Home Media Magazine - September 2-8, 2007 - (Page 8) NEWS By John Gaudiosi G A M E S The game industry continues to post record growth on strong hardware sales, which totalled $380.8 million in July, up 77.4% compared to the same month last year, according to the NPD Group. Consoles sales, in particular — led by Nintendo’s Wii (425,000 units sold) and Nintendo DS (405,000 units sold) — saw a 140% jump from July 2006 to July 2007, reaching $286 million. Microsoft sold 170,000 Xbox 360s, www.homemediamagazine.com Games Continue Record Sales Pace in July and Sony sold a record 159,000 PlayStation 3s. PS3 July sales jumped 61% from June sales thanks to new lower prices. Sony’s PS2 sold 222,000 units and its PSP 214,000 units. Overall year-to-date software and hardware sales through July are up 42.6%, topping $7 billion. Software sales were led by EA Sports’ NCAA Football 08 on Xbox 360 and PS2 (835,000 units sold) and a pair of Activision “Guitar Hero” PS2 games (Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s and Guitar Hero 2). Total software sales were up 11%, to $419.2 million in July, compared to July 2006, with the bulk of sales coming from console games ($313.2 million). Year-to-date software sales are already up 22.4% from last year, with a $3.3 billion take. Xbox 360 software sales grew 24.4%, while PS2 game sales declined 22.5% year-over-year in July. This fall, PS3 sales should get a boost from exclusive games such as Warhawk (Aug. 28), Lair (Sept. 4), Heavenly Sword (Sept. 12) and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (Oct 23). Microsoft and Nintendo also have strong game lineups for the fall, including Halo 3 (Sept. 25), Mass Effect (Nov. 1) and Project Gotham Racing 4 (Oct. 2) for the Xbox 360 and Metroid Prime 3 (out now), Super Mario Galaxy (Nov. 12) and Super Smash Bros. (Dec. 3) for the Wii. Overall, it’s been a solid summer for Hollywood video games, thanks to strong sales of such titles as Transformers, Shrek the Third and SpiderMan 3. But not all Hollywood movies have translated to gaming gold. “We continue to be somewhat concerned about the poor performance of the big Pixar movie game this year, Ratatouille, which has sold only 332,000 units across all platforms since its June launch,” said Ben Schachter, video game analyst, UBS Securities. The NFL license also underperfomed, as 2K Sports’ All-Pro Football 2K8, which featured retired players, was a bust on PS3 and Xbox 360, selling only 94,000 units combined. GAME CHART DOLLAR SALES July 2006 Video Games Video Games Hardware Console Hardware Portable Game Hardware Video Games Software Console Software Portable Game Software Video Game Accessories $675.6M $214.6M $118.8M $95.8M $377.9M $270.2M $107.6M $83.1M July 2007 $925.5M $380.8M $286M $94.9M $419.2M $313.2M $106.1M $125.4M 37.0% 77.4% 140.7% -1.0% 11.0% 15.9% -1.5% 51.0% YTD Jul 06 YTD Jul 07 $4.9B $1.58B $972.3M $612.4M $2.7B $2.0B $703.1M $634.3M $7.0B $2.72B $1.97B $749.5M $3.3B $2.4B $908.4M $986.6M 42.6% 71.9% 103.0% 22.4% 22.4% 20.1% 29.2% 55.5% MODIFIED ‘MANHUNT 2’ GETS RELEASE DATE By Chris Tribbey G A M E S After it was banned in the United Kingdom and delayed this summer due to an “Adults Only” rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software are trotting Manhunt 2 back out for an Oct. 31 release, after a modified version received an “M” for mature rating. “Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we’re glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar. “We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive storytelling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it.” The sequel to the 2003 hit game Manhunt is a third-person action thriller in which a man working on an experimental project at a secret lab must kill — a lot, and always in dramatic fashion — to escape. The game will be available on the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii. Source: The NPD Group Paramount Ends BD Releases Continued from page 1 After initially supporting both high-definition formats, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation Aug. 20 announced exclusive support for Blu-ray’s high-def competitor, HD DVD. The support does not extend to Steven Spielberg films, which are not exclusive to either format. Paramount and DreamWorks Bluray titles are not being pulled from retail shelves. However certain titles that had been announced for Blu-ray release before the two studios pulled their support will not be available on the format, including Blades of Glory, Face/Off, Flashdance, The Jack Ryan Collection, Top Gun and Next. All, except Flashdance, are still available for preorder on HD DVD on Amazon.com. Discontinued Paramount and DreamWorks titles account for just more than 11% of all domestic Bluray releases, leaving 257 Blu-ray titles in active release as of Aug. 28, according to data from The DVD Release Report. There are 279 HD DVDs available to consumers, giving that format the edge in title count for the first time since Blu-ray began to dominate at the turn of the new year. The move also gives HD DVD a slight box office power advantage (see chart). “We will continue to carry existing titles that have been released by those studios,” said Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove. Like Blockbuster, Netflix also will continue to carry Paramount and DreamWorks Blu-ray titles, at least for now. “If they were to withdraw that license from the marketplace for [the Blu-ray titles], then we wouldn’t [make them available to customers],” said Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey. D I S CO N T I N U E D B LU-R AY T I T LE S DREAMWORKS: Disturbia Dreamgirls Flags of Our Fathers Norbit Disturbia PARAMOUNT: Aeon Flux Babel Black Rain Black Snake Moan Coming to America Failure to Launch Four Brothers Freedom Writers Hustle and Flow Italian Job Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Manchurian Candidate Mission: Impossible Mission: Impossible II Mission: Impossible III Mission: Impossible Collection Nacho Libre Payback Reds: 25th Anniversary Edition Sahara Shooter Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Sleepy Hollow Trading Places U2: Rattle and Hum Untouchables Warriors We Were Soldiers World Trade Center: Collector’s Edition A Glorious Debut The move by Paramount and DreamWorks to go exclusively with HD DVD — and discontinue its former Blu-ray releases — did more than just give the industry something to talk about, it moved the weight of the high-def release mix into a stalemate position. As of Aug. 28, Blu-ray has 128 New Theatrical releases that have grossed at least $25 million available, while HD DVD has 121. The HD DVD group has an edge in theatrical catalog (82 to 50), while Blu-ray continues to have an advantage with new theatrical releases grossing under $25 million (49 to 36). — Ralph Tribbey BLU-RAY AND HD DVD TITLE RELEASE MIX RESULTS THROUGH AUG. 28, 2007* 8/28/07 Blu-ray/HD DVD Release Mix New Theatrical $100 Million or Greater New Theatrical $25 Million – $100 Million New Theatrical Under $25 Million New Theatrical Totals Theatrical Catalog (pre-1997) All Other Releases Combined * Excludes discontinued titles Total 33 95 49 177 50 31 258 Blu-ray Box Office $5,509,126,026 $4,952,585,441 $648,818,369 $11,110,529,836 Total 42 79 36 157 82 40 279 HD DVD Box Office $7,010,466,446 $4,451,064,141 $553,130,930 $12,014,661,517 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Aug. 24, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through Dec. 31, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,939+165 76,943+193 The “Fear No Ice” duo sculpted the first male-male figure skaters, from Blades of Glory, using chainsaws. The icy event took place in Venice Beach, Calif., Aug. 28 to celebrate the film’s DVD debut from Paramount Home Entertainment. Photo by: Chris Pizzello I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Aug. 24 . . . . Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD Scheduled As of Week Ended Aug. 24 . . . . Released 273 Scheduled 59 Home Media Magazine September 2–8, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com
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