Gamasutra News

Japanese Hardware: DSi, PSP Maintain Lead

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:36:00 -0400

The Nintendo DSi and Sony PSP once again led Japanese hardware charts for the week ended July 5, Media Create said Friday, as Wii led home console sales for another week. Sales of the DSi reached 46,855, up from 39,885 the week prior. PSP captured the second spot, selling 32,849, up from 26,789 a week ago. Likewise, the Nintendo Wii saw a bump in sales, moving 24,971 units during the week, up from 21,790. PlayStation ...

Japanese Charts: Wii Sports Resort Tops 500,000

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:10:00 -0400

Nintendo's fast-selling Wii Sports Resort led Japanese video game sales charts for the second week in a row, breaking half a million units in two weeks, according to Media Create. The Wii MotionPlus-enabled Wii Sports Resort, which debuted in late June, sold 155,000 units for the week ended July 5. Media Create said the game has sold 514,000 units to date. Wii Sports Resort includes various sports such as fencing, wakeboarding, and skydiving. Bundled with ...

Arcade Game Pack Counterfeiters Indicted In UltraCade Case

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:43:00 -0400

The former owner of UltraCade Technologies has been indicted on charges that he counterfeited game packs for his classic arcade game business following its sale to Global VR, and sold them for his personal profit. According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, David Russell Foley and Michael Daddona, who allegedly bought the stolen software from Foley, were named in a 35-count indictment including charges of conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit goods and theft of ...

Online Gaming Audience Grew 22 Percent In May

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:01:00 -0400

The number of U.S. citizens visiting online gaming websites rose 22 percent in May 2009 from May 2008 to 87 million, as people search for cheaper entertainment in a tough economy, research firm comScore said Friday. "Online gaming continues to be one of the top gaining categories over the past year growing at ten times the rate of the total U.S. Internet population and reaching nearly one out of every two Internet users," said Edward ...

Louisiana Gets New Tax Incentives For Digital Interactive Media

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:28:00 -0400

The state of Louisiana will now offer computer and video game companies a 25 percent tax credit for interactive media expenditures in the state, and also provides for a 10 percent credit on state payroll taxes. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the Digital Media Act, sponsored by Democratic state senator Ann Duplessis, into law today, as the Entertainment Software Association celebrated the decision. According to the ESA, there are 80,000 employees in the entertainment software ...

Report: Dragon Quest IX Topping 2 Million Pre-Orders In Japan

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:30:00 -0400

Dragon Quest IX looks to become a major hit when it launches in Japan this Saturday to 2 million preorders, topping the previous installment in Square Enix's major RPG franchise, according to media reports. Japanese news reports translated by website Andriasang show retailers reporting preorder levels of over 2 million, with numbers "stand[ing] out even over past DQ games." The game will launch alongside a red DSi, and is even expected to drive trade-ups to ...

Kickstand Adds New Features In StretchMesh 1.5

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:24:00 -0400

Character animation research and development company Kickstand has added new features to StretchMesh, its surface deformation plug-in. Intended for use by animators and technical directors, StretchMesh 1.5 is intended to streamline the process of building character animations in Autodesk Maya Software. The new version adds an algorithm for relational vertex knowledge. The algorithm also shares polygonal knowledge with neighboring vertices, and the company says its addition speeds the creation of smooth character deformations in Maya. ...

Davis: 'Facebook Credits' Payment Method Could Boost Games

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:41:00 -0400

Talking to Gamasutra, Facebook platform manager Gareth Davis has been explaining how the social network's Facebook Credits official payment system, currently being tested with select third-party apps, could further boost the rapidly-growing social network game market. Speaking as part of an in-depth Gamasutra interview about the social network's outreach into video games, as a number of Facebook game apps top 10 million unique monthly users, Davis commented in particular on the Facebook Credits system. The ...

Saling The World: Wii Sports Resort Leads U.S. Sales/Preorders

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:27:00 -0400

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from July 9th, 2009, find Wii Sports Resort heading multiplatform sales in North America as a pre-order, while BlazBlue and Tomodachi Collection lead in Japan. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, ...