Can you spot the difference?

With the God of War 3  around the corner it seems that Xbox fans, perhaps even Microsoft themselves, are taking the console wars to the next level.   The problems on PSN are not only being blown out of proportion by the MS biased media, it is also SDF’s opinion that this problem could’ve been caused by Xbox fanatics in an attempt to deflate the biggest  release in video game history.

Keep an eye out on SDF for more fair and unbiased coverage of the PSN debacle.

Edit – It seems Xbox Fanatics are now posing as PS3 fans on YouTube. Check out the pseudo-rage of this typical Xbox Live gamer:

Thanks to the continued Slim Effect™, PS3 has been dominating sales charts across the globe.  So much, in fact, that Sony is predicting massive shortages throughout 2010.

As you can see Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy 13 (PS3 version) and PS3 Slim are currently topping the charts with no sign of slowing down.   The inferior 360 version of Final Fantasy 13 is barely in the Top 30 currently sitting at #29. One would guess the exclusive avatar gear isn’t exactly setting the video game world on fire.

From looking at the January NPD game sales it seems Mass Effect 2 didn’t perform as well as expected.  For a game that was supposed to sell millions, it didn’t even beat out New Super Mario Bros for the month, with Wii Fit and Modern Warfare 2 right behind it.  This casts a huge shadow on a potential 3rd game in the series and adds pressure to EA to get the PS3 versions out as soon as possible.   Lets hope Bioware can recover from this debacle before EA starts another round of cuts.

Full NPD numbers:

PlayStation Family 418.6K
Wii 465.8K
Nintendo DS 422.2K
Xbox 360 332.8K

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Nov-09 656.7K
MASS EFFECT 2* 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 572.1K
WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Oct-09 555.7K
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 326.7K
MARIO KART W/ WHEEL WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Apr-08 310.9K
SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS* WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA Jul-09 297.6K
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 259.0K
ARMY OF TWO: THE 40TH DAY 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 246.5K
JUST DANCE WII UBISOFT Nov-09 191.9K
DARKSIDERS 360 THQ Jan-10 171.2k

Now that Mass Effect 2 has come and gone with barely a blip on the gamer radar, game reviews are starting to become more realistic on how this game actually is.

“Aside from the narrative weakness of too many underdeveloped characters, the new global emphasis on skirmishes is also of concern. As stated earlier, the teammate AI and combat mechanics are greatly improved over the first game, but things have (again) gotten carried away. The architecture of most levels has been downsized to small, almost perfectly linear spaces that emphasize combat over exploration. Planetary hubs are now reduced to large rooms, and although quite beautiful, most action areas are little more than unconvincing, glorified hallways.” – GameCritics

“The story does waver when it matters most, and the planet-scanning and other hacking mini-games are quite the bore…” – Xbox World Australia

“Remove the ho-hum gunplay, and the rest is an interactive action movie that’s decent enough for one walkthrough. Don’t go for seconds, though. And if you’re still craving for a space opera fix by the time you’re done with Mass Effect 2, better rent all five seasons of Babylon 5.” – Absolute Games

“It’s a shame though that Bioware did not improve the inventory and skill system of the first game, but actually reduced it even more. I really wished there were more customization options, more ways to develop and gear up my characters.” – PC Games

One can only hope Bioware cleans these problems up for the PS3 Blu-ray release.

Info from Playstation: TOM:

- Deformation for every car in the game although race cars will see even more damage, no more bumper cars like Forza 3
- First screens of GT5’s night racing
- 1,000+ vehicles, all with modeled interiors, superior to Forza 3
- Up to 16 players online, more than Forza 3
- Indy cars and tracks will be included
- Head tracking is reconfirmed and it’s for use during racing
- Multi display is back (using 3 PS3’s for a wider view)
- HD uploads to YouTube
- Weather
- Night racing for all tracks
- Destroying Forza 3

More Info

- Over 950 cars
- Over 20 locations and over 60 variations
- New Physics engine
- Damage
- Cars can be flipped over
- Movable objects on the tracks
- The newest Hybrid and electric cars
- Night racing
- Custom Soundtracks
- Dolby 7.1
- Head Tracking with Playstation Eye
- NASCAR, WRC and SuperGT licenses
- Cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Tesla
- Transfer cars from GT PSP to GT5

Arcade Mode
- Single Player
- Two Player Split Screen

GT Mode
- World Map
- My Garage
- Car Dealer
- Tuning Shop
- Championship Race
- License Test

Online
- Open Lobby
- Text / Voice Chat
- Private Room
- Online Photo Album
- Online Replay Album
- Export of replays to YouTube

Photo Mode
- Photo Drive
- Photo Stage

Gran Turismo TV
- Improved UI
- Export of video to the PSP
- Progressive downloading

Current Track List

Confirmed
- Indianapolis
- Nurburgring
- High Speed Ring
- Daytona
- Suzuka
- Fuji
- Tsukaba
- London
- Madrid
- Rome
- Eiger
- Tokyo Route 246
- Rally Toscana
- Top Gear Test Track
- Unnamed 458 Track
- Unnamed FT86 Track
- Unnamed Ferrari California Track

“Nintendo saved the industry with games like this, so we’re sad to say the latest lacks the imaginative spark found in past entries. Easily the weakest of the 2D Marios”

“1. The music is not good.
Only Megaman relies more on its catchy themes than Mario, and this Mario game has forgettable, poorly orchestrated melodies. The best parts of the music are hooks from old games. The worst parts are everything else. I have used the world map music from Super Mario Bros. 3 as my cellphone ring. Nobody would chose the theme of NSMBW’s 3-1 as their music for anything.

2. Though the level design is sometimes excellent, its palette is not.
The background and foreground blend together, confusing the action. Old Mario games (from which this game draws) featured nearly blank backdrops–or in the case of Super Mario World, a deep perspective with smartly chosen colors.

3. Platforming is deliberate business.
You cannot combine the chaos of multiplayer with pixel-specific jumps. Even with constant communication, the game devolves into one person working through a difficult section while the others are trapped in invincible bubbles.”

“Despite the lack of ingenuity on display, NSMB Wii’s thrash of four players does bring uproarious anarchy to the sofa for short periods of time. (7/10)”

“Don’t get us wrong. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a wonderful video game, but its designers drew upon 24 years of familiarity to produce an experience that makes us smile one moment and shrug the next.”

“Is multiplayer fun? Sure, but not for long. Kudos to Nintendo for revisiting multiplayer in a Mario game, but it feels tacked on”

“On top of that, and as good as this game is, it never wowed us like Super Mario Galaxy. Not once were we in awe of a particular level or enemy. Nintendo definitely chose to play it safe by following the same recipe that put Mario on the map.”

Expect an unbiased SDF review in the coming days.

Neither Activision or Infinity Ward  could possibly imagine the true impact of The Slim Effect™ until they released Modern Warfare 2 for the PS3.   The amount of gamers playing MW2 on PSN has been so great that it’s bringing Activision’s servers to its knees.   Many have speculated that the PS3 version has actually outsold the notably inferior 360 version in many countries.

The Slim Effect™ MW2 patch is expected on Friday.  Until then, please be patient while Infinity Ward triples their PS3 server capacity (possibly even taking servers away from the disappointing 360 version).

It’s coming time for the Holiday launches of anticipated multiplatform sequels — and new data provided to Gamasutra by OTX’s GamePlan Insights finds that many sequel-buyers might be switching platforms, defecting from Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for more than one major release.

In addition to identifying the cash-strapped consumer’s most-wanted games for the holiday season, GamePlan Insights previously examined “franchise lineage,” or gamer intent to purchase sequels to favorite games.

According to OTX analyst Nick Williams, data on franchise lineage highlights an interesting trend between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 SKUs for Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2, the two top-ranking titles on the latest purchase intent charts — and also two of the titles with the strongest franchise lineage.

OTX data shows that 15 percent of those who plan to buy the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed 2 own the Xbox 360 version of the original, while only 7 percent of those who plan to buy the Xbox 360 version own the original game on PS3.

The data highlights a shift, at least among fans of Assassin’s Creed, in favor of the PS3 — a “sizable portion,” according to Williams, of players who plan a console defection for the second installment.

Moreover, the trend for Modern Warfare 2 is the same, according to OTX. “The PS3 seems poised to shift the ratio of Xbox 360 to PS3 sales for most major multi-platform releases in its favor among dual owners,” Williams tells us.

Nintendo’s earnings report today showed the first drop in profits the company has seen in four years. For the six month period ending September 30, the Kyoto giant’s operating income fell 58.6% from the same period last year to 104.3 billion yen. The Wii platform took a major hit, its sales falling 43% from last year to 5.75 million units. Nintendo ended up lowering its Wii sales forecasts for the full year from 26 million units to 20 million units.

Mainichi Shimbun reports that Iwata, speaking at a press conference in Osaka today, said “We failed with the Wii. We were unable to continually release strong software, and let the nice mood cool.”

Sankei Shimbun, covering the same press conference, reported Iwata as having said “We were unable to show a new game to become ‘the next thing.’ In the game market, once you’ve lost the momentum, it takes time to recover.”

It does seem that Iwata has a positive outlook for the Wii, though, thanks to the September price drop. According to a Reuters report from the press conference, Iwata said of the decision to lower Wii’s sales targets, “With the price drop, sales returned to a certain level, but they just did not reach the level of last year around this time. We decided that it would be difficult to sell enough to recover from the poor performance of the first half of the year.” On the new 20 million target, he said, “In order to reach it, we’ll have to move quite a large quantity, but it’s a figure we released after having felt the momentum returning [based off the price drop].”

The Slim Effect™ has taken hold worldwide and now even Nintendo is admitting defeat.  Very interesting turn of events…  expect SDF to dive deeper into this in the coming weeks.