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Samus and Link Figma figures articulating stateside this fall
Remember that totally boss Metroid: Other M-style Samus action figure that Figma put into production last year, and how it was only sold in Japan? Well, no longer will you have to go to great personal expense to buy one in a used games store in Akihabara – not that any of us have done that or anything. Varia Feature Samus, fabric-doesn't-work-that-way Zero Suit Samus and Skyward Sword-era Link are all receiving new production runs for sale in the US this fall, though no specific release date has been given. Varia Samus and Link can both be pre-ordered for about $50 a pop, while Zero Suit Sammy rings up at a whopping $100.
Portal 2's Atlas and P-Body get fresh, filthy coats of paint from ThreeA
Portal 2's multiplayer pawns, Atlas and P-Body, have seen some tough times and even tougher test chambers, as highlighted by ThreeA Toys' latest figurines. ThreeA revealed the prototypes for Atlus and P-Body last year, as smooth, gray statuettes. Now, the figures have a dinged-up coat of paint and classy lens details, along with a pair of Portal guns, and they're looking fly.ThreeA showed off the new prototypes during an event in Taiwan, as spotted and photographed by Tomopop. It's still unclear if Atlas and P-Body will include any LEDs or flashier add-ons, or when they'll be available for collectible consumption.In other video game toy news, ThreeA announced a partnership with Capcom to make mecha figures straight out of Lost Planet. Check out Tomopop's gallery of the ThreeA show here.
Dead Island sales pass 5 million
Counting both retail and digitally distributed copies of Dead Island, total sales for the weird zombie action-RPG have surpassed five million units globally, Deep Silver announced today. In meaningless, arbitrary statistics, that shakes down to about 402.18 units sold an hour since the game was originally released in back in September of 2011.By December 2011, Dead Island had shipped 3 million units worldwide, with a fourth million added to that total after another eight months. Today's figure, however, is our first look at how the game has actually sold, since shipped figures count all units sent to retailers, while sell-through/net sales only count what is actually purchased by a consumer. We're sure those Steam sales didn't hurt anything.
Storm8 and Disney share big app download figures from the holiday season
Here are two more companies that had a big holiday season on the App Store. First up, mobile developer Storm8 has posted some information about how its holiday went, and as you can see above, December 25 was a pretty big day for them. They saw more than 2 million downloads of their apps in just one day, and a huge increase in daily active users as well: More than 4.5 times what they usually see on a standard Tuesday. That means people everywhere were unwrapping new iOS devices, and then using them to both download apps and check out their new downloads, which means big bonuses for devs with popular apps in the store. Like, for example, Disney, which also sent along some download numbers from this past holiday season. The House of Mouse reports that holiday downloads went up 98 percent in 2012, and the company picked up 15 million downloads in the five days from December 22-28. Daily active users for the company also spiked to 7.5 million, which is an increase of 400 percent compared to the year before. Disney pushed hard with its holiday lineup this year, and it looks like all that pushing paid off. This is a pretty common story around this time of year, and it's also the reason why we saw so many crazy sales leading up to the holiday season, all designed to push apps higher up on the charts, where they're more likely to be seen by new customers. Congrats to all of the devs out there who had a great holiday, and here's to seeing many more great app successes on the store in 2013.
October NPD: Downward trend continues, NBA 2K13 dunks at the top
Based on the NPD's purview, the physical sales sector of the video game industry continued its downward year-over-year trend as October came and went, raking in $755.5 million for the period ending on October 27, as compared with the straight-up $1 billion the industry earned during the same period in 2011.Despite the 25 percent difference, however, momentum is building towards the holiday buying season, according to NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan: "While we saw declines in hardware unit sales across all platforms year-over-year, when looking at average sales per week versus September, several consoles realized higher sales: The 360, PS3, NDS and 3DS. This is a sign of increasing momentum as we move into the holiday season."Hardware sales themselves accounted for $187.3 million of October's overall figure, a 37 percent decrease over October 2011's $295.9 million. As usual, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling hardware platform and claimed more than 40 percent of the market, according to Major Nelson.Accessories continue to be the only field of growth in the physical channel, pulling down a five percent increase in October 2012 over October 2011 ($135.6 million and $129.6, respectively). As has been the case in months past, Skylanders toys and digital currency giftcards are primarily responsible for this segment's prosperity.Portable software sales were up 37 percent in comparison with last October thanks to the release of Pokémon Black & White 2, though the rest of the segment failed to best the curve and was down overall by 25 percent. October 2011's software figure of $576.8 million was bolstered by the release of both Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City; since comparable heavy-hitters were missing from this October's release schedule, software sales total at $432.6 million.October's top 10 best-selling games are lead by NBA 2K13, which "outsold last year's 2K12 by over 60 percent in both dollars and units," according to Callahan. As per usual, the full list can be found after the break.
Google Play up to 700,000 apps for Android, closing in on App Store
There are now around 700,000 apps on Google Play, the same number Apple revealed last month as being on the App Store. Speaking to Bloomberg, Google divulged the new amount of available Android apps, having announced last month it was up to 675,000.Google Play is apparently closing in when it comes to available apps, but there's a way to go yet in terms of app downloads. At its recent press event, Apple revealed a figure of 35 billion downloads on the App Store. That compares to 25 billion downloads on Google Play at last count.Using those figures, there have been 8.5 Android and iOS app downloads per person on the planet. That's crazy to think about, even if it sounds relatively meager compared to the number of apps we've stuffed onto our devices.
New Halo 4 figures include the most adorable Cortana ever
Funko's Pop! Vinyl line of collectible figurines is welcoming four new Halo 4 figures into its already plentiful ranks of super-deformed pop-culture characters. Available on November 8, the new line includes Master Chief, both red and blue Spartan Warriors, as well as the unbelievably cute Cortana figure seen above.Seriously, it's like if Betty Boop were a hyper-intelligent, holographic artificial intelligence from the future. Check out all four figures in the gallery below.%Gallery-169460%
Majority of undecided Xbox Live voters declare Obama victor of town hall debate
Of the 2,000 or so undecided voters that tuned into last night's presidential debate via Xbox Live, 51 percent thought that President Barack Obama's overall performance was better than former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, 17 percent declared Romney the winner, while 32 percent remained unsure as to who outclassed who.Fifty-two percent of undecided Xbox Live voters felt that President Obama was the most truthful during the debate, compared with the 17 percent who felt that way about Romney. Regarding the specificity of their plans for our nation, 56 percent felt Obama was satisfactorily specific in regards to his plan for the future, whereas 17 percent said the same about Romney.Those 2,000-ish voters were but a small subset of the total number of viewers, however, which totaled more than 100,000 Xbox owners. Over the course of the debate, more than 2 million individual answers were given to approximately 70 poll questions, with most questions averaging 35,000 to 45,000 responses each.
Wizkids and Marvel's HeroClix TabApp spoils its chance to innovate
A few weeks ago, I posted about the HeroClix TabApp that was recently released on the App Store, an iPad app that has the ability to interact with a special set of figurines designed to be used with Marvel's very popular HeroClix collectible game. Wizkids kindly got in touch with me after that post and agreed to send along some figures to test out, and I was able to give both the figures and the app a go this week on my iPad 2. Unfortunately, while there is about one second of magic with this setup (which I'll talk about in just a bit), the strangely named "TabApp" wastes most of its potential. It's a free app, so it's basically just designed as a promotional tool (and you can still play through the tutorial and a short demo even if you don't have any of the figures to unlock content with), so if you're a huge fan of HeroClix, there's really no reason to not try it. But the fact is that the game included in the app is more or less a real-time tap-fest than anything else: Any hope of the deeper strategy game behind the little figurines has gone right out the window. The one bit of fun to be had with the app and the figurines is in getting to unlock each set of content by pressing the figure down on the screen. Each little figure has three pads on its base, and these pads are all set up in different places and patterns, so that when you actually press down the figure on the iPad app, it really will recognize which figure you pressed. Putting down Iceman, for example, will open up different levels than pressing down Captain America or Wolverine. That part is really fun -- it's awesome to see the iPad just "know" which figure you placed on it right away. The three levels of gameplay you unlock, however, are not really worth the price. The included game seems only barely similar to HeroClix -- various enemies slide around the screen (with terrible animations), and you just need to tap on them to attack them. There is a little bit of gameplay in terms of using certain powerups and abilities at the right times, but there's no turn-based strategy at all -- it's an arcade game that just not designed well. That's really too bad because it would be awesome to have an iPad app that really does simulate the core HeroClix game, where you could use multiple figures on the iPad's screen to coordinate a full HeroClix battle. Yes, these are meant for kids, so maybe Wizkids thought that a more arcade-style game would be more popular. But let's be honest, the kids playing with these figures and the game behind them clearly want something a little deeper than just smashing fingers on the screen. And especially since these special TabApp figures are completely separate from the main HeroClix line (standard figures don't have the capacitive pads on them, of course), you wouldn't be cannibalizing the core game at all. It would be great to use the power of the iPad to back up what's clearly a strong core strategy game already. But that's not what Wizkids did here, so they'll likely disappoint HeroClix fans and those looking to pick up the figures and play a deeper game. If the idea interests you as is, you can definitely download the TabApp for yourself and see what you think, but I can't really recommend shelling out for the figurines, only to be disappointed with the low-quality gameplay on the app itself. I think there is a lot of power in an app that crosses over between the two worlds of physical and digital gameplay, and we've seen a few other companies working on bridging that gap, including Nukotoys, and the upcoming mobile version of Activision's Skylanders toys. HeroClix had a real opportunity here to tie in the very established physical game with a strong digital version, but I'm sorry to say that most of that opportunity was wasted.
Pew Research finds 22 percent of adults in US own tablets, low-cost Android on the rise
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that more Americans than ever now own tablets, but if you'd ever wanted some quantifiable data to go along with that homespun wisdom, then the Pew Research Center is glad to help. According to its latest report, 22 percent of US adults now own a tablet of some form. While the iPad remains the dominant player in the space with a 52 percent market share, this figure starkly contrasts the 81 percent share that Pew reported in 2011. As you might expect, Android tablets have made significant inroads and now account for 48 percent of the overall tablet space. Leading the Android charge is the Kindle Fire, which alone accounts for 21 percent of all tablets sold. It's worth pointing out that Pew's survey was conducted before the release of either the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD, which means that even the most recent information is a bit behind the curve. You'll find a press release after the break that provides a much broader take on Pew's latest findings in the mobile space, but those who want to go straight to the meat should hit up the source link below.
HeroClix gets a TabApp, combining physical figures with digital gameplay
HeroClix is an official superhero collectible figure game that's been around for a while -- I remember the thing first starting to get popular when I was a kid. The company has just released a tie-in app for the iPad called the TabApp, and it sounds very interesting. You can supposedly use the app to unlock special maps and scenarios figures, plus there's a game to play that's tied in to the collectible game. HeroClix fans should give it a download. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, it sounds like the app is disappointing. While there is a little interaction with the figures (you need to place one on the screen at a certain point), it's not like this is a full version of the collectible game, and the app won't do things like animate your own figures. There's one review on the app right now, and it's pretty devastating: Apparently the game has nothing to do with the figures you own, and the feature where you place your HeroClix figure on the iPad is nothing but a button. That's a shame. I'm intrigued by the possibilities of the interaction between established physical games and iOS releases, and an app that really took advantage of the large HeroClix universe would be really cool. It could be that Wizards of the Coast doesn't want to cannibalize the existing figures game, but the Magic app was finally released and that seems to have done well, so maybe the company will reconsider in the future.
Street Fighter X Tekken Minimates coming this fall
Excellent news for that one guy making a Street Fighter X Tekken stop-motion animation film based on the one fanfic he wrote, as well as regular people with cubicles that need decorating: Diamond Select Toys will be releasing two new series of SFxT Minimates figures, with the first wave arriving in November.Regardless of which wave they're in, characters come in fixed packs of two: Ken vs. Steve, Cammy vs. Nina, Poison vs. Lili and Sagat vs. King (above) make up November's offering. Wave two, said to release sometime in February, pits Chun-Li vs. Hwoarang, Abel vs. Kazuya, Ryu vs. Yoshimitsu and Rufus vs. Julia, all of whom can be seen after the break. No word on pricing, but we do know that some pairs will be more rare than others.
Roto-a-Matic retro vending machine injection molds toys while you wait (video)
The advent of 3D printing is most certainly upon us, and its helped injection molding make the crucial transition from dated tech to a retro novelty. The Roto-a-Matic has recently gone live in toy maker Rotofugi's store in Chicago, and will create a polyethylene plastic figurine for you in under a minute, provided you feed it a token. Rotofugi and product design company Squibbles INK have given the vintage Mold-a-Rama vending machine a new lease of life, and now they are looking for artists to contribute designs for future molds. Currently a one-eyed dragon designed by sculptor Tim Biskup is on offer for Chicago-based hipsters, but for the wind-averse, a token-to-toy video demo resides beyond the fold.
Custom Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater figures shouldn't hide in a box
Sure, you could go out and hunt down some Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater figures, shell out some dough, set them up on your desk and breathe a sigh of relief. We prefer One Sixth Warriors forum user elvis1976's solution: make your own badass, custom action figures.elvis1976 created four different figures: The Pain, The End, The Fury and Gray Fox, the cyber-ninja that appeared in Metal Gear Solid. A lot of love went into crafting each beautiful figure, which resemble their in-game counterparts with downright impressive accuracy. Crawl past the break and see for yourself.
AdventureQuest Worlds releases its first two action figures
Action figures are a great accessory for any video game. Sure, most of us have passed the point when we would use them to stage elaborate battles in the backyard, but it's nice to have something on hand to play with during load times. That's part of the reason that AdventureQuest Worlds is getting into the market with its first two figures, representing Artix and Sepulchure, available in Toys'R'Us stores nationwide starting on May 23rd. Even if you're not normally the sort to buy action figures, Artix Entertainment has sweetened the deal by making sure that each figure comes with a special in-game house, special armor and weapons, and five playing cards for the game's tie-in card game. If you don't want to wait for them in stores, you can also purchase them directly from the company's online store starting May 18th. The team put together a small stop-motion animation piece as well to celebrate the upcoming figures because honestly, if you've spent this much time thinking about buying an action figure, don't you deserve a toy commercial to cap it off? [Source: Artix Entertainment press release]
Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011
All hail the e-book! Seriously, if it weren't for this marvelous literary development, try saying with a straight face that you wouldn't at least take pause before adding a new title to your collection. Numbers are in from The Publisher's Association -- a group of 120 companies across the trade in the UK -- which reveals that e-book digital sales have increased 54 percent for the year 2011, and of that statistic, 13 percent of revenues came from academic and professional titles. As a sign of changing preferences, the total sales of both e-books and their traditional counterparts fell by two percent during the year -- and let's be honest, it's not hard to see which group fell short. Also reflective of the shift is the fact that average book prices fell by 1.3 percent during the year, which compares favorably to the UK's current inflation rate of 4.47 percent. Those interested in the full story will find the PR after the break.
Sam & Max figures are unusually silent
With all the joy that Sam & Max has brought to your desktop over the years, isn't it about time they bring some joy to your actual desk? These new figures from Symbiote Studios should do just that, offering up some cute, stylized versions of both Sam and Max or one sweet statue.The figures will set you back $20, while the 17-inch statue demands $75 of your precious monies (at gunpoint). Check out a detailed image of the statue after the break.
Draw Something hits 50 million downloads, becomes number one paid app
Draw Something has become the fastest selling mobile title in history, moving 50 million proverbial units since its launch last February -- 13 million of which were accumulated in just the last week. The pictionary-plus-'splosions app from OMGPOP is currently the number one paid app on the iOS App Store, dethroning Rovio's flagship rocket ship Angry Birds Space.Broken down into impressive-yet-meaningless marketing figures, Draw Something has yielded six billion drawings in total, at a rate of 3,000 per second. We'd imagine that a large percentage of those drawings are boners, but new-owners Zynga have yet to release information that specific.
Nintendo 3DS hits 5 million units faster than DS, the world goes 'huh?'
While it had a rocky moment in the middle, some heavy price-cutting and top-drawer games helped the system sell five million within a year in its native homeland. According to Nintendo, these are legitimate sell-through figures and as predicted, make the 3D-capable console Nintendo's fastest selling console to date. You can take a look at some (translated) self-congratulatory backslapping from Nintendo below.
BlizzPlanet goes to Toy Fair 2012 in New York
Toy Fair 2012 started up on Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, where many companies announced awesome new licensed Blizzard products that we're definitely excited about. The event ends tomorrow on Wednesday, Feb. 15. BlizzPlanet has been on the scene to report back on all of the new products coming stamped with the Blizzard seal of approval. MEGA Bloks showed up with new prototypes for the World of Warcraft MEGA Bloks sets coming soon, with cool catapults and orcish scenary. Giant MEGA Blok Thrall was on hand to pose with fans. Insight Editions showed off its Diablo III: Book of Cain, and USAopoly made one of the biggest announcements with World of Warcraft Monopoly and RISK: StarCraft. DC Unlimited continued to show off its figures for the World of Warcraft series, many of which were delayed for a long time for unknown reasons. However, these figures are coming, and they look great. Check out BlizzPlanet for coverage of all of the licensed Blizzard products showing up at the convention.
