EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: supermariogalaxy2
Mass Effect and Heavy Rain were two titles that came out tops at the British Academy Video Games Awards (BAFTA) recently held in London.
Heavy Rain walked away with three BAFTAs, for Original Music, Technical Innovation and Story. Mass Effect was crowned Best Game, applauded for being a “combined achievement of technology, art, design [and] audio… a beautiful complete gaming experience.”
[Update] You can find an extended list of best-selling software, which includes the top twenty selling titles for the month of August, over here. [End of Update]
The NPD Group has released the latest round of sales figures for the videogame industry in the US for the month of August 2010, and unfortunately the research and sales tracking firm doesn’t have especially good news for us number nuts, announcing that industry revenue in the region dropped by ten percent compared to August 2009.
Overall sales in the industry stood at $818.9 million for August, down $91.4 million from the same period last year. Year-to-date, industry revenue accumulated during 2010 is roughly $720 million behind 2009 during the same timeframe - from January to August 2010, the industry has generated $8.37 billion.
NPD analyst Anita Frazier noted:
Toy Story claimed a 3rd week at no 1 on Chart Track’s UK Software Sales chart this week, despite its sales dropping by 17% from last week. Three weeks at no 1 is a new record of success for a Disney published title. Meanwhile, Modern Warfare 2 is just one week away from overtaking Nintendo’s Brain Training and becoming the highest selling game ever in the UK, landing at 8 this week (down from 2 last week).
According to sales tracking firm NPD, the US videogame industry experienced another year-over-year decline, this time to the tune of 6%, falling to total revenues of $1.1 billion for June 2010 as compared to June 2009.
This decline was mainly due to soft performance in the software market with relatively little new releases compared to May, while the hardware market did its best to keep sales ticking over as revenues in this segment rose year-over-year thanks to impressive increases in unit sales for all consoles over last month.
In particular, the Xbox 360 outsold the Wii in the US in June, in part due to the release of the new, slimmer Microsoft console, while Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2 continued to dominate software sales in the region.
Last week LEGO Harry Potter knocked Red Dead Redemption out of the top spot on Chart Track’s UK Software Sales Chart, ending its five week streak as the top-selling game. This week Potter, Harry Potter, holds on to the number 1 spot for a second week despite a 14% drop in sales for Warner Bros’ LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4 in this last week of quarter 2.
And the next two top places also remain unchanged this week, with Red Dead Redemption at number 2 (sales down 18%) and Super Mario Galaxy 2 at number 3 (sales down 29%). EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 debuts at number 4, claiming the highest new entry for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 title. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa slips one place to number 5.
Despite the releases of a tremendous amount of highly anticipated software for the month of May in the form of Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Alan Wake and UFC Undisputed 2010, revenues in the US videogame industry were down 5% as compared to the same period last year, falling to $823.5 million.
This is largely due to a decline in hardware sales, with revenues dropping to $241.5 million, which represents a 20% year-over-year decline. While accessory sales were up 3 percent, to $115.7 million, the collection of games mentioned above could only help software sales climb a measly 4 percent from May last year, up to $466.3 million.
The king is dead. Long live… Harry Potter? Dang.
Yes, the rumours are true. After five straight weeks atop Chart Track’s UK Software Sales Chart, Red Dead Redemption has abdicated its kingly presence and made way for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4, as this newcomer to the charts claims the throne and now sits at No. 1.
With this scandalous turn of events, Red Dead Redemption (sales down 32%) has to be content with No. 2 this week, which causes Super Mario Galaxy 2 (sales down 42%) to slip down to No. 3 from No. 2, and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (sales down 36%) to step down to No. 4 from No. 3.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 climbs back to the top of the Japanese Software Chart, claiming first place with 53 000 copies. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for the DS debuts at number 2 with 24 000 copies while Art Academy for the DS is new at number 3 with 21 000 copies.
For the fifth week in a row, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption has landed at No. 1 on Chart Track’s UK Software Sales Chart, outselling other hit titles in the region including Super Mario Galaxy 2 and EA’s 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
This despite a 24% drop in overall sales for the Wild West open world shooter, helped along as sales of Super Mario Galaxy 2 (sitting at No. 2) fell by 29%, increasing the sales margin between the two titles by 4000 units compared to the week previous.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is quite an unusual game for Nintendo. While they have made a lot of Super Mario games over the years, this is the first that could be considered a sequel – the same console, the same hardware and control mechanism, the same graphics engine and the same central idea, just new levels. A cynical gamer might, without playing it, write it off as a glorified expansion pack. They’d be wrong on so many levels. Despite its seeming similarity to Super Mario Galaxy, once you start playing the game you realize that there are more new ideas in a single level than most games have in total. In that way nothing has changed from the first game. Despite having played the previous game to completion and replayed it with Luigi, nothing feels rehashed. If anything, this one is more magical than before.
Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Nintendo has knocked itself off the top spot on the Japanese software chart as Xenoblade for the Wii debuts at number 1 with 83 000 copies. After two weeks spent at the top Super Mario Galaxy 2 drops to number 2 with a measly 73 000 copies. However, before you’re too hard on the poor plumber do bear in mind that life-to-date sales for Mario’s latest intergalactic adventure stand at 518 000 copies for the week ending the 13th of June.
Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City for the PS3 debuts at number 3 with 64 000 copies while the Xbox 360 version is new at number 18.
As of last week, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption has managed to hold onto the No. 1 position on Chart Track’s UK Software Sales Chart for four weeks in a week (the first title to do so in 2010), despite a massive 34% drop in sales, simultaneously holding off an attack on the position by Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 during that game’s first week on sale.
The countdown has finally ended and Mario is flying on to South African shelves today in his latest intergalactic adventure, Super Mario Galaxy 2.
So what better time to draw the winner in our Super Mario Galaxy 2 competition? We know you’ve all been waiting!
Peek below as we reveal the lucky winner’s name!
Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues its reign as the best-selling game in Japan for a second week. The latest Media Create figures show that Mario’s latest intergalactic adventure sold 105 000 copies for the week ending the 6th of June. The title debuted at number 1 last week with 340 000 copies, bringing its life-to-date sales to just shy of half a million, 445 000 to be exact, in just two weeks.
Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 has debuted at number 1 on the Japanese Software Chart. Mario’s new intergalactic adventure is one of the most anticipated titles among Wii gamers for this year so it’s hardly surprising that the latest Media Create figures show that it sold a whopping 340 000 copies for the week ending the 30th of May. Bear in mind that the game launched across Japan on the 27th of May so these sales account for only three days. You may be interested to learn that Super Mario Galaxy 2 performed better in its opening week than the original which sold 250 585 copies in its opening week.
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