Archive for August, 2010
Top 10 concept cars
Volvo S60
Vehicle type: 4-door coupe
Powertrain: 180-hp, 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine
Debut: Detroit auto show
Designer: Orjan Sterner
What’s cool: Volvo’s take on the latest European styling trend — the 4-door coupe — is a sexy one. The swoopy sedan has muscular fenders and an in-your-face grille with an oversized Volvo badge that looks as if it were borrowed from a Volvo truck. The rear doors are hinged at the rear and swing back, clear of the body, to create a wide opening to the interior.
Will it be built? Yes; it goes on sale in mid- 2010.
Infiniti Essence
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Infiniti Essence
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Vehicle type: 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
Powertrain: Hybrid, 434-hp, 3.7-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 and 158-hp starter-generator; 592 combined hp
Debut: Geneva auto show
What’s cool: This is one gorgeous machine. It could be twice as gorgeous if they stretched the car, added two doors and turned the Essence into a lower-priced competitor for the Mercedes-Benz CLS coupelike sedan.
Will it be built? The automaker has said the Essence is a rear-drive design study for future Infiniti models. But Infiniti also said the Essence could be considered for production.
Honda CR-Z
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Honda CR-Z
Vehicle type: 2+2 hatchback Powertrain: Hybrid, with 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine Debut: Tokyo auto show Designers: Motoak Minowa, Makoto Iwaki What’s cool: Who says hybrids need to be limited to 4-door sedans? Green can be cool-looking. AutoWeek called it “Best in Show.” Will it be built? Yes. Look to the Detroit show in January for the real car. One change: It will be a 2-seater. |
Fisker Karma S
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Fisker Karma S
Vehicle type: 2-door convertible with retractable hard top Powertrain: Hybrid from General Motors Co. Debut: Detroit auto show Designer: Henrik Fisker What’s cool: The powertrain can deliver 50 miles on electric power and an additional 250 miles once the gasoline engine cranks up. The folding metal hard top gives the car a sleek look. Will it be built? Yes, in 2011 — priced at around $87,900. |
Chrysler 200C EV
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Chrysler 200C EV
Vehicle type: 4-door sedan Powertrain: Plug-in hybrid Debut: Detroit auto show Designer: Ralph Gilles, who at that time was Chrysler’s vice president of design What’s cool: Stunning, elegant design that’s still a head-turner. Will it be built? The 200C EV is built on a shortened version of Chrysler’s 300 platform. With Fiat now pulling the strings, Chrysler’s next-generation mid-sized cars will be developed on a front-drive Fiat Group platform. The body’s proportions might need to be modified for a Fiat platform, risking the beautiful balance of the design. |
Lexus LF-Ch
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Lexus LF-Ch
Vehicle type: 5-door hatchback Powertrain: Hybrid Debut: Frankfurt auto show Designers: Tom Matsumoto, Alex Shen, Edward Lee, William Chergosky What’s cool: Practicality, fun to drive and eco-friendliness are what this premium, rear-drive compact is all about. Will it be built? Yes, likely unveiled at the Geneva auto show in March. |
Toyota FT-86
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Toyota FT-86
Vehicle type: 2-door 2-seater Powertrain: 2.0-liter engine from Subaru Debut: Tokyo auto show Designers: Designed at Toyota’s ED2 studio in Nice, France, and Newport Beach, Calif. What’s cool: This is a head-turning sports car — 2-passenger, rwd. Did someone say street racer? The badge says Toyota, but beneath the skin it’s all Subaru — engineering, manufacturing, even assembly. Will it be built? Yes, in 2011. A sub-$30,000 sticker price is talked about. |
Cadillac Converj
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Cadillac Converj
Vehicle type: Coupe Powertrain: Plug-in hybrid Debut: Detroit auto show What’s cool: There is no mistaking the Converj for anything other than a Cadillac, with its creased body lines, vertical lights fore and aft, and egg crate grille. The concept shares the Chevrolet Volt hybrid powertrain. Will it be built? That’s the $64,000 question. |
Bugatti Galibier 16C
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Bugatti Galibier 16C
Vehicle type: 4-door sedan Powertrain: 8.0-liter V-16, 2 superchargers; horsepower estimate: 800 to 1,000 Debut: Molsheim, France, the birthplace of Bugatti Motor Co. What’s cool: The Galibier 16C is “intended to be the most exclusive, elegant and powerful 4-door automobile in the world,” Bugatti says on its Web site. If produced, an asking price of around $1.5 million has been hinted at. The concept seats 4 and emphasizes luxury, not sportiness. Will it be built? Whether it is this car or something else, Bugatti wants to have a sedan in production by 2013. But how big is the market for a car that might cost over $1.5 million? |
Audi Sportback
Vehicle type: 5-door hatchback
Powertrain: 3.0-liter, direct-injection, turbodiesel V-6
Debut: Detroit auto show
What’s cool: The Sportback refines Audi’s design vision, a minimal working of sheet metal that leaves the body decisive in shape and graceful in tone.
Will it be built? Yes. It’s the inspiration for what will be the Audi A7. The car is expected to arrive in 2011.
Posted in Lamborghini might jump into four-door fray
Is Lamborghini preparing a four-door-fighter to take on the Porsche Panamera and the Aston Martin Rapide — perhaps along the lines of the Estoque? Maybe.
Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann again raised that possibility recently.
“A third model would fit Lamborghini very well,” Winkelmann, 45, told Bloomberg. “A four-door car would be a very feasible approach.”
Lamborghini most recently considered the concept of a four-door with the Estoque sedan, a prototype revealed at the 2008 Paris motor show. But since then, the Italian company has been mum about the car’s fate, except for a statement last year indicating that no decision had been made either way for production. AutoWeek named it the Best in Show in Paris.
The Estoque is a four-door supercar with a 500-hp V10 borrowed from the Gallardo running with all-wheel drive and a lightweight chassis.
Lamborghini, the iconic 47-year-old dream maker, has never produced a sedan. It did make a four-seat coupe, called the Espada, though that was discontinued in 1978. The Estoque would be a dramatic departure for the brand lionized by icons such as the Miura, the Countach and the Reventón.
But modern realities have been harsher for Lamborghini, and it hasn’t completely rebounded from the global economic meltdown. Revenue fell 2.6 percent through the first six months, and sales were down 18 percent. Last year, sales plummeted 41 percent, though figures in China more than tripled, which is Lambo’s second-biggest market after the United States. Sales in other Asian countries grew as well.
Winklemann has admitted that this is a transitional year for the storied company.
In addition to a potential sedan, Lamborghini is also investing heavily in carbon-fiber technology, and it showed the Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera at the Geneva motor show this year.
Lamborghini historically has fought Ferrari for sales around the world, but now McLaren has jumped into the fray as well. Diverging from its historical base of lightweight, high-powered supercars would be a landmark step for Lamborghini and position it to fight Porsche, Aston Martin and Maserati, which all offer top-shelf four-doors.
Traditionalists have twice panned Porsche–which, like Lamborghini, is also owner by German giant Volkswagen–for producing the Cayenne SUV and now the Panamera. Alternately, those vehicles have bolstered the company’s finances, enabling it to continue making sports cars.
BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den DLC First Look
We try out 2K Marin’s upcoming downloadable add-on for BioShock 2 that gives fans a final single-player adventure in Rapture.
2K Marin is putting the finishing touches on the last piece of downloadable content for BioShock 2–a single-player-focused piece set in Minerva’s Den, an as-yet-unseen part of Rapture that takes place in parallel to the game’s main story. We recently got some hands-on time with the early portion of the DLC, as well as a demo of some other aspects that showcased the mix of old and new packed into the studio’s farewell to Rapture.
There will be a good mix of old and new in Minerva’s Den.Minerva’s Den is a technological wonderland that has been cut off from the rest of Rapture. Once upon a time, the den served as a house for Rapture’s computers. You’ll play as a Big Daddy named Subject Sigma, another Alpha-series behemoth that gets his free will back via circumstances that will be made clear over the course of the adventure. The story kicks off in familiar fashion, with Sigma gaining consciousness and being contacted by Charles Milton Porter, a computer savant who created the intricate systems that keep all of Rapture running. While fans of the series will be familiar with most of Porter’s creations, one will be quite new: a supercomputer called the Thinker that serves as Rapture’s brain.
Thanks to some ADAM-enhanced improvements, the machine processes data at the speed of thought. But, much like all the cool stuff within Rapture, things have gone a little askew. Details on just what had gone wrong weren’t clear when we played, but like any good supercomputer, the Thinker has gone a little bonkers: new security bots roam the halls of Minerva’s Den, Big Daddies are lumbering around with new weapons, and Porter is asking for help. The specifics of what has happened and the trouble Porter needs a hand with are mysteries that you’ll have to uncover.
The story of Minerva’s Den will span three areas in the new district and introduce you to new characters, enemies, and a new aspect of Rapture’s history. From what we’ve seen, it appears that part of the mystery is tied to a disagreement Porter had with his business partner, Reed Wahl, over how the technology was being used. The narrative will play out via the now standard mix of cutscenes, radio messages, and voice recorders. It also appears that besides the new faces, you’ll be hearing and seeing some familiar ones as well. During our hands-on session with the game, we found a recorder that commemorated Porter being brought on by Andrew Ryan, and 2K Marin reps told us that Minerva’s Den will offer some insight into what Dr. Tenenbaum got up to after she took off near the start of BioShock 2’s main narrative.
In terms of gameplay, Minerva’s Den strays a little from what we’ve seen in BioShock 2 thanks to a new weapon and plasmid. The former is an ion laser–a good, old-fashioned death ray that rips into enemies and does a stream of damage as long as it connects. As with other weapons in the game, you’ll find alternate ammo, including thermal firepower that sets your target on fire. The new gravity-well plasmid plays with physics via a vortex that pulls things toward its center while doling out high levels of damage. Collecting new plasmids, weapons, tools, and even ADAM are key parts of the journey. From what we played, it definitely looks like the DLC will be offering a condensed leveling experience that will have you powering up Subject Sigma, and you’ll even get to save or harvest six Little Sisters.
You’ll need all the powering up you can get to deal with the new threats in Minerva’s Den, which include a new Big Daddy known as a Lancer, new security robots, and splicers. In addition, although we didn’t see anything blatantly menacing, we have to assume that if the Thinker turns out to be a threat, it’s not going to be too warm and fuzzy either.
The Thinker goes all HAL in this DLC.Based on what we played, Minerva’s Den looks to be a meaty piece of DLC that will round out the last tour of Rapture nicely. The gameplay is solid, and the story is interesting. The additions to your plasmid and weapon arsenal are cool, the new enemies will keep you on your toes, and the new achievements are always good to see. Fans of BioShock 2 will want to keep an eye out for Minerva’s Den when it’s released on August 31.
Fastest Ferrari road car to debut in Beijing
to the Editor
TURIN – Ferrari S.p.A. on Thursday released the first images of the 599 GTO, the company’s fastest road car. The 599 GTO, which is a limited-edition variant of the 599 GTB coupe, makes its public debut at the Beijing auto show that starts April 23.
A select group of Ferrari customers will get a look at the car in Modena, Italy, on April 14.
The 599 GTO is derived from the 599XX, a limited-edition racecar variant of the 599 GTB coupe.
The 599 GTO’s 6.0-liter V-12 engine delivers 670 hp – 50hp more than the standard powerplant in the 599 GTB – and pushes the car to a top speed of 335kph (about 208 mph).
The 599 GTO accelerates from 0 to 100kph in 3.35 seconds. The 599 GTB reaches 100kph in 3.7 seconds.
Because of it is lighter and more aerodynamic than the 599 GTB, the 599 GTO’s CO2 output is even less than its sister model (411 grams per kilometer compared with 415g/km for the 599 GTB).
Ferrari will build 599 units of the 599 GTO.
The car’s starting price has not been announced yet, but in Italy the 599 GTB’s base price is 251,000 euros (about $334,380).
Hydrophobia Hands-On
We dive into this futuristic survival-adventure game and use the environment in clever ways to stay alive.
A sinking ship would definitely rank up there as one of the worst places to be left in and have to fight for survival. Usually if you’re fighting aliens, zombies or ghosts, you have some sort of weapon or at least an open area to keep your back against. However in Hydrophobia, we started out with having to scramble to another level just to ensure we have enough air, and when we were faced with terrorists, all we were given was a tiny stun gun. Thankfully, you’re not limited to the stun gun for the rest of the game, but with limited weaponry, you are forced to use the environment to your advantage, which is the purpose of Hydrophobia.
Looks like there is no chance of getting into some dry clothes.Who’s Making It: The game is being developed by Dark Energy, located in Manchester and Microsoft is publishing the title.
What It Looks Like: Hydrophobia is set 30 years into the future aboard a giant vessel called Queen of the World. Like the Titanic of the future (after it hit the iceberg), you are walking around metal corridors and winding staircases, swimming up elevator shafts that are usually flooded with water. What’s interesting is that you can control how much water you want in your area by keeping certain doors closed or to make things more interesting, open up the floodgates.
What You Do: As the reluctant heroine Kate, you are a system’s engineer who is onboard when the terrorists attack. Your goal is to survive and take out the enemy but you’re not exactly a fighter. The game is designed to highlight more exploration than combat. The ship is massive, and you’ll encounter obstacles that you’ll need to find a way to get past, as your world is crumbling down around you. When you are eventually armed with a weapon, it’s like a third-person shooter with a cover system. We were told that there would be semi-automatic weapons later, but with the stun gun, it was difficult to keep enemies down unless we used the environment to properly dispose of them.
How It Plays: When in combat, you use the right bumper to draw your weapon and the right trigger to fire. A white dot on screen is used to aim, and a red target reticle will appear when there is something that can be shot at, whether it be another person or a box or explosive barrel. What’s convenient is that while you’re maneuvering through water that is almost waist high, there are plenty of barrels to aim your stun gun at to cause an explosion to finish off the terrorists, as well as create a mini tidal wave in a cramped corridor. There is never really a swarm of enemies coming at you from what we’ve seen, but carefully placed oil barrels can easily dispose of a group after they explode.
The cover system allows you to press A to hug one of the nearby walls. It’s not the kind of game that you’d want to run out with guns blazing, so you need to sit back and carefully think about how you want to proceed. To knock out an enemy we had to charge our gun first before firing, otherwise you’re only sending mini shockwaves with the stun gun, which didn’t seem to do much except annoy the enemy. Once you do get them on their back (we were hoping that they’d drown), they’d get right back up again after a few moments, so we had to either fire at some oil barrels or send sparks flying by shooting the electrical switches on the wall.
In our demo we were given mission objectives, such as tracking down a key in order to progress to the next area. It seemed simple enough, but we had to swim through flooded chambers to get to it. You are given a map to help you navigate the enormous ship, and as you’re exploring, you’re playing with the constant flow of water that is spilling in from just about everywhere. You can fire at windows to let more water in, or leave it the way it is and try to handle the situation with the current water level. There are situations where you’ll be swimming through completely flooded halls, so you’ll need to look for patches of light and head up for some air.
What They Say: Hydrophobia is the first game developed using Dark Energy’s revolutionary HydroEngine, the world’s only full computation fluid dynamics engine for games. This incredible technology allows water and other liquids to flow and behave completely realistically, resulting in the most dynamic and dramatic gameplay you’ve ever seen.
Take cover when you need to.What We Say: Mingled with our own fear of drowning, Hydrophobia was an intense experience (and yes, we know it’s called aquaphobia). Between looking for pockets of air to make sure we could make it to the next door, Kate also had to keep an eye out for terrorists, who are armed with much better weapons than we were. The constant flow of water and changing environment was impressive. It forces you to rethink your strategy because you may have fired at an oil barrel and caused it to explode, but now the burning oil is heading toward you. It’s good to see some variety when it comes to survival games so look for Hydrophobia when it is released on September 29.
Porsche may price 918 Spyder at $630,000, topping Carrera GT
BERLIN (Bloomberg) — Porsche AG may price the 918 Spyder, which accelerates to 100 kilometers an hour in 3.2 seconds, at 500,000 euros ($630,000), topping the Carrera GT as its costliest model, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plan.
At least 2,000 individuals have put in non-binding expressions of interest for the supercar, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential. The 918 Spyder is one of three hybrid models Porsche presented at the Geneva auto show in March.
Demand for luxury cars is returning as Wall Street firms add jobs for the first time in two years and offer guaranteed payouts to attract top bankers.
While Porsche hasn’t decided whether and when it will begin production of the model, at that price the 918 Spyder would top the 453,000-euro Carrera GT. Fewer than 1,500 units of that model were built between 2003 and 2006.
“The Spyder will become Porsche’s new supercar showpiece project,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch- Gladbach, Germany. “It unites Porsche’s high-performance engineering with intelligent drive technology.”
Porsche, which is merging with Volkswagen AG, needs at least 1,000 sales pledges to approve limited production of the car, development chief Wolfgang Duerheimer said in an April 24 interview. If only half of those who signed up eventually bought the car, Porsche stands to reap 500 million euros in revenue.
500-horsepower
A Porsche spokesman declined to comment on the potential price tag and said a decision on production of the model will be made later this year.
The two-seater car accelerates to a top speed of 320 kilometers (199 miles) per hour, relying on a 500-horsepower V8 engine and electric drive-systems allowing the vehicle to run up to 25 kilometers on electric power.
The 918 Spyder emits no more than 70 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer on fuel consumption of three liters per 100 kilometers, according to Porsche’s Web site.
Frank Biller, an analyst at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart, where Porsche is based, said the 918 Spyder may enhance the carmaker’s environmental credentials and potentially help attract customers to the brand which he says builds “Europe’s worst gas guzzlers.”
Lamborghini SpA, another luxury brand owned by Volkswagen, introduced its Reventon Roadster supercar at the Frankfurt motor show last September. At 1.1 million euros, the Reventon is the priciest model Lamborghini has ever made.
Ferrari 599 GTO
Fiat SpA’s Ferrari unit charges 320,000 euros for the 599 GTO, which the Italian carmaker calls its “fastest road-going model in our history.”
Boosting demand for super-luxury cars, average Wall Street bonuses jumped 17 percent to $123,000 last year, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Feb. 23.
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. are among banks that are hiring to replenish their ranks, while Nomura Holdings Inc. and Jefferies Group Inc. have been recruiting talent from larger firms in a bid to increase their standing on Wall Street.
In the first six months, BMW AG’s Rolls-Royce almost doubled deliveries. Daimler AG’s Mercedes- Benz unit increased sales by 22 percent in the U.S. alone.
Porsche is promoting the 918 Spyder at a time when VW is seeking to revive the sports-car manufacturer’s vehicle lineup.
Volkswagen last week named its head of strategy, Matthias Mueller, as chief executive officer of Porsche from Oct. 1, replacing Michael Macht, who will head production at the parent company.
Boxster, Cayenne
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said last week Porsche will probably add a new line of smaller Boxster roadsters to its four-model lineup as the manufacturer aims to double sales in the medium term to 150,000 cars and sport-utility vehicles.
A further addition may be a compact SUV, smaller than Porsche’s best-selling Cayenne model, with production based on the Q5 model of VW’s Audi division, the people said.
Porsche’s deliveries in North America, which includes Canada and Mexico, fell 18 percent to 15,592 units in the nine months through April. Sales in the U.S., Porsche’s biggest single market, slumped 40 percent last fiscal year to 19,024 cars and SUVs.
Uwe Hueck, Porsche’s works council chief, said July 6 that building the 918 Spyder at the main Zuffenhausen plant would help create jobs at the factory where about 5,500 workers are employed. Hueck is aiming to conclude talks with management over investment and employment terms at Zuffenhausen by July 22.
Sports Games = Metacritic Consistency
The common complaint against sports games is that they don’t change much from year to year. And while that’s only partially true (and not fully a fair critique to my mind), that level of annual consistency bears itself out in the reviews numbers. As recently reported in a recent article …
The common complaint against sports games is that they don’t change much from year to year. And while that’s only partially true (and not fully a fair critique to my mind), that level of annual consistency bears itself out in the reviews numbers. As recently reported in a recent article from gamesindustry.biz, six of the top twenty “most consistent” game development studios (from a Metacritic review score perspective) are involved, either primarily or partially, in sports games, with 2K Sports’ dev house Visual Concepts coming in at the top of the list.
Here’s the full list, with the highlighted sports dev studios highlighted:
1. Visual Concepts (2K Sports series)
2. EA Tiburon (Madden NFL, NCAA Football, Tiger, NASCAR)
3. Nintendo
4. EA Sports (FIFA)
5. Neversoft Entertainment
6. Konami Tokyo (Winning Eleven series)
7. Harmonix
8. Sports Interactive (Worldwide Soccer Manager, Football Manager Live)
9. Intelligent Systems
10. Valve
11. Rockstar North
12. BioWare
13. EA Canada (Fight Night, NHL, NBA Live)
14. Criterion
15. Bethesda Softworks
16. Raven Software
17. Firaxis
18. Insomniac Games
19. Infinity Ward
20. Epic Games
Visual Concepts, known for its classic NFL 2K series also presides over the consistently great NBA 2K series and, this year, took over development duties of the MLB 2K series. This year’s baseball game was pretty poorly received–which makes me wonder what this chart will look like in a year if MLB 2K10 doesn’t deliver. Nonetheless, while there’s something to be said for the kind of quality that sports games deliver year in and year out, this kind of chart is likely reasoning enough for publishers and developers to not want to upset the apple cart when it comes to innovation.
Gran Turismo 5, Killzone 3 on Sony’s TGS slate
3D-enabled hyperrealistic racer, sci-fi shooter join God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Little Big Planet 2, and a PlayStation Move smorgasbord at Japan’s biggest gaming expo.
With the 2010 Tokyo Game Show just two weeks away, the major game publishers are starting to tout which titles they will be showing off at the massive expo. More than 180,000 people are expected to turn up at the Makahuri Messe just outside Japan’s largest city, and one company–Sony–is intent on displaying its latest and (it hopes) greatest game releases to the throngs of attendees.
TGS attendees will be able to get behind Gran Turismo 5’s steering wheel.Front and center will be the PlayStation Move, Sony’s camera and LED-controller-based motion control system. There will be nearly 20 playable Move-compatible games on the show floor, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition, and Little Big Planet 2.
Two Move titles, Killzone 3 and Power Smash 4, will also be playable with 3D graphics. As shown at Sony’s press briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Sony is aggressively pushing its 3D titles, including the Sly Cooper Collection, MotorStorm 3, and the long, long, long-awaited Gran Turismo 5–due out worldwide November 2.
Last but not least, Sony will be displaying its latest wares for the PSP, which has seen its sales fall to quintuple digits in the US. Leading the charge will be Sony’s God of War: Ghost of Sparta, along with Konami’s Winning Eleven Soccer 2011 and Sega’s PSP Yakuza game, tentatively titled Yakuza Panther Shin Akira.
A full list of games appearing on Sony’s platforms at the Tokyo Game Show is below, and GameSpot will be on hand at the event, which runs from September 16 to 19.
PLAYSTATION MOVE TITLES
Capcom
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
Electronic Arts
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
Namco Bandai Games
Big 3 Gun Shooting
Sega
Power Smash 4
Sony Computer Entertainment
Little Big Planet 2
Killzone 3
Heavy Rain
Hasurakingu
Beat Sketch!
City rupture
EyePets
Champion Sports
Flee! Flee! Bowling
Echochrome 2
Move in Party
I’ll Work! Ape Escape
Superstar TV
Studio Shooting
BLOQ Tsumiki
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs 4
Heroes on the Move (tentative)
3D TITLES
Sony Computer Entertainment
Gran Turismo 5
MotorStorm 3 (tentative)
Killzone 3
Sly Cooper Collection
Hasurakingu
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PS MOVE TITLES IN 3D
Sega
Power Smash 4
Sony Computer Entertainment
Killzone 3
EyePets
BLOQ Tsumiki
Hasurakingu
PSP TITLES
Capcom
3rd Monster
Konami Digital Entertainment
Winning Eleven 2011
Level 5
Cardboard Troopers
Namco Bandai
God Eater Burst
Three Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology
Square Enix
Lord of Arkana
The 3rd Birthday
Wheel of Fortune Tactics
Yakuza Panther Shin Akira
Phantasy Star 2 Infinity
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Patapon 3 (tentative)
Starcraft II sells 3 million
Blizzard releases first-month sales total for Wings of Liberty; real-time strategy sequel on track to meet analyst expectations.
When Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty was released, analysts were bullish with their estimates, with projections of as many as 7 million copies this year. Blizzard is making headway towards these figures, as the publisher today announced one-month sales of 3 million copies.
Starcraft II sold 1 million copies on July 27 when it hit stores across the world and a further 500,000 copies on day two, making it the fastest-selling real-time strategy game of all time, according to Blizzard. While these numbers don’t come close to matching those generated by World of Warcraft–Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies in its first day–Blizzard’s CEO Mike Morhaime today declared himself pleased by “how strongly the global community has already embraced [Starcraft II].”
The Corporal will see you now…all 3 million of you.Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets, who made the 7 million sales estimate, said today that the one-month figures show that “sales were not as front-loaded as some had expected” and that Starcraft II’s numbers “are tracking slightly ahead of our 4 million estimate for [the July-September quarter].” These estimates include some monetization of sales in South Korea, one of the major markets for the game, which Sebastian said had not yet had an impact on sales figures because of an extended free trial period for gamers in the Asian nation.
After officially announcing the title in South Korea at the2007 Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, Blizzard confirmed in 2008 that the game would come in three parts. Wings of Liberty, the first in the trifecta, was initially due out in 2009 but was delayed just before the holiday season. While Wings of Liberty focussed on the Terran race, the other two parts–Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void–focus on the Zerg and Protoss, respectively. Neither of the other two parts–which are technically expansions–have a release date yet.