Activision’s plans to leverage the Bond license going forward may include a new GoldenEye title for Wii and DS, according to a source close to Eurogamer.
Separate from the Bond racer purported to be in development at Bizarre Creations, the title is reportedly due out in November and “may” be a remake of 1997′s N64 cult-classic, originally developed by Rare. more »
Publisher Nintendo today announced that the ninth entry in Square Enix’s long-running RPG franchise — Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies — will hit North American retailers on July 11, a full year after the initial Japanese release. A European release will follow suit on July 23. more »
NPD figures for March are in and suffice to say, it was an interesting month for both camps. For the second consecutive month, Xbox 360 edged past the PS3, a victory Microsoft might not have had if Final Fantasy XIII never made the multi-platform jump.
Cumulatively, Square Enix’s RPG opus sold over 1.3 million copies on both formats. The lion’s share of that figure went to PS3, which is not surprising considering the franchise is largely associated with the PlayStation brand. Still, the Xbox 360 version of FFXIII sold well, recording sales just shy of 500K units. Clearly, making the decision to go multi-platform later in development was worth the trouble.
Sony’s gory action juggernaut God of War III made a solid effort on the charts in March, shifting 1.10 millions units, a 32 percent increase over launch month sales of its predecessor. Combined, Pokemon flavors SoulSilver and HeartGold trumped everything else on the chart, proving once again that Nintendo’s gaggle of critters remain a force to be reckoned with.
A full breakdown of NPD’s figures for March can be found past the break. more »
As part of a revision to their 2009-10 outlook, Ubisoft confirmed that both Splinter Cell: Conviction and R.U.S.E. have been delayed into the company’s next fiscal year. Originally slated for February, Conviction is now due out in April 2010. While not exactly a huge setback, it’s still a significant bump, especially when considering how many times this title has been pushed back. Ubi gave no specific release window for R.U.S.E.
To compensate for the shift in release dates, Ubisoft is backpedaling on its sales targets for the 2009-10 fiscal year, setting their full year revenue forecast at €860 million – down from €1,040 million. Likewise, third quarter targets have been knocked down to €495 million from €540 million. Ubi cited lower-than-expected performance of Wii and DS titles in the casual sector as a contributing factor for making these adjustments.
Publisher Atlus today announced plans to bring Metal Slug XX to PSP, an enhanced version of DS title Metal Slug 7 with the much-welcomed addition of cooperative play at a palatable budget price to boot: $19.99.
Players can choose between six characters from the Metal Slug universe, engaging in frantic non-stop shoot em’ up action that fans of the series have come to expect, backed by lush 2D visuals. To round out the package a “Combat School” gameplay mode is due for inclusion, which features 70 challenge centric missions. Additionally, a seventh playable character – Leona – will be available at launch as DLC for $0.99 from the PlayStation Store.
Metal Slug XX is slated to hit retailers February 23 on UMD. No plans have been made for a digital equivalent at this point, meaning PSPgo owners are out of luck for now.
Coder HtheB released the newest version of his MSN Client for the Nintendo DS. Aparently, the older version used an MSN old protocol (MSNP9) which was disabled by Microsoft™, thus making it unable to login, giving the “Connection to notification server has died.” error. HtheB altered the homebrew to use the older protocol (MSNP8) which does not use avatars to make it work.
Changelog after the jump. more »
Mistwalker boss and creator of the Final Fantasy series Hironobu Sakaguchi has hinted at a new project on his blog. Judging from the cryptic note he left, all signs point to a project that is finished or at least nearing completion, meaning we should expect concrete details on it soon. more »
As part of a promotion Ubisoft is running with GameStop, those who pre-order COP: The Recruit for DS – either online or at retail locations across North America – will receive an unlock code to access exclusive bonus missions. There’s no word on what the missions will entail, but at no extra cost, that’s a sweet deal.
As the first of its kind on DS, COP: The Recruit is an open-world action game that features full 3D visuals. Players assume the role of Dan Miles, who is working closely with his mentor Dectective Brad Winter in investigating terrorist activities plaguing the streets of New York, leading to a life of fear for citizens. The investigation is hampered when Brad is falsely accused, leaving Dan to uncover the truth behind a menacing conspiracy. more »
In a press release detailing its holiday lineup, Nintendo revealed that DS title The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is on track for a December 7 release in North America.
While story details are still shrouded in mystery, the title features an cel-shaded art style fondly reminiscent of Phantom Hourglass. Apart from the added element of stylus driven controls, gameplay is largely akin to traditional Zelda efforts, this time with an added emphasis on exploration as Link guides a cannon-wielding steam engine.
See Nintendo’s mammoth release schedule from first-party and third-party publishers after the break. more »
Nintendo may have plans to position the DSi platform as more than a mere enhancement over previous DS hardware iterations with rumors cropping up that titles exclusive to DSi will hit retail channels later this fall. They’ve already done this to a certain extent with DSiWare, but the digital market is still small potatoes compared to retail. more »
