WoW Might Get a Makeover

Although World of Warcraft is still the ever-reliable top dog, the game has lost that “new MMO smell.” Producer J. Allen Brack told Eurogamer that a graphics overhaul is likely for the title’s future. “That’s actually something we talk about every expansion,” he said, later adding, “Will we need a graphical update from the ground up at some point? Yep, probably.” Brack cited two previous MMOs, Ultima Online and EverQuest, that have tried the graphics reboot with only moderate success. “In each case a lot of people continued to play with the original client, because it was faster, or they preferred it, or were just used to it or whatever,” he said. Wrath of the Lich King, which will have some optional effects for high-end PC users, is scheduled for release Fall 2008.

Wii Fit’s A Bully!!!!

The Daily Mail is condemning video games again–and this time it’s Nintendo that bears the brunt of its vocal indignation. Although the Wii and DS have been generally insulated from the usual haranguing of traditional video games in such sections of the British press because of their popularity among the elderly, women, and on cruises, family friendly Wii Fit has managed to incur the wrath of the tabloid. The reason is that an unnamed 10-year-old girl from South East England was told by the game, during its Body Mass Index test, that she was “fat.” (Wii Fit actually puts users into a variety of categories, the two heaviest of which are “overweight” and “obese.”) The stepfather of the girl, who didn’t want to be named for her sake, said, “She is a perfectly healthy, 4-feet-9-inch-tall 10-year-old who swims, dances, and weighs only six stone. She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she isn’t.” The paper then enlisted the opinion of Tam Fry, a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum, who called for a ban on kids playing the game, presumably meaning she wanted to see it brandishing an 18 age gate sticker. She said, “I am absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat. A child’s BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit. I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents.” However, Nintendo declined to entertain her suggestion, simply saying, “Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development.”

I am sorry for what happened to this poor girl… but you have to admit… this is pretty freaking funny!

NHL 2K9

Fans of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets usually don’t have much to be happy about this time of year. Each May, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing, but since entering the league in 2000, the team has yet to reach the postseason. 2K Sports is giving true Blue fans something to cheer, given that the publisher announced that Columbus captain and three-time All-Star Rick Nash will adorn the cover of NHL 2K9. The 23-year-old left-winger is an avowed gamer, and has been consulting with the game’s developers to make “the most fun hockey experience available.” When it comes to critical reception, 2K Sports’ series of hockey games typically runs neck-and-neck with Electronic Arts’ own pucks franchise, but the series stumbled last year compared to its counterpart. To address that shortcoming, 2K Sports developer Visual Concepts is building NHL 2K9 from the ground up, and promising “to bring the fun and excitement back to hockey video games.” NHL 2K9 is set for a fall release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2, sorry still no Wii version.

ESA Dying?; Analyst Says Cut the Price!; Mass Effect PC; MGS4 PS3 Bundle

Questions concerning the future of the Electronic Entertainment Expo have swirled since show organizers the Entertainment Software Association decided to dramatically downscale the gaming industry’s premier event in 2006. While the ESA has continued to trudge on with E3 amid debate over the show’s relevance, this month saw a potentially debilitating blow struck to the organization when soon-to-be-merged publishers Activision and Vivendi said they would not be renewing their membership with the representative body nor attending its annual event. Now, another leading gamemaker has decided to part ways with the ESA. It has confirmed with LucasArts that the all-things-Star Wars publisher will not be renewing its membership with the ESA, though the publisher still plans to attend this year’s E3 Media and Business Summit at the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 15-17. “We can confirm that LucasArts is no longer a member of the ESA,” said LucasArts public relations director Margaret Grohne. “As a company we are still committed to bringing consumers the best interactive experience possible and support the ESA’s mission in the industry. LucasArts will be participating in E3.” The ESA was quick to issue a statement both acknowledging LucasArts’ departure and painting a bright portrait of the organization’s future. “Since its creation in 1994, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has grown and evolved into the pre-eminent voice of the video and computer game industry,” said ESA senior vice president of communications and research Rich Taylor. “The organization has 25 members, including three companies that were welcomed last year. Today, we can confirm that one of our members, LucasArts, has decided not to renew its membership. We value each member of our association, but respect the unique factors that led to LucasArts’ decision. Last year was a record year for an industry which is becoming an increasingly important part of the nation’s social, cultural and economic landscape. We are confident the industry will continue to thrive and ESA will continue to create a beneficial environment for the entire entertainment software industry.” In the wake of Activision and Vivendi’s departure from the ESA, several other publishers and developers, including NCsoft and Foundation 9 said they would also be skipping out on this year’s event. However, a number of other gamemakers, including Electronic Arts, Bethesda Softworks, Warner Bros. Interactive, Majesco, and D3Publisher, reaffirmed their commitment to the annual trade show. After having initially confirmed its attendance, id Software’s appearance at this year’s show remains in question.

Yesterday’s release of April sales figures for US retailers contained a contradiction of sorts that raised a number of eyebrows. Despite the massive launch success of Grand Theft Auto IV, the Rockstar game didn’t appear to be a “system seller,” as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware sales were actually down significantly from the previous month. In a brief on the NPD figures today, Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich said the results strengthened an assessment he made last month that Sony and Microsoft’s latest consoles have saturated the possible market at their current price points. At the time, Divnich pointed to stagnant hardware sales of the two systems despite banner debuts for Army of Two and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 as evidence that prices would need to come down on the systems. Divnich pointed out that April was the first time Xbox 360 sales dipped below an average of 50,000 a week since last July, and that dip was followed the very next month by a price cut for the hardware. “Of course, it might be a little too soon to speculate that we can expect a price drop in the coming weeks or additional hardware SKUs (an Xbox 360 with Blu-Ray capability) in the coming month,” Divnich said, “but if May’s hardware sales drop below the 50,000 units sold a week threshold, we can definitely expect something in terms of a change in strategy from both Microsoft and Sony.”

With just four weeks remaining until Mass Effect on the PC was scheduled to stack up alongside Boom Blox and Speed Racer at retail, Electronic Arts and BioWare abruptly hit the brakes last month. According to BioWare community administrator Chris Priestly, the game would now incubate until May 28 so that the team could “incorporate more play-testing feedback, add extra polish, and tune the additional features.” The kinks now sufficiently ironed, BioWare said today that the PC edition of Mass Effect has entered mass production and is on schedule for its May 28 release in North America and June 6 debut in Europe. BioWare collaborated with Massachusetts-based Demiurge Studios on the PC edition of Mass Effect. As for those aforementioned tweaks, the PC edition offers a suite of additions to the 360 version, with the most visible being a reworked heads-up display and inventory-management system. The game also touts a new control scheme optimized for PCs, individual control over squad members, and a new decryption minigames. Mass Effect PC purchasers who also register with BioWare’s community site will also have immediate access to the Bring Down the Sky downloadable expansion free of charge. EA is looking to stimulate preorders by knocking off $10 from the game’s $49.99 sticker price for those who buy in advance, among other incentives. Responding to public outcry, the publisher also did away with the game’s controversial digital rights management protocol, which would have required the game to be reauthenticated every 10 days as a security measure.

Buried in yesterday’s pile of Konami announcements, which included reveals of Rock Revolution and the obligatory passel of DanceDance Revolutions, were new details about a highly anticipated product. One month after revealing it was releasing the Metal Gear Solid 4 PlayStation 3 hardware bundle in North America, the Japanese publisher has now priced the package. For $599.99, gamers will get a gunmetal gray 40GB PS3, matching DualShock 3 controller, and a copy of what is being billed as antihero Solid Snake’s final adventure. Unfortunately, those wishing to leisurely pick up an MGS4 PS3 bundle at their local game store are out of luck. First, the bundle will only be available via Konami’s online store. Second, the bundled is being billed as a “highly limited edition,” with Konami playing up the fact that very few will ever be produced. Third, preorders begin sometime on May 19th, meaning those hoping to buy the console will have to repeatedly check the product page and be ready to pounce the moment it goes on sale. Luckily those who can’t acquire a limited MGS4 PS3 bundle can still get the regular MGS4 PS3 bundle, which is arguably a better deal, since it is $100 cheaper than the LE and includes a backward-compatible 80GB PS3 that can play previous MGS games. GameStop is also exclusively selling a limited edition of the now-gold game, which goes on sale in North America on June 12

GTAIV Album; Castlevania DS; Sony’s Hand; Georgian Law

Of the many neat little touches to Rockstar’s action adventure Grand Theft Auto IV, the mind-boggling array of different radio stations to choose from while driving around Liberty City proved to be a big favourite with fans. The stations have some 200 songs on rotation, spanning a wide range of genres, and include The Beat 102.7 (hip hop), Electrochoc (dance/electronica), Jazz Nation Radio 108.5 (jazz), and Vladivostok FM (Eastern European). DJ Green Lantern, also known as The Evil Genius, who presents The Beat radio station, has announced a soundtrack album that includes eight tracks pulled from his in-game setlist, and eight more exclusive songs inspired by GTAIV. It will be different from The Music Of Grand Theft Auto IV which was included with the Special Edition. The album, Liberty City Invasion: Music From and Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV, will span hip-hop, reggae, and R&B, with featured performers including Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, and Fabolous. It will be available to download from “all major digital retailers” on May 20, with a retail release is planned soon after.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

Styles P–”What’s the Problem”
Busta Rhymes–”Where’s My Money”
Wyclef, Uncle Murda & Mavado–”Informer”
Joell Ortiz & Dante Hawkins–”Alone”
Jim Jones & Juelz Santana–”Bustin’ Shots”
Maino–”Get Away Driver”
Uncle Murda–”Anybody Can Get It”
Fabolous & Fat Joe–”I’m So Fly”
Qadir–”Nickname”
38 Special, Fever & Dwayne–”Streets Raised Me”
Clipse feat. Re-Up Gang–”9mm”
Heltah Skeltah feat. Buckshot–”Can’t Trust Em”
Red Cafe–”Stick’m”
Immortal Technique–”Parole”
Tru Life–”Wet Em Up”
Johnny Polygon–”Price On Your Head”

As a portent of things to come last month, a rating for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia turned up in the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s online database. Naturally published by Konami, the online listing indicated Order of Ecclesia would be the Belmont family’s third trek onto Nintendo’s DS behind 2005’s Dawn of Sorrow and 2006’s Portrait of Ruin. As part of its Gamers’ Day event today, Konami unsurprisingly confirmed Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS, saying the game would arrive on Nintendo’s platform this fall. The ESRB couldn’t be bothered with spilling details on the game when it rated it T for Teen, so Konami’s announcement today shined more light on what gamers can expect later this year. As a member of the oath, sworn Order of Ecclesia, players assume the role of a heroine named Shinoa, which producer Koji Igarashi called a code, name in an interview. Vampire hunting is once again paramount to the game’s story, and players will employ a number of tactics, including the new Glyph attack mechanic, to defeat Dracula’s minions. Order of Ecclesia’s single-player experience offers 20 different areas to explore, with environments ranging from forests to oceans. The game will also put to use the DS’s Wi-Fi Connection for head-to-head multiplayer battles, and players will also be able to go online to buy and sell items they acquire during their journeys.

At Sony’s EU PlayStation Day in London early last week, the publisher dropped a handful of heartening details, as well as a few downers for PlayStation 3 owners. Namely, the publisher said that two of its most anticipated exclusive titles, Guerrilla’s Killzone 2 and Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet, had been bumped from their projected ship dates, in Europe, at least, to February 2009 and October 2008, respectively. With Sony throwing a stateside Gamers’ Day event in Southern California today, the publisher confirmed that Guerrilla’s long-awaited first-person shooter and Media Molecule’s sandbox playground have indeed be furloughed to launch in proximity to their European counterparts. In addition to confirming the delays, Sony also laid out its lineup for the rest of 2008 and into early 2009. Of primary note, the publisher said Insomniac Games’ Resistance 2 will arrive on the PS3 this fall. The publisher stressed the game’s large-scale 60-player online multiplayer component, as well as the MyResistance.net community portal. PS3 gamers looking for a little less mayhem will also be interested to know Buzz! Quiz TV, featuring more than 5,000 questions in five categories, will also land on Sony’s flagship console this fall. A slimmed-down PSP version of the game, Buzz! Master Quiz, will be available in the same time frame, and include 3,000 questions spanning a variety of topics. In addition to its retail offerings, Sony also gave PS3 owners a heads-up on what will arrive on the PlayStation Network this summer. Before summer’s end, the publisher expects Sony Liverpool’s Wipeout HD, 8bit Games’ Elefunk, Q-Games’ PixelJunk Eden, and Sony Japan’s episodic series Siren: Blood Curse.

A full lineup of upcoming titles published by Sony is listed below.
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2–PSP–June 3
Secret Agent Clank–PSP–June 17
Wipeout HD–PSN–Summer 2008
Elefunk–PSN–Summer 2008
PixelJunk Eden–PSN–Summer 2008
Siren: Blood Curse–PSN–Summer 2008
SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation–PS3–September 16
LittleBigPlanet–PS3–October 2008
NBA 09–PS3, PSP, PS2–Fall 2008
BUZZ! Quiz TV–PS3–Fall 2008
BUZZ! Master Quiz–PSP–Fall 2008
MotorStorm Pacific Rift–PS3–Fall 2008
Resistance 2–PS3–Fall 2008
Killzone 2–PS3–February 2009

Earlier this week, Georgia’s Republican governor, Sonny Purdue, signed into law a proposal to offer greater tax incentives not only to game producers, but also to music video, movie, and TV production projects. Its latest goal, in the name of economic development, is to become the video game production capital of the United States. “The new incentives will put Georgia among the top five states in the US, in terms of financial competitiveness for entertainment projects,” Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said in a statement. “We expect to see an increase in the number of industry jobs and overall economic impact for the state in the coming years.” Under the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act, eligible companies that spent at least $500,000 on production costs in the state would be eligible for a 20 percent tax credit on that investment, up from the 9 percent that was previously on the books. The companies can qualify for an extra 10 percent tax credit, too, but only if they agree to embed promotional ads and animated Georgia logos in their content. According to a statement from the Peach State, the entertainment industry has contributed more than $1.17 billion to Georgia’s economy since 2005, when the first wave of tax credits took effect. Georgia, of course, is home to Turner Broadcasting System, the high-power media empire that includes CNN, Cartoon Network, and game network GameTap.

The Parent is Home; GHIV Details; PSTube

When Guitar Hero first appeared on the market, some hardcore gamers accused it of ripping off Konami’s guitar-peripheral-based rhythm series Guitar Freaks. Many of those same detractors cried foul again with the emergence of Rock Band, which featured a drum kit eerily reminiscent of that used with another Konami game, DrumMania. However, such criticism didn’t stop the Guitar Hero franchise from generating over $1 billion and Rock Band moving 3 million units and 10 million song downloads. Now, nearly 10 years after the first Guitar Freaks game hit the market, Konami is getting back into the instrument-game act. Two years after it trademarked “Guitar Revolution,” the publisher of Karaoke Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution will release Rock Revolution on DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The PS3 and 360 editions of Rock Revolution sound much like Rock Band, as it will sport a guitar peripheral and a “realistic” drum kit designed by real musicians. The game will come with 40 tracks on it, with more being offered via the Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store. Konami promised the game would encompass “a broad range of music styles.” Some songs already known are: Twisted Sister (”We’re Not Gonna Take It”), Motley Crue (”Dr. Feelgood”), Quiet Riot (”Cum On Feel the Noize”), and even Avril Lavigne (”Sk8er Boi”). Some selections, such as The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” and Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” are already featured in Rock Band. Unlike Rock Band and later Guitar Heros, all songs in Rock Revolution will be cover versions. Rock Revolution will also sport a variety of features similar to those included in the upcoming Guitar Hero 4 (see below). It will feature a virtual music studio, which lets players create songs that include up to eight tracks, as well as a “jam mode” that will let users experiment with and record free-form performances on the fly. Besides a career mode, the game will offer online and offline versus, Co-op and Band Battle multiplayer modes, as well as a variety of venues and characters. Rather than Rock Band or Guitar Hero, the Wii version of Rock Revolution sounds more like Sega’s upcoming Samba de Amigo. Instead of instruments, it will use the Wii Remote to offer “an air-drum and air-guitar experience,” letting players use motion to have their characters perform scissor kicks, smash their guitars, or light their instruments on fire. It will have the same modes and recording options as the PS3/360 edition, but will not support vocals. Last but not least, the DS Rock Revolution will use stylus gestures for “rhythm matching” to allow players to play drums, bass, or guitar. Konami says the game will also have a “vocal” option, but its control scheme is unclear. The game will have more than 20 songs and will support a variety of modes, including single-player Career and wireless multiplayer Co-op and Battle mode.

Earlier this week, rumors surfaced that the the June issue of Game Informer would be jam-packed with details of Activision’s Guitar Hero 4, due out this fall. That issue has since arrived in subscribers’ mailboxes, confirming the accuracy of the original post and providing more details on developer Neversoft’s second crack at the rhythm gaming franchise. As initially revealed by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in a recent interview, Guitar Hero 4 will add drums and vocals a la Rock Band. Game Informer’s feature includes a shot of the referenced drum kit, which includes three pads, two elevated cymbals, and a pedal (as opposed to Rock Band’s four pads and a pedal). For those keeping track, that means the Guitar Hero 4 kit has one extra input than the Rock Band equivalent, raising compatibility questions for the two series’ instruments yet again. The developer is going wireless with Guitar Hero 4’s drum pads, and will be making them pressure-sensitive so the game can tell if players are wailing on the drums or meekly tapping them. The details in Game Informer also clear up the mystery surrounding the “innovation” which Activision promised was coming to the Guitar Hero series in a recent earnings report conference call. The article outlines the game’s studio mode, which will give users a variety of ways to create their own songs. Players will be able to jam along with one of the game’s existing tracks, record songs as they’re played, or meticulously detail note charts. As rumored, the game will also allow users to share the songs they create. Players will initially only be able to upload five songs for others to enjoy, but if those tracks are rated highly by other users, the creators might “get signed,” raising the cap to 10 songs or more.

Ask any marketing exec, and they’ll say viral marketing is the Holy Grail for generating buzz around a product. Seeding word-of-mouth buzz isn’t a particularly easy feat, but the Google owned video sharing site YouTube has proven to be fertile ground. As indicated in a report by Japanese business news daily Nikkei Net (subscription required), Sony may be looking to cash in on the viral effect with its latest addition to the PlayStation 3’s feature set. Sony Computer Entertainment announced today in Japan that YouTube video uploads could now be integrated into PlayStation 3 games, “a first for home game systems,” according to Nikkei. The first title to make use of the functionality will be Japanese PlayStation Network title Mainichi Issho, according to the report. Based on Sony Japan’s Toro franchise, Mainiche Issho is a free-to-download casual game, and players will be able to record the in-game action for posting on YouTube. A Sony representative has confirmed the YouTube integration is now available in all regions. As noted by Nikkei, SCE is handing out the development software to various studios, and it’s up to individual developers to decide whether to offer it in their games,” according to the Sony representative. YouTube’s API blog has more information on the deal.

Second WOW expansion ’scheduled’ for ‘08?

Last month, rumors surfaced about Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion to Blizzard Entertainment’s wildly popular World of Warcraft. According to a report on World of Warcraft fan site WOW Insider, “anonymous sources” claimed the game had entered the alpha-testing stage, with “various players…being invited to check it out, under a strict [nondisclosure agreement].” Today, speculation yielded to confirmation. As part of its quarterly earnings report, Vivendi SA, the French multinational that owns Blizzard Entertainment, officially announced that Wrath of the Lich King “is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008.” Given that the first WOW expansion, The Burning Crusade, sold 2.4 million copies in just 24 hours, the add-on has the potential to dominate the PC gaming market during the holiday quarter. As outlined in some new previews, the expansion will introduce a large amount of new content to the WOW universe. The villain of the title is Arthas, the wicked antihero prominently featured in Warcraft III’s Frozen Throne expansion who has since become an undead lord. The expansion’s action will be set in the realm of Northrend, a frigid land whose geography and inhabitants are heavily influenced by Norse mythology. In addition to formalizing Wrath of the Lich King’s window, Vivendi gave an update on WOW’s overall subscriber base, which will surely expand when the add-on hits the market. As of March 31, the massively multiplayer game boasted over 10.7 million players, which helped Blizzard generate €192 million ($297 million) in revenue during the first quarter, or roughly €64 million ($99 million) per month. Excluding “the allocation of overheads” of Vivendi’s game group, which includes Sierra Entertainment, the publisher generated €99 million ($153 million) in adjusted earnings before interest and income taxes (EBITA) during the quarter, or roughly €33 million ($51.0 million) each month.

Stubbs; The 10 Million Race Is Over; WoW losses (financial, don’t worry all you addicts)

Last month, Microsoft rolled out two new additions to its Xbox Originals offerings: Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Vivendi’s Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. The two games augmented the slow trickle of what was initially planned to be a torrent of additions to Microsoft’s classic Xbox revival. Today, the publisher said two more titles have been loaded up for release next Monday. Wideload Games’ Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse, Alex Seropian’s first game after leaving Bungie, leads next week’s offerings. The tongue-in-cheek action adventure was built off the Halo engine and features zombies doing what zombies do best: eating brains. Also hitting the Xbox Live Marketplace on Monday is Midway’s Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. The critically panned dungeon crawler features the franchise’s traditional hack-and-slash gameplay as well as a smattering of role-playing elements. Both Stubbs the Zombie and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows will hit Xbox Live on May 19. As with other Xbox Original offerings, both games have been priced at 1,200 Microsoft points ($15).

Microsoft has apparently attached a special significance to the number 10 million. Five months before the Xbox 360 launched in November 2005, the company’s head of the gaming business Peter Moore publicly stated that the console would sell 10 million units before the end of 2006. Just days into 2007, Microsoft used its CES keynote to announce that it had met that goal. Before and since, the company has publicly announced passing such milestones as 10 million Xbox Live members reached and 10 million pieces of content downloaded from the system’s Marketplace storefront. Today Microsoft added another public proclamation to the stack, saying that the Xbox 360’s US installed user base has reached beyond the 10 million mark. The company added that the 360 is the first current-generation console to do so, and stressed the importance of that. “History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle,” said Don Mattrick, the current head of Microsoft’s gaming business, in a statement. “We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry.” Worldwide, Microsoft said that the Xbox 360 is up to 19 million systems sold, which it initially claimed was “more than any other current-generation console.” After being directed to Nintendo’s latest financial results, in which the hardware maker revealed that it had sold more than 24 million Wiis to date, a Microsoft representative recanted the initial statement. “We apologize for any confusion. Xbox 360 has the largest global install base of any current-generation high definition [emphasis added] gaming console,” the representative said. Microsoft also updated the size of its online user base. Xbox Live now claims 12 million members according to the company, up from 6 million a little over a year ago. Representatives from Sony and Nintendo did not return requests for the latest figures on the US installed user bases of the PlayStation 3 and Wii.

What a difference a World of Warcraft expansion makes. Last January, PC gamers worldwide got their latest fix from Blizzard Entertainment in the form of The Burning Crusade. The title was the first expansion to the veteran publisher’s best-selling 2004 massively multiplayer role-playing game, which has shattered records both in terms of revenue and subscribers. Burning Crusade didn’t perform shabbily itself, selling 2.4 million units in 24 hours, the fastest retail movement of any PC game, before topping the 3.5 million mark in under two months. Today, the lack of a WOW expansion in 2008 was felt when Blizzard parent Vivendi SA announced its earnings for the quarter ending March 31, the first of its fiscal year. Overall, the multinational conglomerate, which encompasses the Universal Music Group, Canal+ television channel, and Vivendi Games, year-on-year saw revenues rise 5.2 percent to €5.28 billion ($8.16 billion). However, adjusted earnings before interest and income taxes (EBITA) slid 5.6 percent to €1.2 billion ($1.85 billion), compared to the year prior. Predictably, Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard and Sierra Entertainment, saw a much steeper revenue decline. Year over year, its revenue slipped 24.1 percent from €291 million ($450 million) to €221 million ($342 million). The change was even more apparent in post-EBITA earnings, which went from €107 million ($166 million) to just €50 million ($77 million). However, Vivendi also pointed out that “excluding the allocation of [Games] Group overheads, Blizzard Entertainment’s EBITA was €99 million [($153 million)].” That figure was sharply reduced by a €34 million ($53 million) quarterly shortfall at Sierra, which Vivendi blamed on “higher costs related to increased investment in Sierra product development and accelerated royalties expense for released products.” The loss also included “continued start up expenses for the Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions.” Ironically, Sierra’s bumpy quarter may be one of its last. As part of the looming merger of Vivendi Games and Activision, the division is slated to be folded into the Guitar Hero publisher’s organization, based in Santa Monica. Under the terms of the $18.9 billion deal, which has already been approved by European regulators, Blizzard, based in nearby Irvine, will retain its current corporate structure within the new company, Activision Blizzard. Vivendi also used its earnings today to confirm the next World of Warcraft expansion, The Wrath of the Lich King, will indeed arrive later this year. (According to rumors, the game has already entered the alpha-testing stage.)The publisher is also prepping Starcraft II, a new installment in its celebrated real-time strategy series, for release on an as-yet undetermined date.

MySims’ Kingdom

Yesterday, publishing powerhouse Electronic Arts reported on a solid 2008 fiscal year, saying that revenues had reached $3.67 billion for the period ended March 31, 2008. Although that tally easily outpaced archrival Activision’s $2.9 billion fiscal-year haul announced earlier this month, it is a long way from the $6 billion in revenues that EA hopes to be bringing in by 2011, as the publisher laid out in a ranging investor’s meeting in February. To help it toward that goal, the publisher mentioned in February that it would be following up last year’s MySims with a new installment in the franchise: MySims Kingdom. Today, EA officially announced MySims Kingdom for the Nintendo DS and Wii, saying that the game would arrive on both platforms this fall. Once again picking up the Sims shtick, MySims Kingdom on the Wii focuses on life-management gameplay. This time, players serve as advisor to the king in a medieval setting, improving the land through public works and new building-construction projects. Players will be afforded a variety of other tasks, ranging from tending livestock to treasure hunting, and the game features extensive customization options. The DS version of MySims Kingdom offers a more adversarial take on the life-management genre. Details on the game are slim, but players will be tasked with convincing the king of their particular fief’s attractiveness through a variety of activities and minigames.

Sega-Sammy Down, Sony Up

Back in October, it was becoming clear that all was not entirely well within the franchise of Sega Sammy. The company, which makes the majority of its money from pachinko machines, downsized its profit and net sales forecasts for the financial year. Although the official figures, released today, aren’t quite as low as forecast, they’re not far off. For Sega Sammy’s financial year from April 1, 2007, through to March 31, 2008, net sales were down 13 percent over the previous year to ¥458.9 billion ($4.4 billion). Both operating and net income were in the red, with the company’s operating loss hitting ¥5.8 billion ($55 million) and net loss at ¥52.5 billion ($500 million). Sega Sammy pointed out a number of reasons behind the numbers. Its pachinko business in Japan continued to decline, with machine sales falling by 24,000 units to 108,000 units, and it had postponed a number of major pachinko machine titles until fiscal 2008. The minus figures also included impairment losses for Chinese businesses, and a cancellation fee for ceasing development of an entertainment complex in Minato-ku. The company also dissolved Sega Amusements Singapore along with Sega Korea, in order to “increase operating efficiency in the amusement machine sales business.” Game sales were up overseas, but down in Japan–2007 saw the release of Sega titles including Condemned 2: Bloodshot, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, and Viking: Battle for Asgard. The company sold just under 27 million games in total during fiscal 2007, an increase of 5.7 million over the previous fiscal year. Nonetheless, only a small amount of these sales came from its home nation. In Japan, 2.6 million games were offloaded onto the public, compared with 12 million in the US, 12.3 million in Europe, and 70,000 in other regions. Sega stated that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was a best-seller overseas, whereas the third part in the Yakuza action adventure series, Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan, fared well in Japan. Despite the year’s losses, the company remained upbeat about the outlook for fiscal 2008. It believes that the group will return to profitability, forecasting consolidated net sales of ¥470 billion ($4.5 billion), consolidated operating income of ¥15 billion ($143 million), and net income of ¥5 billion ($48 million). Sega Sammy concluded that it expected its game sales to once again “show healthy growth” overseas, although it made no new announcements regarding upcoming games.

Sony has today announced that consolidated sales and net income for its financial 2007 (April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008) broke company records. Consolidated operating income was more than five times higher than the year before, and the second highest in the company’s history. Sales of Bravia LCD televisions, VAIO PCs, and Cyber-shot digital cameras are the products that are selling best for Sony overall, while mobile phones and CRT televisions have seen a fall in sales. Overall, sales and operating revenue was up 6.9 percent to ¥8.871 trillion ($78.5 billion), and operating income was up 422 percent to ¥374.5 billion ($3.3 billion). Income before taxes was up 357 percent to ¥466.3 billion ($3.9 billion), while net income for the whole of Sony was up 192.4 percent to ¥369.4 billion ($3.3 billion). In the games division, sales increased by 26.3 percent over last year to ¥1.284 trillion ($11 billion). According to Sony, the PlayStation 3 saw a “significant increase” in sales, as did the PlayStation Portable, which Sony pointed out probably had to do with the release of a shiny new slim version. Operating loss for the games division was almost halved from last year to ¥124.5 billion ($1.1 billion), an improvement of some ¥107.8 billion ($954 million) over the previous year. Sony sold 9.24 million PS3s in fiscal 2007, bringing the total to just under 13 million worldwide. In comparison, Nintendo recently revealed that it has sold 24.5 million Wiis to date, with Microsoft selling 19 million Xbox 360s since the console’s 2005 launch, according the company’s latest figures. PSP sales increased by 4.36 million year on year, bringing the total for fiscal 2007 to 13.89 million–last week, the company said it sold 34 million PSPs as of end of the 2007 calendar year. Sales of the PlayStation 2 were down by just under a million units with 13.73 million sold worldwide. As for software, PS2 game sales slowed dramatically, down 39.5 million to 154 million, although Sony still sold more games on the PS2 than on the PS3 and PSP combined. PS3 game sales saw an annual increase of 44.6 million units to 57.9 million sold worldwide, and 55.5 million PSP titles left store shelves, an increase of 800,000. Sony forecast that the games division would be back in the black in the next financial year due to hardware cost reductions and “an enhanced lineup of software titles in the PS3 business,” despite falling PS2 sales. Sony believes it will sell a further 9 million PS2s, 15 million PSPs, and 10 million PS3s during its 2008 fiscal year, which began April 1. For games, it wouldn’t be drawn on its platform-specific projections, but said it believes it will sell 250 million units across the PS2, PS3, and PSP.