Believe it or not, the seven-year-old Playstation 2 is still alive and kicking, vying for consumer dollars this holiday season alongside the Wii, Xbox 360, and big brother PS3. COO of Crave Entertainment Rob Dyer told GamesIndustry.biz that the holiday market consists of four consoles and two portables, predicting that his company will profit most from software sold for the PS2, Wii, and handhelds this season.

Indeed, the PS2 continues to be supported by stellar software, from sports titles like Madden 2008, to fantasy titles like Odin Sphere and Persona 3, to big-budget phenomena like the upcoming Guitar Hero III. With software sales predictions listing PS2 as a close fourth this past month, it looks like maybe the head of Sega wasn't so crazy after all.

MCV reports European tracking firm Chart Track informed them that the PS3 has seen a 178% increase in sales recently. They reached this conclusion calculating the "week-on-week PS3 hardware sales" following the introduction of the 60GB bundle and the new 40GB unit. It sounds like some fancy math is going on there, but we'll take any good news on the PS3 at this point.

Chart Track says the introduction of the 40GB PS3 created the third largest hardware sales week for the system behind the console's first two weeks on sale. Software sales also increased as Resistance: Fall of Man jumped the charts from #22 to #8. Heavenly Sword and Motorstorm also saw increases. It appears Sony is finally getting the PS3 into a price range consumers are comfortable with.

They are, according to top executives in the film industry. Ticket sales for the first week of October are at their lowest since 1999, and the industry is worried that those dang video games might have something to do with it.

Advertising Age reports that ticket sales were down 27% from last year, and that the likely suspect is the recently-released Halo 3, with over $300 million in sales and countless hours of multiplayer mayhem keeping potential movie-goers strapped to their couches. Now, in a wholly different way, video games are on the radar of the film industry, as studios begin to sweat the unforeseen competition. Oh, for the days when piracy was the only concern!

[Via CVG]

How much manpower is Hideo Kojima throwing at Metal Gear Solid 4 to ensure quality? Over 200, according to Kojima Productions' Ryan Payton. In an interview with Gamasutra, Payton noted how important the game is to Sony, remarking that "the way things are turning out, this could be the first 'must have' PlayStation 3 title on store shelves. Or, if not the first, then the second or the third."

For clarification, Payton said that the massive team are all working in the same location on the same title, making the size all the more impressive. He did note, however, that following the release of MGS4 the team size will likely get "a little bit leaner and meaner."

Although not confirmed, we suspect Kojima Productions currently has the following quote written above its front doors: "No retreat, no surrender. That is Kojima law. And by Kojima law, we will stand and fight...and die. A new age has begun: an age of freedom. And all will know, that 200 developers, gave their last breath to defend it!"

Remember those hours you stayed up playing Halo 2 merely thinking you were having a good time? Shadow of the Colossus? Smash Bros? Tetris? We hate to tell you, but you weren't enjoying yourself. That's right, you were getting bored. We're sorry to be the ones to break it to you.

It was Nintendo of America's soon-to-be-former Marketing VP Perrin Kaplan who infomed us of our jaded dispositions. Speaking to Ad Age, which named Nintendo the Marketer of the Year, Kaplan said, "A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet."

We know the role of a marketer is to sell their product with as much hyperbole as possible, but doesn't this seem a bit short-sighted (not to mention somewhat self-deprecating, given Nintendo's prominence in gaming history)? If only Kaplan wasn't leaving, she might have filled Ken Kutaragi's shoes well.

[Via Next-Gen; image from Halo Nights]

To be honest, we're kinda sick of reading (and writing!) about Nintendo's newfound riches. It's like that kid you knew in school whose Dad was a big shot and everyone couldn't help but constantly prattle on about their extravagant vacations and new cars. Just like that. Except they're a Japanese video game titan and instead of extravagant vacations, it's their ¥10 trillion ($85 billion) market capitalization.

For you kids keeping score at home, you can slide Nintendo up to the number three spot on your wall chart of most valuable Japanese companies, right there behind Toyota and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (that's Japan's largest bank, but you already knew that). Of course, Reuters expounds some 500 words on the tale of the once-struggling gaming company whose focus on easy-to-play games has not only brought smiles to the faces of elderly relatives everywhere but riches to their shareholders.

And, of course, every fairy tale has an evil wizard ... cue the Dark Lord Sony. The Big N, despite having less than an eighth of the revenue of their Japanese competitor Sony, has "almost double" the market capitalization thanks to the efforts (and money printing capabilities) of the Wii and DS. Make sure you're writing all this down for those internet flame wars you've been practicing for.

When the Wii started its march to dominance and began trouncing the 360, it was kind of sweet. It was like a come-from-behind underdog story where the camp for fat kids managed to beat the camp for rich athletic kids in the big softball game simply by working hard and believing in themselves. But now, it's almost become a little sad. The rich kids all lost their scholarships and waistlines and started working at Citgo, while the fat kids grew progressively fatter thanks to crap like Carnival Games and teasing the masses with incredible-looking titles that they will, sadly, not play in their lifetimes.

But according to Michael Pachter, the formerly rich and athletic kids may have won a round last month against their portly nemeses. The video game analyst believes that the 360 will have beaten the Wii 450,000 to 425,000 when sales numbers for September have been added up. It's sure to be a nice boost for the dethroned pretty boys, but since last month also marked the release of Halo 3, they perhaps shouldn't get too comfortable at the top.

Well, it was interesting while it lasted.

Unwilling to let the PSP reign supreme a fourth week, the DS Lite just barely clambers its way back onto the Japanese sales chart throne, still warm from the months of prior supremacy. If role-playing games have taught us anything, defeating the final boss is but a prelude to his second and much more powerful form. And if there's any knowledge to be gained from movies, it's that a foiled villain is rarely foiled so much as he is inconvenienced.

"From hell's heart, I stab at PSP!"

- DS Lite: 87,445 14,550 (19.96%)
- PSP: 86,895 15,914 (15.48%)
- Wii: 20,704 3,439 (14.24%)
- PS3: 10,822 2,283 (17.42%)
- PS2: 10,446 2,534 (19.52%)
- Xbox 360: 1,547 3,668 (70.34%)
- GBA SP: 195 146 (297.96%)
- Gamecube: 109 36 (49.32%)
- DS Phat: 90 60 (200.00%)
- Game Boy Micro: 47 182 (79.48%)
- GBA: 0 41 (100.00%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts

Being writers in the game industry, we'll sometimes find ourselves on the business end of a number of interesting, many times unexpected freebies from PR companies. To take a page from Douglas Adams, most times these can be considered 'mostly harmless,' from gerbil food sent to promote Hamtaro to Psi-Ops' jelly brain in a dish.

That said, we've somehow managed to get ourselves onto what must be the most random PR list of all with publisher THQ, as the company just rushed delivered via UPS a large brown box containing not a game nor some widget promoting an upcoming release, but rather a bottle of thyme branded with the logo for Disney's Ratatouille, a game that was not only panned by critics, but also came out nearly four months ago, which for a licensed product makes it the retail equivalent of penny loafers or Rainbow Brite. Still, thyme does smell an awful lot like those pizza scratch n'sniff stickers we used to collect in grade school, so maybe THQ was going for a retro theme that was simply lost on us until just now.

While still poised to work on a new racing franchise, recently-acquired developer Bizarre Creations has a second, action-oriented team that will "probably be working on a property that [new parent company] Activision already owns," according to executive vice president of publishing Robin Kaminsky (via Develop).

As noted by Develop, major Activision properties include Call of Duty (staying firmly with Infinity Ward, we'd presume), Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero and a multitude of license titles. Could Bizarre be assigned a James Bond game? The Club, Bizzare's arcade shooter, is scheduled for early 2008.

Mama always told us that if everyone else is jumping off a bridge we should do it too. And so we give you the "news" that retirement-bound Nintendo marketing VP George Harrision told Reuters that the Wii is staying at $249. Harrison says that the Wii is still selling out everywhere and there's no need to drop the price at this point. The man is absolutely right.

Oh heck, while we're reporting the obvious: The PS3 is still too expensive (hopefully not for long), Microsoft won't port Halo 3 to PS3 -- ever, the PS3 will not be getting rid of Blu-ray and the Wiimote eats batteries like a fat kid at a buffet. We're sure there's more obvious news we can stumble upon today, but we're pretty sure saying the Wii won't get a price drop is definitely in the top three.

Also discussed during EA's BioWare/Pandemic conference call was the fate of the (thus far) Xbox 360-exclusive Mass Effect. While Microsoft is still publishing the first installment of the game (which is due November 20) – now that the previously BioWare-owned IP belongs to EA – Gamasutra notes that it "would conceivably from here out be EA published."

If one examines EA's publishing practices, it isn't difficult to assume that this would also conceivably be a multi-platform title, meaning Microsoft may have just lost one of their biggest exclusives. Will we see a PS3 sequel at parity with the 360? Or perhaps a Wii version: Mass Wiifect ... over a dozen minigames ... in space!

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson tells Joystiq that while the publisher has not "announced specifics regarding sequels" to Mass Effect, it will be "talking to EA and BioWare in the weeks to come." In addition, Microsoft remains "committed to the franchise's long term success."

Update 2: BioWare tells GameDaily that the developer's "focus is pure and simple; it's to deliver the best game possible for our fans with Mass Effect, and that's an Xbox 360 exclusive." Currently, there are no plans to extend the franchise to PS3.

With the gaming world still reeling over this afternoon's purchase of BioWare and Pandemic by EA, the major publisher/developer held a conference call discussing its plans for the studios, calling the acquisition "mutually beneficial" for all parties.

Says EA CEO John Riccitiello, "We bring a lot to the table ... we simplify the process of courting publishers, basically taking it to zero." He adds that EA, being the publishing giant that it is, can "reach places where [BioWare and Pandemic] don't get to so we can build their properties bigger." As for what EA itself gets out of the deal, the exec noted matter of factly that EA is "not in the open world action-adventure business. These guys are the leaders ... this strengthens us where we need to be stronger."

Look SCi, Ubisoft wanted me to tell you that they really just want to be friends. Sure, you both had some laughs, and there was a time when things might have even gotten serious, but Ubi has moved on, and really, you should too.

What's all this about? Well it turns out that despite last month being linked to possibly purchasing Edios and Lara Croft parent SCi, French-based developer/publisher Ubisoft has now lost interest in any potential deal, with a spokesperson telling Reuters that the company "has no intention of making an offer for SCI-Eidos." Ubisoft was one of a handful of firms that had been reportedly looking at SCi as a possible acquisition, with other companies including current SCi shareholder Time Warner, as well as Electronic Arts and an unspecified Chinese firm, so it will be interesting to see how all this shakes out as we wait to see just where Lara Croft will call home. Until then, keep your chin up Lara. As they say, there's other fish in the sea.

Monolithic publisher EA has today announced an agreement with Elevation Partners to purchase VG Holding Corp. -- a move which sees EA becoming the owner of both BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios. A shocking move to be certain, but one that should make complete sense to a publisher looking to strengthen its lineup of role-playing games and action titles. BioWare, currently finishing development on November's Microsoft-published Mass Effect, has proven itself to be one of the leading developers in the genre, and Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries franchise has shown an alarming propensity for blowing things up.

Closing January 2008, the purchase will cost EA up to $620 million in cash payment to the stockholders of VG Holding Corp., with another $155 million in equity going to "certain employees" of VG Holding Corp., "subject to time-based or performance-based vesting criteria." EA has also agreed to lend VG Holding Corp $35 million through the closing of the purchase. Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp, thinks it's all money well spent. "This vision is consistent with BioWare's focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world," he says. "It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin."

EA will hold a conference call later today to discuss the acquisition. Oh, and here are all the exclamation marks we wanted to put in the headline: !!!!!!!!!!