From Gamespot:

While Lego Batman is being released on a multitude of platforms, Traveller’s Tales claims that this is the first Lego game that they’ve built specifically for next-gen platforms such as Xbox 360 and PS3. The environments are more detailed than those of Lego Star Wars, and they feature nice incidental effects, such as rats running around, and smoke rising from the grates. The game can also be played in two-player co-op across Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, while both versions will support 720p and 1080p resolution output. It’s also still hitting PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable with all the same content, while they’re currently experimenting with motion-sensitive batarang controls for the Wii.

With Lego Batman, Traveller’s Tales look set to replicate the same sly humour and solid co-op play that they pioneered with the Lego Star Wars series. It’s clear that the game isn’t trying to break major new ground, but rather take the fundamentals of the previous games and transport them to an entirely different comic book universe. With this and Lego Indiana Jones in the pipeline, it will be a busy year for the British developer, but we hold hope that the game will still make its planned Q4 2008 release date. With plenty of time before now and then, expect to see more on Lego Batman in the coming months.

[source]

PC

20 Questions, Dance! Online, First Battalion Gold Edition, Forgotten Riddles: The Mayan Princess, Medieval II Total War Gold Edition, Merv Griffin’s Crosswords, My Horse & Me, Sins of a Solar Empire, Spaceforce Captains, The Spiderwick Chronicles

PlayStation 2

Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore, Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore Microphone Bundle, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Rise to Power, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition

PlayStation 3

Devil May Cry 4, Devil May Cry 4 Collector’s Edition, Turok

Xbox 360

Culdcept Saga, Devil May Cry 4, Devil May Cry 4 Collector’s Edition, Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore Microphone Bundle, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Turok

Wii

Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore Microphone Bundle, My Horse & Me, The Spiderwick Chronicles

DS

Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles, My Horse & Me, Pets & Claws Pet Resort, Puppy Palace, Real Soccer 2008 (GameStop Exclusive), The Spiderwick Chronicles, Zoo Tycoon 2 DS

PSP

Downstream Panic!

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The top ten games sold in the U.S. for the month of October are below,

01. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) – 433,800
02. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Xbox 360) – 383,200
03. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Wii) – 286,300
04. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (PS2) – 271,100
05. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) – 262,800
06. Wii Play (Wii) – 239,700
07. The Orange Box (Xbox 360) – 238,400
08. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) -231,700
09. FIFA Soccer 08 (PS2) – 129,700
10. Brain Age 2: More Training In Minutes A Day (DS) – 116,900

Total video game software sales checked in at $513.9 million, up 39% from the previous October’s at $369.3 million. Of that $513.9 million, $412.5 million was spent on console software, with $101.5 million dedicated to portable game software. Both are also up from the previous October.

Anita Frazier, analyst at the NPD, commented on Guitar Hero III’s sales, saying “Very few games sell in excess of 1 million units in their first month in market, but Guitar Hero III did easily with combined sales of 1.4 million units in only 6 days. Since it has broad appeal, it’s also the type of game that should continue to do very well throughout the holidays.”

Guess that means a sequel is likely.

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They are offering a free $60 gift card with purchase of a Halo 3 Xbox 360 and Halo 3, which ultimately breaks down to getting Halo 3 for the free. A $10 gift card with purchase of Nintendo DS Special Edition bundle with free Zelda or Nintendogs game. 5 free UMD movies with purchase of new PSP.

Cheap games you want? Okay, for $48 you can get Heavenly Sword, Call of Duty 4, The Orange Box, PGR4 or skate. Cheaper yet? Fine, $38 will get you Tony Hawk’s Proving Grounds, Spider-man: Friend or Foe, NCAA 08, Gears of War or Boogie for PS2 and Wii.

Even cheaper games … for $28 you can get NBA 2K8 or Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Naruto, Big Brain Academy and Smarty Pants for Wii. And for $17 you can pick up Lego Star Wars II, Saints Row or the Simpsons game for PSP.

Oh, and we forgot to mention the Xbox 360 wireless headset, $48 and PS2 wireless Psyclone Guitar for $38.

Click the picture to see the entire scan of the Target Black Friday game ad.

NPD September sales numbers:

Hardware

Xbox 360: 527,800
Wii: 501,000
Nintendo DS: 495,800
PlayStation Portable: 284,500
PlayStation 2: 215,000
Playstation 3: 119,400
Game Boy Advance: 75,000

Console/Handheld Software Top Ten Unit Sales

Halo 3*
3,300,000
Microsoft
Xbox 360

Wii Play w/Remote
282,000
Nintendo
Wii

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
224,000
Nintendo
DS

Madden NFL 08
205,000
Electronic Arts
PS2

Skate
175,000
Electronic Arts
Xbox 360

Madden NFL 08
173,000
Electronic Arts
Xbox 360

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
167,000
Nintendo
Wii

BioShock
150,000
Take-Two Interactive
Xbox 360

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day
141,000
Nintendo
Wii

Heavenly Sword
139,000
Sony Computer Entertainment
Playstation 3

(*Includes Collector’s & Legendary Editions)

PC Software Top 5 Unit Sales

The Sims 2 Bon Voyage Expansion Pack
121,500
Electronic Arts

World Of Warcraft*
69,200
Vivendi

World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
56,800
Vivendi

World In Conflict
43,600
Vivendi

Bioshock
43,200
Take-Two Interactive

[source]

When the Simpsons find themselves stuck in video game purgatory, it’ll take everything they have to get back to the safe haven of their living room couch in Springfield. Ah, who are we kidding-they’ll need a lot more than that. They’ll need a huge arsenal of power-ups and your guiding hand to boot. Take a look around this site to learn more about a Simpsons video game adventure like no other!

This is why Sony may yet rule the console-verse in spite of all its missteps and bungled first-gen games and cynical press. Because pretty much out of the blue, a game like Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII can come along in the right market (Japan) and turn a mediocre selling handheld system into a top seller six times the PSP’s prior week sales. Snap. Just like that. Crisis Core’s sale to-date in Japan? 486,659. (The game comes out here sometime next spring.)Last week’s Japanese hardware sales, courtesy Media Create:

95,487 Sony PSP
79,974 Nintendo DS
26,181 Nintendo Wii
13,128 PlayStation 2
13,101 PlayStation 3
1,243 Xbox 360

Aside from a plaintive “Ouch, Xbox 360, just ouch,” it’s another reminder that games move hardware faster than you can say “Too bad no Metal Gear Solid 4 ’til 2008, grasshopper.” Final Fantasy XIII too, which I’m actually betting we won’t see stateside until 2009 at this point. Then again, those franchises are bigger in Japan anyway. For instance, as I’m typing this, I’m listening to the Final Fantasy IX Piano Collection. What’s that? You didn’t know they had solo piano arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu’s music? You don’t know who Nobuo Uematsu is? Exactly.

Sony’s going to retake the Japanese market from Nintendo probably sooner than later, but what about over here? Let’s see, Lair was pretty much a disaster and I expect to see that reflected in sales figures going forward, i.e. it won’t be a game that sells well despite its critical drubbing (the way, by contrast, pretty much every EA sports title does). Heavenly Sword is getting decent reviews, but it’s more of a niche action title without the franchise recognition Sony needs to churn out Halo-sized numbers.

What’s on deck for the rest of the year in terms of PS3 exclusives?

Folklore is supposed to be a “dark fantasy adventure inspired by western fairy tales,” and sounds a bit Diablo to me, i.e. central town hub, venture out to do battle with monsters on intermittent quests, button-mashy combat. Unique stuff includes using the SIXAXIS to “shake” enemies and “yank” their powers away to use for yourself. It’s getting mixed press so far. Release: Early October.

The PSP’s “Size Matters” was fantastic, so let’s hope Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is even better. I don’t know where this one’s buzz went, since no one seems to be talking about it. Have we lost interest in platformers? Release: Late October.

Umm, that’s about it. Yeah, kind of a bum holiday season for PS3 owners, though to be fair, Microsoft’s Xbox was tapping the Halo IV (as in “eye-vee,” not the roman numeral) its first couple years before stuff like Splinter Cell and Ninja Gaiden and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic finally showed up.

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Here are the top ten best sellers (by units sold) for July from The NPD Group:

1. NCAA Football 08—360—EA—397,000
2. Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s—PS2—Activision—339,000
3. Wii Play w/remote—Wii—Nintendo—278,000
4. NCAA Football 08—PS2—EA—236,000
5. Mario Party 8—Wii—Nintendo—177,000
6. NCAA Football 08—PS3—EA—156,000
7. Pokemon Diamond—DS—Nintendo—144,000
8. Transformers: The Game—PS2—Activision—143,000
9. Guitar Hero II w/guitar—PS2—Activision—138,000
10. Guitar Hero II w/guitar—360—Activision—108,000

[source]

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo Wii)
   
2. PlayStation 3 (60GB)
3. Sid Meiers Civilization IV Beyond the Sword (Windows XP)
4. Nintendo Wii
5. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80′s (PlayStaton 2)
6. Wii Nunchuk Controller
7. Wii Remote Controller
8. Sony Playstation 3 Wireless Controller
9. Nintendo DS Lite Onyx Black
10. Nintendo Wii Charge Station
11. Nintendo Wii Play with Wii Remote (Nintendo Wii)
12. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo Wii)
    
13. Sony Playstation 3 Blu-Ray DVD Remote
14. Sony Playstation 2 Silver Console
15. Guitar Hero 2 Bundle with Guitar
16. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo DS)
    
17. Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
    
18. Xbox 360 Console Includes 20GB Hard Drive
19. Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
20. Resident Evil 4 (Nintendo Wii)

[source]

Games.net recently featured a list of the top 49 sequel-less games. Listed below are the top 10 from their list.

10- Freelancer (PC)

As a freelance pilot, the player takes on what should be a simple escort mission in return for a second-hand ship and minimal cash, but things quickly escalate out of control. Yet the plot, while intricate and entertaining, isn’t what brought people to Freelancer, let alone kept them playing for hours on end. This space simulation offers the massive, free-form universe that so many space simulation enthusiasts craved, while still walking that delicate tightrope between arcade action and simulation specifics.

Finishing the plot of Freelancer leaves players far from having explored the game’s universe. The plot missions are some of the game’s high points, but only cover a fraction of the universe and still allow plenty of room for everything from mining to privateering, all at your wispiest whim. If that game had critics, it was the hardcore crowd that feared games would favor mouse and keyboard play over the traditional joystick interface.

Will Freelancer receive a sequel? Unknown. Freelancer itself is sort of a sequel to Starlancer, but not quite. Those of you eager for more of Freelancer should explore the mod community. The available mods and conversions could keep you playing for months. Besides, there are plenty of games that offer free-form exploration, trade and combat in a large universe, such as the X franchise and Dark Star One.

9- Ico (PS2)

A youth unfortunate enough to have been born with horns is locked inside a mysterious castle as a sacrifice, to spare the land from a foul curse. Despite the dismal circumstances, his gymnastic talents and quick wit allow him to escape his sacrificial tomb and cast his lot alongside a mysterious girl plagued by shadowy creatures. Through visually stunning platforming puzzles and occasional swordplay, the boy and girl save themselves from a horrible fate at the hands of a wraith queen.

Ico is a case study in minimalist elegance. Aside from the glorious gameplay, so much is communicated by the horned boy and doomed princess from their simple handholding and heartbreaking cooperation. Losing the girl to shadows is tragic, beyond just requiring the player to restart that level.

Another critical success and sales failure, Ico wasn’t awarded a formal sequel. But Shadow of the Colossus is set in the same world’s past. So look to it as Ico’s spiritual successor.

8- Skies of Arcadia (DC, GC)

The pirates and floating continents of Skies of Arcadia didn’t get enough attention on the Dreamcast, so a Legends version of the game was released on the GameCube that exchanged the console role-playing game’s booze and smokes for a goth chick who hunts air pirates.

In both versions Vyse (a cutlass-wielding teen) and Aika (an easily angered boomerang jockey) are joined by a series of friends as they navigate a typically cryptic console role-playing game plot that has them using crystals to control creatures of colossal power and a complicated battle system to fight their way through the world to save it.

Will we get the chance to save the Valuan Empire again? Even the PlayStation 2 port was cancelled, so it seems unlikely. A shame, since the free-spirited really-high-seas adventure was unique and enjoyable amidst the glut of neo-futuristic, downright depressing RPGs of the era.

7- Rez (PS2, DC)

Rez is a rail shooter set inside a world computer network, uniquely combining elements of rhythm games and action-rich shooters to create the ultimate in visually and musically hypnotic play. All computers on the planet have been networked, but that network is being corrupted by the very program designed to save it. As a hacker with the trippiest interface ever conceived, the player has to clean up the network and reboot the critical program.

Despite the cyberpunk theme, Rez isn’t about plot. It’s entirely about experiencing the unification of rhythm, tone and visuals, and controlling all of them with a trance-like state and a DualShock controller. Playing Rez is the closest you’ll ever get to hearing “orange,” short of a neurological breakdown.

Rez received countless awards but was strange enough to have trouble capturing mainstream attention. Rumors abound of a sequel for the newest consoles, but the proof is in the pudding. The hallucinogenic, musical, visually intense pudding.

6- Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

To save his lost and lifeless love, a young man must scour the world for creatures like moving mountains and plunge his sword into their mystically vulnerable spots. Doing so releases the trapped essence of an entity said to be able to raise the dead.

Flawlessly integrating platforming-like action and puzzle solving, Shadow of the Colossus abandons the often claustrophobic climbing and jumping puzzles of other games into a series of genuinely epic encounters with powerful constructs of magic and stone. Shadow of the Colossus even makes a game out of finding the creatures, as the young man is aided only by a reflective sword and a loyal (and spectacularly animated) horse.

More colossi would detract from the game’s magic, but since Shadow of the Colossus is set in Ico’s world (before the events of Ico), Ico is as much of a sequel as you could need.

5- Adventure (Atari 2600)

Mazes, dragons, swords and keys brought action/adventure play to consoles in Adventure. Just bring the chalice to the castle without perishing. While not sophisticated by today’s standards, Adventure was a far cry from Pong, and seemed like an incredible feat of software engineering. Anyone who played the game when it was first released can remember regaling friends with tales of their knightly conquest. A few colored dots and lines manipulated with a joystick (that had only a single button!) transformed into chivalrous knights seeking to steal the Grail from sinister serpents. Or something similar.

Despite the sophistication of today’s games, you have to heave a nostalgic sigh as you think back on trapping the bat in a castle or succeeding at the randomized quest. Nearly 30 years later, it may be more fun to remember than it is to replay, but Adventure holds a special place in gamers’ hearts.

Adventure might seem simplistic now, but most games draw on elements of Adventure and can be considered spiritual sequels of sorts. As with the other seminal games like Space War, nearly every design decision from Adventure resurfaces and is reconsidered in every new game.

Does Adventure really need a sequel? Wouldn’t adding anything more than the basic weapon and wyrms detract from its elegance? Don’t be surprised if someday the name Adventure resurfaces, looking as much like the original as, say, The Bard’s Tale.

4- Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GC)

This brilliant psychological horror game explored the impact of Lovecraftian terrors throughout the ages, introducing characters from a Roman Centurion to a Cambodian slave girl, allowing players to decide the fates of ancient, chaotic gods. Bouncing characters through time, Eternal Darkness made the first century BC as central to the plot as the modern day world, and mixed the banal with the supernatural and the incomprehensibly horrific.

On top of the time travel, Eternal Darkness sported a magical rune system that provided tremendous variety during play. Three different types of magic (and three similar, but not identical, paths through the game with very different endings) provided a lot of ways to play, making this one of the few games that was worth fully playing through several times. A clever story, vivid settings and compelling characters were much of the game’s appeal, but it didn’t stop there. The game perfected the effects of insanity for its generation of consoles.

Game effects representing the path to madness are critical to any game undertaking the unknowable horrors of eldritch divinities. To that end, Eternal Darkness not only messed with your character’s head, it messed with yours. Sure, it might present basic visual and auditory hallucinations like limbs falling off or distant screams. The game also would try dirtier tricks like faking video input problems or pretending to delete save games realistically enough to make a gamer’s heart skip a beat.

Eternal Darkness was designed as a stand-alone game, but its success (both cult and critical) wasn’t matched by sales. The developers would love to make another, and we can only image what they could do with the Wii interface, but any sequels seem trapped in limbo.

3- Beyond Good & Evil (PC, Xbox, PS2, GC)

Jade, the lovely female protagonist of Beyond Good & Evil, is a photojournalist. A photojournalist who just happens to race seacraft and raise a bevy of orphans in a remote lighthouse… in her spare time. If that’s not enough, Jade’s world is under assault by the DomZ, a foul alien race that constantly bombards her world, Hillys. Running out of cash to keep up the shield that protects her orphanage/home/garage/studio from orbital bombardment, Jade picks up a job cataloging Hillys’ wildlife.

From there, Jade becomes embroiled in her government’s duplicitous involvement with the alien invaders and sets about exposing the nefarious plot, all the while taking pictures of animals and keeping food on the orphans’ table. Not content to confine itself to any one genre, Beyond Good & Evil ranges from puzzle play through combat, photography, racing and stealth all in a framework that would suit any adventure game. The intuitive context-sensitive command system mixed with the sophisticatedly stylized visuals to create the complete game experience. Certainly, there were oddly anthropomorphic animal characters and an unforgettably French soundtrack (“Propaganda!”), but the game was undeniably great.

Beyond Good & Evil was intended as the first part of a trilogy – a trilogy that has yet to materialize. The game received great reviews and, contrary to popular opinion, sold quite well. Even so, some complained about the shortness of the game, and its development was hardly efficient. The developers were understandably proud of their water effects (and said so, often) but should have spent more effort on the portions of the game that have withstood the tests of time. Fortunately, Michel Ancel has more clout than most developers, so you might see a sequel. Just don’t hold your breath to learn Pey’j's fate.

2- Grim Fandango (PC)

Manny Calavera’s grim reaping responsibilities are sidetracked by souls denied their rightful passage. This suave, but undeniably dead, hero can only investigate this film noir afterlife abomination on the Day of the Dead. As such, the adventure game Grim Fandango is spaced out over a series of annual episodes that poke fun equally at popular culture and classic films. Only by unearthing the Hector LeMans’ inanimate infractions can Manny find his final rest and avoid being sprouted.

Aside from an unbelievably memorable plot, Grim Fandango was an evolution in adventure games. It was the first use of LucasArts’ latest adventure game engine (LucasArts was then an adventure game powerhouse) and sported controls that were unusual for its genre. Those controls, together with the 3D characters, took some getting used to by traditional adventure gamers, but nothing could stand in the way of Grim’s greatness.

Why no more Manny? Tim Schafer is busy at Double Fine making other games (like the top and final game on this list) and publisher LucasArts has moved away from adventure games. Once LucasArts pulled the plug on its own sequels to Sam & Max Hit the Road and Full Throttle, the future for Grim Fandango sequels became darker than Manny’s time in the Department of Death. Don’t expect more Meche or Dia de los Muertos. Let this game be a classic – a “Citizen Kane” of the gaming world. But with a few more jokes.

The #1 Sequel-Less Game Ever!

1- Psychonauts (Xbox, PS2, PC)

Rasputin’s trip to psychic summer camp is soured when other campers are debrained, leaving Rasputin to platform through other camper’s mindscapes. This cerebral conceit allowed developer Double Fine to create delightfully diverse displays of the inner workings of less-than-ordinary psychic practitioners. From a psychedelic party palace to a conspiracy-draped suburb that will leave you wondering “Who is the milkman?” And did anyone play the game without wandering slack-jawed murmuring “TV… Hackeysack…”?

Psychonauts won every “Best Game No One Played” award out there. Despite great reviews, sales for Psychonauts didn’t meet projections. The game’s sales certainly suffered because it was publicly dropped by Microsoft and moved to Majesco. Worse yet, the Psychonauts sales slump added insult to the injury Majesco suffered from Advent Rising (#), convincing Majesco to pursue lower-budget games for more casual gamers and to give up on top-tier titles entirely.

Psychonauts’ platforming nature also cost it sales. The platforming action wasn’t challenging enough for hardcore gamers, while the demands on dexterity were too harsh for the casual adventure game fans with a proclivity for Psychonauts’ plot. On top of that, the sophisticated humor and underlying dark psychological tone made the title less kid-friendly than many parents wanted.

Whatever the criticisms, few games push storytelling to the same humorous heights as the daring and always entertaining Psychonauts. Whether as sequels or other games developed in the same spirit, we need more of this superlative stuff.

[source]

Has your appetite for new-gen skateboarding games not been whetted by clips from Electronic Arts’ Skate? Activision has just sent out a press release unveiling the latest Tony Hawk game, entitled Proving Ground.

New features with full-featured editing tools and visual effects for creating “epic skate videos,” a customizable Skate Lounge where you and friends can skate around together, and seamless single player and online integration. There will be skateable terrain altering and more Nail-the-Trick moves.

Proving Ground is slated for release later this fall for Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS2 and Nintendo DS. GamePro is dedicated their next issue to the game. Has anyone already received their copy of the issue in the mail?

Gallery: Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground

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