February
Latest
Nokia puts E7 up for pre-order in Finland, planning on delivering in February
One of the most delicious phones the consumer world hasn't had a chance to taste yet is firming up plans to finally make its way out to retail. Nokia's Finnish store has put the E7 up for a €599 pre-order, which is expected to get the all-business device to your door some time in February. That matches the last word from Nokia on the subject of the E7's release and should reassure anyone who's made use of Amazon's early pre-orders for this handset that the wait won't last much longer. [Thanks, Esko]
Sims 3 expansion beats Star Trek Online in February's PC top 20
NPD has released its monthly list of the top 20 PC games, and while Star Trek Online made a valiant showing in the month of its debut, landing at number two for the main game and number four for the collector's edition, it was beaten in the end by the Sims 3: High End Loft Stuff (yes, "Stuff") content pack. The Sims juggernaut of a brand continued to rock the top 20, claiming six spots total, and perennial favorite World of Warcraft continued to place almost all of its current editions on the list in three different spots. Other big titles in February were Bioshock 2, the Everquest II: Sentinel's Fate expansion, and Mass Effect 2. Aliens vs. Predator appeared at a miserable number 19, below something called the Mumbo Jumbo Assortment. Full list after the break. We'll say this about PC game players: They know what they like, and they stick with it. [via Big Download]
NPD: Xbox 360 wins US sales war in a downbeat February
The cosmos must clearly have approved of Microsoft's actions over this past month, as today we're hearing the Xbox 360 broke out of its competitive sales funk to claim the title of "month's best-selling console" ... for the first time in two years. Redmond's own Aaron Greenberg describes it as the best February in the console's history, with 422,000 units sold outshining the consistently popular Wii (397,900) and the resurgent PS3 (360,100 consoles shifted, which was a 30 percent improvement year-on-year). In spite of the happy campers in Redmond and Tokyo, the overall numbers for the games industry were down 15 percent on 2009's revenues, indicating our collective gaming appetite is starting to dry up. Good thing we've got all those motion-sensing accessories coming up to reignite our fire.
BioShock 2 now available for prepurchase on Steam
Valve has officially announced that 2K Games' BioShock 2 will be available for purchase on Steam -- you can pre-purchase the game right now, and it'll be unlocked for play on February 9, 2010, day and date with the rest of the world. The current price is $44.99, a slight discount from the boxed version, and that includes a Steam copy of the original BioShock as well, which you can "kindly" give to a friend if you happen to already have it. Or you can nab four licenses for you and three friends for $134.97, with each of you getting to play the original also. Sure, it's a good deal if you're not concerned with "discs" or "physical media," but does it come with a vinyl LP of the game's original soundtrack? Didn't think so, boy-o.
Xperia X10 launching February 2010 in UK, says Sony Ericsson site
Sony Ericsson UK's got a new pre-registration page for the Xperia X10, and along with it what appears to be a brand new, February 2010 expected launch. It's hard to say for sure, but as far as we can tell this page is new, and last we heard the target window was a much broader "first half 2010." Can't say we're anymore excited about this than before, but far be it for us to get in the way of a truly die hard fan community. At least you have a better idea of when to break the bank now. [Thanks, Matej]
Xbox Live Arcade February chart toppers
Based on info gleaned from Major Nelson's weekly Top Ten lists (sans data from the week ending February 2), GamerBytes has compiled a list of the top selling Xbox Live Arcade titles in February. Topping the charts is the EA Sports Freestyle-branded arcade game, 3-on-3 NHL Arcade with strong showings from the pricey R-Type Dimensions and Braid (following an end of the month Deal of the Week sale). Most surprisingly was the interest in Minesweeper Flags, which hovered within the top ten for two weeks in a row -- even though every Windows PC ships with a version of the game! Not faring as well last month were Death Tank (the Sega Saturn Duke Nukem 3D mini-game remake of Death Tank Zwei, priced at 1200) and Exit 2, which both failed to capture much attention upon release. The Maw was a notable entry, firmly holding onto a spot all month following a January release (which GamerBytes notes is a rare feat for XBLA releases). Of course, the most important thing to take away from this is that none of the aforementioned titles were Peggle, which is everyone's new virtual cocaine. We bow to our Unicorn masters.
EEDAR predicts February NPD sales decline, Wii sales explosion
The industry analysts at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research recently cast their assortment of oracle bones over some spreadsheets in an attempt to foretell NPD sales figures for the month of February. The firm's prediction is a tad on the grim side -- according to EEDAR, February software sales reached $659 million, a 2 percent decrease from last year's sales. They foresee a year-on-year decline for Spring 2009 sales as a whole, largely due to last year's glut of blockbuster Q1 releases, such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl and GTA IV.EEDAR's hardware sales estimates are similarly un-rosy -- they predict year-on-year February sales for the PSP, DS and PS3 to fall over 10 percent. However, the firm does predict an 18 percent increase for the 360, and a whopping 68 percent jump for the Wii. With Wii Fit standing atop EEDAR's software sales chart, and with Wii Play presumably surpassing 10 million LTD sales as of last month, it seems Nintendo's license to print money is far from expiring.
YouPlayorWePay opens up a new month, plans to add EU realms soon
We haven't heard much from the folks at You Play or We Pay lately, but maybe that's a good thing for them -- after all the noise from their initial launch, it seems like things have calmed down over there. They're giving out "Compensation Credits," it looks like they've started running a few ads, and it seems like they've finally settled on a model that works for everyone -- both the founders of the site and the people who sign up for compensation. While we heard the first month of slots filled up pretty fast, the second month seems to be going a little slower -- they've still got about half the slots for March still available as of this writing. But as you can see from the picture, they're promising some real items in exchange for those Compensation Credits. With 150 slots in March and about 100 credits given out last month, you may be waiting over a year to save up the credits to buy a 30-day game card, but the site is working the way they planned: you can sign up for free and eventually get something back for your realm's downtime.And they're planning on expanding soon -- the site reports that by the 15th of March, English EU players will be able to sign up for compensation on their realms' downtime as well. This site caused a lot of controversy when it first opened up, but we have to give it to them: it looks like they've worked out a way to do what they want to do.
February's Brew of the Month: Izzard's Ever Flavor
We're a day late here, but that's alright. February's Brew of the Month, Izzard's Ever Flavor has hit vendors, and you know what that means. More jokes about bodily functions! This time around, burping! The video above displays how it works pretty well, though I can't claim credit for it. Credit for that goes to LostShard on Wowhead (or YouTube, I suppose).This month's brew works a bit like last month's in that it uses a buff, and when the buff expires it triggers another effect. Drinking the brew will sometimes proc Gassy, and when Gassy expires (or you click it off), you belch. When you do that, anybody in front of you will be a little unhappy.Can't say I'm a fan of the brew this time around, at least not as much as last month's Wild Winter Pilsner. It got a chuckle out of me, but I probably won't carry a stack around at all times like I did with the last one. Definitely does not topple BigRedPriestess.
February NPD: Nintendo reigns supreme yet again
February was one awesome month for gaming. Figures showed that sales were up across the board, with the Wii selling quite a bit during the month. Perhaps it made for the best Valentine's Day gift imaginable? Or maybe it's just the perfect any day it doesn't matter gift? Or maybe it's just perfect? Yeah, that last one sounds about right.February's console sales are as follows: DS Lite: 587.6K 336K (134%) Wii: 432K 158K (58%) PS2: 351.8K 87.8K (33%) PS3: 280.8K 11.8K (4%) Xbox 360: 254.6K 24.6k (11%) PSP: 243.1K 13.1K (6%) Head on past the break for the software breakdown.
DS releases for the week of February 25th
Unfortunately, not every week can be last week, but maybe you'll find something to interest you in this latest crop of releases, especially with the wide variety of titles hitting shelves across regions today. From the latest Naruto title to Soma Bringer's debut in Japan, it's an unusual week for DS games. Be sure to let us know what interests you! Brain Assist Bratz: Super Babyz Bubble Bobble: Double Shot Disney Friends Fantasy Aquarium by DS Mazes of Fate DS (for real this time?) Naruto: Ninja Destiny Petz Wild Animals: Tigerz Spitfire Heroes: Tales of the Royal Air Force
DS releases for the week of February 4th
Hey, guys! Check it out ... it's My Horse and Me! We know you've been waiting for this one for a long time, and at last, this week, your dreams can be fulfilled. The only thing that could possibly make it better is if it was instead My Horsez and Me. Everyone knows the 'z' is a mark of quality. What's that? You're actually interested in finding out more about Azzazzin'z Assassin's Creed DS? Well, okay, if you insist. We're really leaning toward the horse(z) here, though. Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles My Horse & Me Paws & Claws: Pet Resort Puppy Palace Real Soccer 2008 The Spiderwick Chronicles Zoo Tycoon 2
LotRO quarterly wallpapers available for January through March
We're approaching the end of December, and if you downloaded the Lord of the Rings Online calender wallpapers last quarter, then you may be worried about what you're going to do when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, rendering your wallpaper obsolete. Thankfully, Turbine has come through for you once again, releasing 3 brand new wallpapers with overlaid calender for you to start the year off on the right foot. As with last time, the old wallpapers can now be downloaded sans calender, so that you can continue to enjoy the imagery without looking like a behind-the-times slacker.We have added the new wallpapers to our LotRO wallpapers gallery, and you can download all wallpapers past and present in ultra-high quality at the official wallpaper page.%Gallery-8208%
Apple swings the doors wide on iPhone Dev Center
If you're hankering to learn a bit more about Apple's wunderkind and the ins and outs of developing useless web apps for it, Apple has opened a site with a a huge pile of useless info for ya. Though, to be fair, there is some pretty helpful information to be had about video coding standards, some sample code, and that type of stuff, so if you've not had a peek, we recommend you take a trip over. Of course, what we're all really waiting for is, the SDK Apple promised for February, but until then this will just have to do.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Assassin's Creed confirmed for DS, release in February
It's our turn for the big news today, after Nintendo's US press conference, and Assassin's Creed for the DS is leading the pack. Jade Raymond's action-oriented historical quest has been rumored for the handheld for months, but a huge list of upcoming Nintendo releases confirmed the title's existence. In what form, we cannot yet speculate, but suffice to say that we're hoping for the best rendition Ubisoft can squeeze out of a pair of screens, and not some minigame-fueled spin-off.Lesson: apparently, we should really, really listen to GameStop-fueled rumors, because they are so often true.
Confirmed: Smash Bros. Brawl delayed in U.S.
Looks like we chose the right thing to speculate on this morning: Super Smash Bros. Brawl has in fact been delayed for U.S. gamers until February 10. The delay for Japan was announced yesterday, and we expect similar news for other markets within days, if not hours. There's good and bad to the announcement, however. Nintendo doesn't usually delay games without reason, and as we said this morning, if Brawl needs to be fixed, we want it fixed. It gives us a little time to recover from holiday expenses as well. But it will probably eclipse the release of poor No More Heroes, and that's just sad.Of course, if we keep getting dojo updates through February, we'll have seen the entire game by then.
Rumorong: Turok isn't delayed, it's been February
Turok didn't recently receive a delay. Period. It's been February all the way back since E3, despite what some major gaming news outlets are reporting. One outlet in particular even has the same video below their story which we've linked from GameTrailers after the break that clearly shows a Feb. release date. Need more proof? Download the trailer on your Xbox 360 or PS3. They've all got the same date from months ago. As for Europe getting it Feb. 8, that's pretty much consistent with the way things work. Turok's already got a tough enough time being marketed by Disney, which is a shame because we definitely found our time with the game enjoyable. As much as August is a painful month for gamers in terms of delays, Turok just isn't one of them -- yet.
Wii does in fact rock faces in February
So, for once, video game analysts were right and, once again, Wii Fanboy claims bragging rights around the office; this means that PS3 Fanboy and Xbox 360 Fanboy have to do the dishes for the entire month. Awesome.NPD data shows the Wii as the clear console sales winner for the second straight month with 335,000 units sold. The only system able to top the Wii was its cute little sibling, the DS Lite, selling a whopping 485,000 units; Nintendo claimed 54% of all hardware sales last month. As proud as are, we can't help but wonder how many would have been sold with a decent supply chain. It was cool for awhile, but the fact that Nintendo can't produce enough units five months after release is getting a bit disturbing. Get it in gear![Thanks, Terrance!]
February NPD data show DS, Wii on top
Another month, another batch of hardware and software sales data estimates from the NPD Group. The February numbers show Nintendo hitting the competition with a one-two punch of hardware dominance -- nearly half a million DS units and a third of a million Wiis were sold in North America in February. The Playstation 2 continued its impressive afterlife with roughly 300K in sales, while Sony's new system continued its slow start, selling only 127K units for the month -- even less than the somewhat-defunct Game Boy Advance.On the software front, Crackdown was the top seller for the month, giving the Xbox 360 had the top selling game for the fourth month in a row (In January it was Lost Planet. In December and November, Gears of War). A free Wii remote sent Wii Play soaring to the No. 2 spot, while the DS rehash of Diddy Kong Racing premiered at No. 3. In more bad news for Sony, perennial favorite Guitar Hero 2 was the only game for a Sony system to make the top 10 this month.Continue reading for a complete breakdown of the top-selling hardware and software for the month.
DS releases for the week of February 26th
Hate to be the one to break it to the U.S. gamers, but ... there are no DS games this week. Let us all weep in unison, and then raise our fists in protest.Then again ... if there's nothing new this week, we can spend precious time finishing up some of those neglected titles that we haven't yet touched! Quick, everyone, start unwrapping. Ready, set, play!For the rest of the globe, hit the jump.
