Thursday, July 21, 2011

Batman: Arkham City (PS3, 360) New Trailer

This new Batman: Arkham City trailer shows off The Penguin for the first time with cockney accent as well as Solomon Grundy. Batman lays the smackdown to a bunch of Penguin's goons in the rest of this trailer.



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

June 2011 NPD Results

It's a week or two late, but there's still some discussion to be had over the latest numbers (or lack thereof) from the fine folks at the NPD group.

5-week tracking month; Reporting Period 5/29/11 through 7/2/11

Software (New physical retail only, across all platforms including PC)
01. L.A. Noire (360, PS3) Take 2 Interactive - 419,000
02. Duke Nukem Forever (360, PS3, PC) Take 2 Interactive - 376,300
03. Infamous 2 (PS3) Sony - 369,200
04. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) Disney Interactive Studios
05. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) Nintendo - 283,200
06. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard
07. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC) Take 2 Interactive
08. Mortal Kombat 2011 (PS3, 360) Warner Bros. Interactive
09. Cars 2 (NDS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC) Disney Interactive Studios
10. Just Dance 2 (Wii) Ubisoft

Hardware
Xbox 360 - 507,000
Wii - 273,000
PS3 - ~276,000 (extrapolated)
3DS - 143,000
DS - 386,000

It's important to note that Microsoft needed to tie-in a deal for buying a laptop and getting a free 360 as a deal to get sales. This pattern will continue throughout the summer. Kinect does not seem to be making an impact as no games are in the top ten. Pretty lame if you ask this blogger. Then again, Microsoft turned their back on the core gamer, so I'm a bit bitter. Regardless, the Wii continues its downward slide. It's natural for a console in this stage in its life. It's unnatural for a console in the 360's age to be selling so well. You can't short change Microsoft there, no matter how badly I want to try.

The DS continues to pull in big numbers while the 3DS continues to struggle. It's obviously doomed, Nintendo should cancel all games and focus on the Wii. It's as simple as that. Vita wins.

On the software-side of things, InFAMOUS 2 takes top reigns as best-selling single SKU game followed by the remake of the Ocarina of Time 3D. L.A. Noire impresses as does Mortal Kombat which stays on the charts to my surprise. Sadly, and all "hardcore" gamers should feel bad about is that stinking pile of crap, Duke Nukem Forever, taking the number two spot. Do you guys love buying bad games or what? Ugh. This gen is depressing. No wonder I'm rooting for a collapse.

Final Fantasy Type-0 (PSP) New Trailer

It's the dawn of a new day, and an all-new trailer for the hotly-anticipated Final Fantasy Type-0 for Sony's handheld-that-could has come forth. It's quite lengthy running at over five minutes. In addition to this good news, a Japanese release date has been revealed, October 13th. No word when/if this title will hit North American shores as of yet. SuperPhillip Central will keep you updated regardless.



Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Conspiracy Theory: Is the World Out to Get Nintendo?

The following is an opinion piece and will most naturally offend anyone with even the slightest bias against Nintendo from recent events. Call me a fanboy, call me whatever you need to rationalize your position, this is my stance on the subject title.

After the very disappointing cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, a project that wasn't even greenlit yet, and the less-than-stellar sales of the Nintendo 3DS, critics and fans are not hesitant to doom Nintendo. You can't frequent a message board or internet forum without people sending doom and gloom to the Nintendo 3DS. Already people call it a failure? Really, now? Jumping the gun, wouldn't you say, or do these people actually want Nintendo to fail? It's not that crazy of an idea to imagine actually.

With the Wii Nintendo introduced an entirely new faction of non-gamers to gamers, yet the usually whiny group known as the "hardcore" stated that Nintendo "turned their back" on them. If turning their back is releasing a console 2D Mario, two 3D Marios, a new Zelda, revived classics like Punch-Out! and Sin and Punishment (the original sold in the thousands, so why did Nintendo even bother? Oh, that's right. For their fans.), revived Donkey Kong Country, and put out new Kirby games, then yes, they turned their back on their fans. Let's face it. The "hardcore" is not happy unless 100% attention is focused on them. They're manchildren-- plain and simple. I imagine a fat, sedentary nerd is reading this article, raging at these words. Proves my point. However, when Microsoft literally abandons the core for non-gamers with Kinect, little of these "hardcore" gamers bat an eye. Funny how that works.

A new Donkey Kong Country isn't good enough for some people.
They need attention 24/7 like crying little babies.

Then there's the whole "Operation: Rainfall" project that was doomed to fail. Companies are not your friend. If they bend over backwards for you, you will then take it as carte blanche to repeatedly bug them for any and every game under the sun. Face it-- Xenoblade and The Last Story are not coming out to the Americas... yet or at all. You have to wonder after the many temper tantrums and fits that the "hardcore" had over this whether they're still bitter and using this as fuel for hatred of Nintendo-- wanting them to fail. Oh, it was SO funny when Wii Play: Motion and The Malgrave Incident didn't sell up to snuff. "Screw you, Nintendo!" Yeah, it's funny when small companies' games don't sell. Small companies (like Big Fish Games in the case of The Malgrave Incident) made those games and they were published by Nintendo. Who knows if they'll stay open now that their games failed to light up the charts?

"Manchildren? Not my problem."

The 3DS situation is just sad. Fans are quick to call it a failure and damning it to Hell. However, the original DS had even less content and was in far more serious trouble and we all know how that situation unfolded against the PSP, the behemoth that was supposed to crush it. Now the Vita is set to crush the 3DS, but the scenarios are different. The Vita is the better deal here, clearly. However, the software is where it mostly matters disregarding how many bells and whistles your machine has.

Already the 3DS is dead and the Vita is champ.
Sound familiar?

A gimmick is not a bad thing. It is a selling point. It separates yourself from your competition. People call the 3DS' glassesless 3D a gimmick like it's a bad thing. It's a selling point much like Nintendo's incredible stable of games. I'm personally looking forward to owning both a Vita and a 3DS whenever I scrap up the money (never). I won't, however, harbor a grudge for a company because they won't translate a game for me or because they put out content for someone other than my core demographic.

Nintendo tried a new strategy with the 3DS and allowed third parties to take the spotlight. They failed (as expected) to take advantage of the situation. They cry when Nintendo outsells their games, and they cry when there's no install base because Nintendo didn't put out any system sellers. Nintendo can't win either way. They can't win with consumers either. The 3DS costs too much, and the lack of games caused from said third parties is really killing the system from having great success. We'll see if Mario Kart, Super Mario 3DS, among others will put the handheld in a better light come this fall. All I know is this hatred for Nintendo is pathetic, whether it comes from the Call of Duty all-I-want-to-do-is-play-rehashed-shooters crowd or the bitter and frustrated "hardcore".

Pokemon Rumble Blast (3DS) First Trailer

Capcom yesterday cancelled development of Mega Man Legends 3. Considering nothing else they make interests me, I have no problem in not buying another game from them. However, all this Nintendo 3DS doom and gloom talk from cancelled games that weren't greenlit in the first place is pretty petty. Regardless, take a look at this launch trailer for a game that I loved the original of. It was Pokemon Rumble on WiiWare, and if it gets enough upgrades for a full retail release, I can see myself purchasing whenever I obtain a 3DS. Pokemon Rumble Blast blasts onto store shelves October 24th.



Monday, July 18, 2011

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Rhapsody in Blue Edition

Welcome back from another hiatus. Hey, I can do whatever I want-- it's my blog. I just stuck my tongue out at you, by the way. This week we're going all blue. Why? I've gone crazy! There's no reason at all! We have music from Xenogears, Kirby, and Pokemon, to name a few. I've rambled enough-- it's time for music!

v746. Xenogears - My Village is Number One - Orchestra Version -

- MYTH - was an arranged and orchestrated Xenogears album co-produced by series composer, Yasunori Mitsuda. There's a total of fourteen tracks in all from gentle piano themes to rousing orchestral tracks. All around, it really is a capable rearrangement of tracks that brings with it much nostalgia.



v747. Metroid: Zero Mission - Kraid

Kraid is more likely known as Brinstar Depths from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Kraid has appeared in several Metroid games, each time more challenging than the last. His Zero Mission form took place on one screen where he threw fingernail-like claws at Samus while Samus shot missiles into his opened mouth. Kraid was but half the equation, however. In order to reach Tourian where Mother Brain was housed, you had to take on and defeat Ridley, too.



v748. Sonic Rush - Wrapped in Black - Digital Remakin' Trax -

Wrapped in Black is the final boss theme of Sonic Rush where Sonic the Hedgehog and newcomer Blaze the Cat chart off to take down the nefarious Dr. Eggman's latest scheme. The battle takes place on both screens with one screen housing Sonic and the other holding Blaze. The song's funny if you don't know the title. It could sound like the vocalist is rapping "Wrapped in Butt". Oh, SuperPhillip, stay classy, my good sir.



v749. Kirby Squeak Squad - Squeak Battle (SSBB Remix)

Kirby Squeak Squad is what I consider the weakest of the games available for the Nintendo DS. Its level design was lacking, and the Squeak Squad itself just wasn't that imaginable. Regardless, an average Kirby game still beats out a lot of titles, and beat out a lot of titles Kirby Squeak Squad did. This is the Super Smash Bros. Brawl remix version as heard in the Wii game.



v750. Pokemon - Last Battle (VS. Rival)


After collecting all eight badges, passing through Victory Road, and defeating the Elite Four, your final challenge as a Pokemon trainer stands before you. It's the final battle against your rival to determine who will be Kanto's Pokemon master. The battle is six of your rival's Pokemon versus a selection of your own. He has all the bases covered, so you're in for a chaotic match. This tense theme is played on the Game Boy's small speakers as you duel.



We've reached another conclusion to the favorite VGMs. Will there be VGMs next week? Who knows? I'm full of surprises. Either or we'll catch you some time here on SuperPhillip Central.