Crispy Gamer News

Like those pesky dentists from the chewing gum ads, it looks like three out of four holiday shoppers preferred the Xbox 360 to the PS3 on Black Friday. The 360 had record-breaking console sales on one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year over the Black Friday weekend. According to Microsoft, the 360 outsold its PlayStation 3 competitor by a 3:1 ratio, with an estimated 25 percent increase from Xbox 360 Black Friday sales figures over last year. 360 sales were also bolstered by strong software sales, with the console maintaining its record as the console with the highest game attach rate of any console, clocking in 8.1 games per console.

“We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Record Black Friday sales in the U.S., coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009.”

Xbox 360 sales have also surged worldwide since the September price drop, outselling the PlayStation 3 week over week across Europe. Console sales in Europe are up as much as 400 percent, with sales nearly double year over year and reaching 7 million consoles sold this generation. With a starting price point of $199.99 worldwide (estimated retail price) for the Xbox 360 Arcade, a strong game lineup, the launch of the New Xbox Experience, and the addition of Netflix integration to the console, it’s looking more and more like the 360 may be the console to beat this holiday season. Well, at least until Nintendo amps up its shipments of Wii consoles to retail.

I am not sure if Amazon.com is trying to cut the throats of traditional retail or not this holiday shopping season, but the online retailer is certainly offering some great deals on video games. On Monday, December 1 until 11:59pm Pacific Time, consumers will be able to take part in a number of great Cyber Monday deals, which I have listed in their entirety after the jump. Supplies are limited, so get them while you can.

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Okay … try to act surprised at this bit of news: Fallout 3 is a hit. How big of a hit? According to Bethesda, approximately 4.7 million units of the were shipped worldwide last week for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, representing retail sales in excess of $300 million.

Fallout 3 was released in North America just last at midnight store openings in over 2,000 retail outlets nationwide . And in the UK, where it wasn’t released until last Friday, sales of Fallout 3 led the game being ranked number one among all video games, as well as being the number one game on each of its three platforms.

So, does the game live up to the hype? Apparently our own Tom Chick thinks so. Check out his review of the game here.

EA Maxis is happy that Spore has regained the top spot in the US PC charts for week ended September 27, according to data provided by NPD Group.

EA’s MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning dropped a one spot to number 2, followed by Take-Two’s Civilization IV: Colonization at three and Crysis Warhead in the fourth spot. Of course, the usual suspects - The Sims 2 and World Of Warcraft - round out this week’s chart. Full top ten list after the jump:

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According to Bungie Audio Director, Marty O’Donnell, the pre-owned games market had “big” effect on sales of Halo. Speaking to to GameInustry.biz, O’Donnell said that smaller studios face a difficult future if they can’t get a return on their investment due to the sale of a pre-owned copy of a game. But in the very same breath he admits that he doesn’t actually know what that impact is - he just assumes it’s “big.”

O’Donnell is certainly not alone in his assertion that pre-owned games sales hurt overall sales of games: In an interview with GI.biz, David Braben, chairman of Frontier Developments, said that it is his “belief” that the pre-owned games market is “damaging” to single-player titles. In that interview he suggested an alternative rental system, involving the supply of rental discs to retailers at no cost in exchange for a percentage of a store’s rental profits.

 Jens Uwe Intat, EA’s European Publishing General Manager, in yet another interview with GI.biz, said that the company is trying to find ways to discourage pre-owned game sales by engaging the consumer beyond the initial purchase of a game.

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A new study by the NPD Group entitled “Girl Power: Understanding This Important Consumer Segment,” reveals that girls 2 - 14 years of age are spending more times playing games. This data is a no-brainer given the push by companies like Ubisoft to tap into the girl gamer market. This in and of itself is sad, because Ubisoft and other companies now catering to this demographic should really focus on creating games for age groups rather than pandering to gender.  Kids need more games like Drawn To Life and fewer games based on franchises like Bratz and Barbie. Of course, that’s just my opinion and I could be wrong.

According to NPD industry analyst, Anita Frazier, 50 percent of girls ages 2 - 14 years old still play with traditional gender-focused toys like dolls, arts and crafts and stuffed animals. The study also finds that the increase in the use of virtual worlds and social networking sites are not being properly monetized by publishers.

According to a new report from Park Associates, online digital content and services for internet-connected game consoles will generate around $8.7 billion in global revenue for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo by 2013. The data comes from a new report entitled “The Connected Consoles: Games, Media, and Beyond.” This stream of revenue comes from digital video distribution, downloadable games and content, virtual worlds and avatar-based micro-transactions, multiplayer gaming services, and dynamic in-game advertising.

Among the console manufacturers, Microsoft dominates the online content and service market, but Sony and Nintendo are gaining ground as they ramp up their base of connected customers and diversify monetization methods, Parks said. Among those watching video on Xbox Live, movie trailers (65 percent), music videos (59 percent) and cartoons (38 percent) are the top 3 content types. Hollywood movies are fourth, with 35 percent saying they have watched them on Xbox Live. The most telling determinate of game console ownership among households is whether children live there: Seven in ten (70 percent) of households with children own game consoles. Nearly half of single households also own game consoles.

Source: Seeking alpha