Remember when motion-controlled games were simply for old people and children? (We kid!) However, Nintendo's marketing has rarely reached this level of aggression. Sony has launched a new website -- www.yaybuttons.com -- that plays hardball against Microsoft's button-free Kinect experience. By clicking any of the buttons on the virtual PlayStation Move controller, you'll be able to read through a rant from fictional PlayStation VP Kevin Butler:

"It turns out that buttons are pretty important. Not like "save the whales" important. More like 'not play games that suck' important. Cuz they help you ... control stuff. Controller. Control. Kinda makes sense. Some people don't think you need buttons. WHAT?! Craziness. Could you imagine gaming without buttons? Where would the control come from?"

While there's some reason for concern, this kind of marketing can be interpreted not as playful, but a return to the "arrogant" attitude Sony has been notorious for. Considering Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda confirmed future games could use the button-y Xbox 360 controller in conjunction with Kinect, this might be an argument Sony won't want to kick up.

Sony launches pro-button, anti-Kinect campaign with yaybuttons.com originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Try before you buy. It's a simple concept, and it's been a key element in marketing games this console generation -- at least on platforms that aren't WiiWare. But Nintendo did give demos a chance once upon a time ago and Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip Beat was one of five titles consumers could try free of cost. According to Gaijin Games, it helped.

Alex Neuse, CEO of Gaijin Games, told Joystiq that when the "demo was active," his company "started to see sales more on par with our projections." We've heard the same WiiWare story over and over again from developers and publishers: Nintendo doesn't promote; many Wii consoles aren't hooked up to the internet; nobody is buying these games. It's interesting that something as small as a playable demo could affect sales in such a positive manner.

"I think this is because Bit.Trip Beat is the type of game that people really have to play to understand," Neuse said in regards to the success of his demo. He went on to say that "a screenshot just doesn't do it justice" and that he's "sad to see that the demo program has ended."

We are, too -- WiiWare developers work very hard to create games and support the platform. It's gotta be frustrating when there's no reciprocation.

Gaijin Games: Bit.Trip Beat demo helped get sales 'on par with projections' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to play the Michael Jackson video game on PS3 and Xbox 360 this year? You'll have to beat it, because Ubisoft has delayed the HD versions of the game to next year. It's not all bad news, though. The publisher told IGN that "we're giving our teams more time to develop the Kinect and Move versions to ensure we deliver awesome experiences that take full advantage of the new technologies."

Before you say they don't care about us, the Wii and handheld versions of the game are unaffected by the delay. The Wii, DS and PSP versions are still planned to ship this November. Will you be there?

Michael Jackson Xbox & PS3 delayed to 2011, Wii and handhelds unaffected originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, alright -- that's not the only thing that we gleaned from this latest Shaun White Skateboarding trailer. Unfortunately, the clip front-loads the smelly snow boot situation on us. There's some Wii gameplay too, we promise!

Continue reading Shaun White Skateboarding showcases smelly boots

Shaun White Skateboarding showcases smelly boots originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viewing the GOP as “the party of ideas,” Republican Senate candidate Bill Binnie entered the New Hampshire senate race to “add my voice to economic challenges” as a self-described fiscal conservative who believes in a woman’s right to choose. According to Binnie, his pro-choice stance invited “over 1,000 pieces of mail” and threatening phone calls to his home. “We don’t answer our phone anymore,” he said.

In defending his pro-choice stance, he said, “I believe that the individual has the final say, not the government, in terms of how we live our lives.” He added, “There is a fight in my party for individual rights and what it means to be a Republican.” But as the GOP shifts towards a more radical stance, he says “it is a challenge” to “stand in a Republican primary” when the party “has morphed into parts that I don’t recognize”:

“My view of the Republican Party is the party of ideas. It morphed into parts that I don’t recognize. I think it’s one of the debates of my candidacy.” [...]

“I started out in this race to add my voice to economic challenges and my background,” he said. “I didn’t realize, you’re talking about the polarization, I am a centric New Hampshire citizen. I’m fiscally conservative, I’m socially moderate. I’m not an extremist in any way. And yet, as I stand up in a Republican primary, it is a challenge. That’s what I’ve learned from this process in the last few months.

“I went to a debate in Portsmouth and I was the only one when asked are you a social conservative, I said no,” Binnie said. “I couldn’t believe that. Everyone is a fiscal conservative and we all have to be social conservatives? I don’t think we all have to stand on the same square to be a Republican. That’s what this fight in my view has turned into. You could put a piece of paper between the substance of most of our decisions. By any measure I’m a conservative. Just ask my kids.”

Binnie is not the only Republican falling victim to the “hostile takeover” and radicalization of the GOP. The so-called “reasonable Republican” Rep. Bob Inglis criticized Republican leaders for the “lowest form of political leadership” and Tea Party-driven “demagoguery” that is “dividing the country into partisan camps that really look a lot like Shia and Sunni.” Though he received “a 93 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union,” he lost in his primary run-off.

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), who fell victim to a Tea Party backlash, slammed the GOP for letting tea parties and Fox News lead it by the nose. Echoing Binnie’s sentiments, Bennett noted, “I find plenty of slogans on the Republican side, but not very many ideas.”

It's difficult to convey the sheer terror and chaos I experienced in the first few minutes of the Slam Bolt Scrappers PAX demo. Though the Firehose Games reps told me how to play, it wasn't preparation enough for the actual game, a combination puzzler/brawler/strategy title that is one of the most unique blends of genres I've ever played. The learning curve was, um, kinda steep!

Continue reading Slam Bolt Scrappers preview: Build those blocks up

Slam Bolt Scrappers preview: Build those blocks up originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The sun will rise, the moon will set and it would be a sign of the end days if Madden didn't rule August software sales in the United States. The August NPDs are out and Madden NFL 11 sold over 1.8 million units in the month, a six percent increase over last year, with significant increases on PS3. Mafia 2, which Take-Two expects to be profitable, entered with a badda-boom and appears to have sold around 200K units during the month -- the title has been a chart topper in the UK since launch.

The Xbox 360 remains the top-selling console for a second month, but its sales did drop nearly 20 percent from July. The only hardware to see sales gains during the month was the PlayStation 3, which according to the NPD has now seen 13 consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases.

Overall, hardware and software sales were down both year-over-year and year-to-date. Sales for hardware, software and accessories combined was down 10 percent to $818.9M from last year and down 8 percent year-to-date to $8.31 billion. Consoles tried to make up for the sagging handheld market, as NPD analyst Anita Frazier notes, "The 360 and PS3 platforms both grew in dollar sales versus last year. In fact, the 360 platform contributed more than 1/3 of total new physical retail sales across hardware, software and accessories while the PS3 platform contributed over 1/4 of total dollar sales."

Oh yeah, one more thing: the top ten list of titles after the break only charts console and portable SKUs, so it's worth mentioning StarCraft 2 sold another 300K units in August, which would make it the second best-selling game for the month... if it were factored in. Frazer also stated, "PC games retail dollar sales saw a 35% increase over last August."

• 360: 357K, down 83K (-19.7%)
• DS: 343K, down 55.3K (-13.9%)
• Wii: 244K, down 9.7K (-3.8%)
• PS3: 226K, up 11K (5.1%)
• PSP: 79K, down 4.6K (-5.5%)

Continue reading August NPD: It's another mad, mad, Madden year

August NPD: It's another mad, mad, Madden year originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Street Fighter 4 iPhone adding another new challenger: E. Honda

Street Fighter 4 iPhone adding another new challenger: E. Honda originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though the scripts of most game-to-movie adaptations are written with a heavy focus on maintaining the canon and integrity of the source material, it seems ... HA! Oh, man, we almost made it through that sentence without breaking. Anyways, Resident Evil: Afterlife producer/director/writer Paul W.S. Anderson recently gushed to Reuters that much of the script for the fourth film in the franchise was deliberately penned with 3D technology in mind.

"I wrote things into this script that I knew would work well in 3D, like lots of sets with depth-like tunnels, elevator shafts, and big wide landscapes," Anderson explained. We suppose that doesn't stray too far from the actual Resident Evil games. For instance, this trailer for the film features a ton of people throwing sharp hand tools at other people -- an attack that rings familiar of Resident Evil 4, no? Oh, and let's not forget the absolutely devastating sunglasses death-fling maneuver from Resident Evil 5, seen in this spoileriffic video.

3D effects written into Resident Evil: Afterlife script originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA has announced that Need For Speed World, its MMO racer, has surpassed one million registered players since going live on July 27. With this milestone comes word that the game will soon be adding a co-op pursuit mode and expanded customization options (in addition to the already-promised new gameworld areas). Oh, and it's gone completely free-to-play.

Originally free only up to level 10 -- requiring a $20 investment for the "full" experience -- Need For Speed World has removed its base cost, although the purchase of items, power-ups, car rentals and other premium content will remain an option under the F2P model.

Need for Speed World shifts to free-to-play model, as user base passes 1 million milestone originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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