US retailer cancels preorders; tells GameSpot it is waiting to “hear further” from Ubisoft about Rainbow 6: Patriots.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots has been pulled from the database of US retailer GameStop, with all existing preorders being cancelled.

Speaking to IGN, a source said that the US retailer “actively flipped a switch” to remove Rainbow 6: Patriots from its systems.

The source continued by saying that the retailer does not remove games from major publishers without official confirmation that the title has been cancelled.

A GameStop spokesperson told GameSpot that the retailer has “stopped taking reservations as we wait to hear further from Ubisoft on an official release date for Rainbow 6: Patriots.”

When asked about the possible cancellation of the title, a Ubisoft representative added that “we have nothing further to share about Rainbow 6: Patriots at this time.”

At time of writing, no other major retailer has pulled the game from its listings.

Officially, Rainbow 6: Patriots is due to be released in 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, though Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in November 2012 that there is a “good chance” the game will be released for next-generation consoles.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

Film has now earned US$897,113 total in U.S.

Read more here: Anime News Network

NetherRealm’s DC brawler the best-selling title in region last month; overall industry sales slide 25 percent; Xbox 360 sales hit 130,000.

Injustice: Gods Among Us was April’s top-selling title in the United States, according to data released by the NPD Group today. It marks the first time since April 2011 (Mortal Kombat) that a fighting game ranked in the top spot. No specific sales figures were provided, though it is estimated to have sold 424,000 units in the month.

Rounding out the top five performers for the month were Dead Island: Riptide, BioShock: Infinite, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Defiance.

Overall, industry sales slid by 25 percent to $495.2 million. However, NPD analyst Liam Callahan points out that the sales figures make up only about half of the total consumer spend for the month.

“When taking into account our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in April such as used and rentals at $76 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including microtransactions, subscriptions, mobile apps and the consumer spend on social network games at $267 million, the total consumer spend in April is $802 million,” he said.

In addition, Callahan pointed out that the Easter holiday typically accounts for a 10 percent boost in sales for the month. Since Easter fell in March this year and in April last year, a direct comparison is “difficult,” he said.

Regarding hardware, total sales plummeted by 42 percent to $109.5 million. Microsoft was again the market leader, selling 130,000 Xbox 360 units in the month, down from 236,000 systems this time last year. Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software, and accessories) was $208 million.

Sony has not divulged PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita sales information for the month, while Nintendo reportedly sold just 55,000 Wii U units during the month, some 20,000 fewer than the 75,000 Wii systems in the period.

As for software, this category decreased 17 percent in April to $267.8 million in April. Though the overall sector declined year-over-year, sales of April 2013 titles posted positive figures over April 2012, which was led by Activision’s Prototype 2.

“Despite overall declines, April title launches in 2013 fared better than games that launched in April 2012, up 118 percent in unit sales and 130 percent in dollar sales,” Callahan said. “This increase was driven by games like Injustice: Gods Among Us, Dead Island: Riptide, and Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins.”

Separately, Nintendo announced that it has sold 2.1 million first-party 3DS games through the first four months of the year, up 52 percent over last year.

“In 2012, it took 30 weeks for Nintendo 3DS to sell 2 million units of first-party software. In 2013, the platform accomplished that same feat in 18 weeks,” Nintendo said.

Nintendo said Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins shifted nearly 94,000 combined physical and digital copies. Notably, it was released on April 24, near the end of the NPD Group’s reporting period. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon sold 140,000 units in the month (physical and digital), boosting its life-to-date total to 530,000 units.

The only Wii U title Nintendo revealed sales statistics for was New Super Mario Bros. U, which has now sold nearly 770,000 combined physical and digital units to date.

Shifting to accessories, this sector fell 19 percent to $131.4 million for April 2013.

“Though every accessory type experienced year-over-year declines in April 2013, year-to-date trending increased by over 20 percent for the combined sales of point cards, headsets/headphones, and All Other Accessories (which includes Skylanders),” Callahan said.

APRIL US GAME SALES (April 7-May 4, 2013)
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES

Total retail sales: $495.2 million (-25%)
Non-PC hardware: $109.5 million (-42%)
Non-PC software: $254.3 (-17%)
Accessories: $131.4 (19%)
Total software: $267.8 million (-17%)

TOP 10 GAMES FOR APRIL 2013
Title (Platforms) – Publisher

1. Injustice: Gods Among Us (X360, PS3, Wii U) – Warner Bros.
2. Dead Island: Riptide (X360, PS3, PC) – Deep Silver
3. BioShock: Infinite (X360, PS3, PC) – Take-Two
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (X360, PS3, PC, Wii U) – Activision Blizzard
5. Defiance – (X360, PS3, PC) – Trion Worlds
6. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS) – Nintendo
7. NBA 2K13 (X360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC) – Take-Two Interactive
8. Skylanders Giants (Wii, X360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U) – Activision Blizzard
9. Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins (3DS) – Nintendo
10. MLB 13: The Show (PS3, PS Vita) – Sony

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says Wii U sales in US down 19 percent from March.

The Wii U’s already slow sales pace didn’t get any better in the April, according to data from Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

Ahead of this week’s NPD report, Pachter released to GameSpot sister site CNET sales estimates of 55,000 units in the US for the month, down 19 percent compared to March. The original Wii again outperformed its successor, selling 75,000 units during the period, Pachter said.

The Wii U has officially sold 3.45 million units worldwide as of March 31. Nintendo has attributed the platform’s slow adoption rate to a lack of major titles and marketing failing to communicate the novelty of the system.

Nintendo plans to spark system sales by launching key first-party titles on a more regular basis moving forward, beginning with Pikmin 3 in August. The company also aims to reduce manufacturing costs to make the Wii U profitable.

Concerning competitors Microsoft and Sony, Pachter’s data today shows that the Xbox 360 was again the market leader, selling 205,000 units in the month. The PlayStation 3 moved 165,000 units in the period, according to Pachter.

The 3DS was a bright spot for Nintendo in April, with sales jumping 46 percent year-over-year to 185,000 units, Pachter said. The PlayStation Vita, on the other hand, declined 56 percent compared to last year, selling 30,000 units in the month, according to Pachter.

Pachter’s data is based on retailer checks and does not necessarily accurately reflect true sales information.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

GREE, the Japanese mobile social game publisher, has released a statement that it has laid off employees at its San Francisco. This is part of a shift in the company in which is wants to operate more efficiently.

“We have recently aligned GREE’s US studio to focus on creating the next generation of mobile social games,” said COO of GREE Anil Dharni in a statement. “This shift in focus has been clearly demonstrated by the success and growth of our games.”

“As part of ensuring that we are operating as efficiently as possible, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our work force. The employees leaving today have made great contributions to our success and we wish them all the best.”

GREE had moved its US headquarters to San Francisco last year and when it closed its mobile social gaming network, OpenFeint, it had laid off 25 employees. GREE did acquire Funzio for $210 million, but there were no reports of layoffs at the time.

Sources have told GamesIndustry International that GREE has laid off about 30 employees at its San Francisco studios.

Read more here: VG Charts

Sony ended new US console sales in January

Five months after being officially discontinued in the US after 13 years on the market to make way for the Playstation 4, GameStop has confirmed that it will officially end accepting trade-ins for the console, games and accessories next month. Hit the jump for all of the details and a rememberance.

Read more here: Crunchy Roll

Film now has US$820,742 total & opens in 11 more cities this weekend

Read more here: Anime News Network

Retails for nearly US$400

YATTAR JAPAN brings us pics and info on a super-pricey, super-deluxe, and pretty sweet Dragon Ball Z watch released to tie-up with the new Battle of Gods movie. Get a look after the jump!

Read more here: Crunchy Roll

Online Gaming 2013 report finds an increase of 5 percent over last year; PC top online platform at 68 percent.

The NPD Group today released the findings of its Online Gaming 2013 report, revealing 72 percent of gamers in the United States play online. This is an increase of 5 percent over 2012.

The report also found an increase in the number of hours spent playing games across devices surveyed, which led to an overall increase in the number of hours played per week, up 9 percent for gaming overall and up 6 percent for online gaming.

“Besides the size of the gaming audience and sales performance, one of the key metrics for the industry to watch is the time gamers spend playing games,” said NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan in a statement. “This study found that the overall amount of time spent gaming, and time spent gaming online increased across virtually every type of device, and notably so, versus 2012.”

The PC ranks as the top platform for online gaming, with 68 percent of US gamers saying they play online through their computers. This figure is down 4 percent year-over-year. Online gaming through mobile devices, however, is growing. The study found mobile devices saw a 12 percent increase in online gaming year-over-year.

In terms of buying behavior, it would seem logical that online gamers would prefer digital content over physical content, but this was not the case, according to the report. Asked if players would prefer purchasing a game in physical format or digital format, where pricing and availability were consistent, 62 percent chose the physical format.

“While many gamers prefer games in the physical format, the increased availability of digital content paired with a greater amount of connected devices has driven an increase in the number of consumers going online to access the content they want,” Callahan said.

The Online Gaming 2013 report was conducted through an online survey fielded from February 15 through March 4. The survey was completed by 8,867 individuals ages 2 and older.

Online gaming has been a focal point of discussion for next-generation consoles. Both the PlayStation 4 and next Xbox are believed to be Internet-focused, while Microsoft’s platform is rumored to require an Internet connection to function at all.

Separately, Nintendo announced last week that 80 percent of all Wii Us worldwide are connected to the Internet.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

AX is scheduled to take place July 4 to 7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center

As the guest lineup for the US west coast’s mega anime convention begins to shape up, Anime Expo has posted a guest trailer for prolific, and sometimes divisive, writer Mari Okada. Get a look after the jump.

Read more here: Crunchy Roll