All consoles that did not get their own version of DBZ: Burst Limit must be really kicking themselves. Although DBZ series is pretty old, it is so ridiculously amazing that even after 20 years the Anime is still kicking. The game has had a dream start, it managed to reach the top of the sales charts in Japan. DBZ Burst Limit defeated Sega’s other new title, Shiren 3 for the Wii, whcih is pretty impressive. 

I didn’t expect Burst Limit to do so well, it didn’t look any different from the old Budokai games, but the game silenced most critis with an overall 81% at Metacritic.com.

Looking at the hardware market as a whole, PSP sales dropped by almost 10,000 (from 71,986 to 62,016) and so did those of Wii, which dropped by 6000. Xbox360 and PS3 saw their sales improve thanks to DBZ: Burst Limit (for PS3) and Ninja Gaiden2 (for Xbox360).

The PS3 has been doing pretty well in Japanand with DBZ: Burst Limit the situation can only get better. What’s interesting to me is that the PS3 globally is catching up to the 360, which had a year head start. There is little under 6 million separating them, which will no doubt get substantially closer due to the picture perfect offering that is Metal Gear Solid4. Ninja Gaiden could have been riding its way on top of the charts had it not been launched in the least favorite console platform in Japan, which is Xbox360. With the healthy response that NG2 is receiving, we might see them substantially improve their sales in Japan in the weeks to come.

PS3 fans, I’m sure, can’t wait for MGS4 and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory to be launched.

The football fans have taken the matter from forums to court by filing a suit against Redwood City-based EA Inc. The gamers from California and Washington D.C. are very unhappy about the anti-competitive conduct, as they call it of the E.A. Inc.

E.A. had acquired exclusive NFL license in 2005.It had slashed the price of Madden 2005from 49.95$ to 29.95$ in competition to Take-Two Interactive Inc. They could have continued to compete by raising the quality or by offering the game, Madden NFL 2006 at reduced prices but instead they have raised the prices by 70% after entering into exclusive agreements with associations in the United States like the National Football League, the Arena Football League, and NCAA Football which has caused a fierce debate between the gamers and E.A.

The only problem with the class action suits is that NFL wants one company (E.A.) to produce its game and not the other-way round. The NFL is not the only form of football, EA is in no way preventing anyone from making a game based around the rules of the NFL, they just can’t use the NFL license. The NFL can give rights to its trademarks, names, and properties to anyone it chooses, or denied them to anyone it chooses.

Do you think the E.A is really going to pay for it ?

Sony has always promised gamers better content on the PSN, the Xbox Live rival has a long way to go, before it can match content on the Live service. A new initative called Qore will be launching on the PSN, as described on the blog it is a highly interactive, monthly lifestyle gaming program covering the world inside PLAYSTATION. The following is the official blog post:

“Our premier episode will be available on Thursday, June 5. The premier episode includes in-depth exclusive and never-before released content on upcoming PlayStation titles such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Secret Agent Clank, Soul Calibur 4 and Afro Samurai, as well as the latest Blu-ray Disc trailers, an exclusive SOCOM: Confrontation theme with an invitation to the SOCOM: Confrontation beta, art galleries and other surprises. We also know that many of you are big fans of Veronica Belmont, the widely-known host of numerous online video programs and podcasts and an avid gamer, so we’ve chosen her to be your host.


From Crackle: Qore preview

The catch here is that the service is not free and one needs to pay up to $24 for the full years subscription, monetized content isnt new on the web, but this is still new for a console. you can get a sneak peek at the show above and decide if you would actually pay for the service.

While the PS3’s online component, the PlayStation Network, has a long way to go before it can compare to Xbox Live, it has one major advantage, it is free. And apparently gamers in Japan have been signing up by the boatload with the PSN’s Japanese accounts reaching one million users since it’s inception in November 2006. Not bad at all.

To celebrate, Sony is giving away one thousand ¥1,000 (around Rs. 400) PLAYSTATION Network Tickets for use in the PLAYSTATION Store.  So if you got a Japanese PSN account, now would be a good time to log on.

Sony has received its own share of criticism for their Playstation Store and its download service, first the dated design, then the long load times and then the limited content. well things are shaping up to be okay for the PS3 and its download service. First a new look for the store and now a rumor about Sony offering movies and TV shows on PSN, according to a report on Slashdot:

“One of the service’s greatest obstacles may be Sony’s own culture. Sony Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Stringer has been battling a corporate silo mentality in which divisions within his company work in isolation, undermining new initiatives. The PlayStation group in Foster City, Calif., has been notoriously aloof. Once, a former executive said, it scuttled plans for a movie subscription service for the PlayStation Portable even though Sony Pictures had supported the initiative. What is more, the company, looking to safeguard its film, television and music holdings, has been an aggressive champion of copyright protection, often, critics suggest, at the cost of technological innovation.”

Lets hope that the service can compete against the might Xbox Live and offer some visaul relief to PS3 owners. Do I hear “World Championship Beach Volley Ball”

The PS store will be offline for about 15 hours on 15 April, this is great news for all PS3 owners, as this means that the much awaited New look PS Store is on its way. The PS store has always been criticized for its dated looks and confusing navigations, a few hours later, PS gamers will finally be able to enjoy a better looking store. in case you don’t own a PS3, here is some infro about the PS Store via Wiki:

“The PlayStation Store for PS3 is an online virtual market that contains both free of charge and for sale downloadable content. The first is mostly PlayStation 3 game demos, various HD trailers and other games related goodies while the latter is emulated PlayStation or Arcade games and PlayStation 3 downloadable games or add-on. Some contents, being special game demos or public beta, have a monthly limited availability. Once removed from the store they still can be downloaded from a personal or guest user Download List log. Due to DRM monitoring, one’s bought content can be downloaded on up to five different PlayStation 3 using a guest user account’s Download List log. The only items that cannot be downloaded to multiple PlayStation 3s are the PSN games Warhawk and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue”

Looking forward to this much awaited upgrade, lets hope it will silence the critics for a little while before they come up with something new.