Rockstar has announced a Bungie-esque leaderboard website called the Rockstar Games Social Club, set to launch alongside Grand Theft Auto IV on April 29. The site is compatible with Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, so players on both platforms will be able to track the virtual crimes they commit.

The first player to complete 100% of the single-player game will be immortalized, and the rest of you will have to be content competing for the fastest completion of the game or dominance of other, lesser statistics such as total miles walked.

Pre-registration starts on April 17, full press release after the jump.

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Australian gamers have continued their boycott of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 software into the first week of January. When will it stop?

Australians are back to their old habits, with the top ten for the last week of December consisting solely of Nintendo and PlayStation 2 software.

via GoNintendo

NPD figures have shown that Activision are the clear winners in both console and handheld game sales for 2007. The company held a record market share of 16.8%, up 7.9% from last year. In November five of the best selling games in dollar value were Activision games, with the top two consisting of Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4. Between Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and now World of Warcraft there really is no stopping the company.

via 1Up

When something has been boldly touted as a success, its quite often necessary for such a statement to be backed up by solid figures. So here it is: In September alone, 528,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold worldwide, compared to 501,000 for Wii and 119,000 for PS3. This represents twice as many 360’s sold in August. Pretty solid feat considering Halo 3 was released only during the tail end of the month.

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After selling 22,000 units on the first week of its release, the PS3 title has entered the Japanese software chart at number 7. Top of the chart for the sales week ending October 14 was DS title Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent, another new entry that sold 61,000 copies. And despite its success during its initial week, Halo 3 lingers around the bottom of the top 30, indicative of Microsoft’s struggle to gain a foothold in this region.

For the full top ten list, hit the jump
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BioShocked, that is. The Xbox 360 version of BioShock has debuted at #1 with a bullet, with the PC version sneaking in at #4 - behind both versions of Singstar 90’s (Would you like microphones with that, sir?)

We just hope you had the foresight to pre-order your copy of BioShock - reports from the land down under lead us to believe that even JB Hi-Fi is having trouble keeping stock on the shelves.

Thanks to GfK for yet more concrete evidence of how predictable software sales trends in Australia really are.

The latest GfK sales charts are out, and for the second week running, there’s not a single PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 title in the top ten. Here’s a hint publishers, if you want your games to sell, try pricing them a little closer to their US counterparts. It’s pretty clearly working for Nintendo! Gamers in the US would have a conniption fit if games cost US$88-97 - and that’s standard affair for new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles in Australia.

via GoNintendo

We’re all aware that Nintendo prints money. Not content with that fact alone being fresh in gamers minds, Nintendo have released another ten carefully selected tidbits in a recent press release.

* Through the first half of 2007, the total Wii hardware sell-through in the United States and Canada combined is more than 2.3 million units (2.1 million United States, 222,000 Canada).

* For the first half of 2007, Nintendo represents nearly 70 percent of the industry growth in the United States and Canada combined.

* In June alone, Wii was once again the top-selling home console with nearly 435,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined (381,800 United States, 53,000 Canada).

* In June alone, Nintendo DS was the top-selling video game system overall with nearly 608,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined (562,000 United States, 46,000 Canada).

* Nintendo remained the top video game publisher in the United States and Canada in June, as well as the top publisher for all of 2007.

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Major Nelson has posted the latest Xbox Live statistics, and yes…people are still fully locked in to Gears of War. Unsurprisingly, Bomberman Live debuted at the top of the Live Arcade charts for the week - check out our review if you haven’t already, or read on for the figures.

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