Game News: December 13, 2006

Wii Beats PlayStation For Search Popularity Before Holidays
(TechWeb)


   TechWeb - The trick is finding it in stock.

Sony keeps PlayStation 3 shipment target
(AP)


   

AP - Sony is sticking to its target of shipping 2 million PlayStation 3 consoles by the end of the calendar year, its president said Thursday, addressing concerns the company might not meet demand ahead of the critical Christmas and New Year's season.

Sony keeps PlayStation 3 sales target
(AP)


   AP - Sony is sticking to its target of shipping 6 million PlayStation 3 consoles by the end of the fiscal year that runs through March, President Ryoji Chubachi said Thursday, addressing concerns the company might not meet demand.

Sony keeps targets for PS3 shipments
(Reuters)


   Reuters - Sony Corp. said on Thursday it sees no
need to change its target to ship 2 million units of its
PlayStation 3 game console worldwide by the end of December and
6 million by the end of next March.

This Week in Xbox: December 6-12, 2006

   Games Editor Denny Atkin brings you all the latest in what's going on this week on Xbox.com.

EA picks up PS3's Untold Legends for Europe

   Sony Online Entertainment's action-RPG confirmed as PS3 launch game in Euro land.


Wizards and warriors - and orcs we guess - unite! Fantasy-fuelled Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is an action-RPG littered with combat and magic, with the promise that the game will wow our eyeballs with visually stunning displays courtesy of PS3's grunt. Cor!

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Street Fighter II dragon punches VC

   We knew it would happen and ESRB appears to have confirmed it.


It seems that the ESRB website has exposed more of the classic titles Nintendo has planned for the Virtual Console on Wii, with Street Fighter II: The World Warrior turning up on the listings for Wii.

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Fable 2 signs up Havok

   Popular physics engine to be integrated in Lionhead's much-anticipated RPG sequel.


Popular physics and animation engine Havok is to be used in the massive RPG sequel Fable 2, Microsoft and Lionhead have revealed this morning.

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CSI finds Hard Evidence in new case

   New game based on the TV show being developed by Sam & Max chaps Telltale Games.


Ubisoft's blown the lid off the latest Crime Scene Investigates game, CSI: Hard Evidence, and slapped it with a spring 2007 release for PC.



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Fatal Inertia: Race-y new next-gen info

   Locations in the forthcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 shooter-racer revealed.


Fatal inertia - sounds nasty or, indeed, fatal. Badumtish. Anyway, if you're unfamiliar with Koei's PS3 and Xbox 360 title, in a nutshell it's a futuristic racer that combines, erm, racing with combat and features a physics engine allowing players to do the likes of blow chunks out of the environment to obstruct the opposition. New info and screenshots released by Koei this morning fill us in on some of the game's locations (both versions are due March 2007).



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CnC3's third faction revealed
   And they're alien-bug things...


We all knew anyway, but EA has finally opened its mouth regarding Command & Conquer 3's third, swarming alien faction, in the pages of the US Games for Windows magazine.

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Blu-ray DVD drive no bonus for some PS3 buyers
(Reuters)

   

Reuters - Gamers love Sony Corp.'s new
PlayStation 3 for its graphic capabilities and firepower, but
the advanced Blu-ray DVD drive is annoying some by raising the
cost, slowing production and forcing them to buy into a format
they've not yet aligned with.

PS3 delayed in Europe until September 07?

   Source tells CVG that PS3 won't launch in Europe until September 2007 while Sony sticks to March release.


Sony's head of Worldwide Studios Phil Harrison recently told Official PlayStation Magazine that he wouldn't like to make any definitive statements about the March rollout for PS3.

Click here to read the full article

Wii sells out in Europe

   325,000 Wiis have sold in just two days, according to figures from Nintendo.


Wii may have sold out in Europe in its first weekend, but Nintendo is rushing to meet further demand with daily shipments arriving across the continent to replenish stock. So if you missed it at launch day, it's entirely possible you'll still find one sitting under your Christmas tree on December 25.

Click here to read the full article

Christian video game stokes controversy
(Reuters)


   

Reuters - A Christian video game has become the
latest battleground in America's "culture" wars, with its maker
claiming it promotes prayer while critics charge it carries a
message of violent religious intolerance.

New video game "The Shivah" is first to star Rabbi
(Reuters)


   

Reuters - While Christian games like the
newly released "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" gain mainstream
attention, Manifesto Games in New York City is billing "The
Shivah" as the first to star the leader of a Jewish
congregation.

Video games: Nightmares before Christmas (AP)
   AP - Why aren't there any Christmas-themed video games? Why not a Santa Claus stealth-action adventure? Or shopping mall wrestling? Or Three Wise Men kart racing?

Review: `Hedgehog' a `Sonic' bust (AP)
   AP - "Sonic the Hedgehog" gets a next-gen overhaul with new versions of the classic platformer for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

SGS Feature: 'Have A Very Serious Christmas!'
   

In a seasonal feature for sister site Serious Games Source, Powerful Robot's Gonzalo Frasca talks about bizarre Xmas-themed traditional games from around the world, including the Catalonian tradition of feeding hazelnuts to logs.