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NPD: Nintendo DS, Wii Lead Hardware Sales

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360,

Wii February’s NPD data has been released, and things look good for Nintendo. 1up has the details on video game sales for last month, and the Nintendo DS sold 485,000 units, the Wii 335,000. For the rest of the next-generation hardware, Microsoft maintained its sales pace by moving around 228,000 consoles, while the Playstation 3 saw a significant drop to 127,000. The PSP didn’t do much better against the DS, moving 176,000 handhelds.

The only bright spot for Sony would be that in the non-handheld category, the PS2 took second behind the Wii, selling 295,000 units, showing that their now last-generation technology still has plenty of legs at retail. Still, having their PS3 sales drop by nearly half over last month’s sales is a significant change; if new software from Sony can’t change course, the company may have to do something drastic to turn things around.

Microsoft should be pretty happy; while they didn’t lead the pack, the company will surely trumpet their increase in year-over-year sales. That, and having the number one game at retail for the month of February, Crackdown will also help. 1up’s article also further details the rest of the software charts for the month.

Read More | 1up

Gallery: NPD: Nintendo DS, Wii Lead Hardware Sales


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Microsoft HD DVD Player: 4.7 Million Lines Of Code

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Xbox 360,

HD DVD Microsoft’s Xbox Team has offered up a little insight into the development effort that went behind the launch of the HD DVD player. 4.7 million lines of code seems a bit much, but knowing that all of the audio and video codecs had to be developed in software puts this complexity into context. According the the Xbox Team, all of the following had to be implemented in software for the HD DVD to play back discs.

  • Video Codecs: H.264, MPEG-2, VC1
  • Audio Codecs: Dolby Digital+, DTS, TrueHD, LPCM, MPEG
  • HDi: The HD DVD runtime engine.
  • GDI: Drawing stuff like menus
  • AACS: Cryptography/DRM stuff
  • MF: Audio/Video pipeline

According to the team, the HD DVD decoding software utilizes all six Xbox 360 hardware threads to play back video, possibly pushing the console harder than any other software title besides Gears of War. While one can appreciate the effort that Microsoft has made in bringing the HD DVD player to market, one also has to note the all of the additional complications that next generation video formats seem to hold for the average consumer.

Read More | Xbox Team

Gallery: Microsoft HD DVD Player: 4.7 Million Lines Of Code


No PSP Price Drop In 2006

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PSP,

PSP According to a Reuters report, Sony will not be lowering the price of the PSP in 2006. The news agency talked with John Koller, product manager for the PSP. Koller also promised 110 titles for the PSP by the end of the year, nearly doubling the amount of software available for the handheld.

IGN’s PSP release list currently shows about 70 titles due to hit before the end of the year; the additional 40 would be a huge change to that list. Koller could possibly be talking about the PSP download service, but Sony hasn’t really made any announcements about this service in the United States. Gamers have complained about the lack of compelling releases on the PSP; adding 110 titles might help in that regard. Though every title released this holiday season won’t be a winner, there are a number of high profile games scheduled to hit Sony’s handheld by the end of the year, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Lumines II, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2, and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.

Read More | Reuters

Gallery: No PSP Price Drop In 2006


More Japanese PS3 Software Priced, Dated

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Puzzle, SEGA,

Playstation 3 Famitsu recently released the pricing and availability information for a bunch of the Playstation 3 launch window titles in Japan, and Game|Life has a translation. The price list shows information for six of the launch day titles, and three launch window titles, ranging from 5040 Yen ($43) for budget titles to the high end of 8190 Yen ($70) for Armored Core 4. The other titles fall somewhere between the two, with first party titles like Resistance: Fall of Man and Genji 2 priced at 5980 Yen, about $50, and third-party titles like Ridge Racer 7 and Sonic The Hedgehog falling between 7140 Yen ($61) to 7329 Yen ($62). So, at least for right now, it looks like gamers in Japan can expect pretty standard next generation game pricing with only the occasional wallet buster.

Read More | Game|Life

Gallery: More Japanese PS3 Software Priced, Dated


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