Video game sales: check the new thread

Couscous

Dr Mario Kart wrote: »

Wouldnt a HOUSEHOLD with children under 12 also include most gaming adults who happen to have children?

Yeah. I wondered about that. They also got the definition of tween wrong.

lowlylowlycook

Yeah, and the 17% and 45% are not strictly comparable either. One is households and one is population.

lowlylowlycook

Here was the MS PR:

In an official statement released in response to the NPD Group's US industry sales results for August 2009, Microsoft has said that the Xbox 360 remains the only console to show year-to-date growth in North America.

The Xbox 360 sold 215,000 units in the US during August, and system sales are up nearly 17 percent year-to-date. “Driving demand are budget-conscious consumers understanding that Xbox 360 delivers more entertainment value per dollar than any other console,” Microsoft said, adding that the recent price reduction of the Xbox 360 Elite model to $299 generated first week sales “surpassing our expectations.”

Introduced on August 28, the Xbox 360 price reduction also drove a 43 per cent sales boost in the UK in the week it took effect, and a further 29 per cent week-on-week sales increase over the following seven days.

Microsoft’s US arm also noted that third party sales on the Xbox 360 hit $130.4 million during August, with Madden NFL 10 topping the software chart and Batman: Arkham Asylum placing fourth. “Xbox 360 has maintained the streak of leading third-party sales for every month of 2009,” it said.

The platform holder’s Summer of Arcade campaign - which featured the digital releases of Shadow Complex, Trials HD, TMNT: Turtles In Time Reshelled, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and ‘Splosion Man via Xbox Live Arcade - saw sales more than double from last year’s campaign, the company said.

Echoing similar comments from Sony, Microsoft also said that upcoming platform exclusive releases bode well for its console. “Xbox 360 is also home to some of the season’s most-anticipated blockbuster titles with a line-up of exclusives that includes Halo 3: ODST in September, Forza Motorsport 3 in October, and Left 4 Dead 2 this November.”

link via gaf

Mgslee

So how many households have children under 12? That would be a more useful figure then the 17% of the population is less then 12.

Gamers are growing, apparently marriage and kids means you can no longer play games!

slash000

Mgslee wrote: »

Gamers are growing, apparently marriage and kids means you can no longer play games!

No, it means you can no longer play games and you have to spend your money buying games for your kids!

Brainiac 8

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

maximumzero

Rolling Stone reveals that the upcoming DJ Hero won't just feature DJ Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash, as the robotic rockers themselves, Daft Punk, will also make a very shiny appearance. Along with their signature sets and outfits, the French beat blasters are also crafting 11 unique mixes for the game. Fans will be pleased to know that favorites "Around the World" and "Robot Rock" will indeed make the cut, among others.

To check out eight of the Daft Punk tracks, you'll have to go around the break (around the break).

* Daft Punk "Around the World" vs. Young MC "Bust A Move"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. NASA "Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Hashim "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Queen "We Will Rock You"
* Daft Punk "Short Circuit" vs. Boogie Down Productions "Jack Of Spades"
* Daft Punk "Technologic" vs. Gary Numan "Cars"
* Daft Punk "Television Rules The Nation" vs. No Doubt "Hella Good"

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK.

Zerokku

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

Cameron_Talley

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

Nothing wrong at ALL. You need to instruct your children about buying bad games so they can make good choices later in life.

slash000

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

slash000

Also, random side note:

Braid is $5 on steam right now. I just bought it. That's impulse territory.

Zerokku

slash000 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

It helps my parents were shrewd enough when they bought me and my brother games when we were kids. We didn't get too many, but every single one we had was great. Super Mario All Stars+ Super Mario World, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, ect. (I think my parents were smart enough to just stick to first party nintendo titles )

Brainiac 8

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

Nope, nothing wrong with that. As I'm turning my daughter into a gamer, I'm making sure she knows what games are of quality. For the casual fare, she plays WiiSports, Resort, or Mario Party 8.

At the same time I'm teaching her about appreciating such gems as Super Mario Galaxy, De Blob, A Boy and his Blob, New Super Mario Bros, and Kirby.

I'm trying to make her a well rounded gamer, and to avoid anything with a Z attached to its title. :P

DarkWarrior

Zerokku wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

It helps my parents were shrewd enough when they bought me and my brother games when we were kids. We didn't get too many, but every single one we had was great. Super Mario All Stars+ Super Mario World, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, ect. (I think my parents were smart enough to just stick to first party nintendo titles )

I dunno how it works because my parents aren't into games at all but they managed to never get me a duff one. But nowadays I can understand non-savvy parents seeing Nintendogs for £30 and Dogz for £20 and going that route. We wouldnt obviously, partly because any game we'd get for the 'kids' we;d partly be getting for ourselves.

Zerokku

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

It helps my parents were shrewd enough when they bought me and my brother games when we were kids. We didn't get too many, but every single one we had was great. Super Mario All Stars+ Super Mario World, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, ect. (I think my parents were smart enough to just stick to first party nintendo titles )

I dunno how it works because my parents aren't into games at all but they managed to never get me a duff one. But nowadays I can understand non-savvy parents seeing Nintendogs for £30 and Dogz for £20 and going that route. We wouldnt obviously, partly because any game we'd get for the 'kids' we;d partly be getting for ourselves.

I think it helps that games we would write off as shovelware today (Movie-Licensed games) Actually had a chance of being good back then as well. Alladin made by capcom? Fuck yah. (Such a great game)

pslong9

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

Nope, nothing wrong with that. As I'm turning my daughter into a gamer, I'm making sure she knows what games are of quality. For the casual fare, she plays WiiSports, Resort, or Mario Party 8.

At the same time I'm teaching her about appreciating such gems as Super Mario Galaxy, De Blob, A Boy and his Blob, New Super Mario Bros, and Kirby.

I'm trying to make her a well rounded gamer, and to avoid anything with a Z attached to its title. :P

You're a good father. I grew up with Civilization, StarFlight II (never could beat that), SMB, Tecmo Super Bowl, Battletoads, Baseball Stars, X-Com, Master of Orion, Railroad Tycoon... my Dad had good taste in games as well.

Slash, I picked up Braid last night as well. Couldn't resist at $5.

DarkWarrior

Zerokku wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

It helps my parents were shrewd enough when they bought me and my brother games when we were kids. We didn't get too many, but every single one we had was great. Super Mario All Stars+ Super Mario World, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, ect. (I think my parents were smart enough to just stick to first party nintendo titles )

I dunno how it works because my parents aren't into games at all but they managed to never get me a duff one. But nowadays I can understand non-savvy parents seeing Nintendogs for £30 and Dogz for £20 and going that route. We wouldnt obviously, partly because any game we'd get for the 'kids' we;d partly be getting for ourselves.

I think it helps that games we would write off as shovelware today (Movie-Licensed games) Actually had a chance of being good back then as well. Alladin made by capcom? Fuck yah. (Such a great game)

And TV licenses.

Chip 'n Dale. FUCK YES.

Lunker

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

It helps my parents were shrewd enough when they bought me and my brother games when we were kids. We didn't get too many, but every single one we had was great. Super Mario All Stars+ Super Mario World, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, ect. (I think my parents were smart enough to just stick to first party nintendo titles )

I dunno how it works because my parents aren't into games at all but they managed to never get me a duff one. But nowadays I can understand non-savvy parents seeing Nintendogs for £30 and Dogz for £20 and going that route. We wouldnt obviously, partly because any game we'd get for the 'kids' we;d partly be getting for ourselves.

I think it helps that games we would write off as shovelware today (Movie-Licensed games) Actually had a chance of being good back then as well. Alladin made by capcom? Fuck yah. (Such a great game)

And TV licenses.

Chip 'n Dale. FUCK YES.

And fuckin' DuckTales. Man, back then licensed games were rad as hell.

slash000

Also TMNT The Arcade, as well as TMNT 3. The first not so much. Course that was konami not capcom

DarkWarrior

Lunker wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

That's not wrong at all. That's merely being an informed consumer, and buying the quality product instead of the shitty, cheap imitation.

It helps my parents were shrewd enough when they bought me and my brother games when we were kids. We didn't get too many, but every single one we had was great. Super Mario All Stars+ Super Mario World, Kirby Super Star, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, ect. (I think my parents were smart enough to just stick to first party nintendo titles )

I dunno how it works because my parents aren't into games at all but they managed to never get me a duff one. But nowadays I can understand non-savvy parents seeing Nintendogs for £30 and Dogz for £20 and going that route. We wouldnt obviously, partly because any game we'd get for the 'kids' we;d partly be getting for ourselves.

I think it helps that games we would write off as shovelware today (Movie-Licensed games) Actually had a chance of being good back then as well. Alladin made by capcom? Fuck yah. (Such a great game)

And TV licenses.

Chip 'n Dale. FUCK YES.

And fuckin' DuckTales. Man, back then licensed games were rad as hell.

DuckTales 2 was the one with the Duck-1000 or something right? I loved that game but I dont think I ever found the very last piece of the treasure map. ANd Turtles, I was a master of that underwater level but I never EVER got past the Turtle Van level. Fucking lack of continues. I have a bunch around somewhere, cant remember them all. I did manage to beat TMNT2 fairly easily though.

Oh and Bart Vs The Spacemutants, couldnt finish that one either.

Sheep

maximumzero wrote: »

Rolling Stone reveals that the upcoming DJ Hero won't just feature DJ Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash, as the robotic rockers themselves, Daft Punk, will also make a very shiny appearance. Along with their signature sets and outfits, the French beat blasters are also crafting 11 unique mixes for the game. Fans will be pleased to know that favorites "Around the World" and "Robot Rock" will indeed make the cut, among others.

To check out eight of the Daft Punk tracks, you'll have to go around the break (around the break).

* Daft Punk "Around the World" vs. Young MC "Bust A Move"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. NASA "Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Hashim "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Queen "We Will Rock You"
* Daft Punk "Short Circuit" vs. Boogie Down Productions "Jack Of Spades"
* Daft Punk "Technologic" vs. Gary Numan "Cars"
* Daft Punk "Television Rules The Nation" vs. No Doubt "Hella Good"

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK.

What?

You have something against Daft Punk too?

Cameron_Talley

Hell, I wish I could FIND DuckTales 2, the first is one of my favorite games ever, and the second is fairly rare as it was one of the last NES games...

Couscous

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25223

[In this opinion piece, DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole warns that the console business is under threat from a "rapidly increasing" amount of low-cost gaming options and a five-year cycle that no longer applies.]

The news in 2009 has not been entirely positive for the video game industry. Sales are down in what was once considered a growing, recession proof industry. Of course, the mentality is to look at short-term sales as an indication of a major change in consumer behavior. This begs the question: has consumer behavior suddenly undergone a radical change in 2009? As a short answer, DFC Intelligence sees nothing so far in 2009 that indicates a major shift in consumer or industry trends.

There are some major concerns for the future of the industry, but they would exist even if first half 2009 sales had shattered records. It is first important to note that comparing monthly sales on an annual (or even month to month) basis is simply not a strong indicator of market trends. This is especially true when looking at the first nine months of the year. In any given month sales can swing dramatically with the release of a single major title, or the absence of a major title.

These swings are not as noticeable in the last three months of the year because there is a much higher concentration of sales from October to December. However, the rest of the year can fluctuate dramatically. Furthermore, sales in the first half of the year are not a good indication of second half sales. Sales can be weak in the first half and set records in the holiday season, or vice versa.

Paying attention to short-term sales trends tells us very little about what will happen in the next few years. However, this is not to say there are no fundamental concerns with consumer spending on games and how it will impact industry growth. On the contrary, from a macro perspective, DFC has two major concerns for the video game industry:

1) Consumers have a rapidly increasing abundance of choice among low cost games and other entertainment products and;

2) The five-year console model that has driven industry growth in the past is currently not working for Sony and Microsoft.

When DFC published its first game industry report in 1994 the market was dominated by expensive to produce cartridge-based games. Game prices routinely ranged from $50 to $70-plus. DFC argued that this price level was not sustainable. Some games provide two hours or so of entertainment while others could provide 40 to even 100 or more hours of play value. Clearly as the market matured it would head towards a wide price range indicative of the relative entertainment value of each individual product. DFC’s prediction was that, as technology lowered the cost of manufacturing and distribution, game prices would run across a vast spectrum of prices from $5 to as much as $100. While our thinking was not necessarily flawed, DFC was sure wrong about how long publishers were able to maintain a premium price on non-AAA content. Yes, with the introduction of the CD/DVD medium and the PlayStation brand, prices did start to head towards the $40 range. However, with the launch of the latest systems, manufacturers remarkably were able to drive prices beyond $50 towards $60 and more. Sales in 2007 and 2008 smashed all records.

Of course, we still argue that what we said in the mid-1990s still holds true. The game industry needs a broader range of price points that are more indicative of the relative entertainment value a product provides. A game that gives 100 hours of entertainment may not be worth 50 times a game that can be finished in two hours. However, clearly charging $60 for the former and $10 for the later seems more natural than charging $60 for both.

In today’s marketplace there is currently the flexibility to do a wide range of pricing. Digital distribution, brought about by increased broadband penetration and increased client side storage, has made it possible to cost effectively distribute products at the sub-$20 price range. The new consoles allow for distribution of games in the $5 to $20 range. In many cases these products provide just as much entertainment value as the full $50+ retail games.

The competition from competing products is really starting to have an effect on the overall game business. This includes not just sub-$20 digitally distributed games, but also rental and used games. Furthermore, free online games, social networks and services like YouTube all compete for consumer time, even if they don’t put a major dent in the wallet. If you can easily play something for free why pay for it?

Of course, the game industry has always faced competition from other entertainment products and historically the industry has done a great job at creating exciting new products that spur sales to new heights while convincing consumers to pay a substantial premium for products. However, the reality is that much of this excitement has historically revolved around major new hardware that gets consumers in a spending lather. Just about the time a system is building up a nice catalog of value-priced software along comes a new hardware system that everyone must have. To a large extent this excitement is what opens consumer’s wallets.

The dirty secret of the game industry is that the console hardware manufacturers have helped subsidize much of the industry by spending billions to develop and market hardware platforms that drive such a large portion of consumer excitement and spending. The most profitable platforms for third-party publishers have been those from Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo has offered a third option, but the Nintendo business model has not been as successful for third-party publishers.

The problem the industry faces is that the current console model is broken for Sony and Microsoft, the two companies that drive the model today. The old model of introducing a new generation of consoles with vastly improved graphics every four to five years is simply not sustainable. The costs to do so are simply too expensive. Sony and Microsoft need a new model or one more along the lines of Nintendo. In the next few years, this stark reality is likely to have a major impact on third-party publishers that have a strong dependence on Sony and Microsoft platforms. At the very least, it is becoming clear that Sony and Microsoft cannot afford to launch a brand new console every five years or so.

The bottom line numbers for Sony and Microsoft’s game business are not pretty. From fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2009, Sony’s game division showed an operating loss of well over $3 billion. Meanwhile, during the period from 2004 to 2009, Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division has lost over $4 billion. Much of this loss can be attributed to the cost associated with launching a new console system that is sold at a loss. The reality is Sony and Microsoft really need their hardware systems to have a true 10-year lifecycle so that initial costs can be amortized.

Both Microsoft and Sony have a long-term vision that their game boxes will eventually provide a whole host of entertainment services. The problem with that vision is both companies are still caught up in the arms race of the video game console business. It is extremely expensive to launch a new game system every few years and build an installed base from scratch. But game consumers have been trained to constantly demand a new game system and that is what drives much of the market.

For Sony and Microsoft, it simply makes little business sense to launch a new game system. They need their current systems to last as long as possible so that they can actually make some money. What makes business sense for Sony and Microsoft is to focus on getting costs down, offering new (and profitable) services to their existing systems and looking to build renewed consumer excitement via new form factors and incremental additions like Project Natal for the Xbox 360.

So what does it mean for the game industry if Sony and Microsoft are no longer spending billions to drive consumer spending on a major new hardware product? On the good news side, when consumers don’t have to plunk down $300-plus on new console hardware it means, at least in theory, they have that much more money to spend on software. However, this pure economic view ignores consumer psychology. Consumers love things that are exciting and new and that is huge driver of consumer spending. In the absence of a major new product, consumer spending will most likely settle to fairly predictable levels, or that extra cash could migrate to other platforms such as the iPhone, or other entertainment media entirely.

The game industry cycle has been driven in large part by new console launches. New game systems have consistently spurred consumer spending to new record heights, right at a time when the established systems are starting to decline. DFC has run best and worst case scenarios for the current generation game systems and in all scenarios, they show a decline in sales over the next several years. Furthermore, with these systems, a growing portion of consumer spending will continue to shift to catalog product, used games and rentals.

In short, without a major new console system to pump up consumer enthusiasm the game industry faces an inevitable decline. Other platforms like the PC and mobile systems are expected to keep growing, but not enough to offset the decline from the existing console systems.

Of course, there will always be room for major blockbuster products. Even in the absence of new hardware we can expect a handful of new must-have titles every year that far outpace the rest of the market. However, the gap between the haves and have-nots will continue to widen. Companies that have been dependent on getting consumers to buy non-AAA titles are the ones that will suffer the most.

DFC Intelligence has always been a big proponent of the how the console model builds consumer excitement and creates a stable ecosystem for developers and consumers. However, we have always felt that prices in the console market have been artificially high and, in the long-term, unsustainable. The PC and mobile markets have lacked the leadership provided by the console manufacturers. Largely because of this, game sales for these platforms are far below what they should be given their installed base. In the mobile market a market leading company like Gameloft can talk about having over 300 games it can sell to an addressable market of 2 billion consumers. However, Gameloft’s annual revenue from all its products is less than the revenue from a single hit console game.

The traditional console model works great for most of the industry. However, in recent years, it hasn’t been working for Sony and Microsoft. Unfortunately these are the two companies that are driving that model. Nintendo pulled away from the traditional console model with the Wii. The emphasis on long-lived “activity” games like Wii Sports, and personal improvement titles such as Wii Fit, have attracted many mainstream consumers who don’t necessarily purchase games on a regular basis.

For Nintendo, the business model for launching a new console system every five years could still work because they focused on keeping overall hardware costs low by not pushing the technology barrier. Does this mean Nintendo may be the first to launch a new system by 2012? That would be a first for a company with a market-leading platform. Then again, doing so could also really put competitive pressure on Microsoft and Sony.

Unfortunately, Nintendo’s business model does not leave as much room for third-party publishers. From a macro perspective, the game industry’s biggest issue is how can Sony and Microsoft become profitable enough to continue to invest in product innovation. Furthermore, can Sony and Microsoft become profitable in a way that still allows room for third-party publishers to profit from their respective platforms? The answer to those questions will in large part determine who profits from the growing number of global consumers looking to spend their entertainment time and budget on games.

The_Scarab

That seems half well thought out analysis, and half absolute nonsense.

Brainiac 8

pslong9 wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

We're doomed to a life of buying Imaginez: Baby Monkiez for the kids.

Is it wrong that when I'm a parent, I'll refuse to buy games like that for my kids? :? My kids would get Nintendogs, but not "Petz Dogz Fashion"

Nope, nothing wrong with that. As I'm turning my daughter into a gamer, I'm making sure she knows what games are of quality. For the casual fare, she plays WiiSports, Resort, or Mario Party 8.

At the same time I'm teaching her about appreciating such gems as Super Mario Galaxy, De Blob, A Boy and his Blob, New Super Mario Bros, and Kirby.

I'm trying to make her a well rounded gamer, and to avoid anything with a Z attached to its title. :P

You're a good father. I grew up with Civilization, StarFlight II (never could beat that), SMB, Tecmo Super Bowl, Battletoads, Baseball Stars, X-Com, Master of Orion, Railroad Tycoon... my Dad had good taste in games as well.

Slash, I picked up Braid last night as well. Couldn't resist at $5.

Thanks. That's one of the great things though, I'm also introducing her to my backlog of classic games for my NES/SNES/Genesis. Lately I've been getting her into the Capcom classics: Chip & Dale, Ducktales, and Darkwing Duck. So far she's loving them, but she likes games like Chip & Dale or Battletoads where we can play it together.

In fact one of her favorite classic games to play from my collection is "Snake, Rattle, & Roll" if anyone remembers that awesome game.

DarkWarrior

Darkwing MOtherfuckin' Duck! I remember that one to, good game.

Lunker

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Thanks. That's one of the great things though, I'm also introducing her to my backlog of classic games for my NES/SNES/Genesis. Lately I've been getting her into the Capcom classics: Chip & Dale, Ducktales, and Darkwing Duck. So far she's loving them, but she likes games like Chip & Dale or Battletoads where we can play it together.

In fact one of her favorite classic games to play from my collection is "Snake, Rattle, & Roll" if anyone remembers that awesome game.

I adored Snake, Rattle & Roll. I could never do that crazy cheat at the first level to catch the spaceship. As someone mentioned above, you should also see if you can find a copy of Aladdin on SNES; it was my wife's favorite game when she was growing up, and you might also see if you track down a copy of Mario Paint, as that's fun as hell to just mess around with.

Brainiac 8

I have Mario Paint, and it's another one she'll play here and there. Another fun game from the SNES period. :^:

maximumzero

Sheep wrote: »

maximumzero wrote: »

Rolling Stone reveals that the upcoming DJ Hero won't just feature DJ Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash, as the robotic rockers themselves, Daft Punk, will also make a very shiny appearance. Along with their signature sets and outfits, the French beat blasters are also crafting 11 unique mixes for the game. Fans will be pleased to know that favorites "Around the World" and "Robot Rock" will indeed make the cut, among others.

To check out eight of the Daft Punk tracks, you'll have to go around the break (around the break).

* Daft Punk "Around the World" vs. Young MC "Bust A Move"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. NASA "Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Hashim "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Queen "We Will Rock You"
* Daft Punk "Short Circuit" vs. Boogie Down Productions "Jack Of Spades"
* Daft Punk "Technologic" vs. Gary Numan "Cars"
* Daft Punk "Television Rules The Nation" vs. No Doubt "Hella Good"

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK.

What?

You have something against Daft Punk too?

No, quite the opposite, I love Daft Punk.

But now Activision has me interested in their damn DJ game.

Hedgethorn

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Thanks. That's one of the great things though, I'm also introducing her to my backlog of classic games for my NES/SNES/Genesis. Lately I've been getting her into the Capcom classics: Chip & Dale, Ducktales, and Darkwing Duck. So far she's loving them, but she likes games like Chip & Dale or Battletoads where we can play it together.

In fact one of her favorite classic games to play from my collection is "Snake, Rattle, & Roll" if anyone remembers that awesome game.

Apparently you and your daughter aren't good enough at Battletoads to reach the point where it is impossible to proceed with two players?

Brainiac 8

Hedgethorn wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Thanks. That's one of the great things though, I'm also introducing her to my backlog of classic games for my NES/SNES/Genesis. Lately I've been getting her into the Capcom classics: Chip & Dale, Ducktales, and Darkwing Duck. So far she's loving them, but she likes games like Chip & Dale or Battletoads where we can play it together.

In fact one of her favorite classic games to play from my collection is "Snake, Rattle, & Roll" if anyone remembers that awesome game.

Apparently you and your daughter aren't good enough at Battletoads to reach the point where it is impossible to proceed with two players?

No, our games of Battletoads usually consists of the first world over and over. I think she only likes it because she can just beat me up instead of playing the rest of the game.

Solo though, I can get to the elevator shaft, and usually by the time I get to the boss, I only have a couple of men left and he finishes me off. I'm pretty sure that's close to the end of the game.

UnbreakableVow

Sheep wrote: »

maximumzero wrote: »

Rolling Stone reveals that the upcoming DJ Hero won't just feature DJ Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash, as the robotic rockers themselves, Daft Punk, will also make a very shiny appearance. Along with their signature sets and outfits, the French beat blasters are also crafting 11 unique mixes for the game. Fans will be pleased to know that favorites "Around the World" and "Robot Rock" will indeed make the cut, among others.

To check out eight of the Daft Punk tracks, you'll have to go around the break (around the break).

* Daft Punk "Around the World" vs. Young MC "Bust A Move"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. NASA "Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Hashim "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Queen "We Will Rock You"
* Daft Punk "Short Circuit" vs. Boogie Down Productions "Jack Of Spades"
* Daft Punk "Technologic" vs. Gary Numan "Cars"
* Daft Punk "Television Rules The Nation" vs. No Doubt "Hella Good"

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK.

What?

You have something against Daft Punk too?

Hi5!

maximumzero

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

Sheep wrote: »

maximumzero wrote: »

Rolling Stone reveals that the upcoming DJ Hero won't just feature DJ Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash, as the robotic rockers themselves, Daft Punk, will also make a very shiny appearance. Along with their signature sets and outfits, the French beat blasters are also crafting 11 unique mixes for the game. Fans will be pleased to know that favorites "Around the World" and "Robot Rock" will indeed make the cut, among others.

To check out eight of the Daft Punk tracks, you'll have to go around the break (around the break).

* Daft Punk "Around the World" vs. Young MC "Bust A Move"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. NASA "Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip"
* Daft Punk "Da Funk" vs. Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Hashim "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)"
* Daft Punk "Robot Rock" vs. Queen "We Will Rock You"
* Daft Punk "Short Circuit" vs. Boogie Down Productions "Jack Of Spades"
* Daft Punk "Technologic" vs. Gary Numan "Cars"
* Daft Punk "Television Rules The Nation" vs. No Doubt "Hella Good"

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK.

What?

You have something against Daft Punk too?

Hi5!

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=11559295&postcount=110

Couscous

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25227

For the second month in a row, Electronic Arts and Nintendo software dominated NPD Group's top 20 software titles, according to a list obtained by Gamasutra.

Out of the top 20 software titles for August, which saw software sales decline year-on-year to $470.3 million, Nintendo of America published nine of those games. The best-selling Nintendo game for the month was Wii Sports Resort, which sold 754,000 units, bested only by Madden NFL 10 for Xbox 360, which sold 928,000 units.

But previously unreleased information show that in the lower half of the top 20, there were Nintendo games dating back to 2005 and 2006, namely Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros. Half of the bottom 10 titles were first-party Nintendo games.

Nintendo's newly-released puzzler Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box debuted at number 16 after being on the market for only a few days. Judging by confirmed sales for number 17-ranked Madden NFL 10 for Wii and number 10-ranked Fossil Fighters, we know that the new Layton sold between 67,000 and 92,000 for the month.

Electronic Arts captured seven of the top 20 slots, with games including Madden NFL, NCAA Football 10, and EA Sports Active. NCAA Football 10 for Xbox 360 fell from number two last month to number three, while EA Sports Active fell from number 10 to number 19.

Aside from EA and Nintendo, filling out the rest of the list were Square Enix-owned Eidos' Batman: Arkham Asylum, which sold 303,000 on Xbox 360 and 290,000 on PS3, and the Activision Blizzard game Wolfenstein for Xbox 360, which made its debut at number 18. Square Enix's Dissidia: Final Fantasy for PSP made the top 10 with 130,000 sold.

The full Top 20 for August 2009 is as follows, as provided by NPD Group:

6 	11 	MARIO KART DS 	NDS 	
9 	12 	NEW SUPER MARIO BROS 	NDS 	
12 	13 	WII PLAY W/ REMOTE 	WII 	
8 	14 	POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION 	NDS 	
2 	15 	NCAA FOOTBALL 10 	360 	ELECTRONIC ARTS 	
** 	16 	PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE DIABOLICAL BOX 	
** 	17 	MADDEN NFL 10 	WII 	ELECTRONIC ARTS 	
** 	18 	WOLFENSTEIN 	360 	ACTIVISION BLIZZARD 	
10 	19 	EA SPORTS ACTIVE BUNDLE 	WII 	ELECTRONIC ARTS 	
11 	20 	TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10* 	WII 	ELECTRONIC ARTS

DAMN

Lunker

Go go Layton! How many days was it on market? It came out the 24th, so maybe 8-10 days?

And Mario Kart DS and New SMB DS are still the twin pistons of Nintendo's money train. I would actually laugh if New SMB Wii sales spark an increase in New SMB DS sales and kick it back up into the regular top 10.

EDIT: Looking at the chart on Gamasutra's page, it's also funny to see all of the "Aug 09" release dates and then "Nov 05" next to Mario Kart. This will be its fifth fucking holiday season!

maximumzero

Square-Enix has to be pleased with their purchase of Eidos.

Brainiac 8

I'm sure they are.

Glad to see Layton doing so well.

Jragghen

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Glad to see Layton doing so well.

It's a great game.

Sheep

** 18 WOLFENSTEIN 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

So...

Mega Bomb?

Dehumanized

Yes. I played the game on a rental, and it basically was a pretty average shooter. The market is so flooded that you've gotta be exceptional to register.