A four day weekend which includes some Formula 1 racing, a fair bit of gaming and Cadbury Mini Eggs — the most Easter-ly thing I do.
I missed out on the Australian Grand Prix which I heard was a blast. I caught the Malaysian Grand Prix a third of the way through and at the time of writing, it’s been a pretty good race. I was also scratching my motorsport itch by playing a bit of Forza Motorsport 3 this weekend as well. After a three month hiatus from the game, getting back into the thick of things was a cinch. I simply love how the cars handle in this game; it makes life so easy yet challenging.
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Hardware
- Wii – 506, 900
- Nintendo DS – 457, 600
- PlayStation 3 – 320, 600
- Xbox 360 – 249, 700
- PSP – 174, 600
- PlayStation 2 – 117, 800
Software
- PS3 – UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES – 537,000
- WII FIT PLUS* – 441,000
- 360 – BORDERLANDS – 418,000
- WII SPORTS RESORT*- 314,000
- 360 – NBA 2K10* – 311,000
- 360 – HALO 3: ODST – 271,000
- PS3 – NBA 2K10* – 213,000
- 360 – FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 – 175,000
- NDS – KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS – 169,000
- 360 – FIFA SOCCER 10 – 156,000
October’s NPD sales data is in and it looks like $299.99 was that sweet spot Sony so desperately needed. The PS3 Slim slid passed its HD rival by a fair margin for this month. However, Nintendo’s price cut appeared to be even more effective with a jump to the top spot. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, Sony’s PSP Go is a colossal failure. $249.99 MSRP will do that.
On the software side of things, it’s so good to see Naughty Dog’s hard work pay off. Uncharted 2 deserves every sale it gets and then some. I was expecting approximately 600, 000 units sold, but I’m sure that’s fine considering the game surpassed 1 million units worldwide.
The real shocker of the month is Turn 10′s Forza Motorsport 3 which amounted a mere 175, 000 units of sales. It came out with only four days of sales time left in the month, but I’d be surprised to see it break the top 5 with the likes of Assassin’s Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Left4Dead 2 on the way. Has the fervor for driving simulators passed? Was it a case of bad timing? Did Borderlands somehow snatch up the 360 audience’s attention earlier in the month? Who knows?
What I do know is the fact that music games are dead. Not one made it into the top 10.
Simulation racers were not my cup of tea for quite some time. I’ve tried playing Gran Turismo 4 and Forza Motorsport 2, but dismissed them shortly afterwards. I’ve also tried the Project Gotham Racing series which skewed more towards the arcade style racer. I’m more of a Need For Speed fan, I guess. Need for Speed: Most Wanted was the last racer I finished which featured licensed cars. And why is that? Why can I race in Phantom speed class in a Wipeout HD, but can’t find the heart to tackle the Nurburgring in a McLaren SLR in Gran Turismo? The answer is simple; I hate wasting time.
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Consider this an addendum to yesterday’s post. I’d normally post a little personal gaming tidbits at the end of these sorts of posts, but I didn’t want to muddle the KDS-50A2000 Yellow Stain edition with stuff like this. So what have I been playing lately?
Well it’s been primarily Forza Motorsport 3 with some Uncharted 2 multiplayer on the side. Forza 3 is a pleasure to play and I’ll be elaborating why later this week with a little write up.
Uncharted 2 continues to get play time because of its co-op. My brother and I have been working our way through the co-op scenarios on the “Hard” difficulty and let me tell you, they’re tough. There are only three traditional co-op campaigns and we’ve only managed to finish one. The other co-op mode, Survival, is simply “Horde” mode, but it works out well with two people. “Gold Rush” requires falters and fumbles with only two players on the map and thus we leave it by the wayside.
I continue to play the competitive multiplayer primarily for the Objective playlist. Pick up games are hit or miss, but I’m always learning and entertained through this playlist.
With these two titles occupying my time, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time lies waiting. I’m hearing a lot of good things about it, but I can’t seem to find the time to play it. I’d also like to play it on a proper HDTV. I was considering even trying out the game on my brother’s screen. We’ll see.
I doubt I’ll be receiving my copy of Modern Warfare 2 on launch day so, I may be able to squeeze in a playthrough.
Today’s quite the busy day with the release of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Forza Motorsport 3. I ordered both, but only one compelled NeoGAF’s musical talent to assemble an electronic album.
NeoGAF’s sixth G.A.M.E. dubbed “Forza Motorsport Edition” features over an hour and a half’s worth of cruising music. Much like with G.A.M.E. 3.0, this album fits the intended game like a glove. As I was listening through the album I couldn’t help, but picture some of these tracks in one of Turn10′s montages. Quite excellent.
Even if you’re not picking up Forza Motorsport 3, I urge you to give this album a listen. Download link and track list are below for your convenience.
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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is coming out this Tuesday. And if you were oblivious to this game and wanted to find out some info, where would you go? The official site? Some ad laden website like IGN or GameSpot? May I suggest NeoGAF?
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First week of October is here so let’s take a look at this month’s noteworthy gaming line-up.
Week of Oct. 6
- Demon’s Souls (PS3)
- A seemingly tough JRPG with a western aesthetic. I’m intrigued by it and would love to play it, but it’s an incredibly crowded month.
- NBA Live 10 (360, PS3, PSP)
- Surprisingly, my brother isn’t picking up an NBA game this season.
- Wii Fit Plus
- It’s a nice replacement for new comers, but is it worth picking up for current owners? My mom says no.
- Afrika (PS3)
- An African safari simulator. I’d love to try this out.
- MotorStorm: Arctic Edge (PSP, PS2)
- It’s MotorStorm for the PSP and PS2. Intrigued, but that’s about it.
- Critter Crunch (PSN)
- It came out on iPhone already and if it wasn’t for the attractive price tag of $6.99, I wouldn’t have given this a second look. But here we are.
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