Via Kotaku, Activision just a little while ago came out with various announcements concerning the future of the Call of Duty franchise.

The key notes of interest:

– New Treyarch developed COD this fall that everyone already knew about.

– New “action-adventure”-esque Call of Duty game by newly formed developer Sledgehammer Games to be released in 2011.

– This corporate speak, straight from the PR:

Activision announced it will form a “dedicated [Call of Duty] business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world.” It plans to expand the Call of Duty brand “with the same focus seen in its Blizzard Entertainment business unit” placing a focus on “high-margin digital online content and further the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models.”

New digital business models doesn’t quite mean “We wanna charge you all monthly now” but, there aren’t many other things it could mean.

Oh and they also officially confirmed the departure of former Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. – The Ben

G4’s Patrick Klepek has just broken an interesting story that at the moment some aren’t sure what to make of it. According to the story a bunch of “bouncer-types” just showed up outside of the IW offices and would not disclose who exactly they were according to the story’s source.

The team is being described as “on edge” and according to G4’s source the relationship between Infinity Ward and Activision has been “tense” as of late.

While it seems like half of the internet currently reading this story as it breaks on sites everywhere are writing this off as a PR stunt, Forumopolis poster popemobile reminds us that, “Call of Duty is literally the last franchise in the world that needs a PR stunt”. – The Ben

Update: Two major updates from G4 on the story.

UPDATE 10:07 PM: More developments on the situation at Infinity Ward have come to light.

A screen shot surfaced from Infinity Ward CTO Jason West’s Facebook page at Kotaku with the status update “Jason West is drinking. Also, unemployed.” I can confirm from a source that’s friends with West that update did actually come from West’s account.

West also updated his Linkedin profile to appears to reflect a change in employment.

“President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward
January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)”

While this doesn’t yet provide much insight into what actually happened at Infinity Ward, it confirms there are changes afoot at the Call of Duty developer. As soon as I know more, you’ll know more.

Read more: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702911/UPDATE-Security-Appears-At-Infinity-Ward-Studio-Heads-Missing-Activision-Investigating-Insubordination.html#ixzz0h1Eqp1dY

And the second major one:

UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have showed their hand in this matter earlier today.

In an SEC filing made this morning, Activision cited a human resources investigation into “breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward.”

Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It’s possible Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.

“This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation,” read the filing. “At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company.”

Read more: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702911/UPDATE-Security-Appears-At-Infinity-Ward-Studio-Heads-Missing-Activision-Investigating-Insubordination.html#ixzz0h1FB39Rx

This ain’t no ARG fellas, this is real.

According to Gamervision, both Amazon.com and Gamestop have listed the PC retail version of Diablo III for a cool $59.99. My first reaction to this news was “This is news? Games costing sixty-dollars?” But then I read on and found out that the PC Gaming Landscape hasn’t had to conform to the almost industry standard 60 dollar price tag.

Of course there’s nothing anybody can do to change this if it is indeed the final price for the game, 60 dollars a new game is as normal as anything else you’d find in a gamestore these days. The only good thing about the 60 dollar price tag is that while every next-gen game is priced at that level these days, a few months to half a year after release the game will almost always go down in price to around the 40 dollar level. Hell you could get “Legendary Editions” of old AAA next-gen releases for 50 dollars at most places that still couln’t get rid of those last few Halo 3 Helmets a few years back well after the release. – The Ben

By Brian Perry

As publishers look for new ways to add profitability to their games, DLC has become the new battlefront for deterring used game sales. In recent weeks both Electronic Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment America have begun using Free DLC for new purchasers to provide gamers with incentives to buy new and used game retailers are finally starting to speak out.

While Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz (Registration Required) retail representatives stated that consumers would bear the brunt of these changes. One such retailer Marc Day of SwapGame told GamesIndustry.biz:

“The move to DLC exclusive content is an interesting step, and this obviously provides the publisher with another revenue stream. This move will definitely make the game less valuable on the pre-owned market, so it will be sold cheaper, meaning customers will get less value when trading in.”

Others see this move as a compromise between Retailers, Gamers and Publishers on the hot button issue of used game sales, as stated Christopher Bowen Associate Editor of Diehard GameFAN in the comments:

“I don’t think Project Ten Dollar – which balances risk and reward – is going to alienate consumers. They see the tangible benefits of buying new before the game is sold. In the case of Mass Effect and other EA games, before it’s released. EA has been very upfront about what they’re doing, and while I don’t *LIKE* it – we got more complete packages in the last console generation than we do now, in terms of bang for our buck – I think it’s a nice compromise against the secondhand market and Gamestop.”

With this newest push to digital distribution, and incentives however it will seem only time will tell who is right.

Via NeoGaf, it’s once again time for the NPD results for this past January.

PlayStation 2 41.6K
PlayStation 3 276.9K
PSP 100.1K
Xbox 360 332.8K
Wii 465.8K
Nintendo DS 422.2K

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 656.7K
MASS EFFECT 2* 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 572.1K
WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 555.7K
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 326.7K
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Apr-08 310.9K
WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Jul-09 297.6K
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 259.0K
ARMY OF TWO: THE 40TH DAY 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 246.5K
JUST DANCE WII UBISOFT Nov-09 191.9K
DARKSIDERS 360 THQ Jan-10 171.2k

A pretty normal post-holiday sales result all around.

Of note is Mass Effect making a great debut at number 2 while Mario continues his reign on the charts via NSMBW and Mario Kart Wii which I believe may very well outsell every pre-Mario Kart DS Mario Kart entry combined before the last copy of it is sold years from now.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is still on the charts as are Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus. The only really shocking inclusions and omissions are that Just Dance for Wii from Ubisoft made the Top Ten while Bayonetta didn’t manage to make the cut.

I didn’t expect much in the way of sales for Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom or No More Heroes 2 so seeing them bein outsold by Just Dance isn’t a shock to me, but I felt Bayonetta was one of those titles the entire hardcore set was pushing for. I know SEGA shipped a million copies of the game out to stores. – The Ben

Nintendo’s Third Quarter Results came out today and among most of the debriefings two things stood out in particular.

Firstly their Quarter Three profits were down 41% as the DS entered it’s fifth year and the Wii with it’s third. The profits were estimated at 296.7 billion yen in contrast to 501.3 billion yen. So they’re still making profit, just a few hundred-billion yen less in profit.

So that’s the bad news, the good news lie mostly in the symbolic victories. Thanks to JoshuaJSlone on NeoGaf, by using the numbers given from Nintendo’s own numbers from the conference call PDF, give us a graphic look at where the Wii and DS stand in grand scheme of things chart-wise. The Wii has dashed past the NES in terms of worldwide hardware sales. The DS has managed to overcome the GameBoy and the GameBoy Colour’s sales combined worldwide. Finally, the three titles released this year that Iwata had hoped would sell 10 million copies each worldwide, have done just that with Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus and NSMBW accomplishing that mission.

In fact, the reason the profit numbers aren’t any worse are probably due to those three titles saving the game for the company in the last few months of the year and re-igniting the casual gamer passion during the Holiday Sales rush. – The Ben

By Brian Perry

City building fans should feel a little saddened today. The Monte Cristo team announced today the ending of Cities XL’s online plans. Stating a low subscription base, making the model unsustainable, Monte Cristo will shut the servers down March 8, 2010.

Monte Cristo has however pledged to continue to support the single player content for the game and will be offering “the Bus” for free to solo players as early as this march.

This is an unfortunate event because while the game as a whole was not a “SimCity Killer” it was a decent game made for the genre fans that it served. By losing this component, one could argue the major differentiation, and innovation point for the game, Monte Cristo may have put a nail in the coffin of City building Sims in the future.

Official Release

Dear Mayors,

First of all we want to thank you for your support since Cities XL was released in October of last year, and as far back as October 2007 for some of you.

In early 2007 we decided to be those who would make a new offer to City Builder games fans. Right from the start Cities XL has always been an innovative project regarding its online dimension. Of course, trying something new always comes with a risk.

Three months after the launch we have to admit that the subscription rate is lower than what we expected and therefore the Planet Offer is no longer sustainable. Not enough players decided to subscribe.

Therefore, it is with deep regret that we decided to put an end to the Planet Offer on March 8th 2010. It will no longer be possible to subscribe to the game starting Monday February 1st 2010.

Nevertheless the Cities XL adventure goes on! Cities XL will evolve into a fully single player game. As soon as march the Bus will be added for free in the solo game. At the same time we also keep on working on new content and new features to keep on improving Cities XL.

We do realize that some of you were real fans of the Planet Offer, and loved to be able to visit other player’s cities and trade tokens between each other. There are simply not enough of us.

Thank you again for your understanding and support.

For more detailed information, you can read the FAQ here.

It’s pretty rare that I look at a press release and am intrigued by the product, but Uber Entertainment’s announcement for Monday Night Combat has caught my eye.

Here’s a game to keep your eye on:

(more…)

Yup, it’s that time of the month again. Via Neogaf it’s the December NPD results:

Data care of NPD Group

PlayStation 2 333.2K
PlayStation 3 1.36M
PSP 654.7K
Xbox 360 1.31M
Wii 3.81M
Nintendo DS 3.31M

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 2.82M
WII FIT PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 2.41M
WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Jul-09 1.79M
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 1.63M
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 1.12M
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Feb-07 1.01M
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Apr-08 936.1K
ASSASSIN’S CREED II 360 UBISOFT Nov-09 783.1K
LEFT 4 DEAD 2 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Nov-09 728.5K
MARIO & LUIGI: BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA Sep-09 656.7K

Thems some numbers alright. What can you say except that this is has been one crazy generation in terms of sales. Quality wise we’re still going to be debating that for years to come, but this generation has just exploded in terms of units purchased, both hardware-wise and software-wise.

More detailed info to come as they come to light.

Upate: Here’s the analysis from NPD’s Anita Frazier:

Overall

“The video game industry experienced its biggest sales month ever, besting last December by 4%. It wasn’t enough, though, to compensate for the sales decline throughout the year, and so full-year sales came in 8% below last year’s record-setting revenues.”

“The only category to see an increase over last year was portable hardware, which was up due to a 7% increase in the average retail price. The DS platform, across all categories, contributed 17% of total industry dollars in 2009, up three points from 2008.”

“Unit sales were down only 6% from last year. Average retail prices were down in all categories except for portable hardware and accessories, which led to the greater dollar sales decline.”

“December marks just the fourth month of the year where the industry saw an increase over last year. January and February were both up, and since the decline that began in March, only September experienced growth. The big sales this month, particularly on the hardware front, is a positive move for the industry headed into what will hopefully be a recovery year in 2010.”

Hardware

“There are a lot of hardware records this month. The PS3 realized it’s biggest month of sales ever, and the first time sales have exceeded 1 million units. The Wii and the DS also had their biggest sales months ever, and in fact the two platforms hold the top two spots in sales of any hardware device in a single month. Overall, it was the biggest month of sales for hardware on both a dollar and unit basis.”

“This current generation of console hardware has outsold the last by more than 9 million units during the first 50 months in the market.”

“Hopefully, the big increase in the overall install base of hardware systems will bring good things for software sales in 2010, especially with the incredible line-up of content coming out early in the year.”

Software

“The best-selling game of the month was New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which also captures the third spot on the annual top 10 list for 2009.”

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the fourth best-selling game of all time. In fact, 3 of the top 10 games of all time are Call of Duty games.”

“The music/dance genre was the best-selling genre for the month and second best for the year behind first-person shooters.”

“Madden NFL 10 had a big month selling 1.5 million units across all platforms, besting last December’s performance of the ‘09 game. December’s sales made up some of the lost ground realized out the gate when the title came to market in August.”

“Software sales in December were more concentrated among the top games this year than last. This year, 20% of sales came from the top SKU’s, whereas last December it was just 12%.”

“6 of the top 10 games totaling 20.8 million units for the year were on the Wii platform as compared to 4 last year at 19 million units.”

Accessories

“7 of the top 10 accessories items in December were for the Wii platform, along with the Xbox Live Points card and wireless controllers for the Xbox 360 and PS3.”

Quite a month.

- The Ben

It really is the best of times and the worst of times for this system. On one hand you have Nintendo announcing that 3 Million Units of Wii were sold in the US during Dec according to their internal tracking system.

On the other hand you have both Capcom and SEGA saying how they’re probably going to be focusing more of their efforts on the HD twins due to the slow sales of their Mature-themed titles on the system. The fact that their recent Wii titles with actual effort put into them haven’t been met with the same success as Nintendo’s own titles have caused both companies to give a “Not really” line to the press when asked if they’re going to continue testing the Wii waters with Mature titles.

According to the link above from Industry Gamers, Sega of America studio director Constantine Hantzopoulos said that many used the Dead Space title made for Wii as a “litmus test” that EA put actual effort into and not just skimping on the details because it was a Wii title. The end result like most of these “tests” was less than flattering sales in the end, a “slow burner” that doesn’t give the team much satisfaction and hope for future prospects on the system.

So while we have the Wii breaking every monthly record the PS2 set during it’s prime we also have third party companies giving the Wii the same reaction they gave previous Nintendo consoles during the past decade. One of apathy and a general feeling of “Meh” with their tests with the Wii consumer market just not living up to their hopes. – The Ben

Via NeoGaf the NPD Sales Results for this past November are in and indeed they are epic…if you’re into numbers:

Data care of NPD Group
Reporting Period: 11/1 – 11/28/09

PlayStation 2 203.1K
PlayStation 3 710.4K
PSP 293.9K
Xbox 360 819.5K
Wii 1.26M
Nintendo DS 1.70M

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 4.20M (Ed. Note: Oh Infiinity Ward)
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 1.87M
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 1.39M
ASSASSIN’S CREED II 360 UBISOFT Nov-09 794.7K
LEFT 4 DEAD 2 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Nov-09 744.0K
WII SPORTS RESORT* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Jul-09 720.2K
WII FIT PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 679.0K
ASSASSIN’S CREED II PS3 UBISOFT Nov-09 448.4K
DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS* 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Nov-09 362.1K
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Apr-08 315.0K

There’s really no way around those Call of Duty numbers, it’s the biggest franchise this gen, Activision’s already announced another COD for next fall, the games don’t even have to be good at this point, the franchise is gonna be sticking around for a long, long while.

On the Hardware front the usual unit sales flow of DS > Wii > 360 > PS3 > PSP has proven itself again, even though some were expecting the PS3 to have overtaken the 360 in the past month. The PS3’s been almost entirely relaunched and it still couldn’t beat the 360. Hell if you count LFD2 due to it being exclusive for the consoles on the 360, the PS3 is the only console without an exclusive title in the Top Ten. Uncharted 2 may get a shit-ton of GOTY awards in the next few weeks but like I said last month, it’s almost a Metroid Prime Situation with the series. The hardcore love for the title is hard like a rock, but the sales just haven’t resonated with most of the audience for the console it’s on.

And the PSP.

Oh the PSP.

Y’know most Gamestops still have fresh unopened UMD movies they try and get people to buy every year. They’re an interesting relic from a media that seemed so promising six…has it been over six years now since UMD was first revealed along with the PSP? At least the PSP outsold the PS2 last month. That counts for something right? – The Ben

Kotaku reports that during Ubisoft’s full first-half 2009-2010 financial results briefing today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that while big titles from Ubisoft like Assassin’s Creed 2 helped the company out considerably on the financial side of things, all of their “Nintendo-like quality” games released over the past few years have actually hurt the company more than help it.

Thanks to this post by NeoGaffer grandjedi 6 you can see the actual journey Ubisoft took from an interesting start with the system during it’s launch, and see the gradual downward spiral as more and more of those quality titles were coming out. Right around the time it seems when Ubisoft declared that they take the money from the Wii titles they were making money off of and use the money to fund games for the HD consoles. But they still came out with a lot of Wii titles since then! A….a lot of them. A lot of, crap.

Thanks to IGN, you can actually see the entire catalog of Ubisoft’s Wii efforts here.

Their efforts.

Wii
1701 A.D.
Academy of Champions Soccer
American Popstar: Road to Celebrity
Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard
Arthur and the Two Worlds War
Avatar: The Game
Avatar: The Game (Limited Edition)
Babysitting Party
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars — The Director’s Cut
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Deadly Intent
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Cook Wars
Cosmic Family
Cranium Kabookii
Dawn of Discovery
Dogz 2008
Driver: Parallel Lines
Eden
Emergency Heroes
Family Fest Presents Circus Games — 20 Big Top Classics!
Family Fest Presents Movie Games
Family Feud: 2010 Edition
Far Cry Vengeance
GT Pro Series
GT Pro Series (with Racing Wheel)
Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout
Grey’s Anatomy: The Video Game
Hell’s Kitchen
Heroes
Imagine: Fashion Party
Imagine: Party Babyz
Just Dance
Killing Day
Monster 4X4 World Circuit (standard edition)
Monster 4X4 World Circuit (with Racing Wheel)
Monster 4×4: Stunt Racer
Monster 4×4: Stunt Racer (with Racing Wheel)
My Fitness Coach
My French Coach
My Spanish Coach
My Word Coach
Nitrobike
No More Heroes
No More Heroes / Red Steel — 2 Games, One Low Price
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Open Season
Petz Rescue: Endangered Island
Petz Rescue: Wildlife Vet
Petz Sports
Petz: Catz 2
Petz: Crazy Monkeyz
Petz: Dogz 2
Petz: Horse Club
Petz: Horsez 2
Press Your Luck: 2010 Edition
Prince of Persia: Rival Swords
Protöthea
Rabbids Go Home
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
Red Steel
Red Steel 2
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (Target Edition)
Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage
Spelling Spree!
Sports Party
Surf’s Up
TMNT
Team Elimination Games
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
The Adventures of TinTin
The Dog Island
The Price Is Right (2008)
The Price is Right: 2010 Edition
Tom Clancy’s HAWX
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas / Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter — 2 Games, One Low Price
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent
Vacation Sports
Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey
Wordfish
Your Shape

EFFORTS

Note that some of those titles were actually canceled and haven’t been removed from the above list.

However, yes Petz: Crazy Monkeyz is an actual title they released to market.

– The Ben

Via the International Game Developers Association’s Blog, the IGDA has announced the IGDA Healthcare Program. Any current IGDA member in good standing (anyone who doesn’t have the last name Langdell) is eligible for a IGDA HP membership for a small fee. While not a health insurance carrier directly, the IGDA is partnering up with Association Health Programs which is a broker for different insurance carriers across the USA according the blog. By having an IGDA HP membership, the rates for these carriers will be lower than if you did not have this membership.

While not exactly an exciting piece of news, it is an interesting development in the growing development of the industry through the IGDA. While it’ll be a long time before the industry can officially state they have unions or have any sort of solidified industry that isn’t just trying to mimic the larger and more mainstream entertainment brethren, it is a positive step forward in the growth of at least this particular section of the gaming industry. – The Ben

Last months numbers were something else eh? Well thank the stars balance has been achieved and normality has been restored reports the NPD Group via NeoGaf:

PlayStation 2 117.8K
PlayStation 3 320.6K
PSP 174.6K
Xbox 360 249.7K
Wii 506.9K
Nintendo DS 457.6K

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES (PS3; Oct-09) 537,000
WII FIT PLUS* (WII; Oct-09) 441,000
BORDERLANDS (360; Oct-09) 418,000
WII SPORTS RESORT* (WII; Jul-09) 314,000
NBA 2K10* (360; Oct-09) 311,000
HALO 3: ODST (360; Sep-09) 271,000
NBA 2K10* (PS3; Oct-09) 213,000
FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 (360; Oct-09) 175,000
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS (NDS; Sep-09) 169,000
FIFA SOCCER 10 (360; Oct-09) 156,000

The PSP Go launched this month didn’t-…yeah it did didn’t it? Yeah October 1st. That’s….that’s some low PSP hardware numbers for a new hardware SKU launch. I think even the GBA Micro helped the GBA Brand more than the Go’s helping the PSP the month it came out, and by then the GBA was already being put to pasture. The Micro was like the “NES Top Loader” of the GBA Line.

Well looking at software for October we’ve got Uncharted 2 making a respectable debut. Almost seems like it’s this generation’s Metroid Prime as a slow burner of a series that doesn’t quite match the sales with the gigantic critical acclaim they garner. Hmmm Forza 3 numbers look okay nothing special. Kingdom Hearts from last month surprisingly showing up near the bottom an-…wait where’s Brutal Legend? Oh God it’s happening again! It’s happening again it’s the Schaferfuede we always think Tim’s next great title is going to make his studio and himself recognized finally after all these years and the games turn out to be slow sellers.

It’s Schaferfuede I tells ya.

Well as interesting as these numbers are, they won’t compare in the slightest to November’s Large Marge-Sized Numbers on all fronts. Sure we already know MW2 will lead the software pack, will the HD Console Numbers reflect the release of the newest “Biggest Entertainment Launch in History” ?- The Ben

Update: From Geoff Keighly:

FYI, Brutal Legend sold 215.4K across PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

Ah, well that’s more respectable then. Schaferfuede confirmation delayed for now folks.

Reuters reports that Modern Warfare 2 broke all boundaries with a record breaking 4.7 million copy launch on Tuesday with $310 Million sales generated by the game alone; no word on how the strategy guide and various MW2-related swag are selling.

Now, we all knew this was going to happen. Activision knew it was going to happen. Grand Poobah Bobby Kotick knew the game was going to do this well. The question is, did they know skimping on the PC Version would have as much backlash at it did and if so, do they really care? They’ve got all the money in the world right now to make peace to the PC gamers, are they even going to bother fixing the bridges they burnt within the last two or three weeks with the disgruntled members of that community, or is it not even necessary at this point? – The Ben

Oh boy, this story. This news. Well let’s start off with a basic overview of it. Nintendo’s profits from the April to September 2009 quarter fell drastically from the astronomical heights of 2007 and 2008’s numbers to the slowdown we’ve been seeing over the past year.

Operating profit was 104.4 billion yen ($1.2 billion dollars) falling from last year’s 252.2 billion yen profit of H1 08.

The Wii has now outsold the SNES with lifetime sales of 56.14 million units while the DS is up to 113.48 million units. This is horrible as the SNES was a true gamer’s machine.

Last month’s price cut which took effect late in September, was still counted in the quarterly one report and eligible to be commented on by internet denizens as “Not good enough lol. Make some HARDCORE GAMES.”

So today all hardcore gaming journalists can rest easy knowing that they’re finally winning the battle between the plebeian casuals and their casual games. TRUE HARDCORE GAMERZ knew that the Wii’s success and failure hinged only on smoke and mirrors, and this news in no way, shape or form represents the Iwata-acknowledged fact that there was shit all to buy in the first quarter first-party-wise aside from Wii Sports Resort and Metroid Prime Trilogy.

Oh and I love how almost everyone reporting on this story includes a mention of Apple’s success with the iPod and iPhone. I mean yeah they’re successes but I don’t reeeeeaaaally think parents hold a game console (these articles are the same ones that rightfully mention sluggish Wii sales in their title as the reason for the drop in profit) in one hand and an iPhone in the other and it’s this big battle and OH MY GOD APPLE PLEASE MAKE A CONSOLE IN FACT I’M GONNA WRITE AN ARTICLE BASED ON CONJECTURE AND SPECULATION ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW.

I mean, if they were talking about the iPhone being a competitor to the DS then yeah that’s a valid comparison they’re both portables. But just randomly inserting phrases like “Low Wii sales may also be related to the rise of the of the PSPGO and the iPhone” in these professional news stories (and these are professional online news outlets I’m seeing this at, not hobbyist gaming blogs) is…..GAH. -The Ben

Update: You think I was JOKING ABOUT THAT LAST PARAGRAPH? Goddamn FORBES just did it:

HONG KONG — Super Mario Brothers, Cooking Mama, Donkey Kong and all the other game characters Nintendo has conjured up weren’t powerful enough to fend off the challenges of a stronger yen and a new competitor called the iPhone.

Ha ha, I love a cheeky opening to a news story.

Demand for Wii, the bestselling videogame console produced by Nintendo, has been cooling down in the past few months as Apple’s iPhone has been growing in popularity as the platform of choice for handheld game players.

But…they’re two different…GAH.

Hey Matt Martin of gamesindustry.biz what’s up with Nintendo’s profits these days?

Nintendo could announce its first drop in profits for six years, according to market watchers.

Income for the Japanese giant is likely to fall 11 per cent to JPY 249.3 billion, the first drop since the 12 months ended March 2004, according to Bloomberg.

“Nintendo may cut its profit projection about 30 per cent because of sluggish sales in the first half, the price cut for the Wii and currency-related impact,” said Satoru Kikuchi, of Deutsche Bank AG in Tokyo. “Investors are expecting the company to fully reflect its business environment in its forecast.”

The company will announce its results on October 29, and had originally forecast JPY 300 billion net income this year.

Sales of the Wii console have been falling, with the hardware outsold by Sony’s PlayStation 3 last month in the US.

Nintendo was the last of the big three hardware manufacturers to cut the price of its console in the US, Japan and Europe, although the street price remains the same in the UK.

Oh no, a foreseen drop in momentum could lead to a decrease in profit that will still be higher than most of the industry’s profits for the first half? Oh God NO! Only a total company overhaul in preparation for the Wii HD could possibly save them now. The mythical Wii HD as foretold by Michael Pachter that doesn’t actually exist so don’t get your hopes up and stop trying to get people to believe that one’s coming.

And people writing this month’s news that the PS3 outsold everything like it was a shock, a SHOCK. No it wasn’t a shock. It was expected by everyone. Everyone. EVERYONE. – The Ben

Via GAF courtesy of the NPD Group, it’s the September NPD Sales Results:

PlayStation 2 146.0K
PlayStation 3 491.8K
PSP 190.4K
Xbox 360 352.6K
Wii 462.8K
Nintendo DS 524.2K

HALO 3: ODST (360; Sep-09) 1.52M
WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS (WII; Jul-09) 442.9K
MADDEN NFL 10 (360; Aug-09) 289.6K
MARIO & LUIGI:BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY (NDS; Sep-09) 258.1K
THE BEATLES:ROCK BAND* (360; Sep-09) 254.0K
MADDEN NFL 10 (PS3; Aug-09) 246.5K
MARVEL:ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 2 (360; Sep-09) 236.0K
BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM* (PS3; Aug-09) 212.5K
GUITAR HERO 5* (360; Sep-09) 210.8K
THE BEATLES:ROCK BAND* (WII; Sep-09) 208.6K

Right away we can see how effective the PS3 Slim has been in terms of giving the PS3 a new lease on life in terms of Hardware popularity. Expected by just about everybody out there, this is a performance we might not see again for a while from the PS3 until the Holiday Season, but maybe Uncharted 2 will keep the PS3 numbers from free falling as quickly as they rose up.

Other than that it’s a pretty standard September month, the usual bunch of gamers who waited until Madden drops in price one month after it’s release keep it on the charts. Halo 3: ODST did really well, but didn’t help the 360 to overtake a Wii that managed a last minute price drop in the latter half of September to try and get back to previous highs that the system experienced last year. PS3 SKU of Batman:AA is seeing continued success, the Joker helping the SKU staying in the Top 10.

And just for old times sake Mario pops in to say hi, the reign over the Top 10 Sales chart for almost this entire year all but gone now.

Hope the rest of the NPD reports for 2009 are this exciting. – The Ben

Bomshelled during a ustream chat, Infinity Ward Community Manager Rob Bowling let loose the little notice that the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 will not have dedicated servers, but that this WILL make selling DLC easier for the PC version and inevitably will be more beneficial to Activision’s bottom line in the end.

Look, nobody’s blaming Bobby Kotick for everything negative action that Activision has put forth for the last few years. Certainly one man can’t be the direct cause for dropping games that can’t be “exploited”, trying to make the removal of features for games such as LAN for StarCraft 2 look like a good idea, and now this business with no dedicated servers for the PC version of a highly-anticipated multiplayer-focused FPS title that they know is going to sell more copies of itself than a few game consoles have sold more hardware in their entire lifespan. Money’s not the problem here.

But I can see how one might think the entire company is influenced by the face of Activision.

Actually, most of these descisions this year have seemingly been targeted towards PC gamers more than anything else. No, I’m not saying Bobby Kotick is trying to systematically dismantle PC Gaming or anything of that sort. I mean even if he’s the guy who “joked” about creating a work environment that purposefully depresses it’s employees he’s….he’s….

Alright yeah it looks like he’s somehow single-handily taken Activision from it’s “Plucky Tony Hawk and Spider-Man developing underdog development company” of the early years of this decade to “The New EA” and all the spoils that that title comes with. – The Ben

Straight from Gizmodo, Matt Buchanan reports from a Microsoft round table with Microsoft’s Robbie Bach detailing how Natal will follow a price curve “like anything else” the update says. Matt expands upon that saying that it will start at a more expensive point and gradually get cheaper as time goes on. He then makes a pretty strange comparison to the SEGA 32X add-on and how Natal will be marketed.

The statement isn’t so strange in it’s meaning, both the 32X and Natal were/are supposed to prolong the life cycle of their respective consoles with new and unique ways of gaming you couldn’t previously get on those systems. It’s strange in the fact that the 32X, along with SEGA’s other notable console add-on the SEGA-CD, weren’t all that successful in keeping the Genesis alive in the long run.

Matt ends the update with his own opinion of believing Natal to end up costing around $150 at launch. Everyone knew this add-on wouldn’t be cheap, but that does seem reasonable when you consider it as a full fledged add-on instead of looking at it as a mere accessory like an Eye Toy or Motion Plus. – The Ben