Industry (2)

UBS analyst Ben Schachter has some tips for those of you planning on benchmarking Grand Theft Auto IV’s sales against previous iterations - namely, don’t.

Back when Vice City and San Andreas were flying off shelves, the PS2 and Xbox were the dominant platforms - and there’s nowhere near as many PS3s and Xbox 360s out there. Schachter rightfully proposes that GTA IV’s attach rate (number of units sold divided by the number of Xbox 360/PS3 consoles in homes) is the more accurate metric for success.

“Should Metacritic scores come in above 95, attach rates could rise to 30%+, implying potential U.S. sales of 7-8mm units (scores for the past three GTA titles were 95, 95, and 97). Any attach rate above 26% would beat expectations in our view,” he added.

via GameDaily.biz

While Rockstar Games are remaining tight-lipped regarding what was cut from the Australian and New Zealand versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, one enterprising gamer decided to call Take-Two’s (expensive) customer service line:

Okay guys, I have some news for you regarding what was edited from the AU release. I just gave Take2 a call (a friggin expensive 1902 number!) and this is exactly what I was told:

“Well in regards to what Rockstar have removed for the Australian release, as far as we’re aware there was only one sexually violent cut-scene which Rockstar felt would cause the game to be Refused Classification. Unfortunately we’re not able to go into specifics until after the game has been released but I can tell you that the scene involves a weapon being inserted into an enemies private area during a mission where Niko is taking revenge after one of his close friends was forced into sexual intercourse during his stay in prison.”

Seriously I thought he was joking ….I was like LOL you’re joking right? He says “No. This is what Rockstar felt needed to be removed from the game for it’s Australian release. We were recently given permission to release this information because as we understand, Rockstar originally made a press release stating that the game would be released uncut world wide. We felt it would be misleading not to release the information”.

While many would argue the absence of a particularly violent cutscene is inconsequential to the GTA IV experience, the idea of paying nearly double the price (AU$120 converts to US$112) for a censored version of a game is proving a hard one to swallow for many Australians.

Whirlpool via Kotaku Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australians are cancelling their pre-orders of Grand Theft Auto IV in a backlash against Rockstar Games and the government, after finding out their AUD$120 (US$112) purchase will leave them with a censored version of the game.

Many Australian gamers have cancelled their [GTA IV] orders.
Already angered by the price of the blockbuster in Australia - $120 compared to $US60 ($64) in North America - gamers have reacted with outrage to news… that developer Rockstar has edited the game for Australia in order to obtain an MA15+ rating.
Many gamers said they cancelled their orders with Australian shops and will import a cheaper, uncut version, flouting the law.

Australians are faced with a tough decision - either pay through the nose for a censored version of the game to play on launch day, or wait a few days for an International courier to arrive with their unedited copy of the game and hope that Rockstar Games and/or South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson (the main roadblock to an R 18+ rating for games) read us loud and clear.

Industry analysts and sources close to Take-Two Interactive have told Variety they expect Grand Theft Auto IV to gross over $400 million in its first week on sale.

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes has also said he expects GTA IV to provide two times the volume of sales of Halo 3, while GameStop VP of merchandise Bob McKenzie says the game will fall short of the mark set by Bungie and Microsoft.

[H] Enthusiast posted an article on Nvidia’s new GeForce 9600 GT graphics card. The card is up to par with (if not a little better than) Nvidia’s 8800 GT and ATI’s latest offerings, but it’s main selling point, in my opinion, is it’s sub-$200 price. Starting at $169 MSRP, it will help open up the high-end gaming market to those not willing to dole out $500 for a top-of-the-line video card.

NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT 

So now, we have the data to critically examine the question: Is PC gaming in crisis? On the surface, recent NPD figures would indicate an affirmative, with retail sales dropping nearly US$60 million from US$970 million in 2006 to US$910.7 million in 2007. This number fails to take into account the revenue earned from MMO subscriptions and from digital distributors such as the booming Steam network. Factor those into your figures, and you’ll see that PC gaming is alive and kicking without a doubt.

But if raw retail figures and rankings give you a real buzz, hit the jump for the top 10 selling PC games of ‘07.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Brazilian government has banned the sale of Counter-Strike and EverQuest. Though originally banned in October as ordered by the Brazilian federal court, only now are the bans being enforced. Judge Carlos Alberto Simoes found the games to be “the subversion of public order” and “an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security.” … Yeah, not really sure how he came to that conclusion either.

Currently we aren’t sure if the bans pertain to only the original titles or if CS: Source and EverQuest 2 are also affected. Being that the ban is only on the sale and not on possession of the games, there is still plenty of opportunity for sweaty nerds to pwn n00bs and create female elf characters.

via Joystiq

Activision has announced their Guitar Hero franchise has sold over 14 million units in North America alone, resulting in US$1 billion in revenue. Activision acquired Red Octane six months after release of the first Guitar Hero for a paltry $100 million. It’s little wonder they were the most successful game company of last year.

via Wii Fanboy

News is in the NASA are considering making their own MMO. Unfortunately the title will allow players to “simulate real NASA engineering and science missions” and not fake lunar landings or keep the world safe from alien warlords.

Maybe I’m wrong on this one but does this seem like it could be the most boring game ever conceived. I’ve got visions of endless “you forgot to uncouple the fuel line, respawn in 30 seconds” screens. Okay, in reality the game will be used as an educational resource, but I still think NASA needs to learn that launching a rocket virtually is inversely boring as it is fun in real life. Your tax dollars at work people.

via The BBC

Acclaimed industry analyst Michael Pachter has speculated that 2008 will be the year of the PS3, which will soon begin to undercut Wii sales. Pachterdamus points at retail cost in being a decisive factor here - he believes that once the PS3 drops below US$300, it’s all over for the Wii. He also alludes to big titles such as GTAIV and GT5 Prologue playing some part in the trend.

These predictions arrive at a time where latest NPD figures reveal Nintendo’s trouncing of the competition in December 07.

While it’s not usually a good idea to take whatever Pachter says as gospel, its still pretty hard to see Nintendo keeping the overwhelming success of the Wii going for much longer than they already have.

via WiiFanBoy