It looks like everyone's dishing out there own version of "Gamer's Day." Sega's own rendition, however, may be the one to stand out from the rest, since its multi-genre, multi-platform, and multi-franchise collection is studded with highly-anticipated hopefuls. So aside from Iron Man and upcoming game adaptation of The Incredible Hulk, Sega laid out teasers for fans of Aliens, Total War and the stealthy action title, Alpha Protocol.

Super Mario Galaxy may have sold 500,000 copies in its first week but research analyst Michael Comeau believes that this amount doesn't live up to expectations. Despite describing the game as the "biggest Wii release ever", Comeau says the game's number are disappointing, a "borderline failure" when compared to the likes of other big releases this year. He compares the game directly to the success of Halo 3. Read more in the full article.

 Team Ninja's leading man, the guy with a few smiles and a thousand words, behind the Tecmo-published Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series deserves his own QuickJump Quicklist, so here's something dedicated to Tomonobu Itagaki and all his greatness. We've collected some lines from Itagaki that are either very amusing, or so badass fanboys would rather follow him around and wipe his sunglasses clean for a living.

Find all that at the full article!

 

With the news of Take-Two's biggest gun in the games race, Grand Theft Auto 4 (360 and PS3) being shoved back into its holster until 2008, it's no surprise that analysts are predicting good tidings for those who were supposed to go up against the controversial company in the pre-holiday shootout.

The analyst being none other than Todd Greenwald of Nollenberger Capital Partners, and the rival companies being Electronic Arts and Activision. So why is the delay of Grand Theft Auto 4 a good thing for Electronic Arts and Activision?

Todd Greenwald believes that it frees up budgets that had been set aside for the fourth iteration of the legendary series, and thus giving room for other blockbuster titles currently out or will be out this season. Good ol' Todd puts it like so:

We believe the lack of GTA IV this holiday season is a clear positive for Take-Two's competitors, namely EA and Activision. We estimate that roughly US$ 400 to US$ 500 million in consumers wallets will be freed up to spend on other hardcore games.

While it's certainly a bit disappointing that Grand Theft Auto 4 has been pushed back well into next year, it certainly does give us gamers (especially those of us in a tight budget) a chance to splurge on other great-looking releases, with Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed to only name a few. Let's just hope that Take-Two won't be pushing the title's release date any farther.

EA greatness coming your way! Electronic Arts has released its line-up of games down at E3 in Barker Hangar and Le Merigot Hotel.

Here's a shortlist of the games it's showcasing in E3: Madden NFL 08, NBA LIVE 08, NASCAR 08 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08, Burnout Paradise, SimCity Societies, The Orange Box, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Crysis and Hellgate: London, The Simpsons on three platforms, Army of Two, Boogie, MySims, The Sims 2 Castaway, Medal of Honor Airborne, Need for Speed ProStreet, EA Playground, Skate, and Rock Band.

Says EA Games Label President: "In the next six months, EA will launch the most exciting line up of games in our 25 year history. We’re publishing brand new games ... delivering innovations in blockbuster franchises..." Some of these games will be available for demos for those who are lucky enough to attend E3.

For a quick lowdown of EA's wicked line-up, click on the full article.

Revered game designer Shinji Mikami who is best known for his work on the celebrated Resident Evil series was asked some pretty tough questions by Famitsu recently, and among those was which console he wanted to support given the choice.

Mikami held nothing back and said "from the stance of a game maker, if you're looking for visual expression and reality, it's Xbox 360. Otherwise, Wii."

Incidentally, more than 1,500 gamers, developers and celebrities were asked the very same question by the publication. The pulse of the people say it's the Nintendo Wii with the slimmest of margins at 38.9 percent. The Sony PlayStation 3 is at a very close second with a flat 38 percent while the Microsoft Xbox 360 is at third place with 23.1 percent.

Mikami is widely credited for bringing the survival horror genre to prominence with his work on the RE franchise, and was once again praised for reinventing the series with his stint as the director for the blockbuster Resident Evil 4. He is now working at Seeds studios after the dissolution of his old team Clover.

And the woes of Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive regarding Manhunt 2 (Wii and PSP) continue. It has been reported that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has already given the controversial video game an "Adults Only" rating.

This impacts the title in more ways than one. You see, it is the general rule of rental outlets not to carry movies and video games with a rating of Adult or NC-17, much less those which has been included in the AO list.

Gaming site Joystiq tried to contact GameFly for comments regarding the matter, and one of the chain's representatives explained that they will uphold the mentioned general policy. Furthermore, the gaming site also spoke with Blockbuster and found out that the rental chain will take a similar action.

Manhunt 2 is scheduled to be released on July 11 but the whole gaming industry is on its toes - curious and concerned about the developer's and the publisher's next actions.

Buy: [Manhunt 2 (PSP)]
Buy: [Manhunt 2 (Wii)]

With Activision's recently submitted financial performance report for fiscal year 2007, avid gamer and analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities remained optimistic about the future for Activision. For the fiscal year 2008, Pachter estimates a US$ 1.8 billion in revenue for the company, while eyeing a US$ 2 billion in revenue for 2009.

 

He also recommends a "Strong Buy" for the company's stock as a result, from a US$ 23 to US$ 24.50. But according to the analyst, "All things are not perfect in Activision's world." The so-so reviews of the game adaptation of blockbuster hit Spider-Man 3 were especially questioned by Pachter.

And then came the news that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was to be set in present-day Iraq, which Pachter points out as a bad move for the company. He said:

We understand that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is set in Iraq in the present, and we believe that if true, there is some potential for sales to suffer as a result of widespread dissatisfaction with the U.S. war effort in that country. Of course, prior to release, it may be possible to change the venue for the game (we prefer the fictional country of Kreplachistan), and we are confident that Activision will consider carefully how to best position the product in the marketplace this fall.

That's not all: due to recent friction between Harmonix and Electronic Arts' Rock Band with upcoming Red Octane and Activision's riff-maker Guitar Hero III, Pachter expects one tough fight ahead of the publisher. He expects that the original creators of Guitar Hero, Harmonix, will be able to create a competitive title against its former franchise with Rock Band, even if the analyst has heard little details about the new game under Electronic Arts' wing.

Since GameStation was picked up by GAME for £ 74 million, a lot of people have been talking about a possible investigation by the Competition Commission over its larger market share and possible monopoly. GAME is unfazed by this talk and isn't worried about it. Why?

GAME's chief executive Lisa Morgan spoke to MCV regarding this, and stated that the company believes everything is in order with regards to their purchase of the franchise.

Blockbuster would not accept an offer that had any potential conditions attached to it. The deal will be subject to a regulatory review process and that will be an ongoing process during the first ten weeks. We have taken considerable advice in this area and we are confident and comfortable to proceed.

So given this new information, we have to wonder what the mega retailer has planned for their new acquisition. While some have speculated that a massive closing of stores will happen, Morgan assured that this wouldn't happen. In typical PR fashion, she stated that "we are looking forward to putting new GAME and Gamestation stores into the market. This transaction is not about store closures – this is about bringing a second brand into the fold and serving more customers."

All well and good if it pushes through. Now, what if an investigation is held and the Competition Commission finds Game to be holding too much of the market, what happens then?

Although Spider-Man 3 (Wii, PSP, DS, PC, PlayStation 3, GameCube, PS2, Xbox 360) isn't actually doing bad while in its pre-launch period in the market, some critics believe it could actually be an even bigger game blockbuster hit - after the movie makes its own blockbuster impact, of course. Activision's multi-platformer is slated to come out smack dab at the film's premiere day.

 

Video game analyst Michael Pachter, from Wedbush Morgan, was also optimistic on the game's potential, saying, "I think it's going to do extremely well." He mentioned that the addition of the evil alter-ego to the plot also gives the game a variety edge, and even named Sandman as an ideal villain. He said that taking Sandman down needs resourcefulness and not pure brawn.

Pachter expects the movie-game adaptation to sell approximately six million units worldwide by the end of Activision's fiscal year of 2007. He estimates that Electronic Arts' own game adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" would come short by one or two million from that figure.

Because the past two games based on the past two movies have garnered a US$ 300 million in sales, many analysts and critics believe it could do better this time around, especially now that it can appeal to a broader audience who love to have super powers. Will the game live up to expectations? On May 4, we'll find out!