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Analyst: Madden 2010 sales have “rebounded meaningfully” in Sept

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“We believe sales of ERTS’s Madden NFL 2010 have rebounded meaningfully in the month of September. Combining August and September, we believe sales of Madden are now down an estimated 5% to 10% after being down 19% in August.” -Arvind Bhatia, Sterne Agee analyst

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-Justin

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Forbes.com – Apple: Sony, Nintendo Can Panic Now

If Nintendo ( NTDOY.PK – news – people ) and Sony ( SNE – news – people ) try to compete with the App Store by loading up their nascent app store competitors, such as Nintendo’s DSiWare, with free offerings, they’ll choke off the revenue they built their videogame businesses around.

That’s not a bug, that’s a feature. In other words: This isn’t an accident. This is Steve Jobs. The man who killed the Walkman. Time to panic.

I honestly have a hard time seeing gamers replace their handhelds with the iPhone.  They may have iPhones and play games on their but I don’t think the DS and PSP have much to worry about with the App Store.  In many ways they are operating in two different markets.

Full article here.

-Justin

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Michael Pachter: Bobby Kotick is not the “ruthless factory head” that the press makes him out to be

“Bobby is friendly to a fault, funny, very smart, and quite engaging… He is a bit flip, in an entertaining way, and I think it translates in print as cocky. I like him a lot, and think that his public persona has been twisted by the gaming media, making him into a ruthless factory head.” – Michael Pachter

This may not be the popular view but I can see how some of Kotick’s statements could have been taken the wrong way.

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-Justin

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Australia Software Sales Week Ended 09/27/09

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-Justin

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Wii Review – Muramasa: The Demon Blade

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Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Published by: Ignition Entertainment
Developed by: Vanillaware / Marvelous Entertainment
Genre: Action / Platformer

ESRB Rating:

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Reviewed by: Justin Alderman

From the moment I first saw a screenshot for Muramasa: The Demon Blade I was astounded by the visual presentation of the title.  The amount of detail in the character designs and the backgrounds combined with the incredible art style make every still shot of Muramasa worthy of being in a frame and hanging in an art gallery.  However, it takes a lot more than beauty to make a good video game and the real question is if Muramasa’s gameplay lives up to its mesmerizing visuals.  At this point I’ve put in over 20 hours with the title and I can safely say that Muramasa: The Demon Blade is every bit as fun to play as it is to just sit and stare at.

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Closing Bell – 09/30/09

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-Justin

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U.S. Supreme Court to discuss today whether it will hear arguments on appeal of California violent video game law

The issue of whether minors should be legally prohibited from buying violent video games may soon be settled—and for all.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to discuss today whether it will hear arguments on an appeal of a California videogame law that would ban the sale of certain games to anyone under 18 and required game manufacturers to label violent games with a four-inch square marker with “18” printed on it.

Read the full article here.

-Justin

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Majesco releases first trailer for Dawn of Heroes (DS)

Full press release after the break.

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Activision recruiting talent for DJ Hero 2

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GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Activision has already started recruiting talent for a sequel to DJ Hero even though the first game has yet to be released.

Given Activision’s love for putting out sequels every year this news should not be a big surprise.  However, I think it might be a wise move to hold off until some initial sales of DJ Hero come in.  This is a new IP and an expensive one at that.  I think it’s far from certain that DJ Hero will be a hit title.

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-Justin

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Dead Space 2 will be ready for production within a few months

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A recent job posting on Linkedln by EA senior recruiter Jeff Ballard hints at a sequel for Dead Space.  The posting reads in part:

“The previous installment in the Dead Space franchise received numerous awards … and the same core team is in place to create an even better follow up.  The game is in the later stages of pre-production, ready for production in the next few months, with many of the navigational and combat mechanics in place.”

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-Justin

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