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US game retail industry tanks in January – NPD
The US retail game industry has taken its first step into 2012, and it appears to have resulted in a broken ankle. Today, the NPD Group reported dismal January retail sales, with total consumer spend in the US falling 34 percent to $ 750.6 million.
“One factor for the double digit declines in new physical software was the lack of new launches. New launches in January 2011 represented 13 percent of dollar sales and new launch performance dropped 99 percent in Jan 2012. Games like Dead Space 2, Little Big Planet 2, and DC Universe Online ranked within the top ten last year,” commented NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
New software sales for console, portable, and PC games fell 37 percent during the month to $ 379.6 million. However, NPD did note that it expects sales outside the new physical channel, such as full-game and add-on downloads, social games, subscriptions, and rentals, brought in an additional $ 350 million to $ 400 million in January.
The top game of 2011 maintained its number one position, as Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 led January’s sales charts. In fact, there was no change at the top over December. Ubisoft’s Just Dance 3 again finished second at US retail, with Bethesda Softworks’ The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim securing third place. Take-Two’s NBA 2K12 emerged to edge out EA’s Battlefield 3 for fourth- and fifth-best-selling games.
Hardware took an equally hard hit in January, falling 38 percent to $ 199.5 million. Though NPD does not release its sales figures, Microsoft independently announced that its console was the best selling of the bunch for the 13th month in a row, having shifted 270,000 units. Sony and Nintendo had not disclosed hardware sales figures as of press time.
JANUARY 2012 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total retail sales: $ 750.6 million (-34%)
Non-PC hardware: $ 199.5 million (-38%)
Non-PC software: $ 355.9 million (-38%)
Total software: $ 379.6 million (-37%)
Accessories: $ 195.2 million (-18%)
TOP 10 GAMES FOR JANUARY 2011
Title (Platforms) – Publisher
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (X360, PS3, PC) – Activision
2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3) – Ubisoft
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC) – Bethesda Softworks
4. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, PC) – Take-Two
5. Battlefield 3 (X360, PS3, PC) – EA
6. Madden NFL 12 (X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) – EA
7. Mario Kart 7 (3DS) – Nintendo
8. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, PC) – Activision Blizzard
9. Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii) – Majesco
10. Saints Row: The Third (360, PS3, PC) – THQ
Prototype 2: The Infected and the Flyer
In just a few months, Prototype 2 will be upon us and we’ll all be running through New York City tearing bad guys apart with arm blades and disgusting tendril moves. When that happens, you’re not going to have time to sit down and ponder how the cast of this title let their world get into this sickening state. So, Activision and Radical Entertainment are sharing bios, screenshots and concept art with IGN now.
We already introduced you to the game’s murderers, their friends, their enemies, the figureheads of NYZ, and the grunts, but today, let’s meet two deadly enemies…
The Infected
The standard Blacklight entity is the Infected — standard human-sized and (generally) human-shaped walking dead that wander the streets mindlessly and seek to devour flesh and organs. A Blacklight outbreak appears to create hordes of these creatures; in reality, they represent less than 1% of all victims of the virus.
Infected are created when a Blacklight infection does not kill a victim but also fails to activate any notable dormant DNA in the victim. The victim will awaken from unconsciousness, display the intelligence of an animal, and seek purely to kill and consume living (and dead) organisms.
Infected retain a humanoid appearance but manifest various tumors and other viral growths that tear through clothing and greatly alter their silhouette. They have average speed, enhanced strength, and can be killed the same way as a regular human.
-Activision
The Flyer
Flyers are a brand new phenomenon that have begun to appear in the skies over NYZ since the beginning of the second outbreak. Flyers are vulture-like monsters that spread the plague and attack anything that stands — or flies — in the open.
The origin of the Flyers has not been uncovered. Other than the Hydra, they are the only Blacklight monster that does not have a humanoid physiology. It’s possible that Flyers are city birds (pigeons, crows, starlings) that have been infected and mutated by the virus.
Flyers look like diseased vultures. They have pinkish flesh, scraggly feathers, and gnarled faces. Their wingspan is approximately two meters and they have bulk sufficient to knock a helicopter out of the sky. Their favorite attack method is to perform a high-speed dive-bomb. They mass in flocks.
-Activision
Skyrim wins IAA Game of the Year
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim cast a dragon-size shadow over the 15th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, taking home five awards, including Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.
It beat out a competitive group in the top category, including Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, Uncharted 3, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. With the exception of Skyward Sword, the above titles all won other awards at the ceremony, with Uncharted picking up a trio of gongs for various visual categories.
Not all of the award recipients were revealed at the event. The organizing Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences announced that Asteroids and Centipede designer Ed Logg would be receiving the annual Pioneer Award, while Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney would be inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
The IAA show is a highlight of the D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain), a yearly conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment. For complete video of the ceremony, as well as every D.I.C.E. panel and presentation, keep an eye on GameSpot’s official coverage page.
A full list of nominees follows below. Winners have been italicized.
Game of the Year
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
Portal 2–Valve
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda Game Studios
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword–Nintendo
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Little Big Planet 2–Media Molecule
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
InFamous 2–Sucker Punch
Portal 2–Valve
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Battlefield 3–DICE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Need for Speed: The Run–EA Black Box
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Achievement in Story
Bastion–Supergiant Games
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Portal 2–Valve
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda Game Studios
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Character Performance
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Adam Jensen)–Eidos Montreal
L.A. Noire (Cole Phelps)–Team Bondi
Portal 2 (Wheatley)–Valve
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Nathan Drake)–Naughty Dog
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Victor Sullivan)–Naughty Dog
Downloadable Game of the Year
Bastion–Supergiant Games
Drawn: Trail of Shadows–Big Fish Games
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet–Fuel Cell
Ms. Splosion Man–Twisted Pixel Games
Orcs Must Die!–Robot Entertainment
Casual Game of the Year
Fruit Ninja Kinect–Halfbrick Studios
Tiny Wings–Andreas Illiger
Jetpack Joyride–Halfbrick Studios
Monsters Ate My Condo–Adult Swim/PikPok
Where’s My Water?–Creature Feep
Social Networking Game of the Year
Army Attack–Digital Chocolate
CastleVille–Zynga
Gardens of Time–Playdom
The Sims Social–Playfish
Triple Town–Spry Fox
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dark Souls–From Software
Deus Ex: Human Revolution–Eidos Montreal
Star Wars: The Old Republic–BioWare Austin
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda Game Studios
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings–CD Projekt
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Bastion–Supergiant Games
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Portal 2–Valve
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure–Toys for Bob
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda Game Studios
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 12–EA Canada
Madden NFL 12–Tiburon
MLB 11: The Show–SCE San Diego
NBA 2K12–Visual Concepts
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition–Firemint
Racing Game of the Year
Forza Motorsport 4–Turn 10 Studios
Mario Kart 7–Nintendo
Real Racing 2 HD–Firemint
Fighting Game of the Year
Fight Night Champion–EA Canada
King of Fighters XIII–SNK Playmore
Mortal Kombat–NetherRealm Studios
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition–Capcom
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3–Capcom
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Iron Brigade–Double Fine
Orcs Must Die!–Robot Entertainment
Total War: Shogun 2–The Creative Assembly
Toy Soldiers: Cold War–Signal Studios
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution–Relic Entertainment
Family Game of the Year
Dance Central 2–Harmonix
Just Dance 3–Ubisoft Paris
Kinect Disneyland Adventure–Frontier Developments
Little Big Planet 2–Media Molecule
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure–Toys for Bob
Mobile Game of the Year
Contre Jour–Chillingo
Dead Space–EA Mobile
Infinity Blade II–Chair Entertainment
Tentacles–Press Play
The Dark Meadow–Phosphor Games Studio
Handheld Game of the Year
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective–Capcom
Kirby Mass Attack–Hal Laboratory
Mario Kart 7–Nintendo
Professor Layton and the Last Specter–Level 5
Super Mario 3D Land–Nintendo
Adventure Game of the Year
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Portal 2–Valve
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword–Nintendo
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Battlefield 3–DICE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games
Gears of War 3–Epic Games
Little Big Planet 2–Media Molecule
Star Wars: The Old Republic–BioWare Austin
Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity
Battlefield 3–DICE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games
Dragon Age II–BioWare Edmonton
Portal 2–Valve
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Action Game of the Year
Battlefield 3–DICE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3–Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games
Dead Space 2–Visceral Games
Gears of War 3–Epic Games
Saints Row: The Third–Volition
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations–Ubisoft Montreal
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Rayman Origins–UbiArt Montpellier
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
Battlefield 3–DICE
Portal 2–Valve
Rayman Origins–UbiArt Montpellier
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
Crysis 2–Crytek GmbH
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Rage–id Software
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
Portal 2–Valve
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure–Toys for Bob
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda Game Studios
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword–Nintendo
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Batman: Arkham City–Rocksteady Studios
L.A. Noire–Team Bondi
Portal 2–Valve
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim–Bethesda Game Studios
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception–Naughty Dog
First Look at Battleship’s Alien-on-Navy Combat
The Hasbro train has been running at full steam in theaters, first with the Transformers film franchise, and now with some, let’s say less traditional properties making the rounds soon. Battleship, based on the classic boardgame, is hitting theaters this summer, and will be getting the videogame treatment as well. Battleship: The Game combines first-person shooting and some strategy elements that give the game a unique feel.
Battleship’s story occurs concurrently with the plot of the film, which sees an aquatic alien threat attacking humanity and the navy intervening in the Pacific to take them out. The whole Rim Pack (the area where your naval units are located) is completely cut off from the rest of your fleet, and left with no radar. You won’t find yourself interacting with any characters from the upcoming film as you embody the role of Cole Mathis, a fairly nondescript new character who works as both boots on the ground and the eyes of the navy, as you attempt to stave off the alien invasion.
The main component of the game falls into first-person shooting. You land on islands in the set archipelago, and take on alien foes using both standard weaponry and alien technology. During a brief game demo, Cole stormed a beachhead, killing off enemy soldiers and setting explosives at their embankments to protect his naval units. The aliens have more than just standard soldier units at their disposal, including shredders, which are rolling robotic enemies capable of hunting you down and attacking you while in cover. Additionally, the alien weaponry that you can use in the game includes the KRAW, a minigun-type weapon that gains accuracy the more you hold down the trigger. However, much like the game’s hero, the FPS action was fairly nondescript stuff.
What Battleship really brings to the table comes from the naval meta-game. In addition to your duties on the ground defeating enemies and capturing points on the map, you’ll also have control of some ships. You’ll position your ships across the map grid, utilizing special card pick-ups that you get during the FPS sequences. You’ll even get control of your ships’ gunfire for a few seconds at a time, letting you unleash a barrage of attacks capable of downing opposing ships. All the action unfolds in real-time, and you’ll have enemy ships not just firing on your naval units, but also launching attacks at your character’s very position.
Soldiers battling it out with aliens probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Battleship.
The game’s balancing act of moving between the two elements is the strongest thing going for it. You’ll constantly have to switch between the two modes on the fly and in the middle of firefights. As the two modes directly correlate to each other, you’ll have to react quickly and keep the plates spinning in tandem.
Unfortunately, due to some licensing issues with Hasbro, the version of Battleship based on the actual board game won’t be included in the mix. Still, if the concept of strategic naval battles mixed with FPS gameplay intrigues you, then Battleship might be one worth waiting for.
Steven Hopper is the Executive Editor for IGN’s Xbox channels. Check him out on MyIGN and Twitter.
New Call of Duty confirmed for 2012
No shocker here: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game of 2011. Today, Activision Blizzard reported its fiscal 2011 earnings report, and the success of the first-person shooter franchise helped propel the company to record profits of $ 1.08 billion on revenues of $ 4.76 billion. That’s a significant improvement over 2010, when profits were $ 418 million on revenues of $ 4.45 billion.
Activision Blizzard did not reveal exact sales numbers for Modern Warfare 3, but it did tout the game’s social platform, Call of Duty: Elite. As of January 31, the service now has 7 million registered users, with more than 1.5 million of those gamers signing up for the $ 50 premium tier.
Unsurprisingly, the company confirmed that a new installment in the Call of Duty franchise will be released in 2012. The company also said that it is working on Elite 2.0, with details coming in the next few months.
It also appears as if Activision Blizzard’s gamble on the toy market is paying off. The company called Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure the No. 1 kid’s game in 2011, and it also said that it sold more than 20 million toys based on the franchise. The company expects to release a new installment in the series, Skylanders Giants, in 2012.
Blizzard Entertainment offered a bit of disappointing news. The company no longer expects to launch its anticipated action role-playing game Diablo III during the first quarter of the year. Blizzard’s Michael Morhaime said that the company is now targeting an April-June release window for the game. It will be accompanied by at least one other game–likely Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm or World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.
The company also said that World of Warcraft continues to shed subscribers. The genre-leading massively multiplayer online role-playing game finished the year with 10.2 million subscribers, down from 10.3 million at the end of September.
Ghost Recon Online closed beta starts March 5
A closed beta for Ghost Recon Online was supposed to commence last summer, but that never happened. Now, Ubisoft has announced a firm start date for the private beta, saying it will begin on March 5.
Gamers eager to try out the third-person online multiplayer shooter for the PC can apply to beta-test the game at the title’s official website. Ubisoft did not say how it will go about choosing participants or note how many users the beta will be open to.
In development at Ubisoft Singapore, the downloadable multiplayer shooter will take place in a third-person perspective with a focus on cover-based tactical gameplay. As is standard for free-to-play offerings, players will be afforded opportunities to customize their characters by purchasing “premium items.”
The game is also currently in development for the Wii U, though neither Nintendo nor Ubisoft has offered word on that version of the game since its announcement at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo.
For more on Ghost Recon Online, check out GameSpot’s Q&A with senior game designer Christopher Roby and brand manager Christopher Goh.
Podcast Unlocked Ep. 45: New Game Smell
If you’re a proud owner of an Xbox 360, you’ve come to the right place. Podcast Unlocked is IGN’s best (see: only) 360-centric podcast. If you want more insight into what’s going on with Xbox Live, Kinect and other things in the 360 universe, download our show and revel in its magnificence. Or send us angry emails.
Your locksmiths for today’s podcast are Xbox Executive Editor Steven Hopper, Editor Peter Eykemans, and Beard-in-Chief Casey Lynch.
On this week’s podcast, the locksmiths talk about Kingdoms of Amalur, The Darkness II, used games, and more.
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Used Car Smell: — Tell us your thoughts on used games, and if they are good or bad for the industry (unlocked@ign.com)! (Worth 15 Points)
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Fallout, Gauntlet retrospective at GDC
One of the highlights of last year’s annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco was the Classic Games Postmortem panel, a series of discussions looking back at some of gaming history’s most influential titles, presented by the developers and creators who made them possible.
Back by popular demand, this year’s GDC–taking place March 5-9 in San Francisco–will play host to yet another Classic Games Postmortem series of talks, this time celebrating the original editions of four titles that have seen a series of sequels and re-imaginings over the years: Alone in the Dark, Fallout, Gauntlet, and Harvest Moon.
Alone in the Dark’s original designer Frédérick Raynal will talk about Infogrames’ atmospheric 1992 action-adventure title, revealing how the game established many of the conventions that would later dominate the survival horror genre, including a fixed third-person camera angle, claustrophobic areas, revealing stories through expository items, and giving players limited ammunition.
The original Fallout’s producer, lead programmer and designer Tim Cain, will speak on the game’s post-apocalyptic open world, its distinctive characters, moral dilemmas, and quests, and touch on how the series came to set a standard for open-world RPGs.
Ed Logg, designer of Gauntlet and assistant designer on games including Super Breakout, Asteroids, Centipede and Millipede, will share his thoughts on creating Atari’s 1985 title that paved the way for class-dependent experiences like World of Warcraft and pioneered the co-op dungeon experience.
Finally, Yasuhiro Wada will discuss the original 1996 Super Nintendo title Harvest Moon in his role as the game’s producer, assistant designer, and assistant director, speaking on the ideas that gave birth to the series, its successes and failures, and an insight into the growth of the Harvest Moon business, which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide in the last 15 years.
GDC 2012 will take place March 5-9 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.
BAFTA announces Audience Award shortlist
Today the British Academy Video Games Awards released their shortlist for the Audience Award for games released in 2011.
The BAFTA GAME Award, which recognises the people’s choice for game of the year, is the only award voted for by the general public. Votes can be cast on the BAFTA Game Award website, and the winner will be announced at the ceremony on March 16. Over 110,000 votes were cast last year, with the award going to Call of Duty: Black Ops, over titles such as Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2 and Limbo.
The shortlist for the award was compiled by a panel of industry experts, and the nominees are Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 12, L.A. Noire, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Minecraft, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
The Call of Duty franchise has had previous success in this category, winning the people’s choice award in not only 2011, but also in 2010 for Modern Warfare 2 and in 2009 for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. But the series does face some stiff competition this year, with highly critically acclaimed games such as Portal 2, Skyrim and Arkham City in the running.
Heavy Rain dominated last year’s awards, nominated in seven categories and winning in three.