By the time this year is over, Nintendo will have launched three key releases: Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently commented about sales for the holiday at the first quarter financial results briefing and seems to believe that making these games available in a short amount of time will lead to success. Moreover, he hopes people people will say that “Holiday 2009 was the best one ever for Nintendo.”
“In September, which people overseas call ‘back-to-school,’ people start to pay more attention to home consoles. If we can convey the appeal of Wii Sports Resort to existing customers then, it will surely contribute to the sales of hardware and generate good momentum toward the holiday season. So we feel that Wii Sports Resort will drive hardware sales mainly in Q3 from October to December. Last year, we had some internal discussions about the close launch period of Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit but we ended up launching them with the hypothesis that several major title launches in close proximity can produce a synergetic effect. As a result, it went very well. This year we hope to do well again as we will be launching three ten-million class titles consecutively, and would love to hear that ‘Holiday 2009 was the best one ever for Nintendo!'”
This is yet another snippet from the same Radio-Blodec podcast we’ve been mentioning this week, with High Voltage’s Joshusa Olson and SEGA’s German Fritsch. The possibility of High Voltage and SEGA working together again was discussed and we’ve translated the response below.
“…Well, we are all talking amongst ourselves. High Voltage is satisfied with SEGA and SEGA is satisfied with High Voltage. We have worked very well together. Whether we would like to end our relationship or not is a matter of numbers, but for now we will wait for sales…It depends on how everything works out but we would be happy to work together again without a doubt.”
DJ Hero (Wii) – T
Hot and Cold: A 3D Hidden Object Adventure (DSi) – E
Jewel Quest Mysteries: Curse of the Emerald Tear (DS) – E
PALLURIKIO (Wii) – E
World of Zoo (Wii) – E
Cook Wars (Wii) – E
Ninja Gaiden (Wii/Arcade) – E10+
Rygar (Wii/Arcade) – E10+
SpongeBob’s Truth or Square (Wii/DS) – E
Tecmo Bowl (Wii/Arcade) – E
Water Sports (Wii) – E
Hasbro Family Game Night 2 (Wii) – E
DJ Star (DS) – M
A Witch’s Tale (DS) – E10+
Disney’s A Christmas Carol + DGamer (DS) – E
Family Feud 2010 Edition (Wii) – E
Let’s Play Flight Attendant (DS) – E
Team Elimination Games (Wii) – E
Tony Hawk: Ride (Wii) – E10+
Solomon’s Key (Wii/Arcade) – E
Puzzle League Express (DSi) – E
Capcom characters have crossed paths with a number of other members from significant franchises in previous fighting titles. But how does Capcom vs. Nintendo sound? Tatsunoko vs. Capcom producer Ryota Niitsuma doesn’t seem opposed to the possibility and even told NGamer magazine that it’s “an interesting idea.”
“As you know, we like our Capcom Vs series – we have quite a few: SNK, Marvel, Tatsunoko. An interesting idea would be Capcom Vs Nintendo. Capcom wins!”
While I’m not really sure if Niitsuma was being completely serious, the idea does indeed seem intriguing.
In other “vs. Capcom” news, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom was originally going to feature Phoenix Wright and Franziska von Karma, but the development team ultimately decided against including the characters. Niitsuma hopes that Phoenix Wright can make an appearance in a future title, however.
There are plenty of ways to quit a job, but one former Ubisoft staffer took it upon himself to go out in one of the more unconventional ways. Now ex-developer William David designed a flash game in order to – as he explains – “tell my co-workers I was leaving and why.” Like the way in which he left Ubisoft, the flash creation itself isn’t your typical game. You can choose to only move forward, jump, and listen to the characters. But it’s still worth a playing, as the atmosphere is excellent and is capped off off with music from Frank Sinatra. And hey, it’s not so often that someone is willing to take this kind of approach when leaving his/her job.
Famitsu First Day Sales (08/13)
[WII] Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Akatsuki no Ouji (Square Enix) – 6,600 (23%)
Famitsu August Estimates
Title – First Shipment/Total Forecast (Related Title – First Week/Total Sales)
[NDS] Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver (Pokemon) FS 1.35M-1.90M / TF 3.60M-4.40M (Pokemon DP – FW 1.586M / LTD 5.686M)
[WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) FS 310K-440K / TF 1.80M+ (Wii Fit – FW 254K / LTD 3.488M)
[NDS] Inazuma Eleven 2 (Level 5) FS 230K-320K / TF 260K-360K (IE – FW 41K / LTD 375K)
[PS3] Tales of Vesperia (Bandai Namco) FS 160K-230K / TF 230K-330K (ToV 360 – FW 101K / LTD 195K)
[PSP] Gran Turismo (SCE) FS 150K-210K / TF 210K-300K (GT5 Prologue – FW 108K / LTD 239K)
[NDS] Hikari no 4 Senshi: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Square Enix) FS 150K-210K / TF 150K-210K (FF4DS – FW 309K / LTD 622K)
[NDS] SaGa 2 SE (Square Enix) FS 140K-200K / TF 210K-300K (Romancing SaGa PS2 – FW 221K / LTD 455K)
[PS3] Tekken 6 (Bandai Namco) FS 120K-170K / TF 170K-200K (Tekken 5 – FW 217K / LTD 317K)
[PSP] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 4 (Konami) FS 130K-180K / FS 190K-260K (JPPYP3 – FW 109K / LTD 356K)
[PS3] Kidou Senshi Gundam Senki (Bandai Namco) FS 110K-160K / TF 160K-220K (Gundam Musou 2 – FW 162K / LTD 316K)
[NDS] Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (Atlus) FS 90K-120K / TF 90K-120K (Devil Survivor – FW 57K / LTD 107K)
[NDS] Super Robo Gakuen (Bandai Namco) FS 80K-110K / TF 80K-110K (Mugen no Frontier – FW 90K / LTD 121K)
[PS3] Bayonetta (Sega) FS 80K-110K / TF 100K-140K (DMC4 – FW 212K / LTD 310K)
Nintendo Wii
North America:
1. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
2. Rock Band 2 Special Edition (MTV Games)
3. Wii Fit (Nintendo)
4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
5. EA Sports Active (EA Sports)
Japan:
1. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
2. Monster Hunter 3 Classic Controller Bundle (Capcom)
3. EA Sports Active (EA Sports)
4. Monster Hunter 3 (Capcom)
5. Wii Fit (Nintendo)
UK:
1. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
2. Ashes Cricket 09 (Codemasters)
3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
4. Wii Play (Nintendo)
5. EA Sports Active (EA Sports)
Nintendo DS
North America:
1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
2. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)
3. Fossil Fighters (Nintendo)
4. Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo)
5. The World Ends with You (Square Enix)
Japan:
1. Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix)
2. Tomodachi Collection (Nintendo)
3. Irodzuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip (Nintendo)
4. Puyo Puyo 7 (Sega)
5. Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Rich Oosouji (Nintendo)
UK:
1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo)
2. Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force (Disney)
3. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)
4. Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo)
5. Peppa Pig: The Game (Ubisoft)
SAN FRANCISCO – Madden NFL game purchasers will soon have their day in court after a U.S. District Judge recently denied Electronic Art’s (NASDAQ: ERTS) motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit that claims the company engaged in unlawful and anticompetitive agreements that monopolized the market for football videogames and nearly doubled the price of its popular game, Madden NFL.
The lawsuit alleges EA established agreements with the National Football League (NFL), The NFL Players Union, Arena Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), that drove competition out of the market and prevented new competitors from entering.
The agreements resulted in the company’s flagship product, Madden NFL, to increase 70 percent from a cost of $29.99 to $49.99, the suit states.
“There is nothing wrong with good, strong competition in a free market, but we believe EA rigged the game to take advantage of consumers,” said Steve Berman, lead attorney and managing partner at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro.
In 2004, EA experienced a blow to sales when competitor game NFL 2K5 gained popularity forcing EA to lower the price of its popular Madden NFL game and other football games. Soon after, EA entered into an agreement with the NFL and NFL Players Union that prevented any other company from producing NFL-branded interactive football software, the suit states. EA followed that agreement by entering into additional agreements with the NCAA and Arena Football League.
“EA knows that the demand for these games is based on how realistically the players and teams are portrayed,” said Berman. “When EA signed into exclusive agreements it knowingly killed the only competing game of comparable quality, NFL 2K5.”
The suit claims that EA’s manipulation of the market allows the company to sell Madden for as much as $59.95 a game.
In the company’s annual report to investors, EA notes, “that if it were unable to maintain licenses with major sports leagues and players associations, revenue and profitability will decline significantly.”
In February 2008, EA extended its anticompetitive agreements with the NFL and NFL Players Union until 2012. Two weeks after signing the extension, EA announced a $2 billion offer for Take Two Interactive, the maker of NFL 2K5.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, seeks to represent anyone who purchased Madden NFL, NCAA or Arena Football branded videogames from Electronic Arts from August 2005 until present.
Recently, the court dismissed two counts against EA, allowing four to move forward including violation of the federal Sherman Act, violations of California’s Cartwright Act, violation of California’s unfair competition act and unjust enrichment.
Purchasers of Electronic Arts’ football videogames can learn more about the case and participate in this class action at www.hbsslaw.com/maddennfl.
About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is a nationally recognized class-action and complex-litigation law firm based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Among recent successes, HBSS negotiated a $300 million settlement in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation, the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history, recovered $340 million on behalf of Enron employees, and was part of the leadership team in the $3 billion Visa/MasterCard settlement. In pharmaceutical litigation, the firmýs recent successes include a $350 million settlement with McKesson, more than $200 million with other parties in drug-pricing litigation, and a $150 million settlement regarding Lupron. HBSS represented Washington and 12 other states against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in history. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit www.hbsslaw.com.
Read more about the lawsuit here
Thanks to Laura for the news tip!
1. Wii Sports Resort/MotionPlus (Wii) – Nintendo
2. NCAA Football 10 (360) – EA
3. NCAA Football 10 (PS3) – EA
4. Wii Fit/Balance Board (Wii) – Nintendo
5. Mario Kart Wii/Wheel (Wii) – Nintendo
6. Mario Kart DS (DS) – Nintendo
7. Pokemon Platinum (DS) – Nintendo
8. Fight Night Round 4 (360) – EA
9. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) – Nintendo
10. EA Sports Active Bundle (Wii) – EA
11. Wii Play/Wiimote (Wii) – Nintendo
12. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii) – EA
13. Fight Night Round 4 (PS3) – EA
14. UFC 2009: Undisputed (360) – THQ
15. Punch-Out!! (Wii) – Nintendo
16. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Autobots (DS) – Activision Blizzard
17. Prototype (360) – Activision Blizzard
18. Major League Baseball 2K9 (360) – Take 2 Interactive
19. The Legendary Starfy (DS) – Nintendo
20. NCAA Football 10 (PS2) – EA
