News Pop! 01/02/07

Happy new year! Welcome to the first edition of News Pop! For 2007. We're really excited to kick off the new year, and we have some interesting predictions to start off with. Also, we'll be giving you a little heads up for what games are coming out this month. So here we go!

Analyst firm says PS3 will win

Contrary to all the news we've been hearing, whether it was dwindling hype, people returning their units after being unable to sell them or the fact that sales and non-returns of competing systems have been kicking its butt, it seems the Playstation 3 is going to win the battle of the next gen consoles after all. That is, according to one research firm. Datamonitor, a research firm based in the UK, recently published a report saying that it expects the Playstation 3 to win the next gen console war in the long term and have an install base of approximately 75 million units worldwide by 2010. The report does state, however, that the Playstation 3 will not outsell its predecessor, which totaled more then 101 million units sold earlier this year.

We find it strange, though, that this kind of prediction was made in the first place. Taking into consideration, things like the cost of production, the fact that a large number of units available to date have not sold, the large number of returns, etc., it makes no sense. While it's true that the titles that will become available to it will be better as time goes on and that, eventually, the price will drop, there will still have to be a large enough number of consumers that want to purchase the system in order to reach a number like 75 million, by 2010. Consider again, the price of the first of the three next generation systems (Xbox 360) has still not dropped in price, excluding boxing day sales, which means that Sony probably won't drop the price for at least one year either, and that ends up with only two years left to make up the rest of that number. We just don't see how it's possible. But who knows, it could happen, right?

Game release preview!

Here's a look at a few of the games we'll start seeing on the store shelves this month.

For Wii, we've got WarioWare Smooth Moves. The leader, at least in our eyes, of micro-mini games is back at it again, but this time on Wii. Players will use the Wii remote, and sometimes the nunchuck too, in various ways to perform tasks in the game. Hula-hooping, squatting, balancing, swinging, dancing and more, just some of the activities that players will come up against in the game. We can't wait for this one.

For Playstation 3, we've got flOw, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Sonic the Hedgehog. flOw isn't exactly meant for your core gamers, though that doesn't mean in won't appeal to them. Players start off as a small organism and grow, becoming more complex, as they ingest other life forms. flOw will be available via the Playstation Store. Sonic the Hedgehog and Oblivion are both available for other systems, but that doesn't mean people won't be buying them. The Elder Scrolls is an extremely popular series on PC and the Playstation 3 version will surely do the game justice, at least graphically speaking. There will be one other advantage to the Playstation 3 version, though. An extra chapter, The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine will come with the game, an nice little bit of extra incentive. As far as Sonic goes, we're not too sure how good of a run it will have on the Playstation 3. We've started to hear talk going around of severe loading problems in the Xbox 360 version, and if that transfers over to the PS3 we're going to see a lot of angry Sonic fans.

For DS, we're really looking forward to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All and Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All may already be out in Japan, but North Americans will have to wait until later this month to get their hands on it. The acclaimed courtroom drama/investigation game returns with more cases and new features. Fans of the original will dive into this one, no doubt. Hotel Dusk: Room 215, another investigation game. Wow, we're 2 for 2. This graphic novel/noir inspired game puts players in the role of Kyle Hyde, a former detective turned salesman. Kyle is searching for his missing friend, and his search takes him to Hotel Dusk. Players will search for clues, every step of the way coming closer to finding... well, we're not sure, but we want to find out.

For Xbox 360, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and, if it gets finalized for this month, Remedy's Alan Wake. Lost Planet is a sci-fi thriller/shooter that drops players into the middle of a frozen tundra on a hostile planet. In a struggle to survive, they must battle their way through the planet's creature and fight the elements. This one's sure to thrill. Remedy is pushing the limit with Alan Wake. The team used the game to demonstrate the power of Intel's Quad-Core processors not too long ago and we were impressed by the looks alone. The game puts players into the shoes of Alan Wake, a horror writer who writes a novel about his worst nightmares. The only thing is, his nightmares become real. It may sound like the plot of a crummy horror movie, but one look at the trailer will have you thinking twice. The game will also be available on PC eventually, but a tentative release date has not been set.

Finally, for PC, we have the expansion pack for, most likely, the most addictive massively multiplayer online game ever, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Players have been waiting quite some time for this one to come, and worse yet, it was delayed, but finally they can breathe a sigh of relief. Burning Crusade will be releasing right in the middle of the month, with all of the added content that Blizzard was adding (the company's reason for the delay). If more information is what you seek, check out the website at www.worldofwarcraft.com .

That's all for today's News Pop!. It was quite a big one for us, so we hope you enjoyed it.