[PC, PS3, Wii U, X360] Resident Evil: Revelations dev diary covers franchise heritage

[PC, PS3, Wii U, X360] Resident Evil: Revelations dev diary covers franchise heritage

Resident Evil was previously one of my favourite survival-horror franchises, however it recently became impossible to consider it a 'survival-horror' game anymore. This left it to compete with much better third-person action games, leaving my opinion on the franchise face down in the mud.

However, Capcom have wisely decided to bring the best Resident Evil game in recent years, Revelations, to a wider audience with a HD release on PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360 this May. To celebrate they have also released a new developer diary that looks back on the franchise's heritage.

Resident Evil 2 is still one of my favourite survival horror games, so there is still a small part of me that hopes the franchise can find its feet again. Revelations was definitely a positive step, it is simply a shame that Resident Evil 6 undid so much of its hard work.

Anyway, I could go on for hours, so keep an eye out for a Resident Evil: Revelations demo on PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360 sometime before its late May release.

Written by: Kyran Morrison

(This post was last modified: 04-28-2013 09:37 AM by LemonManX.)

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Skylanders franchise up to $500 million retail sales in the US alone

Skylanders FRANCHISE REACHES MORE THAN $500 MILLION IN U.S. RETAIL SALES

Skylanders Giants U.S. Sales Surpass Domestic Holiday Box Office for Top Kids' Films

Santa Monica, CA – 11th January, 2013 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today that, according to data from the NPD Group, the Skylanders franchise crossed $500 million in retail sales in the U.S., inclusive of accessory packs and figures, and reached this milestone faster than any other kids' gaming property. Additionally, together Skylanders Giants and Skylanders Spyro's Adventure figures have outsold the top action figure lines in the toy category in the U.S., outselling such popular toy lines as Beyblades, WWE and Star Wars.¹

Skylanders Giants, the sequel to Skylanders Spyro's Adventure – the #1 best-selling kids' game of 20112 – generated more than $195 million in U.S. sales, inclusive of accessory packs and figures, in 2012.3 Additionally, Skylanders Giants eclipsed domestic box office sales for each of the top holiday kids feature films including "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Rise of the Guardians" in 2012.4

¹ According to The NPD Group Data from January through November 2012
² According to The NPD Group, Gfk Charttrack, and internal estimates.
3 According to The NPD Group
4 According to boxofficemojo.com

"Just a year ago, the concept of bringing toys to life in a virtual world was an untested play pattern that Activision and Toys For Bob believed in. Now the category has been established in the market and embraced by parents and kids everywhere," said John Coyne, Vice President of Consumer Marketing, Activision Publishing. "We're humbled by the continued support and acclaim from parents, kids and critics alike, but more importantly, it's gratifying to see kids excited about the adventures that await them both in the digital and physical worlds."

In addition to achieving critical acclaim , Skylanders Giants was awarded the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval, the National Parenting Publications Awards and the Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval, among others. The game was also featured in coveted "hot holiday gift" lists including the 2012 Toys"R"Us Holiday Hot Toy List, the Toy Insider's "Hot 20 Toys for the Holidays", and Time to Play's "Holiday 2012 Most Wanted List". Skylanders Giants is also nominated in four categories for the coveted Toy Industry Association "2013 Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards" to be announced on 9th February in New York City, including "E-connected Toy of the Year", "Boy Toy of the Year", "Property of the Year", "Game of The Year".

The franchise is supported by a robust licensing program that includes more than 120 licensees worldwide in categories including Plush, Apparel, Home Décor, Bed and Bath, Party Goods, Board Games and Back to School, among others.

"Even before the concept was fully formed, we were immediately taken with the charm and magic behind the Skylanders property and following the highly successful introduction of Skylanders Spyro's Adventures, we knew that Skylanders Giants would be a top-seller in 2012," said Richard Barry, Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer, Toys"R"Us, Inc. "We believe that Skylanders is one of the most innovative and exciting toy properties to hit the market and are thrilled to continue our strong support of the brand."

Skylanders Giants is developed by Toys For Bob, an Activision studio located in Novato, California. Skylanders Giants is rated PEGI 7. For more information, visit www.skylanders.com

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, mainland China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

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[X360, X720] Vancouver studio building 'Microsoft's next big entertainment franchise'

[X360, X720] Vancouver studio building 'Microsoft's next big entertainment franchise'

One thing Microsoft has been sorely lacking in recent years (along with the rest of the industry) is some major new IPs to complement its stable of exclusive franchises like Forza, Fable, Halo, and Gears of War. As we look forward to the next generation however, it seems Microsoft is looking to add at least one new major franchise to the list. Microsoft Studios Vancouver, which has been re-branded as Black Tusk Studios as it looks to rapidly expand on its 55-person development team, has been given a green light from Microsoft to build "Microsoft's next big entertainment franchise".

“We’re not working on an existing franchise, we’re looking to build the next Halo here in Vancouver, for example, which is really exciting," studio manager Mike Crump told the Vancouver Sun. "We are building something from the ground up.”

Employees at the studio already have an average of 12 years experience working on triple-A games, and it shouldn't be hard to find other talented developers since other Vancouver-based studios Rockstar Vancouver (Bully, Max Payne 3) and Radical Entertainment (Prototype) were shut down earlier this year.

Written by: Mike Glubish

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Conduit developer teases franchise news before year's end

by Alexander Sliwinski on Sep 10th 2012 2:30PM

A representative for High Voltage Software has teased there's something in the works for Wii shooter franchise The Conduit. Answering questions on GameFAQs, Bob Chamot, a designer at the studio said, "We haven't forgotten about Conduit over here, either. I would expect some new Conduit-related news before the year is out."

High Voltage Software has been working on several projects, including the Zone of the Enders: HD Collection. We've followed up with the developer to see if there's anything more it can share about the Conduit project. Whatever it is, we hope it'll be an improvement over Conduit 2.

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Poll of the Week - Which Nintendo franchise are you most excited to see on Wii U?

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Just Dance 3 shimmies into 7 million households, 25 million franchise sales

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jan 13th 2012 8:00AM

Ubisoft announced this morning that Just Dance 3 has surpassed seven million sales, with the Just Dance franchise cha-cha-chinging at cash registers over 25 million times worldwide. Just Dance 3, which launched in October, has been working it on the US and UK sales charts -- even offering private dance lessons at The White House.

US retail tracking group NPD previously stated dance game sales were up 326 percent in 2011 over the prior year. During Black Friday week, the Just Dance franchise sold over a million units, with Ubisoft stating it held 76 percent market share on dance games.

Just as a reminder, the Just Dance franchise includes: Just Dance 3, Just Dance 2, Just Dance, Just Dance Summer Party, Just Dance Kids 2, Just Dance Kids, Michael Jackson: The Experience, The Black Eyed Peas Experience and ABBA You Can Dance.

Don't be surprised if Just Dance 4 hits the scene in 2012, along with (at least) two other spin-offs. UBISOFT SURPASSES 25 MILLION JUST DANCE® VIDEO GAMES SOLD THROUGH WORLDWIDE

Just Dance 3 is the best-selling U.S. game on the Kinect™ for Xbox 360®, Nintendo Wii™, and PlayStation® Move for PlayStation®3 for December 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – January 13, 2012 – Today, Ubisoft announced that, according to internal estimates, Just Dance 3 sold through more than 7 million units since its release, bringing total sell-through of the Just Dance franchise to more than 25 million units worldwide. Launched in October, Just Dance 3 has consistently been in the top five video game sales charts in both the U.S. (NPD) and Europe (GfK Chart Track).

"It's quite a feat that Just Dance 3 beat out all competition to be the No. 1 game on all motion-controlled platforms for the month of December," said Tony Key, senior vice president sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "The Just Dance franchise continues to be the game of choice for consumers around the world looking for games with great music and fun dance moves."

Ubisoft expanded its dance game offerings throughout this fiscal year with the release of ABBA You Can Dance, The Black Eyed Peas Experience, Michael Jackson the Experience, and The Smurfs Dance Party.

For more information about Just Dance, please visit: www.justdancegame.com.

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Just Dance franchise sold a million units during Black Friday week

by Alexander Sliwinski on Dec 2nd 2011 10:35AM

Holy fu-nky chicken, Ubisoft announced this morning that Just Dance 3 sold 700,000 copies on the Wii and Xbox 360 over six days, between November 20 and 26 of the Black Friday shopathon. The company also stated that Just Dance 3 sales are up 48 percent from those of Just Dance 2, which launched in mid-October of 2010, when compared "year over year to date in the US."

Ubisoft also claimed it has 76 percent market share among dance games in 2011. That statistic could be a little messy, since unlike Zumba Fitness and Dance Central, which has one sequel, the Just Dance franchise follows Activision's Guitar Hero model of suffocating saturation.

The Just Dance franchise currently includes: Just Dance 3, Just Dance 2, Just Dance, Just Dance Summer Party, Just Dance Kids 2, Just Dance Kids, Michael Jackson: The Experience, The Black Eyed Peas Experience and ABBA You Can Dance. All these titles combined sold over one million copies in the US during Black Friday week. The NPD previously stated that dance game sales are up 326 percent over last year. Ubisoft PR:

Last week retailers reported record sales as the holiday shopping season officially kicked off with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Ubisoft set new records last week for its Just Dance franchise, the world's No. 1 video game dance brand. From November 20-26 Just Dance 3 on the Wii system from Nintendo and Kinect for Xbox 360 sold thru more than 700,000 copies in the United States, based on internal estimates. Just Dance 3 on the Nintendo Wii system has sold approximately 48 percent more than what Just Dance 2 sold on the Wii year over year to date in the U.S.

According to the most recent NPD report from November 11, 2011, Ubisoft has a 76 percent market share among dance games so far for calendar year 2011.Ubisoft's dance games that includes Just Dance 3, Just Dance 2, Just Dance, Just Dance Summer Party, Just Dance Kids 2, Just Dance Kids, The Black Eyed Peas Experience, and ABBA You Can Dance, have sold a combined total of more than one million copies in the United States from November 20-26, according to internal estimates.

"Last week was an excellent start to the holiday shopping season for Ubisoft's dance games," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "The popularity of Ubisoft's dance games continues to gain momentum as these games appeal to a wide variety of consumers because they are fun to play alone or with friends and family. Ubisoft is looking forward to its final dance game release of the calendar year with Just Dance 3 on the PlayStation Move, which releases next week on Tuesday, December 6th."

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'Mama' franchise reaches 12 million sales worldwide, 8.5 million in NA

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jun 9th 2011 1:30AM

Majesco had a timeline at its E3 booth showing all of Mama's jobs over the past five years. The poster stated that the franchise had reached 12 million sales globally, with a rep telling us that the sales in North America represented 8.5 million of the total.

Mama is currently planning a return to the kitchen and the series that gave the gal her big break, after she does a little camping in September, in Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic this October.

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Test Drive Unlimited 2 sets franchise record atop UK charts

by Alexander Sliwinski on Feb 14th 2011 10:12AM

It may be a case of Top Gear-fever, but Atari's Test Drive Unlimited 2 raced to the top of the UK all formats sales chart. Chart-Track notes that TDU2 is "by far" the biggest launch in the franchise, outselling the previous entry by more than double, with 68 percent of sales on Xbox 360, 28 percent on PS3 and the rest (4 percent) on PC.

After two weeks as king of the mountain (standing gallantly atop a pile of Necromorphs), Dead Space 2's Isaac Clarke took the long way through an air duct and ended up in second place. The rest of the top five is some kind of late-2010 flashback, as FIFA 11, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood occupy spots three through five, respectively.

Last week's big mover was Ubisoft's Dance Juniors, a "Kidz Bop" version of its unstoppable Just Dance franchise, which jumped 290 percent in its second week, just narrowly missing entry into the top ten at spot 12. We've placed a video of the game after the break to see what all the fuss is about, along with the UK top ten.

Top 10 UK Software Sales (All Formats); week ending February 12:
Test Drive Unlimited 2Dead Space 2FIFA 11Call of Duty: Black OpsAssassin's Creed: BrotherhoodMario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!Just Dance 2Mario Sports MixGrand Theft Auto IV: Complete EditionLittleBigPlanet 2

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