Enix, said that an overseas launch of the game won’t arrive until April 2010. A reason why it will be taking so long might be that development on the 360 version won’t begin until after the PS3 version is complete.
The game will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America, but Japan will only be seeing an exclusive PS3 release.
Read (Guardian)
