VG Arabia » Xbox360

NPD sales numbers for December 2009 revealed

Ahmad Dajani — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:34:54 +0000

As expected, Nintendo topped the charts for December with the Wii topping the hardware sales and New Super Mario Bros. taking the first spot in software sales. Also, the PS3 outperformed on Xbox360 in December by a small margin. NPD U.S. sales figures for December 2009:
( November 29-January 2):

* Hardware:

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

* Software:

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

5 Most Anticipated Games Yet To Come In 2009

Abdin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:57:35 +0000

So far 2009 wasn’t the best year for gamers, but in the coming few months many EPIC titles will be released, and here are our most anticipated 5 games yet to come in 2009:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The direct sequel of COD 4, one of the best selling shooters of all time, here comes the most anticipated game in 2009. Even though the game will feature a brief single player campaign, multiplayer is what Call of Duty is all about.

The game will have a new co-op mode “Special Ops” that supports up to two players online or locally in split-screen. The competitive online multiplayer will have the same rank up system of COD 4, with few more features, new weapons, upgradable perks, 15 kill streak rewards and THANK GOD an “in game host migration” which means that even if the damn host leaves the game, players will remain.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

One more reason to buy a PS3,as if we need one, Uncharted 2 takes off a couple of years after the events of Uncharted: Drake’s fortune, the game will show a “darker” side of Nathan.

With Naughty Dog’s new game engine players will experience a whole new level of gameplay mechanics, and stunning graphical technology (the game will use between 90-100% of the PS3 cell processor).

Also the game will feature a co-op mode that will allow up to three players to play as Nathan, Sully and Chloe and a competitive multiplayer mode that allows a maximum of ten players to play through different modes.

Halo 3: ODST

I know we had it with Microsoft “milking” the Halo franchise, but so far this game looks amazing. This time around the player will take control of an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) soldier “The Rookie”, a few years before the events of Halo 3.

For the first time in an open world Halo game, the player can approach missions anyway he wants. You can choose to be patient and use stealth, or you can just start shooting everyone, but be careful, because you’re not “Master Chief” which means no health regeneration, no advanced armor and less strength.

The game will also have the same Halo 3 multiplayer with 24 maps (all map packs + 3 new maps), and will include a new Firefight mode *cough*horde mode*cough* which will allow up to 4 players to team against waves of enemies.

I think gamers will fall in love with the multiplayer mode, but there is a big question here: will the campaign mode meet the expectations of the fans of the series?

Assassin’s Creed II

The first AC was a real great game that felt short in a few aspects, such as the lack of variety, weapons and yeah “the best assassin in the world” couldn’t swim!

So far AC 2 seems too good to be true!! Impressive graphics and physics, gameplay seems flawless and varied, lots of upgradable weapons and this time you will play as Ezio, who is way more badass than Altair. Ubisoft Montreal has done a great job listening to fans, know you can swim, fly, buy a lot of different upgradable weapons, use enemy weapons and no cover is safe anymore.

Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead is one of those games that you can’t really like and understand the gameplay until you try it, seriously when the game first came out, I couldn’t care less about it, I just didn’t think it was that good! But after playing the game with a few friends, I discovered I was missing a lot.

L4D 2 will use the same engine (source engine) used in L4d. Four new survivors will shoot their way through hordes of different zombie types in 5 new larger maps that will be playable in co-op, versus, survival and an all new multiplayer mode.

The first game was one of the best co-op experiences of all time, and with the addition of over 20 new weapons (such as the chainsaw, axe and frying pan!!), new ammo types, new infected zombie types and a new A.I director. Even though the L4D was just released less than a year ago I think Valve’s additions will double the fun.

Honorable Mention:
Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands, Brutal Legend, Demon’s Souls, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Forza Motorsport 3, FIFA Soccer 10, Tekken 6

FIFA 10, Full match video

Bawaleez — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:02:41 +0000

FIFA10 on EASports booth at Gamescom, full match introducing Chelsea Vs Barcelona, Enjoy it!

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Mass effect 2 demo is overheating Xboxes

Ahmad Dajani — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:22:21 +0000

According to the last update from Bioware on twitter, the demo of Mass Effect 2 is overheating the system:

“Danger Will Robinson! Xboxes in ME2 demo overheating. We’re stalled as we fix”

I think they are talking about GamesCom demo. I Hope the final game won’t have such problems.

Which upcoming exclusive will define the PS3?

Ahmad Dajani — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:54:22 +0000

No one can argue the fact that Sony console has produced some of the best games this generation. I have been watching the sales performance of every big exclusive game for the PS3, as there are a lot of exclusive games for the PS3 sold pretty well, but the problem is Sony console the PS3 still don’t have a game as powerful as Halo 3 or Gears Of Wars1/2 when it comes to sales.

Before MGS4 was set to be released last year, I was predicting it to be the game that will set the PS3 on fire. While the game helped in shifting more PS3 consoles around the world, my expectations was higher for a game that as well recognized as the MGS franchise. After that I has put my money on Little Big Planet to be the game that will define the PS3 as a gaming console, as it have all the features you need in a game to bring both of the hardcore and casual gamers to buy Sony console, but LBP failed to magnetize huge portion of casual gamers. As I think there are two main reasons why Little Big Planet wasn’t the system seller all gamers around the world were hoping for, first thing is Sony hasn’t advertised the game the way it should be, the second reason is they released the game in the same time frame as Fable 2, which was hyped by Peter Molyneux to the roof plus Microsoft advertised Fable 2 heavily.

After that the hype was hitting the roof before the release of Killzone 2, as there was a lot of articles discussing how Killzone 2 will give the PS3 the edge over Xbox360 regarding sales, I was expecting it to be the best selling HD game in 2009. I will be honest with you, after I have seen the sales for Killzone 2 I was very confused and I started to ask my self a question “is it too late for the PS3 to have a game as powerful as Halo/Gears when it comes to sales?”.

Sony must do a better job in marketing every upcoming PS3 exclusive because they need a game to define the PlayStation brand again. As the games that defined the PlayStation brand during last generations are no more exclusives and most of them are now available on Xbox360. Just look how good Microsoft handled the marketing for Halo/Gears of War games, Sony needs to do a better job in marketing its upcoming big hitters in the future.

I know there are a lot of PS3 exclusives coming in the future, but the big questions are, which game will define the PS3 console and increases its sales heavily? Will Sony do a better job in marketing its upcoming big hitters to turn the table on Microsoft head?