In the world of downloadable video games, this week’s forecast calls for nonstop showers of awesomeness. A flood watch is in effect as heavy levels of high-quality digital entertainment threaten to disrupt boredom and bad moods across the country. Gale-force fun is expected as games like Ferrari GT: Evolution, System Flaw Recruit and Scrabble™ Slam! arrive via the Nintendo DSiWare™ service. Wii™ owners are advised to stock up on snacks and fresh batteries for their Wii Remote™ controllers, as new titles for the WiiWare™ and Virtual Console™ services may keep them confined to their living rooms for quite a spell.
Meanwhile, the “Big Name Games” section of the WarioWare™: D.I.Y. series continues to offer new downloadable microgames created by the industry’s most talented designers. This week’s entry comes from Edmund McMillen of Team Meat, the studio behind the upcoming Super Meat Boy, which launches for the WiiWare service this summer. New “Big Name Games” will be added every Monday through July 26, all available to download for zero Nintendo DSi Points™ to anyone with broadband Internet access and a copy of either WarioWare: D.I.Y. for the Nintendo DS™ family of systems or WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase software for the WiiWare service. Visit the Nintendo Channel on your Wii system today to learn more about these games and to see a video of Edmund McMillen creating his original microgame, Meat Boy!
Individual formats
1 1 TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION XB360 UBISOFT UBISOFT
2 2 JUST DANCE WII UBISOFT UBISOFT
3 3 GRAND THEFT AUTO EPISODES – LIBERTY CITY PS3 ROCKSTAR TAKE 2
4 4 WII FIT PLUS WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 5 MONSTER HUNTER TRI WII CAPCOM CAPCOM
5 6 WII SPORTS RESORT WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
6 7 POKEMON SOULSILVER DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
7 8 POKEMON HEARTGOLD DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
8 9 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 XB360 EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
9 10 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 XB360 ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
10 11 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
11 12 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 PS3 EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
28 13 BAND HERO DS REDOCTANE ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
12 14 JUST CAUSE 2 XB360 EIDOS SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
14 15 FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 XB360 MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
13 16 JUST CAUSE 2 PS3 EIDOS SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
16 17 MARIO KART WII WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
15 18 GOD OF WAR III PS3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. SONY COMPUTER ENT.
17 19 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
22 20 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010 PC SEGA SEGA
21 21 FIFA 10 PS3 EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
18 22 FIFA 10 XB360 EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
20 23 HEAVY RAIN PS3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. SONY COMPUTER ENT.
23 24 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 PS3 ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
34 25 HALO 3: ODST XB360 MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
26 26 FINAL FANTASY XIII XB360 SQUARE ENIX SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
19 27 PEPPA PIG: FUN AND GAMES DS P2 GAMES UBISOFT
– 28 FINAL FANTASY XIII PS3 SQUARE ENIX SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
37 29 ASSASSIN’S CREED II XB360 UBISOFT UBISOFT
– 30 METRO 2033 XB360 THQ THQ
30 31 PROFESSOR LAYTON AND PANDORA’S BOX DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
38 32 SEGA MEGA DRIVE ULTIMATE COLLECTION PS3 SEGA SEGA
33 33 LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME XB360 WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
29 34 MARIO KART DS DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
25 35 MARIO & SONIC AT OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES WII SEGA SEGA
32 36 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV PS3 PLATINUM TAKE 2
24 37 MARIO AND LUIGI: BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
35 38 PURE XB360 DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
– 39 SONIC & SEGA ALL-STARS RACING WII SEGA SEGA
27 40 THE SIMS 3 PC EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
All formats
1 1 TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION UBISOFT (MONTREAL) UBISOFT UBISOFT
2 2 JUST DANCE UBISOFT (FRANCE) UBISOFT UBISOFT
3 3 GRAND THEFT AUTO EPISODES – LIBERTY CITY ROCKSTAR NORTH ROCKSTAR TAKE 2
5 4 WII FIT PLUS NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 5 MONSTER HUNTER TRI CAPCOM CAPCOM CAPCOM
4 6 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 DIGITAL ILLUSIONS EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
7 7 WII SPORTS RESORT NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
9 8 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 INFINITY WARD ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
6 9 JUST CAUSE 2 AVALANCHE STUDIOS EIDOS SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
8 10 POKEMON SOULSILVER GAME FREAK NINTENDO NINTENDO
11 11 POKEMON HEARTGOLD GAME FREAK NINTENDO NINTENDO
10 12 FIFA 10 EA CANADA EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
12 13 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
29 14 BAND HERO VICARIOUS VISIONS REDOCTANE ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
13 15 SONIC & SEGA ALL-STARS RACING SUMO DIGITAL SEGA SEGA
18 16 FINAL FANTASY XIII SQUARE ENIX SQUARE ENIX SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
16 17 FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 TURN 10 STUDIOS MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
15 18 ASSASSIN’S CREED II UBISOFT (MONTREAL) UBISOFT UBISOFT
14 19 LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME TRAVELLER’S TALES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
26 20 JAMES CAMERON’S AVATAR: THE GAME UBISOFT (MONTREAL) UBISOFT UBISOFT
17 21 MARIO & SONIC AT OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES SEGA SEGA SEGA
– 22 DEAD TO RIGHTS: RETRIBUTION VOLATILE GAMES NAMCO BANDAI GAMES NAMCO BANDAI GAMES
21 23 MARIO KART WII NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
20 24 GOD OF WAR III SCEA SANTA MONICA SONY COMPUTER ENT. SONY COMPUTER ENT.
19 25 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV ROCKSTAR NORTH PLATINUM TAKE 2
22 26 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
35 27 BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM – GAME OF THE YEAR ROCKSTEADY STUDIOS EIDOS SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
32 28 SEGA MEGA DRIVE ULTIMATE COLLECTION BACKBONE SEGA SEGA
23 29 ALIENS VS PREDATOR REBELLION SEGA SEGA
30 30 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010 SPORTS INTERACTIVE SEGA SEGA
– 31 METRO 2033 4A GAMES THQ THQ
31 32 DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS BIOWARE EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
28 33 HEAVY RAIN QUANTIC DREAM SONY COMPUTER ENT. SONY COMPUTER ENT.
– 34 HALO 3: ODST BUNGIE MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
27 35 PEPPA PIG: FUN AND GAMES ASYLUM P2 GAMES UBISOFT
25 36 BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE – VILGAX ATTACKS 1ST PLAYABLE D3P NAMCO BANDAI GAMES
36 37 PEPPA PIG: THE GAME ASYLUM P2 GAMES UBISOFT
– 38 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR TREYARCH ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
34 39 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10 EA TIBURON EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
33 40 WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2010 YUKE’S THQ THQ
The last article I wrote, “What do YOU think? Wii is the best console for third party ‘core’ titles?”, discussed the idea of sales comparisons from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to the Wii as being unfair, because developers were comparing top-quality titles to mediocre titles and expecting similar sales. In that article, I stated that a game needs 2 things to sell well: Good reviews, and good advertising. Of course, it helps if the game isn’t a niche genre, but that is the least important of the three. In the last 2 months, two big Wii titles have been released, both of which have gotten pretty good review scores and a good amount of advertising; Monster Hunter Tri, and Red Steel 2. The latter of these two titles supposedly sold just 50,000 copies in its first month. Now, some people say that Red Steel 2’s first month wasn’t really a full month (12 days), and other sources report that the game has in fact sold more than 100,000 units, but based on the official numbers given to us by Ubisoft, it’s a solemn start for an (apparently) very good game.
01. / 01. [WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) – 32.108 / 3.686.739 (-14%)
02. / 05. [NDS] Friend Collection (Nintendo) – 20.883 / 3.110.984 (-7%)
03. / 03. [PSP] Pro Baseball Spirits 2010 (Konami) – 20.880 / 102.733 (-3 %)
04. / 04. [PS3] Pro Baseball Spirits 2010 (Konami) – 19.104 / 106.864 (-38%)
05. / 02. [PS3] Fist of the North Star: Warriors (Koei) – 18.866 / 510.052 (-45%)
06. / 06. [NDS] Pokemon Ranger: Tracks of Light (Pokemon Co.) – 15.961 / 396.498 (-22%)
07. / 00. [PS3] No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise (Marvelous Entertainment) – 15.763 / NEW
08. / 00. [360] No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise (Marvelous Entertainment) – 15.153 / NEW
09. / 09. [WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) – 14.685 / 1.832.540 (-5%)
10. / 08. [PS3] Yakuza 4: Heir to the Legend (Sega) – 11.094 / 529.977 (-38%)
Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii) – T
Crazy Pinball (DSi) – E
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (DS) – E10+
XG Blast! (DS) – E
The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna (Wii) – E
Let’s Paint (Wii) – E
Little Bears (DS) – E
Mahkongg Mysteries (DS) – E
Despicable Me: The Game — Minion Mayhem (DS) – E
10 Minute Solution (Wii) – E
Sid Meier’s Pirates (Wii) – E10+
House M.D. (DS) – T
Telegraph Crosswords (DSi) – T
SINGLES FROM FLYLEAF, BUSTED AND SILVERCHAIR COME TO ROCK BAND
Cambridge, Mass. – April 23, 2010 – Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that singles from Flyleaf, Busted and Silverchair will be added to the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™.
With more than 400 artists, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, AC/DC and Green Day, who are exclusive to Rock Band, as well as more than 1,100 songs available through the Rock Band platform and 65 million songs sold through its download store alone, Rock Band is the undisputed sales and content leader in the interactive music space, providing the deepest and best selection of artists, songs and albums.
Update: Game night is now over!
Yea, that’s me right there. Pretty cool, huh?
All you have to do to play is add my friend code and join the game I’ll be hosting starting at 7PM CST (8PM EST, 5PM PST)! Also, there’s no sign-up required to chat with us in the IRC below!
Name: Austin
FC: 2664-9883-4616
