Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
EA has officially sold more than 100 million copies of it’s popular racing/driving series Need for Speed. Since the first release in 1994, the NFS titles have generated over $2.7 billion in revenue for the Redwood, California based Electronic Arts. The games’ newest iteration, Need for Speed: Shift sales have topped the franchise over this milestone, placing it in the number four all time best selling games. Also included in the over 100 million units sold club are the best selling game of all time, The Sims, as well as the Mario Brother franchise, Pokemon, and Grand Theft Auto.
“Few videogame franchises ever reach the 100M units mark, so this is a huge honor. We have millions of fans to thank for driving us to this milestone,” said Frank Gibeau, president, EA Games Label. “With the launch of Need for Speed SHIFT and the upcoming release of Need for Speed NITRO, we hope to continue to deliver the most entertaining, action-packed racing experiences.”
While the game has been through 15 different versions, and produced for 14 different platforms, it wasn’t until the 2003 version, Need for Speed: Underground version was released that the franchise really started to take off. Previous versions focused on supercar racing off in a mythical European countryside. The underground version made a dramatic shift to more “accessible” cars, those that we actually obtainable by racing/gaming fans around the world. And while the good times were on a roll for EA for the following two years, in 2007 with Need for Speed Pro Street, the title had sunk back to levels of mediocrity. Recognizing the potential within the franchise, but perhaps more importantly, that there were three distinct groups that played the game, EA wisely broke up the then current studio developing the titles, and brought in a fresh set of hands and eyes, and has now developed three unique product offerings. What once was one, is now in fact three: one group focuses on an action based game for mass market fans, another on pure simulation for die hard fans, and still another, arcade style play for casual racers.
Need for Speed Shift, released this past September falls into the simulation category, while the upcoming release of Need for Speed Nitro, specifically developed for the Nintendo Wii and DS, will fill the arcade pillar, falling perfectly in line with Nintendo’s top racing game of the year 2008, Mario Kart.
The third, and perhaps most interesting continuation of the Need for Speed franchise should arrive on North American shores around this time one year from now. Titled Need for Speed World Online, this version will be an online only, free-to-play title, yet again signaling EA’s firm commitment to the free-to-play, microtransactions supported gaming business model. No word yet on where the microtransactions will come into play, but based on the game play style, it’s safe to assume that car cosmetic upgrades will be available for purchase, as well as temporary performance enhancements, alla Battlefield Heroes. Closed beta testing is expected to commence in Taiwan this winter, with an official global release in Fall 2010.
Tags: Battlefield Heroes, best selling games, EA, electronic arts, free to play, grand theft auto, Mario Kart, Need for Speed
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Friday, October 17th, 2008
Gala-Net Inc. has recently announced that the beta doors are open on the North American version of it’s new cart racing title: Tales Runner. Developed by Rhaon Entertainment, players can sign up and download the game client at Gala-Net’s gpotato.com portal.
Originally inspired by Nintendo’s Mario Kart, Tales Runner is a free-to-play cart racer MMO focuses on a number of unique features and distinguishes itself from the crowd with a unique community interaction experience. Racing events are not arbitrary, as Tales Runner places players in teams, encouraging community interaction, cooperation, and good sportsmanship.
Additional differentiators include:
- The Item Alchemy: This crafting system allows players to collect special cards at the end of each race. Combining these cards creates the most powerful and unique weapons in the game.
- The Tales Runner Leveling System: Tales Runner features a unique, rewarding leveling system. Each time a player reaches a new level they are rewarded with in-game currency as well as access to new racing rooms.
- Customization: With 4 starting characters to choose from, 4 more to be released, and hundreds of different items, accessories and outfits
- Tales Land Park: A central “Town” where players can hang out, show off their gear, and exchange tips with each other. There are also mini games within the park that rewards players with items and in-game currency.
- Unique Racing Modes: There are several race modes available to players; 8 Player Mode, Team Mode, Relay Race, 30 Player Mode, and the crowd favorite, Survival Mode, where players must race toward their screen rather than away. Each Survival Mode course features a Boss Monster that eliminates players from the race with the slightest touch
A runaway hit in it’s home Korean market as well as in Japan and Taiwan, Tales Runner features reoccurring characters that take part in races based on a selection of maps inspired by fairy tales ranging from The Frog Prince to Momotaro, a Japanese favorite. Supporting up to 30 players in individual and team modes, players will face obstacles, ski slopws and even monsters in their races.
And as with any good MMO, Gala-Net Inc. plans on rolling out a number of new content additions via in-game ‘Chapters’ through out the year. These content updates are slated to include a number of new maps, items (for sale of course) and features. Updates will also include a function similar to an achievment system along with alchemy, couple, fortune and family features.
When asked about the microtransactions present within Tales Racer and if they will present a playing advantage, Rhaon Entertainment producer Alan Hardie says,
…We don’t want to favor our cash users by giving them an advantage over the others. We consider all of them to be valuable, and we want to treat each one fairly.
There will be some things that can only be purchased with gPotatoes, but they are mainly of a cosmetic nature. Some provide various stats or bonuses, but we will offset this advantage by providing similar ones anyone can obtain…
Tales Runner is now open for beta testing in the North American market via Gala-Net Inc’s portal gPotato. To sign up and download the client, visit Tales Runner at talesrunner.gpotato.com.
Tags: Alan Hardie, cart racer, cart racing, content additions, Customization, free to play, frog prince, good sportsmanship, gpotato, gpotatoes, Japan, korean market, Mario Kart, microtransactions, Taiwan, Tales Runner
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Monday, May 19th, 2008
Market research firm NPD released April data on Thursday putting Nintendo’sWii on top.
Nintendo also released their own press release using the NPD numbers:
According to NPD, the Wii outsold Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3. The Wii moved 714,000 units in April bringing it’s total US sales since launch to 9.5 Million units.
NPD’s numbers show that Microsoft milked the cash cow for 188,000 units and Sony, 187,100 PS3′s.
Perhaps having a bit of advanced knowledge of the upcoming numbers, Microsoft released a statement of their own on Wednesday that they’d reached the 10 Million units sold mark, making the Xbox 360 the first next-gen console to reach this landmark. Microsoft gave itself a pat on the back, arguing that this is the landmark that that usually indicates the eventual winner of each console generation.
Speaking of April, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV launched on the 29th on Xbox 360 and PS3. Granted, GTA IV had only been out for 2 days last month, and box Microsoft and Sony saw an increase in these sales, and yet Wii still came out on top.
NPD’s data on GTA IV places the game in two of the three top slots of software sales, with the Xbox version cashing in with 1.85M copies, and the PS3 version selling 1M units.
Again, Nintendo backs that ass up with Mario Kart Wii coming in as the second best selling game for the month of April, pushing 1.12M bananas out the door. Overall, 6 out of the top 10 best selling games during April were Wii games.
Let’s not forget about the other white meat: handheld gamers. The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP outsold both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The DS cranked out 414,800 receipts, with the PSP paling in comparison at only 192,700.
Overall, NPD’s research indicates what we’ve already mentioned, even though the economy sucks, the gaming industry is still partying like it’s 1999, with total sales in April racking up $1.23 billion. Yep, that’s Billion. That’s a 47% increase over the $839 million only one year earlier. Likewise, hardware sales were up 26% from $339 million in April 2007 to $426 million in April 2008.
Tags: April, Auto, best selling games, bit, cash, cash cow, comparison, cow, door, economy, firm, game, gaming, gaming industry, generation, Grand, grand theft auto, grand theft auto iv, GTA, gta iv, industry, knowledge, landmark, launch, Mario Kart, mark, Market, meat, Microsoft, Million, month, month of april, Nintendo, nintendo ds, NPD, pat on the back, playstation 3, press, PSP, release, research, rock, Rockstar, rockstar games, software, software sales, Sony, sony psp, Speaking, statement, Theft, Thursday, top, US, version, Wednesday, white meat, Wii, wii games, winner, Xbox, xbox 360, xbox version
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“Few videogame franchises ever reach the 100M units mark, so this is a huge honor. We have millions of fans to thank for driving us to this milestone,” said Frank Gibeau, president, EA Games Label. “With the launch of Need for Speed SHIFT and the upcoming release of Need for Speed NITRO, we hope to continue to deliver the most entertaining, action-packed racing experiences.”
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