The NPD Group recently released their tracked sales numbers for April 2008, for the four week tracking period that ends on May 3rd, 2008. Many thanks to sonycowboy at NeoGAF and the NPD Group for the numbers.

April saw the release of two major games: Grand Theft Auto IV, which shattered industry records, and Mario Kart Wii, the latest installment in Nintendo's Mario Kart franchise. You would think that there would be strong sales all around for the three current generation consoles, but ...

Rumours are currently circulating that Kojima might be planning MGS5, but in a recent interview with the UK edition of PSM magazine he expressed interest in developing Zone of the Enders 3, saying it might be good to change to outer space, or robots, or things like that.

Game Informer recently reported that Guitar Hero 4 will be adding a drum set and now the first picture of the drum set has been released. Red Octane plans to overtake the competition with the help of an ex-MTV games employee. The person who designed the drums was John Devecha, who also helped create the drums for MTV's Drumescape game. The drums use three pads, two cymbals, and one foot petal. Also, Activision won't let players use the drums from Rock Band.

"Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Sony's recent PlayStation Day Nigel Kershaw, MotorStorm Pacific Rift's game director, has revealed what it's like to develop for the PlayStation 3.

When asked if MotorStorm Pacific Rift is pushing the PS3 Kershaw said: "The first game pushed the PS3, this is pushing the PS3, our next game is going to push the PS3. It's not so much about pushing the hardware, it's about learning how to use the hardware in the best possible fashion."

He added: "We've realised..."

Today Sony has released there earnings for the fiscal year ending on March 31st 2008 and believe it or not they are in the green. Sony have reported that there operating income has been increased by 491% translating to £1.837 billion. There was a sizeable loss in the gaming segment (most likely due to the selling the PS3's at a loss) but both the PSP and PS2 were still bringing in strong sales.

Well, this sounds interesting.

It appears the next 'true sequel' (read: not Guitar Hero: Aerosmith) of the Guitar Hero franchise will feature custom soundtracks. So, you and your band will be able to upload custom instrumental tracks that you created. Pretty rad, neh?

It isn't surprising that the vocal aspect would be excluded, since (as the article states) it would be hard to do voice (to text) recognition (even modern software is a bit iffy, especially considering different people h...

"Rock Band may be currently cornering the full-band music game genre, but Activision and Neversoft have come out swinging, revealing loads of new info on the next installment in the franchise, aimed at unseating EA and MTV games' reigning rockstar simulator.

According to a cover-story spread in this month's issue of Game Informer magazine, Guitar Hero IV will introduce massive changes to the traditionally guitar-focused series, starting with a drum set addition meant to knock Rock Band's ki..."

"It’s also a great time to discuss the games because EA has lost their licensing agreement for the games and Activision is taking over. So we’re going to be seeing some new stuff from the franchise hopefully. Plus, despite being an amalgamation of guilty pleasures, the original Fleming books are experiencing a sort of literary renaissance at the moment, the films are both culturally significant and still relevant (thank you, Casino Royale) and for a while Bond basically defined what multiplaye..."

With the upcoming release of Fatal Frame IV, Gaming_Issues has given a quick rundown of the entire series, for anyone who hasn't played the games and/or has no idea what they are about.

(go to source for full article, including the Pros and Cons of each game)

You can also read IGN's rundown of the series here.

Sean Decker(DICE General Manager) talks about the game, and how its going to utilize each console. He also praises the PS3 and what the Cell Processor can do. Sean says that "The other thing is the Cell really allows us to push the resolution of our textures much higher and we've taken full advantage of that as well".

Sean also likes the Sixaxis feature and will utilize this into the game as well. Each console will have its own flair or be different, where none will be better to the other.

"Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the "greatest" Star Wars game ever made, according to the game's producer.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at an Activision/LucasArts event in London last week, Cameron Suey, the producer in charge of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, said that in his opinion The Force Unleashed, which sees you play Darth Vader's previously unknown secret apprentice in an adventure that takes place in between the two movie trilogies, has the greatest story of any Star ..."

You probably heard about the controversy about Gametrailers using PS3 footage of Grid on the 360 comparison video. It was all over the web. Well Gametrailers responds in an interview with Joystiq. They said it was an honest mistake. The Video editor they hired was just a video editor and not a video game fan and could not tell the difference. Well there you have it, controversy over...or is it?

"The UK Official PlayStation Mag has got its Exclusive Review, and if there was ever any doubt, it has recieved a perfect 10.

Other reviews are:
MLB 08 The show - 9
Echochrome - 8
Race Driver GRID - 9
Iron Man - 4
Call of Duty map pack - 8
Crisis Core FF VII - 8
American Idol Encore - 6
Singstar Summer Party - 7
Brooktown High - 6
Reel Fishing - 2
King of Clubs - 3
Silent Hill Origins - 6
Fading Shadows - 4"

Could Force Unleashed be one of the best Star Wars games ever made? Cameron Suey Producer of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions certainly gives that impression in this interview. He also talks about the future of the Star Wars franchise in the game industry and says "You might see less and better" meaning there might be less Star Wars games in future, but they'll be of better quality.

Few more screenshots of The Force Unleashed for all you Star Wars fans. The game - developed and published by LucasArts alongside Dark Horse Comics, Lego, Hasbro, and Del Rey Books - will be released mid-Septemeber, and the plot will focus on Darth Vader's secret apprentice.

"And to wrap things up today, here's "The ABCs of Gaming," from a t-shirt design contest at Shirt.woot.com. The contest closed this week. The latest on the site shows another shirt claiming 2nd place in this derby so, who knows, maybe it won. I'm sure the ordering information will follow.

For now, take a long look and see if you can name all 26. I can name about 19 offhand. There's a spoiler solution after the jump."

This article discusses ways to improve cognitive skills using video game guides, especially targeting areas impacted by learning disabilities. Why not use strategy guides for games young people are already playing. Author gives suggestions to parents for using guides with young people to build reading, analysis, and language skills.
The author has a PhD in Special Education and Rehabilitation Psychology.

"Griffith said that CoD5 would be available on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and PC. That pretty much covers every platform but the PSP. Why this is, is anyone’s guess. Griffith also pointed out that CoD5 will be using the same game engine that was used in CoD4. As for the game’s setting, “We’ll bring the intensity of the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare title to a new military theater to engage our significantly larger user base which nearly doubled last year as new users came into the fran..."

"Listening to the gamespot podcast with Rob Yescombe, he said that they have already started work on Time Splitters 4 and a Lucas Art 'secret project'


YES!!! TIME SPLITTERS 4 IN THE WORKS!!!"

""

"PC
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Ford Racing Offroad

PS2
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

PS3
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Xbox 360
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Wii
Castle of Shikigami III, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Deca Sports, We Ski

DS
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Drone Tactics, Myst"

"SEC filings have revealed that Electronic Arts borrowed $1 billion from Morgan Stanley and other lenders to help finance a possible acquisition of Take-Two.

"There's no news here," said EA VP of communications Jeff Brown. "This is just a process point on something we announced in February."

With $2.3 billion on hand in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, EA already has the funds available to do the deal as it currently stands. With the deal not contingent on financing, wh..."

Ah, this is a nice blast from the past. A batch of Ghostbusters concept art has been released, and they show some familiar ghosts that players will have to defeat as well as the good ol' Ectomobile.

With Ghostbusters getting positive previews already, it certainly looks like fans won't be disappointed.

(go to source for all images)

"Sony announced today a major milestone for Polyphony Digital's banner racing series, Gran Turismo. The series has, as of May 9, crossed the 50 million shipment mark worldwide.

This figure includes shipments for seven titles, going back to the PlayStation original and continuing on to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Here's a game-by-game and region-by-region look.

Gran Turismo (PlayStation)
Total: 10.85 million
North America: 3.99 million
Europe: 4.30 million
Japan: 2.55 million
Asi..."

Playstation's big boss Kaz Hirai only recently announced that he believes the PS3 will win the console 'race'.
But he's not just content with the PS3 beating Nintendo and Microsoft - He wants the PS3 to beat every form of entertainment ...