Capcom Releasing More Triple Packs

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From VG247:

Capcom released its Platinum Hits Triple Pack featuring Devil May Cry 4, Dead Rising, and Lost Planet: Colonies Edition this past Tuesday.  It was such a nice package of games, we decided to contact Capcom to find out if more were planned for the year or the very near future.

We’ve been doing Triple Pack collections pretty steadily over the last three years, Capcom’s Chris Kramer told VG247. In 2006 we did a DMC collection for PS2 and in 2007 we did a Resident Evil PS2 collection.  These collections are a great way to introduce new players to ongoing series, extend life of our back-catalog products and bring old favorites back at reasonable prices.

We don’t have any new announcements at the moment the Triple Pack is just launching but I wouldn’t rule out more collections in 2010.

As the economy continues to struggle and household budgets shrink, we think package deals like the ones Capcom are offering are a great way to expand the consumer base. The games they’re offering have already reached their sales plateau, but at a competitive price and packaged with other games, we expect other companies to follow suit this and next year, especially through DLC.

What Happened To Madden?

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From IndustryGamers:

EA Sports’ latest Madden was easily the best selling title for the month of August, racking up close to 2 million unit sales across its five SKUs. The Wii SKU, however, which EA put extra effort into redesigning with an all-new visual style and other Wii-specific features, only managed to sell 67K copies, The NPD Group has told IndustryGamers.

EA has worked hard to bring Madden to the Nintendo Wii a couple of times, but only to very mild success. This is a testament that, just because a brand is as impactful as Madden on other systems, selling 2 million to the hardcore, being the console market leader means very little when the demographics are so different.

Our advice is to stick to marketing and developing EA Sports Fitness and forget Madden, at least on Nintendo Wii.

Video Of The Day: Some New Kevin Butler

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Today’s video of the day is a brand new commercial starring Sony’s fictional PS3 barker, Kevin Butler. It’s all about touting family games, because kids ca hey, Butler, hands off my wife!

 

Nirvana Versus Guitar Hero 5

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From BBC:

Former Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl have said they are “dismayed and very disappointed” at how Kurt Cobain is used in a video game.

They do not agree that the band’s late frontman can be used to play songs by other artists in the new Guitar Hero.

In a joint statement, they said they “didn’t know” Cobain’s character in the game could be used to play any kind of song the player wants.

As mentioned above, Kurt Cobain can be used by gamers in Guitar Hero 5 to play a multitude of songs, not only those by his original band, Nirvana. Viral videos like the one embedded below have proven embarrassing to fans of the revered pioneer of grunge rock, and is exactly not what Activision needs when going up against the venerable Beatles and their edition of Rock Band.

 

Courtney Love, widow of Cobain, also commented on the situation:Love has also criticised the game on Twitter and has threatened to sue Activision.The star said she “never signed” off the game and claimed, “there’s been four breaches of a very strict contract”.She added: “This trust are my employees, but whatthey [sic] are tryong [sic] to do is sickening, and they need to be fired, and repairations [sic] need made.” The legal and monetary battles will come and go, but the impact to a music-based brand as popular as Guitar Hero may be severe. Guitar Hero and Rock Band have gained in popularity partly through record labels and bands understanding their music would be treated with respect, and music fans have come to accept that. This is getting ugly, and quickly.

Apple Namechecks Nintendo, Sony At IPod Event

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In yesterday’s Apple media event entitled “It’s Only Rock and Roll,” Apple made it clear where they see a bit part of the iPod’s future: games.

The Cupertino-based manufacturer of the iPod Touch and iPhone spent 15 minutes out of the hour-long event discussing the gaming market, even taking a moment to swipe at Nintendo and Sony in the portable gaming space.

Amongst Apple’s complaints about the traditional video game console makers: no multi-touch screen, the price of those games are far too high, there is no app store and there is no iPod.

Unfortunately for Apple, not all of that is 100 percent true. The Nintendo DS doesn’t have a multi-touch user interface, just a touchscreen which is controlled with single taps and drags of a stylus, but the Nintendo DSi has a DSi Shop through which small games are purchased and downloaded.

The new Sony PSPgo, which launches on October 1, also has the PlayStation Store, with a new suite of low-cost games coming out soon called Minis as a direct response to Apple’s app store. Lastly, both systems can play music files through memory sticks or SD cards.

Still, the attention Apple paid to gaming in yesterday’s event shows they re not here to play — they re here to win. Apple touted its over 21K games and entertainment apps and a revival of the iPod Touch marketing campaign that calls it the funnest iPod ever. It’s going to be pretty tough to compete with messaging like this:

 

The Beatles: Rock Band Lands On Tonight Show

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The Tonight Show has been a late night mainstay for decades now, through Steve Allen to Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. MTV Games, EA and Harmonix have persuaded current host Conan O’Brien to allow The Beatles: Rock Band to be the first video game to break through to the popular show.

Dhani Harrison, son of The Beatles George Harrison, was the guest on The Tonight Show and the game was demonstrated by Conan, a couple of band members and Harrison, and we’ve embedded the video for you below:

 

Dante’s Inferno Marketing Stunt Offers $200 To Bloggers

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Dante’s Inferno is continuing their marketing push for the Hell-themed game with real, verified $200 checks being sent out to bloggers in fancy wooden boxes, asking journalists to make a choice and deal with the consequences.

Either cash the check and give into greed through avarice, or don’t cash the check and give into greed through prodigality. So what did Joystiq and Kotaku do upon receiving it

Joystiq opted to donate the money to charity on behalf of EA, while Kotaku lit the check on fire at Kotaku HQ. So, kids, remember, some good can come out of evil marketing (as well as several blog posts).

 

The Beatles: Rock Band DLC Details

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The Beatles: Rock Band came out yesterday and with it a whole new opportunity for DLC content to come out the door. How will MTV Games, EA and Harmonix market the new songs and albums

“DLC songs which don’t end up in historical venues will have custom dreamscapes, yes,” said Dare Matheson, lead artist at Harmonix. “There will be visual themes and elements that will stretch from the on-disc dreamscapes into the DLC dreamscapes, but everyone is custom, unique, and fully-crafted for the song it will accompany. It’s a bargain!”  [Joystiq]

The fact that the music is remastered from The Beatles original recordings should be reason enough, but Harmonix seems to be going the extra mile to ensure every $2-song is worth it, visually as well as aurally.

Madden NFL 10 Hits IPhone

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It s a testament to EA and their Madden brand that, if a Madden game never gets released for a console, that console isn t long for the world (we’re looking at you, Dreamcast grave). But when the football behemoth marches onto a new platform, it s sort of like a video game bar mitzvah; iPhone, you re a man, my son.

From Joystiq:

EA Sports is rushing Apple’s App Store with a brand new game that takes full advantage of the iPhone’s (and iPod’s) touch screen. Unlike the console variants, the handheld Madden 10 experience is more accessible to the casual player. Beginners will be able to get by without thinking about the playbook, as the game automatically recommends appropriate plays. The action slows down when the quarterback has the ball, and color-coded icons appear on the screen, indicating the likelihood of making a completion.

Madden is now in the App Store for $7.99, and will be one of the first truly huge video game franchises to make its way onto iPhone.

The Quaint Benefits Of A Smaller Market

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Harmonix, creators of Rock Band, yesterday released The Beatles: Rock Band to much fanfare from Beatles maniacs and video gamers alike looking forward to a new experience.

The Boston-based developer did receive a gracious proclamation from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announcing September 9, 2009 as Video Game Innovation Day in the state.

From the proclamation:

Whereas On this day, Harmonix Music Systems, the Cambridge-based inventors of Rock Band and developer of the original Guitar Hero games, is releasing The Beatles: Rock Band, a game that will not only bring the creativity and joy of The Beatles music to countless people, but will introduce the Fab Four to new generations of fans

Boston may not be as industry-heavy as San Francisco or Austin, but it s the little things that count. Until you grow tired of living in, you know, Boston.

(Just kidding, fellow Bostonians)