PlayStation Move Surpasses 4.1 Million Units Sold

The good folks over at Sony revealed today that sales for the gaming group's motion control device known as PlayStation Move reached over 4.1 million units sold worldwide. This number comes just two months after the device's release in September for North America, Europe/PAL territories and Asia and only one month after its release in Japan. Sony is looking at these numbers as a clear sign of success for the new motion controller as well as positive momentum leading into this year's holiday season and 2011.

The PlayStation Move controller is used in conjunction with Sony's Eye Camera for the PS3 in order to detect the precise movements, angle and absolute position in 3D space of the controller and the gamer. This allows gamers to intuitively play certain games as if they are actually participating in the games themselves. The device also captures the gamer's image to offer new augmented reality experiences in certain games.

In two months Sony has unleashed more than 30 games that are either supported by PlayStation Move or completely dedicated to the controller. Among the many successful titles gamers will find such games as Sports Champions, Start the Party EyePet Move Edition, MAG, SingStar Dance and a ton more. Platform defining games for the PS3 like Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 are set to be Move compatible which Sony hopes will "further establish PlayStation Move as the must-have motion experience for casual and hard-core gamers alike".

There are more than 41.6 million PS3 systems around the globe, and the company believes it is poised to set yet another year of record success, despite being a 5-year-old console. The PS3 is definitely making waves in the gaming community with the PlayStation Move as well as support for stereoscopic 3D. However, the PS3 isn't the only system with motion controllers. The Wii from Nintendo was the first to introduce the motion controller to gamers but tends to focus more on family games and casual gamers. The PlayStation Move's biggest competitor will undoubtedly be Kinect from Microsoft. Not only is Kinect a motion control device, it completely forgoes using a controller at all by instead making the gamer's entire body the controller.

Regardless of competition, the PlayStation Move is obviously doing well. However, I feel like we will not be able to get a true grasp of just how well it is doing until after this forthcoming holiday season. Until then, we will just have to sit back and enjoy what Sony has delivered thus far.

Source: Engadget

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“Call of Duty: Black Ops” Sets Records

I’m sure most people have seen the TV commercial that has been airing on a lot of different channels lately. The amazing, cinematic “Call of Duty: Black Ops” commercial shows people dressed in everyday clothes involved in an epic battle with machine guns and bazookas firing, attack helicopters whirring, and explosives blasting, while “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones blares in the background. There are even guest appearances on the commercial by Jimmy Kimmel and Kobe Bryant. The commercial is incredible and has certainly gotten the word out according to Activision.

The past few Call of Duty games have been wildly successful, record-setting, action-packed video games that are essential to most gamer’s collections. “Call of Duty: Black Ops” is no exception to the series. Activision reported on Thursday, November 18th that the game had set an all new five-day worldwide sales record making more than $650 million. It even beat out its highly anticipated predecessor “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” which was incredibly successful and sold $550 million in the first five days.

Chief executive of Activision Blizzard, Robert Kotick, said in a statement, “'Call of Duty' has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment.”

Microsoft also says that “Call of Duty: Black Ops” has set a record on Xbox Live. They said that more than 2.6 million users signed on just so that they could play during the launch day. Gameplay just on the launch day added up to 5.9 million multiplayer hours logged in for the game.

Although they did not offer any numbers like Microsoft, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Jack Tretton, said that “Call of Duty: Black Ops” caused “unprecedented traffic to the PlayStation Network."

Amazon.com and Gamestop reported that the game was the best-selling game launch of all time for their respective companies.

These reports from Amazon and Gamestop came a few days after Activision announced their opening-day records from the game as well. They said that in the first 24 hours that “Call of Duty: Black Ops” was on the market it brought in over $360 million in North America and the UK alone. In comparison, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” brought in around $310 million for Activision in the first 24 hours.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops” was released in stores November 9th. The game was developed by Treyarch and according to Activision it provides gamers with “the deepest and most intense 'Call of Duty' experience ever.” Players can enjoy playing in single or multiplayer modes in guerilla warfare and covert ops in the middle of wilderness. Treyarch and Activision even incorporated 3D elements into “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” which is available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Window PC platforms.

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Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

"Waka waka waka waka waka waka", you hear that? "Waka waka waka waka waka", it sounds like the beautiful serenade of one of gaming's biggest icons. I'm talking, of course, of the always lovable, always incredible (always hungry) Pac-Man. Pac-Man has been one of the most beloved games since its inception and has had the honor of gracing many a gaming console, so when it came to the Xbox Live Arcade, people were obviously excited.

Everybody's favorite dot eater made its debut on the Xbox 360 in the form of Pac-Man Championship Edition. Back then, Pac-Man Championship Edition seemed like the perfect Xbox Live Arcade game........and it was. But did you ever sit back and ask yourself, "Could this game be any better?" Well, the immediate answer to that is yes, and it is known as Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.

Gaming's original ghostbuster is coming at us with more mazes, more modes and a LOT more ghosts. The deluxe version of the game (hence the DX) takes all the aspects that made the first one such a success and such a great experience and adds even more fun stuff.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX has gamers focused on racking up as high a score as possible. A new addition to the tried and true Pac-Man formula is the fact that all games are timed now which means you need to eat as many dots as possible as quickly as possible. A good factor to the game is that you don't die as often, and you get plenty of extra lives, oh, and did I mention the fact that you get bombs? Yeah, every bomb you drop sends every ghost on the map back to their little box if you need to get out of a tight spot.

You read up top that Mr. Pac-Man has a lot more ghosts to deal with. However, a lot is a definite understatement. Instead of having your traditional eight or so ghosts, players will now have to outwit HUNDREDS of ghosts in order to stay alive and get the top score. A bunch of ghosts will start out as normal, but as you advance through the map you will pass sleeping ghosts who will awaken as you pass by.

If you manage to refrain from eating a power pellet long enough, you could find yourself being chased by nearly a hundred ghosts! That is another thing. Instead of trying to outwit the ghosts, players will be able to simply run away as the ghosts will more likely than not follow you in a straight line. Turning around and obliterating a hundred ghosts in a row is a key feature in getting that top score.

DX has a total of nine mazes, most of which are completely new and unique. What is even better is that each maze has a multitude of different game variations like Score Attack, Time Trials and Ghost Combos. But the true might of this game is in getting the high scores.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX offers many ways for you to see how you rank against other players of the games, including your friends. Climbing through the leaderboards is cool and all but this game adds some other nifty options. Your current ranking is posted up on the title screen, the course select screen, and even within the menu for each maze.

This game also sounds great and looks great. Players will be able to pick from a variety of different skins for each maze as well as different Pac-Man character models, including 3D Pac-Man and the original pixilated master himself. The electronic music, which instinctively gets more intense the more the clock winds down, also adds an feeling of urgency that is both riveting and fun.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, like its source material, combines fun, easy and intuitive gameplay mechanics with a great sound and spectacular presentation to create a game that everybody, not just Pac-Man enthusiasts, can enjoy. For a price tag of only $10 (or 800 Microsoft points) you would be hard pressed to find a better Xbox Live Arcade game. Definitely one that everybody should download as soon as possible.

Source: IGN.com

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PS3 Gets Hulu Plus and NHL Updates

Sony announced Wednesday, November 10 that Hulu is now available from the PlayStation network to all of their PlayStation 3 users. They also said that PlayStation 3 will now support the new NHL GameCenter application that had been unavailable previously.

Before Wednesday, PlayStation 3 users needed a PlayStation Plus subscription to be able to access Hulu Plus content, but a PlayStation blog stated that this is no longer true. On Thursday, November 4 Hulu announced that their Hulu Plus subscription service was no longer invite-only. This means that anyone using the PlayStation Network can sign up and watch anything on Hulu Plus via their console. A subscription to Hulu Plus costs $9.99 per month. It provides full access to whole seasons of TV shows. If you don’t want to shell out a monthly fee, you can still enjoy free access to Hulu.com and all of the recent episodes of your favorite shows.

When Hulu Plus first came out in June, those who were interested in the service had to first be invited by the company before they could purchase a subscription. Director of product at Hulu Rob Wong said, “As we scale our infrastructure throughout the preview period, we want to open the service to a larger subscriber base.”

For PS3 users interested in Hulu Plus, users can download the app by visiting the PlayStation Store and ps3.com/hulu. Hulu Plus is also offered via other devices such as Sony’s Blu-ray players and Bravia TVs. Users are able to access Hulu via Internet connections on the Blu-ray players and TVs. As of right now Sony says that certain Bravia TVs are offering $20 towards a Hulu Plus trial so that customers can give it a try and see if they are interested in it. Hulu is also offered on the PC, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPhone 4, third generation iPods, and certain Samsung TVs.

On a side note, Hulu has just recently added some new TV shows to their Hulu Plus including: “Raising Hope,” “No Ordinary Family,” and “The Event.” They also have added past seasons of “Monk,” “Psych,” and “Battlestar Galactica.”

As of Wednesday PS3 users now also have access to the National Hockey League’s new GameCenter Live app. This allows users to instantly stream up to 40 different out of market NHL games each and every week. Users will also be able to access replay highlight moments and classic games.

If you have already purchased the $169 annual NHL GameCenter Live subscription, you can download the NHL app for PS3 for $9.99. If you have already subscribed to PlayStation Plus, you will be able to download the app for free. The app will be available to download under the video category on the XrossMediaBar.

This app is also available for users with the Boxee Box or Roku for free. The NHL has said, “Simply link your existing subscription to the NHL GameCenter LIVE app on either Roku or Boxee platforms, and you're ready to enjoy live and on-demand hockey action.” They also are promising that a version for the iPad will be available within a few weeks.

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G4 Dropped by Direct TV

What is sure to be one of the saddest days for gamers in recent history, the highly popular cable television channel G4 has been officially dropped by satellite provider Direct TV when the two could not settle negotiations. As of yesterday, game enthusiasts around the country flipped on their sets to find that their G4 channel had been removed.

It seems unusual that Direct TV dropped the channel from their program list. I mean, this isn't a typical thing in the television industry to my knowledge. However, G4 did release a statement expressing their profound disappointment with Direct TV's decision to not adhere to the same contract the two companies had agreed upon for the last three years.

According to G4, "We are very disappointed with Direct TV's decision to drop G4 as of November 1, 2010. We have done everything in our power to reach a fair and equitable long-term extension with them to continue to carry our network. This is especially frustrating since our offer to them was the same basic deal that we have had with Direct TV for the past three years. However, Direct TV rejected this offer thereby denying their subscribers the only network dedicated to today's web-inspired, tech-savvy, gamer lifestyle."

G4's statement went on to include a number for Direct TV subscribers to call if they wish to express their anger, dissatisfaction or rage with the company.

"If you are a Direct TV subscriber, please contact them directly at 1-888-9-WeAreG4 to voice your disappointment for dropping the service...We are sorry to our fans who are affected by Direct TV's decision and are hopeful that they will agree to have G4 back up on their service in the very near future. In the mean time, we thank you for your support."

Being an avid supporter of G4 and the entire gaming community I can only say that I am truly sorry for any fan of G4 that is a current subscriber to Direct TV. G4 is one of the most legitimate and highly respected gaming news outlets in the entire industry and in a market where G4 is the only dedicated network channel it is a shame that anybody should be denied their services.

I can only hope that the people at both G4 and Direct TV can resolve this dispute as quickly as possible for the sake of dedicated fans of both companies.

Source: IGN.com

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Sony’s PSP Go Just Dropped in Price

Just in time for the holiday season, Sony has decided to drop the price of their PSP go mobile gaming device. It previously was being sold for $249.99 but has now dropped to $199.99.

The PSP go first hit stores in October of 2009 for $249.99. The device is a downsized version of the original PSP-1000. Instead of the UMD optical drive and game cartridge that was part of the original PSP, the PSP go features 16GB of internal storage, download only titles, and a great, new slider design. The device also features access to Sony’s online download store, so that gamers can search for and download the games that they want.

Many people have said that the PSP go is really best for gamers that are new to the PSP platform. Gamers that have been dedicated PSP fans would do better sticking with the original PSP-1000. It is a little chunkier, but PSP fans will be more comfortable with it. If you want a thinner PSP that still sticks to the original ideals of the PSP-1000, you should check out the PSP-3000. It is great for playing multi-player games. Sony released the PSP go in an attempt to compete with other portable gaming devices like Nintendo’s DS Lite and Apple’s iPod Touch. You simply must consider what you want out of your PSP and what you will be using it for. This will help you to decide which PSP fits you best.

The PSP go fits perfectly in your pocket. It measures 2.7 x 5 x 0.65 inches (HWD). Volume-wise, the PSP go is about half the volume of the original PSP-1000. As I had mentioned, the PSP go has a sliding screen. All of the controls, the analog stick, the d-pad, and the game buttons, are under the screen. The display is bright and the screen itself is 3.8-inches and features 480 x 272 resolution. It also has 802.11b Wi-Fi, which is a great thing to have.

This price drop for the PSP go is coming about a month after Sony’s release of their new PlayStation Move motion controller system. Since its release, Sony has said that they have sold more than 1 million Move units in North America and Latin America. Jack Trenton, the chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, told MSNBC that Sony has already had to increase production of the Move twice to meet the demands of the public. “Retail demand is incredibly strong and we're working hard to keep the product in stock,” he said.

The price drop is likely to help Sony get ahead of their biggest rival, Nintendo, for the holiday season. Fortunately for Sony and their sales, Nintendo announced last month that they will not be releasing their new Nintendo 3DS in Japan until February 26th or in the U.S. until sometime in March.

As of now, the device is listed for $199.99 at a variety of online retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy.

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Medal of Honor: A Huge Success Despite the Conflict

The Medal of Honor games have been incredibly popular throughout the years. The newest installment strayed from the usual World War II theme that the other Medal of Honor games have had and instead set the game in war-ravaged Afghanistan. Greg Goodrich, the executive producer of Medal of Honor, said, “Inspired by real people and real events, the game puts players in the boots of today's warrior.” This was definitely a new spin for the game series.

As of Tuesday, October 19th, Electronic Arts (EA) had sold over 1.5 million copies of the latest installment of the Medal of Honor series. This is quite an accomplishment considering all the controversy and scrutiny that the game underwent before its release. EA released the game on Tuesday, October 12th, and in a mere week the game has already become a huge success.

EA is adding a new multi-player mode to the game on November 2nd. The mode is being called Clean Sweep, and it is free to anyone who purchased the game. There is an online pass code that should have been included in the game's case that will give you access to the new multi-player mode. EA says that the added mode will be an elimination mode where players will have to rely on their teammates’ and their own skills to win. There are two new maps that will be included with the new mode: Bagram Hangar and Khyber Caves. There will also be new redesigned versions of the Kabul City Ruins and Diwagal Camp maps included.

Since the release of the game, SteelSeries released a licensed line of products that was co-designed with the EA team from Medal of Honor. They came together to design two different gaming keyboards that were built specifically around playing Medal of Honor. There is the mechanical 6Gv2 keyboard and the SteelSeries Shift keyboard. The Shift keyboard features a Medal of Honor edition keyset, a Medal of Honor Edition Xai laser mouse, and a Warrior Edition Qck mouse pad.

SteelSeries claims that the 6Gv2 keyboard is indestructible. It features 18k gold-plated mechanical switches, an anti-ghosting feature, and SteelSeries media controls for quick access to volume control.

The 6Gv2 keyboard is available for $99.99, and the SteelSeries Shift keyboard is available for $89.99. Both of these keyboards are perfect for playing Medal of Honor on your PC.

The latest version of Medal of Honor had a few bumps in the road to overcome, but they are definitely doing quite well. With over 1.5 million copies sold in a week, a new multi-player mode ready to launch, and gaming keyboards specifically designed with the game in mind, I think that EA has definitely had great success with this game. If you haven’t picked up your copy of the game yet, run to your closest game store and see just what everybody is talking about with this game.

For more information about this game and the controversy surrounding the game check out another article: Medal of Honor Released Despite Controversy.

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