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Skyrim wins Game of the Year at 2011 Spike TV Video Game Awards

It’s seems like we’ve been hearing about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim non-stop since the game’s release on November 11. Apparently, the Spike TV Video Game Awards Advisory Panel took all that chatter to heart as they awarded Bethesda’s RPG masterpiece their Game of the Year award last night. Not surprsingly, Skyrim took home Best RPG and Bethesda was awarded Studio of the Year as well.

However, the big winner of the night was Portal 2. Valve’s full-fledged retail sequel to the surprise hit Portal took home five VGAs including Best PC Game, Best Multiplayer, Best Performance by a Human Male & Female, and Best DLC.

Another big winner, believe it or not, was Bastion. The Supergiant Games-developed action RPG won for Best Downloadable Game, Best Original Score, and Best Song (“Build That Wall”). Congratulations to everyone at Supergiant, you deserved each and every one of those wins.

Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword each won two VGAs.

The complete list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)

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Spike TV VGAs: The Amazing Spider-Man battles Spider Slayers in an open world NYC

The movie tie-in game may be slowly dying, but don’t blame it on The Amazing Spider-Man. Your friendly, neighborhood wallcrawler will star in a rebooted movie franchise next July and Activision’s tie-in game will open after the events of the Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone-starring film. It seems that Norman Osborn and the mad scientists at Oscorp have unleashed the Spider Slayers on Manhattan to stop “biological attacks” (read: mutated heroes like Spider-Man and villains like The Lizard). The Slayers promptly go bonkers and Peter Parker has to pick a fight and punch out some robots.

The Amazing Spider-Man will be available in Summer 2012 for the 3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Hit the jump to view the full trailer. (more…)

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3DS sells more in first 8 months than DS did in first year

I think Black Friday needs a new name. And after their sales success in November, I think Nintendo agrees with me. Long live Green (as in money) Friday!

The Big N sold over two million consoles and handhelds last month, of which almost 800,000 were 3DS systems. Since it’s launch in late March, nearly 2.5 million 3DS systems have been sold. That total pushes it past the DS, which sold 2.37 million systems in its first year. Pretty impressive for a “failed” launch.

Several other sales milestones were set during the month of Nintenovember…

  • Super Mario 3D Land: 625,000 copies sold, making it the fastest-selling portable Super Mario title in U.S. history.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: 600,000 copies sold in its first week.
  • Wii System: 520,000 consoles sold on Black Friday, a new record for the five-year old console.

That’s right, it still prints money. Along with the rest of Nintendo’s 2011 lineup.

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Obvious News Alert! Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim top November NPD list

The NPD Group has released their report of the best-selling games in November 2011 and in a stunning upset, the number one spot went to… Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

OK, a stunning upset that is not. And the rest of the top ten wasn’t any more surprising as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim breathed fire on the number two spot and Battlefield 3 was redeployed to the front as the third best-selling game in November.

The industry’s biggest month was able to supply even more new releases for the list as Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (#4), Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (#7), Saints Row: The Third (#8), and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (#9) all earned a spot on the top ten.

In fact, November 2011 turned out to be one of the biggest months for game sales ever. Anita Frazier, a spokesperson for The NPD Group, said, “This November marks the best November on record for sales of new physical content.”

Here’s the full top ten:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC)
2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
3. Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
4. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)
5. Just Dance 3 (Wii, Xbox 360)
6. Madden NFL 12 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)
7. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)
8. Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
9. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
10. Batman: Arkham City (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

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Nintendo Download: 12/8/11

It’s Thursday and Nintendo has added another batch of games you’ve never heard of to the 3DS eShop, DSiWare Shop, and Wii Shop. Although, to be fair, Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder has had a pretty successful life on the PSP and mobile devices.

Here’s all you need to know about this week’s new releases:

Pushmo (3DS eShop) – Push, pull and climb through incredible puzzle-like climbing toys called Pushmo. Enjoy adorable characters, charming 3D graphics and endless replay value.

Castle Conqueror: Against (DSiWare) – You are a great warrior from an ancient tribe. The god of the island bestows his blessing upon you, giving you the power to curse the invaders and save your tribe.

Word Searcher IV (DSiWare) – You’ll need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles.

Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder (WiiWare) – Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder is a tower defense video game developed by several Polish and Hungarian outsourced programmers of iFun4all team, in the cheapest way you can imagine. What’s the so-called brilliant goal of the game? You would never guess. It is about destroying all enemies! The same well-known thrilling story, hordes of cold-blooded enemies trying to survive the Armageddon!

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Wait! Shigeru Miyamoto isn’t stepping down!

It seems that Shigeru Miyamoto himself doesn’t even know when Shigeru Miyamoto is planning to retire.

A few hours after Wired broke the news that Miyamoto was planning to step down from his position as the company’s Managing Director soon, Nintendo has issued a “correction” declaring that to be untrue. Speaking to Reuters, a Nintendo spokesperson denied every part of the Wired interview:

“This is absolutely not true. There seems to have been a misunderstanding. He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation. He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned.”

This is a far cry from Miyamoto’s own words to Wired, which makes me think Nintendo is doing a little damage control. And why not? The news of Miyamoto’s pseudo-retirement caused the company’s stock to fall two percent today.

For the record, here’s what Miyamoto told Wired:

“Inside our office, I’ve been recently declaring, ‘I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire.’ I’m not saying that I’m going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position.”

Sounds like a retirement announcement to me.

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii |

Shigeru Miyamoto stepping down as Managing Director of Nintendo

Shigeru Miyamoto has guided the good ship Nintendo for 30 years now, practically since the beginning of the company’s forays into video games. But now, after creating Donkey Kong, Mario, Link, Star Fox, the Pikmin, and countless others, the famed developer is stepping down from his position as Managing Director of Nintendo EAD.

“Inside our office, I’ve been recently declaring, ‘I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire,'” Miyamoto told Wired. “I’m not saying that I’m going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position.”

Miyamoto still plans to work for Nintendo and he still plans to develop new games, but he also revealed that he plans to move on to smaller projects, possibly even something he can do by himself:

“What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself,” Miyamoto said. “Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.”

Work on this new project will likely begin in 2012, and Miyamoto told Wired that he’d like to show the game off publicly after a year.

You know how people are always going on about something insignificant being “the end of an era?” This announcement is truly the end of an era. It’s my belief that no one has done more for video games than Shigeru Miyamoto and his absence from the grand stage will be felt for decades to come.

But, to paraphrase the man himself, even if it’s delayed forever, I’m sure his next project will be great.

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii |

Activision unveiling Amazing Spider-Man trailer at Spike TV VGAs

Activision released the first gameplay trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man during the New York Comic-Con (check it out above). Today, they’ve announced that a “WORLD PREMIERE EXCLUSIVE TRAILER” (emphasis theirs) for the game will make its debut during this Saturday’s Spike TV Video Game Awards.

Sadly, it’ll probably end up being the same trailer as a teaser at the game’s official website features footage identical to the Comic-Con trailer.

But we’ve also learned that screenwriter Seamus Kevin Fahey will be crafting the story of the Beenox-developed game, which will take place after the events of the new movie. His previous credits include episodes of “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena” and “Battlestar Galactica.”

Gamers will be able to websling all around an open world Manhattan next Summer, when The Amazing Spider-Man comes to the 3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360.

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