October Console Sales Numbers...........

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Assassins Creed and Mass Effect will all have to do something amazing for me to drop Bioshock from the top spot.

Early returns look good for Assassins Creed. Guess I'll find out first hand tomorrow.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I'm a graphics whore, that being said I'm starting to look for games that are "fun" while not driving me nuts with sliders and tweak this and that crap. I'm sick of it.

Yes, the days are gone where we could pop in Tecmo bowl and just have some fun, albeit unrealistic.. but fun nonetheless.

I'm yearning to get back to those days and I'm tired of console sports games.. which brings me to games like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, and others that look to be quite fun while allowing my kids to hop on and play as well. The Xbox 360 has always been about me, although my 11 year old loves Viva Pinata - but I want the whole family to get envolved and the Wii is becoming something I think we'd all like - dispite my thoughts of it too "kiddie" up to this point.

I credit Super Mario Galaxy (at least the reivews and videos of the game) for making me wonder if the Wii is the right fit or at least the option of a 2nd console. Not to mention, I can play Guitar Hero 3 and I see stuff like a wireless gun coming out for it.

Any sports games you have fun with? The 2k hoops series? This year's NHL 2008?

[Big Fo]

Motherfucker, totally denied in my quest to buy Mario Galaxy today. I want to freeze myself Eric Cartman-style until this time tomorrow so I don't have to wait another 24 hours.

[Daimyo]

Picked up SMG today, but it was harder than it should have been.

Went to Target... told the game doesn't release until Wednesday.
Went to Best Buy... told the game doesn't release until tomorrow.
Went to Wal-Mart... bought it without hassle.

What is with the confusion over release dates? Given that the game shipped to retailers last week there is no excuse to not be selling it today!

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Any sports games you have fun with? The 2k hoops series? This year's NHL 2008?

MLB 2k7
NHL 2k7

I'm not much of a hoops guy as far as video games go, I prefer the text sim versions.

the FPS are stellar on the 360 though and I'm picking up Assassins Creed tomorrow I hope.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

Picked up SMG today, but it was harder than it should have been.

Went to Target... told the game doesn't release until Wednesday.
Went to Best Buy... told the game doesn't release until tomorrow.
Went to Wal-Mart... bought it with hassle.

What is with the confusion over release dates? Given that the game shipped to retailers last week there is no excuse to not be selling it today!

A few different places told me they expected their FedEx shipment in the morning or early afternoon, I have no idea if they were just saying that or the stores actually have them in the back waiting for Tuesday and they didn't want to get in a conversation about it.

It seems like a lot of stores are releasing the game on Tuesday like they normally do even though the Nintendo said the game came out today.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Couple of good deals at Fry's for those of you that live near one. They are selling Assassin's Creed for 360/PS3 for $39.99. Also, they are taking preorders for Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3 for $49.99 (Due out in early to mid-December).

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5384558

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Couple of news notes on the console sales front.....

First, NPD has rethought it's previous stance about reducing the amount of information released on a monthly basis. They will be sticking with the same system that they've always had rather than cutting back to quarterly reports.

First day sales numbers for the 40 GB PS3 are in. 36,000 40 GB PS3's were sold on the first day available. It will be interesting to see how sales progress over the next couple of weeks as Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, and Heavenly Sword are released in Japan.

[spleen1015]

I must be blind. I can't find Assassin's Creed on their site.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I must be blind. I can't find Assassin's Creed on their site.

The offer is in-store only in their weekly ad.

[spleen1015]

Ah, okay. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Ah, okay. Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm still not sure though why it isn't listed on the site. I saw the scan of the advertising flyer on another site for the deal.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I'm still not sure though why it isn't listed on the site. I saw the scan of the advertising flyer on another site for the deal.

Is that price in effect today or this weekend?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Is that price in effect today or this weekend?

I believe it was for this week. I'm a bit irritated because I didn't copy the link when I saw it earlier today and now I can't find it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Interesting story that was removed pretty quickly after it was posted.

Microsoft told the Official Xbox Magazine that the update, scheduled for December 4, will allow Xbox 360 owners to download classic titles such as Halo, Fable, Crash Bandicoot and Burnout 3 via Xbox Live Marketplace for around 1200 Microsoft points per title. As time goes by, the platform holder reportedly hopes to make as much of the original Xbox’s back catalog of titles available to Xbox 360 owners as possible.

I'm guessing someone let this slip a bit early and the magazine got a call from Microsoft to remove it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Enterbrain Japanese console data in for the week ending November 11th. PS3 pushes through 66K units despite release occuring on last day of the reporting week. Wii receives 2.5K unit boost (up to 37.5K) from release of Super Mario Galaxy. 360 sales fall back to previous sales numbers after a brief one week boost due to release of 360 Elite unit and Ace Combat 6 in Japan.

http://www.texyt.com/40GB+Sony+PS3+s...+Famitsu+00120

40GB PS3 sells 50,000 in first day in Japan
By T Arakaki - Tue, 11/13/2007 - 11:15.

Sales of Sony's PS3 video games console surged 300 per cent after the company released a cheaper model in Japan last week, according to leaked survey data.

Sony Japan introduced the new PS3 model with a 40GB hard disk drive on November 11. One day later, local PS3 weekly sales figures had soared from an average of 16,000 to almost 66,000.

The figures are contained in preliminary data from the latest edition of a regular survey by Japan-based video games publisher and market survey firm, Enterbrain.

The substantial surge in weekly sales comes despite the release of the console occurring on the last day of the week. It is unclear what proportion of the sales resulted from pre-orders.

PS3 takes top spot

The huge increase in sales enabled the PS3 to take the top spot in full-sized console sales from Nintendo's Wii console for the first time. The Wii typically sells less than 35,000 per week in Japan, although sales have risen to 37,500 following the release of the popular game, Super Mario Galaxy.

The 40GB unit retails for $100 less than older models. The new console also lacks some features, including a flash memory device reader, two of the original four USB ports, and backwards compatibility with PS2 games. The Japanese version of the 40GB PS3 features a new 'Ceramic White' case color.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Early returns look good for Assassins Creed. Guess I'll find out first hand tomorrow.

Actually.. check that.. early returns look mediocre. Probably going to be in the 8.0 range. (Repetitive and AI issues seems to be the common thread)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I guess this can double as the "upcoming/newly-released video games" thread. I've read discouraging things about Assassin's Creed, and it went from a "must hunt for it tonight" to "rent it whenever I'm bored." Generally, the complaints I've read involve repetitive gameplay and no real need to use the "stealth" that was supposed to be one of the main selling points. Ah, well. With Mass Effect and College Hoops coming out next week, I think I'll survive.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Actually.. check that.. early returns look mediocre. Probably going to be in the 8.0 range. (Repetitive and AI issues seems to be the common thread)

I think the game is a great idea in theory, but it's no small feat to provide a stealth game that provides what a gamer feels is accurate AI responses to your actions. Also, the ton of hype related to this game plus the release delay put it in a position where it was awfully tough to live up to expectations that were set for it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Actually.. check that.. early returns look mediocre. Probably going to be in the 8.0 range. (Repetitive and AI issues seems to be the common thread)

Is it just me, or did 8.0 in the old days mean a very good game that pretty much everybody should at least play once? I know that things are different now, but am I remembering the past wrong?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Is it just me, or did 8.0 in the old days mean a very good game that pretty much everybody should at least play once? I know that things are different now, but am I remembering the past wrong?

We could start an entirely new thread dedicated to what review scores really mean. Review staffs at websites are constantly debating what scoring scale they should use for reviews and what score goes with a given game. The best thing is to just read the review to find out what works and does not work in the game.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Is it just me, or did 8.0 in the old days mean a very good game that pretty much everybody should at least play once? I know that things are different now, but am I remembering the past wrong?

Depends on the reviewer. 8.0 should mean a very good game and a must buy for fans of the genre, but its not always that way.

When in doubt, I usually go with gamespot. They can be pretty harsh on games and are quick to point out flaws. The only other advice is to actually read the review. I know with IGN you'll read the review, think its a 7.0 game or maybe even a bit lower and then you see they gave it an 8.0.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Regardless of what the scores really mean these days, I guess I just wonder if they were more consistent 15 or 20 years ago. Maybe it just seems that way to me because there were fewer people doing reviews back then.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Actually.. check that.. early returns look mediocre. Probably going to be in the 8.0 range. (Repetitive and AI issues seems to be the common thread)

Now this disappoints me.

[MizzouRah]

Someone posted this from the IGN review:

IGN is really harsh in their video review:

Hilary: "I would go on to say that Assassins Creed would be the top 5 most dissapointing games of all time." and "...this is a rental, there is no need to go back to play it more than once...in fact, you probably won't even finish it once."

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Is it just me, or did 8.0 in the old days mean a very good game that pretty much everybody should at least play once? I know that things are different now, but am I remembering the past wrong?

I think you said it best. 8.0 doesn't mean that it isn't a good game nor is it enjoyable but, goes from a must buy to must rent or buy used.

[Mustang]

Ouch... me thinks I'll see if I can cancel my pre-order and put the $ towards Mass Effect or Bio

[Eaglesfan27]

FWIW, Gamespot (which of the big sites is the one I think is usually the most reliable) gave Assassin's Creed a 9.0 on both the 360 and PS3 and said that it is "a beautiful and exciting experience that you will remember for years to come." They also say it is one of the best games of the year and a must own. The pros according to them:

• Huge, gorgeous world that feels wholly alive
• Fluid controls make it fun to run across city rooftops
• Joyous mix of stealth, action, and platforming
• Stunning sound design features fantastic voice acting and a beautiful musical score
• Tons of small details will constantly amaze you.

The Cons are a confusing ending and a few small visual glitches.

Here is the link:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/acti...ml?sid=6182793

[astrosfan64]

Where can i go on the internet to check sales of a game.

Like if I wanted to see how many copies of Company of Heroes sold? Or a check on the copies of Football Manager, or the bigs etc...

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Regardless of what the scores really mean these days, I guess I just wonder if they were more consistent 15 or 20 years ago. Maybe it just seems that way to me because there were fewer people doing reviews back then.

Maybe, but another factor is that game review websites need traffic to their site to generate ad revenue. The best way to advertise your website is to get on on the boxes of games and their website. All PR people care about are numbers. PR knows that most people see 8.0 and think "good game", so regardless of what the review actually says, they sale on "8.0 - IGN.com". So IGN gives high number scores to games, even medicore ones, so that game companies will put their name on the games.

Some people know their scam, which is why IGN and 1up have become jokes among a lot of the hardcore gamer circles. But they don't care, because 90% of the people don't know any better, and they go to their websites and IGN and 1up keep making a lot in ad revenue.

Gamespot does seem to be a bit harsher on games with their number ratings.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm reading up about Assassin's Creed because my wife wants my Christmas list by this weekend, and I'm flying out of town Friday morning for my boards. It is mostly being very well received. Game Informer gave it a 9.5 out of 10, Gamepro gave it a 5 out of 5. IGN appears to be the only site that has ripped it from what I can find so far. I'm hoping someone on here has some first hand thoughts about it by Thursday.

[Calis]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I'm reading up about Assassin's Creed because my wife wants my Christmas list by this weekend, and I'm flying out of town Friday morning for my boards. It is mostly being very well received. Game Informer gave it a 9.5 out of 10, Gamepro gave it a 5 out of 5. IGN appears to be the only site that has ripped it from what I can find so far. I'm hoping someone on here has some first hand thoughts about it by Thursday.

Just fyi, from glancing at Metacritic it looks like IGN, Gamespy, Eurogamer, 1Up, Planet XBox360, and Team Xbox all ranked it in the 70's or below. So take that for what it's worth.

I was actually looking for an excuse to pass up either Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect, so I might be holding off on AC for a while. That would give me the opportunity to pick up Rock Band as well next week maybe which would be great.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Calis

Just fyi, from glancing at Metacritic it looks like IGN, Gamespy, Eurogamer, 1Up, Planet XBox360, and Team Xbox all ranked it in the 70's or below. So take that for what it's worth.

I was actually looking for an excuse to pass up either Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect, so I might be holding off on AC for a while. That would give me the opportunity to pick up Rock Band as well next week maybe which would be great.

Thanks. I was looking at Gamerankings's site where they don't have most of those reviews up yet.

[MizzouRah]

I wish I would have read EF's post before getting home. I trust Gamespot's reviews more so than IGN's and from that review, I think I might pick it up now.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

"I would go on to say that Assassins Creed would be the top 5 most dissapointing games of all time." and "...this is a rental, there is no need to go back to play it more than once...in fact, you probably won't even finish it once."

Yet it still gets an 7.5

I'm not really sure when 7ish became average or when 5 became horrific, or maybe it was always this way.

Scores aren't very useful unless you know how well the reviewer's tastes match up with your own or just average a bunch of them together. When in doubt, read the text.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Yet it still gets an 7.5

I'm not really sure when 7ish became average or when 5 became horrific, or maybe it was always this way.

Scores aren't very useful unless you know how well the reviewer's tastes match up with your own or just average a bunch of them together. When in doubt, read the text.

I'm not much for IGN's reviews anyhow.. without seeing the full review or score, that clip was worrysome.

[Mustang]

My copy is in. After I eat, I'll be picking it up and I'll give some of my impressions.

[RainMaker]

I have Assassin's Creed coming in the mail. I've seen some mixed reviews out on the game. On one hand the graphics and design look incredible. The storyline is also supposed to be interesting with some unique twists. The gameplay looks to be kind of easy and repetitive.

Still, I'm someone who is just sick of first person shooters. I'll support efforts by any company to take their chances on a unique game like this.

Here's a fairly nice review of the game:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/27616.html

[RainMaker]

Mizzou B-Ball, you put a lot of effort into justifying your purchase of a PS3. I'm not sure what you're arguing about though, I think the console battle is over. The 360 has dominated from the start and still continues to gain on the PS3. Sure a price cut and a couple games might help push a few more units for the PS3, but isn't it a bit too late?

[MJ4H]

hahaha

the battle for second place i guess??

[Big Fo]

I've played about three and a half hours of Mario Galaxy and have 13 stars, this game is amazing so far. You go from making crazy long jumps in full orbit around a planetoid to old school 2D platforming then back into 3D for a boss battle on a Super Mario Bros. 3 style flying battleship while occasionally flying around as a bumblebee, and all of it is fun as hell. It only took me a few moments to get comfortable with running and jumping on the underside of a planet. The music might be the best I have heard in any video game that I've played. Time to get back to it and play some more...

[DeToxRox]

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...4/m/1191057706

Its a collection of Assassin Creed reviews to this point.

[MizzouRah]

It's funny how this thread has morphed into a game impressions thread.

I'm about to get a Wii I think. I will say, COD 4 might be the best FPS I've ever played.

[Mustang]

Well, my 1 1/2 - 2 hours of play won't lead to any big insights into it.

The beginning part is very draggy with not alot of action going on. They spend much of the time working on the back story to the main game so, there are alot of long sequences with alot of dialog.

As stated in other website previews, the voice acting is nicely done other than the main character who's voice comes off as a little Midwestern Average Joe. (Its like Keanu Reeves. Hey.. everyone, talk with an accent but, you Keanu... don't even bother).

1 novel thing about the cut scenes is the ability to go to different camera angles which gives more of a different cinematic view. Also, you can rotate while the scene is going on to give it a different view. (doesn't add anything to the gameplay but, just a different way of doing cut scenes) One thing I don't like is that you can interact at times by pressing a button. Unfortunately, the interactions appear necessary to move forward and sometimes don't add anything. (Ok, I had to interact to go to sleep to advance the game... why? Shit.. just show me going to sleep)

Obviously, the worlds are very nicely done although, I do see a bit of pixelation from time to time I haven't noticed any big framerate issues. The beginning tutorials guide you more down a path so, I didn't do alot of exploring as I haven't reached the meat of the game yet as it is more of a go here... go here... go here... Although, I don't expect to have free reign just yet given it is a tutorial.

Combat is more of your typical button mash with a little more 'flair' on the kills. You have a choice of 4 weapons with block move, strike, grab. Nothing really innovative there.

Unfortunately, I had 1 freeze up in the game so, had to redo like 10 minutes of the game since the last freeze. First freeze I can remember in a game since Madden back when I first bought it.

So.. mostly my first hours were a tutorial/cinematic experience. My gut is leaning towards that this will be a visually stunning game but, typical FPS gameplay....

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

It's funny how this thread has morphed into a game impressions thread.

Hey, it's what drives the sales.

I'm waiting for the PS3 to have a must buy so I can get one.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Depends on the reviewer. 8.0 should mean a very good game and a must buy for fans of the genre, but its not always that way.

When in doubt, I usually go with gamespot. They can be pretty harsh on games and are quick to point out flaws. The only other advice is to actually read the review. I know with IGN you'll read the review, think its a 7.0 game or maybe even a bit lower and then you see they gave it an 8.0.

I can't speak as much to the XBox 360 and the PS3 but I find IGN's Nintendo reviews much more informative than Gamespot's. They have a bunch of editors who seemed to like old school games and like gaming in general whereas I read entirely too many Nintendo reviews on Gamespot that seem like they are from an editor bitter that they missed out on the YAFPS for the XBox 360 or sports game for PS3 and were exiled to the kiddie planet.

That said, IGN has massive grade inflation.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

It's funny how this thread has morphed into a game impressions thread.

Oh, how awful

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It's interesting. It seems to be a great time to be a platform-exclusive developer. Games like Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and Zach and Wiki are all getting 9+ Metacritic reviews, while many multiconsole games get sub-par review scores or are delayed to future quarters. All of them offer distinctly different gameplay elements to gamers. Good to see gamers getting value-added games on each console.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Games like Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and Zach and Wiki are all getting 9+ Metacritic reviews, while many multiconsole games get sub-par review scores.

Why do y'all think that is?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Why do y'all think that is?

Obviously, the parties close to the studios are able to concentrate on one architecture rather than having to develop for multiple systems that are quite different from one another. The studios that develop for several consoles are taking a financial blood bath right now. They don't have enough resources to develop games well for all consoles. Instead, they're putting out mediocre games on multiple consoles that aren't doing well at all.