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EEDAR: Game sales slowdown turned around in September
2009 hasn't been the best year for the games industry. Month after month, we hear reports of reduced sales figures, company closures, and layoffs. Things may be turning around, though, as EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich believes software sales during September 2009 have actually gone up from 2008, the first time in seven months thanks to strong sales of Halo 3: ODST, Wii Sports Resort, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Madden NFL 10 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. All in all, software sales should come in at $715 million, a 16% increase over last year.The music genre may be slowing down, but Divnich notes that "both Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band have performed at levels ahead of retail expectations," with sales predicted at 800k and 1 million units respectively. The same analyst at EEDAR previously predicted that Guitar Hero 5 would outsell The Beatles 2:1. With NPD sales results dropping next week, we'll soon see how accurate Divnich's latest analysis is.
ODST reaches 2.5 million sales; Haloverse expansions detailed
After yesterday's full-fledged assault on mainstream gaming news coverage, we were refreshed to read this great USA Today report on the current state of the Halo franchise. Sure, it further promotes the tired opinion that Bungie's ever-popular shooter is set to overtake the Star Wars franchise in the cultural marketplace. However, it backs up that assertion with startling figures: According to the report, Halo 3: ODST has sold 2.5 million units in the past two weeks, bringing the total sales for the entire franchise up to a cool 27 million. Additionally, USA Today further supports its thesis by compiling a list of the future franchise spin-offs, including -- *deep breath* -- Halo: Reach, the Halo: Blood Line comic series, Halo Legends, Halo Waypoint, the Halo: Evolutions novel (and another heretofore unnamed book trilogy), and more McFarlane toys. Some may accuse this franchise of succumbing to over-saturation -- we think it crossed that bridge around the time it got its own Mountain Dew.
Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD, Forza 3 demo
As our more astute readers likely gathered from this very post's headline, another week has gone, so it's about time we checked in with Major Nelson to see what made his list of the most-played games on Xbox Live. Unsurprisingly, Bungie's dynamic duo of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST managed to do well, taking the first and third spots, respectively -- Call of Duty 4 was in the second slot, while Forza 3's demo managed to get some play time on folks' boxes, taking a tight turn into the seventh place spot. On the XBLA side, Trials HD did backflips to the top of the list, beating out recent releases Zombie Apocalypse and Bust-A-Move Live!. The remainder of the XBLA list saw favorites Battlefield 1943 and Shadow Complex rounding out the bottom end of the top five.
FIFA 10 debuts with record UK sales lead, Layton maintains second
FIFA 10 -- the Madden of Europa -- had the most successful "all formats" launch since Grand Theft Auto IV in the UK, according to Chart Track. First week sales of the footie fiesta grew by nearly 48 percent over its predecessor's opening week a year ago. This was the highest-selling launch of a FIFA game ever, with the Xbox 360 generating 48 percent of sales, PS3 46 percent, and the remaining formats making up six percent.Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (the Diabolical Box in the States) held onto the number two spot from the week prior, while Halo 3: ODST sales dropped 75 percent to the third spot, after holding last week's crown. Source -- FIFA 10 scores BIG (Chart Track) Source -- All formats chart (Chart Track)
Watch the making of Halo 3: ODST live-action short
Like us, you've probably been wondering what sort of work (apart from directing people in costumes and laying on the special effects) went into Microsoft's now-legendary Halo 3: ODST live-action short, "The Life." Its creators must have anticipated our curiosity because they've put together a short-but-sweet behind the scenes video, which includes a rough cut of a scene that didn't make it into the final production. The micro-documentary also reveals some surprising trivia about the shoot, including the fact that the opening funeral scene was shot inside the cooling tower of an operating nuclear power plant. Oh, and the battle sequence? They filmed it at the bottom of a coal strip-mine. Really? We could have swarn it was New Mombasa.
Microsoft says Halo 3: ODST disc read errors aren't 'widespread'
Bungie quickly responded to a 60-page-long thread on the Halo 3: ODST forums where users complained the title had experienced disc read errors while playing in the game's Campaign and Firefight modes. Now, Microsoft has also sounded off on the errors, telling Eurogamer, "we are aware of a very small number of people who are reporting they can't play the game," and later adding "at this point it doesn't appear to be a widespread issue." In our last post regarding the game-crashing errors, we asked readers if they had encountered similar problems during their time with ODST. Out of the 5,608 participants who responded at the time this article was written, 1,769 (or 31.5 percent) had reported technical issues with the game. We're sure Microsoft has their own method of tracking this data, but our polling figures certainly make the problems seem as though they've spread fairly wide.
Halo 3: ODST drops into UK's top sales spot
Halo 3: ODST had the type of UK launch one would expect from a Bungie Halo game. According to Chart Track, 64 percent of ODST's sales were recorded in the first 24 hours after launch last Tuesday, September 22, helping to rank the game twelfth on the list of all-time week one sell-throughs (for a single format). For context, Master Chief's previous outing, Halo 3, rocketed to the fourth highest first week sell-through upon its release, trailing only GTA: San Andreas for PS2, Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360, and -- surprise, surprise -- GTA IV for PS3. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (the Diabolical Box in the States) premiered at the number two spot last week, with prior week's top performer, Need for Speed: Shift, tapping the brakes down to third. Source -- Halo 3: ODST shines brightly at #1 (Chart Track) Source -- All formats chart (Chart Track) Be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3: ODST Review, as well as in-depth analysis of the Campaign and Firefight games modes -- and our new miniFAQ!
TGS 2009: Wait to play Halo 3: ODST, get UNSC threads
During the last day of TGS 2009, Microsoft was handing out free (and stylish!) UNSC-branded t-shirts to gamers willing to wait in line to play (the already released) Halo 3: ODST. For their effort, gamers seemed to enjoy the reward of partaking in local multiplayer sessions of ODST's Firefight mode. Check out a closer look at the shirt after the break.
Users report Halo 3: ODST disc read errors
According to a rather lengthy thread on Bungie.net, several Halo 3: ODST players are having technical issues with the game. Users are reporting that disc read errors are occurring during the game, rendering it unplayable. Some believe the issue only affects older consoles, specifically those with older DVD drives. Anecdotally, our own David Hinkle encountered the DRE issue on a 2008 Elite. According to Hinkle, installing the game to the hard drive seemed to fix the problem. He later bought a second copy of the game and hasn't encountered the issue again. It's also worth noting that this issue seems to be isolated to the ODST campaign and Firefight mode. The Halo 3 multiplayer disc appears to be unaffected. Bungie is looking into the problem, with a member of the test team asking forum users for specific information about problems that have been encountered. For those out there with a copy of ODST, let your voice be heard in the poll below. %Poll-34788%
Halo 3: ODST logs over 900K players in one day
It's been on store shelves for less than two days and Halo 3: ODST has logged nearly a million players in the last 24 hours. More specifically, according to Bungie.net, the game had logged 936,278 players when this post was written. All of those troopers have managed to put away 5,653,310 games. That's roughly six games per person in a 24-hour period. On a weekday. We don't want to jump the gun here, but Bungie just might have a success on its hands.
Save time with the ODST armor generator
So, now you have ODST. The second you get home from work / school / gambling, you're going to pop in that disc and get ready for some Firefight. But what's this? You have a whole new character to customize and you haven't done any planning? Getting your color scheme just right could take you hours, possibly even days. And that's why we're here to help by pointing you to the new Halo 3: ODST armor generator. Now you can check out all the custom color and helmet options anywhere, even at work / school / the track. Just like the original Halo 3 armor generator, the ODST generator lets you pick your character, colors and even your helmet preference, and then shows you the results in real time. Go ahead and get your choices settled now. That way you won't have to waste any time later. Our suggestion: Go with a classic "Pink and Black Attack."
Free ODST theme drops onto Xbox Live
For those looking for just one more way to celebrate the release of Halo 3: ODST, we've got some good news. A premium ODST theme is available now on Xbox Live Marketplace. The theme obviously offers up some art from Halo 3: ODST, but also lets you surround the poor souls on your friends list with menacing Brutes. Best of all, the theme is free for Gold members (unlike the grotesquely expensive Sgt. Johnson). Go ahead, add it to your download queue and complete the ODST experience. Be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3: ODST Review, as well as in-depth analysis of the Campaign and Firefight games modes -- and our new miniFAQ!
ODST's Sgt. Johnson DLC only $1,250 on Xbox Marketplace
Pre-ordering is for the weak -- those who truly want Sgt. Johnson will pay the price he's worth for his survive-anything awesomeness, which is currently 99999 on the Xbox Marketplace, a measly $1,250 converted to Earth dollars. That pre-order price is lookin' pretty good now, huh? Carpe diem, capitalists! Those with the code can put that on eBay for ... $10?! Hey, Microsoft, are you trying to rip off someone who's got too many points burning a whole in their virtual wallet? Carpe diem, capitalists, indeed! [Thanks, Jesse] %Gallery-66279%
Bethesda production director says MS 'totally bungled' ODST marketing
For some, Halo 3: ODST's $60 price point has become a point of contention (though not for us, we should note). And not for Bethesda production director Ashley Cheng either, who says on his blog that, "reviewers are now mentioning that Halo 3: ODST may not be worth the price point, that it should've been cheaper, etc. ... give me a break." According to him, these complaints wouldn't be arising if it weren't for the game's "totally bungled" marketing campaign. "First saying it was a standalone expansion pack, then coming out and saying wait, no, we're charging full price because - surprise! - we put 'more' stuff in it and it's called Halo 3: ODST now, vs its original title, Halo 3: Recon." Bungie has since justified the new price point to us, though apparently for some that just wasn't enough. %Gallery-72961%
Halo 3: ODST miniFAQ
.nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } Whether you're preparing to drop right in or are wavering outside the enlistment office, this is your basic field guide to Halo 3: ODST. Jump to a specific answer by clicking on a question below, or view the entire FAQ after the break: Is ODST worth $60? What's in the box? Should I install either game disc on my hard drive? What's it like not playing as Master Chief? What are the new weapons in ODST? Will you show me the Achievements list? How many missions are in Campaign? What are the collectible Audio Logs, and how many are there? Is co-op play supported in Campaign? What are the basic rules of Firefight? How many missions (or maps) are in Firefight? Can I customize my character in Firefight? How many skull modifiers are there, and what does each skull do in Firefight? Does Firefight support online matchmaking? Is there new Halo 3 multiplayer content? Do I need to keep downloaded Halo 3 maps on my hard drive? Where are the hidden skulls in the new Mythic maps? How do I unlock Recon armor for Halo 3 multiplayer? WARNING: FAQ contains spoilers pertaining to names and descriptive elements of Campaign and Firefight missions, Achievements, and certain hidden/unlockable content.
Halo 3: ODST buyers surveyed about their next purchases
Halo fans are strange, otherworldly creatures whose behaviors are difficult to analyze. A consulting firm named OTX recently tried to tap into this demographic's collective hivemind the only way it knew how -- by asking Halo 3: ODST purchasers what title they'll likely pick up next. The firm found that the average Bungie buyer plans to acquire a total of three games within the next few months, with Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 being the most desired titles. We're not sure if that means this group enjoys blockbusters, or if they're addicted to games with numerical suffixes. Though the list of top 20 games charted in this manner is primarily composed of Xbox 360 titles, God of War III was also a popular response; with 18 percent of participants claiming it to be their next purchase. We're beginning to see a pattern develop. A manly, manly pattern.
Find the hidden skulls in Halo 3: ODST
Warning: Spoilers! As we did when the Mythic Map Pack was released, Joystiq brings you a quick video guide to locating the final three skulls in the new Halo 3 multiplayer maps included with ODST. In order for gamers to grab the final skulls -- and the Gamerscore attached to them -- players will need to enter each new map (Citadel, Heretic and Longshore) in Forge mode accessed on ODST's second disc.Like the Mythic Map Pack, not every skull is in an easy to reach location. Citadel may pose somewhat of a challenge, because the skull is placed in an area gamers may not be able to access when exiting Monitor mode. However, with the help of a few objects and the Grav Lift equipment, it will eventually be yours. Found a better way to grab the skulls? Drop some science in the comments! Be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3: ODST Review, as well as in-depth analysis of the Campaign and Firefight games modes.
Halo 3: ODST public preview event drops into Toronto tonight
Xbox Canada is hosting a Halo 3: ODST training event in Toronto -- and you're invited. Starting tonight at 7PM (and ending 10PM), fans will get a chance to participate in a variety of Halo-inspired events, including basic training and going head-to-head with other ODST "recruits."The public event takes place at the Fermenting Cellar in Toronto's Distillery District. As far as what kind of "training" Canadian gamers can expect... well, it's a good thing health care is given away like candy in the Great White North.
Video interview: Inside Halo 3: ODST
We train the lens on Bungie game designer Alex Pfeiffer and Microsoft global product manager Ryan Crosby for this look into the design and marketing of Halo 3: ODST, and the future of the franchise. Be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3: ODST Review, as well as in-depth analysis of the Campaign and Firefight games modes.
Here are five minutes of Halo Legends
Spike got a five-minute look at the upcoming anime Halo Legends, and (as you'll see for yourself right after the break) it's got all our favorite tropes of the genre: comically exaggerated animations, vaguely effeminate dudes and very weird-looking soups. Of course, it's also got something else that's going to have your eyes glued to all 298 seconds: Master Chief being a total badass and kicking the living crap out of a Brute. Enjoy. [Via Siliconera]
