Dell says bye to XPS; GTA and Guinness; Viva DS; A Fable of November; Zoids; Sales Up!

Dell Inc. will begin phasing out its line of XPS desktop game machines, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. This will effectively leave Alienware as the sole high-end PC game offering from Dell, which acquired the Miami-based game system maker in March 2006. Dell’s XPS game PC line “ate into” Alienware sales, according to the report. Alienware competes with brands such as Hewlett-Packard’s Voodoo PC line and Falcon Northwest. Alienware is also expected to bring out redesigned systems based on new materials that go beyond the brand’s long-standing design, according to the report. Game PCs from Alienware can cost as little as $1,000 but typically range from $2,000 to $5,000 and feature high-end Intel and AMD quad-core processors and graphics chips from Nvidia and ATI Technologies. I was looking at getting a XPS Laptop and I’m happy I didn’t get one. I’m also happy that I custom build desktops.

Last week, Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games confirmed what many had assumed to be a forgone conclusion: Grand Theft Auto IV sold well. Just how well? According to the publisher’s internal figures, GTAIV sold more than 6 million copies globally in its opening week (3.6 million of which were dispersed on day one), generating revenues in excess of $500 million. As part of the announcement, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement, “Grand Theft Auto IV’s first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date.” Today, that claim became as official as it’s likely to get. The Guinness World Records committee has announced that GTAIV has set new records for Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours and the Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours. Pegging GTAIV’s first-day figures at 3.6 million units and $310 million in cash, Guinness Records matched up Rockstar’s open-world crime spree to other major releases. According to the record-tracking group, Bungie and Microsoft’s Halo 3 previously held the fastest-selling video game record with $170 million in its first 24 hours. Spider-Man 3’s box-office debut of $60 million last May held the theatrical movie title, whereas the final book in J.K. Rowling’s children’s fantasy epic, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, tallied $220 million in day-one sales.

As part of Microsoft’s Gamers’ Day event in San Francisco today, the publisher said that it has tapped wholly owned studio Rare for a new Xbox 360 installment in the outfit’s papier-mache garden franchise, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. With that game scheduled to arrive this September, Rare is exhibiting busy candy-filled beaver qualities of its own right, as THQ said today that the Nintendo DS edition of Viva Pinata will also be coming later this year, sometime during the holiday season. Initially revealed last July, the DS edition now sports the title Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise and will carry over its gameplay from the original Xbox 360 version of the game. Aspiring horticulturalists will build up their virtual gardens by creating an attractive living environment for wayward pinatas. The game will feature a redesigned interface and control scheme made more suitable for the DS. Not a direct port, the DS edition of the game will offer a variety of tweaks to the 2006 original. Seven new pinatas have been added to the game, each with distinct environmental requirements and cutscene sequences, and Rare has also packed in 12 full-motion tutorial clips that tie into the Fox 4Kids TV series. Pocket Paradise also features a new game mode, Playground, where players can accelerate development of their gardens, and the DS edition will also feature local wireless functionality, where pinatas can be swapped between two separate systems. While a Microsoft-owned studio releasing games for a competitor’s platform via third-party publisher may initially sound odd, the arrangement isn’t without precedent. While Microsoft picked up the UK-based outfit from Nintendo in 2002, Rare has released a fairly steady stream of games on the Nintendo’s portables, most recently Diddy Kong Racing DS in 2006. Further, several of Rare’s portable efforts since being acquired by Microsoft have been distributed by THQ, including Banjo-Pilot and It’s Mr. Pants for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.

At this year’s Game Developers Conference Lionhead’s founder Peter Molyneux teased attendees by asking his publicist, “Can we reveal the date? No? Sorry, we can’t.” According to posts on the official Fable 2 forums, Molyneux implied an autumn release by saying that the game would arrive “when the leaves turn brown.” However, today Microsoft offered a more concrete release window for Fable 2, albeit not one as solid as for the long-delayed Too Human. The company announced that the game would ship “this holiday,” suggesting a pre-Christmas launch window. The first Fable game was released on the original Xbox in 2004, and gamers took on the role of a young boy whose village was destroyed and parents murdered by bandits. The game gave players the option to choose between good and evil actions whilst building the boy’s character. After being ported to the PC and Macintosh in 2005 alongside its Lost Chapters expansion on Xbox, Fable was also available last year as an Xbox Original download from Xbox Live. Fable 2 is the sequel, and promises a gameplay world which will be 10 times the size of the original, a faithful companion in the form of a dog, and more difficulty in making moral choices. Players will be able to be a male or female character this time, and can marry and have children within the gameworld, along with buying any building within it. The game will also have interactivity with several Xbox Live Arcade games, which will allow players to earn money they can spend in Fable 2 proper.

Save for Operation Darkness and Spectral Force 3, Atlus hasn’t made much use of the licensing agreement it signed with Microsoft in November. Instead, the publisher has announced a string of titles dealing in its signature genres of strategy, role-playing, fighting, or any combination thereof, for Nintendo’s and Sony’s platforms, including Baroque, Drone Tactics, Arcana Heart, and Izuna 2. Today, however, the publisher announced it would be bringing at least one more title to the Xbox 360 before year’s end: Zoids Assault. An offshoot of Tomy’s popular Japanese figurine and anime franchise, Zoids Assault offers an interactive take on far-future, mechanized combat. In the game, two small nations–Maroll and Jamil–find themselves in the grip of a cold war threatening to turn hot in the aftermath of a larger global conflict. The game offers both strategy and role-playing elements, and Atlus promises an extensive range of upgrade and customization options. Players will have access to a Zoid army of their very own, replete with biomechanical beasts of war, and must use advanced tactical thinking to outwit larger armies. Zoids Assault is slated to deploy exclusively on the Xbox 360 on August 26. The game’s official Web site has more information on the title.

It’s not uncommon for industry analysts to disagree when it comes to monthly NPD predictions, but they’re usually in the same ballpark. However, when assessing numbers on the scale of the blockbuster release of Grand Theft Auto IV, those small disagreements get amplified. Lazard Capital Markets’ Colin Sebastian and Wedbush Morgan Securities’ Michael Pachter have released their NPD predictions in investors’ notes this week, and the pair’s growth prognostications vary by 43 percent. While Sebastian predicted software sales growth of “at least” a sky-high 70 percent, Pachter projected growth of 113 percent. Both analysts noted the obvious Grand Theft Auto IV as the primary sales driver, as well as Mario Kart for the Wii. Pachter also pointed to the two new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games on the DS as strong performers in the new release category, while Sebastian expected the PlayStation 3 retail-or-downloadable racer Gran Turismo 5: Prologue to turn out a strong performance in stores. The strength of Grand Theft Auto IV wasn’t the only topic on which the pair agreed. Both analysts also expected dueling rhythm games Guitar Hero III and Rock Band to continue lighting up the sales charts. On top of that, Sebastian said the next few months looked promising for the industry, but added that growth comparisons will get more difficult later in the year. Pachter likewise warned investors to expect more modest growth levels later in the year.

Oh! and Metal Gear Solid 4 has also gold (that means their actually making the game discs now).

And sorry theres no pics, but I am in a bit of a rush.