Next Generation is hosting an article attempting to prognosticate the spread of review scores for the PS3 and Wii. Author Matt Matthews does this by examining historical precedents for previous system launches. From the article: "Next month Sony's PlayStation 3 will launch with only two games which will get an average review score of 90% or better. On the other hand, Nintendo's Wii will have three games which will average scores of 90% or better. And it is almost certain that each of those consoles will launch with two absolute stinkers, games which consistently score below 60%... How can we know this? Because history tells us that this is what happens with console launch titles." For even more analysis of the data, Matthews has additional charts on curmudgeon gamer.

GameDailyBiz is carrying a story looking at the importance of demoing a game before purchase, a factor apparently crucial in game buying decisions for many gamers. The NPD research found that demoing a game was even more important than the price of the game, when buying a title for yourself. Price was the ultimate deciding factor in game purchasing for gifts, however. From the article: "This kind of finding could be particularly important to publishers trying to determine the best way to divide up their marketing spend. Perhaps publishers would be better off putting more resources into providing gamers with a high-quality demo instead of investing heavily in a huge ad campaign. With in-store kiosks, Xbox Live Marketplace and the online features of the soon-to-be-launched PlayStation 3 and Wii, it's becoming easier than ever for publishers to distribute their game demos directly to the audience they're after."

The next-gen beauty Assassin's Creed has been bumped out further into 2007, reports Gamespot. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is receiving similar treatment. Ubisoft is filling the hole in their lineup with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, which is some consolation. From the article: "GRAW 2 isn't the only thing Ubi is prepping for gamers' springtime. Also coming by the end of March 2007 will be seven more Wii games from the publisher, including 'one nonannounced new brand.' With the seven previously announced Wii launch games from the company, Ubisoft expects to have 14 Wii titles in stores before April 2007."

conq writes "BusinessWeek has a gallery on the history of console wars. Starting with the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, all the way to the 2006 Wii. The details on the Magnavox Odyssey: 'This is where it all began. Game guru Ralph Baer's invention for Magnavox brought video gaming out of the arcades and into the living room. As the first home video game console, the Odyssey had no audio output and could only display black and white images. But the system came with translucent TV screen overlays to simulate full-color graphics in games like tennis and hockey. The Odyssey's sales were less than impressive: Magnavox had sold about 350,000 units by 1975.'"

Gamespot is reporting that Nielsen is now going to be tracking game play statistics. The same 10,000 sample households that dictate what succeeds and fails in the television world will also have their game playing habits recorded by the company. From the article: "The rating system will monitor the goings-on of game consoles, including next-generation models such as Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. Data will include which games are played most frequently, along with corresponding information about the demographics of the players. The video-game rating system is also intended to offer insight into what television and Internet trends the players follow. Called GamePlay Metrics, it will be the first project to come out of Nielsen's new Wireless and Interactive Services Division, which itself launched today."

SeventhStar writes "Siliconera has an article with a long list of exclusive titles broken down by next-gen console. The Playstation 3 only has a few exclusive games at the moment; 29 are third-party, with 12 are made by Sony. Meanwhile Microsoft has 48 Xbox 360 exclusive games, with 23 of them are developed internally. However it looks like the real winner for exclusive games is the Wii. There are 39 titles only for the Wii and even ported games are going to play differently. When you adjust the amount of exclusive games on the Xbox 360 for its one year head start, the Wii has more original games coming out for it. Since console exclusives help determine which console to purchase is the Wii in a good spot?"

Roger Helgeson at eToyChest has up a multi-part look at this past weekend's DigitalLife Summit. A consumer games event thrown by Ziff Davis, his write-ups include general impressions from the hall, and commentary on the public's perspective of the gaming world. From the article: "My assumption was verified when I arrived Saturday afternoon. The same booths existed with the same games and gadgetry, but the show floor was now jam packed with people. Now, there were lines almost everywhere. The PlayStation 3 and HD-DVD areas reminded me of Nintendo's deathtrap Wii booth back at E3, with people lined up in square perimeters. There were also more shows and public speeches and, it seemed, more contests. Additionally, the tournament I had previously attempted to qualify for was now filled to the brim with potential contestants. This time around, family-oriented gadgets were being promoted in full force, especially mobile phone and camera/camcorder technology. There was no spot on the main concourse in which someone would be out of earshot of one of the various camcorder booths. Additionally, there was much more swag on Saturday than on Thursday, though 'much more' didn't really amount to that much: a few extra pens, Verizon was handing out a few game packs on CD, and so forth."

Via 1up, an interview with Chris Lewis, head of Xbox Development in Europe. Along with some interesting discussion of X06 and aiming games at European markets, Lewis confirms what most people could reasonably expect: Microsoft is already hard at work on the next Xbox system. From the 1up article: "'You can't sit back on your laurels in this business - the consumer won't let you, the developers certainly won't let us. So that's happening right now,' ... In order to remain competitive, hardware manufacturers have to start thinking about the next cycle the moment work finishes on the current one. Ideas for the following generation were likely generated during the development of Xbox 360, and you can surely bet the same situations cropped up in the R&D rooms of Sony and Nintendo while working on PlayStation 3 and Wii."

With the advent of new input styles in the PS3 and Wii, many gamers are wondering what it will be like to actually play with the new controllers. Via Aeropause, an article on IGN says that the SIXAXIS controller is flimsy and poorly designed. Meanwhile, via Joystiq, an article on British site Entertainmentwise reports that the Wii isn't physically exhausting at all, as some people feared. After two hours of playtime, in fact, they loved the experience. From the article: "Some gamers have shown concern that the activity level required to play Wii games, especially the sporty titles, may be too high. There are concerns that you have to stand for long periods of time and use body actions such as swinging your arm above your head or at the side of your body. After playing non stop for two hours, did this happen to me? No. I'm not exactly Wonder woman in terms of fitness and I can assure you, as a regular player there was enough action to warrant perhaps making sure one has access to a tap before playing (you're going to want a drink if you play for as long as we did!) and possibly ensuring plenty of moving around space in your living room. The key to the Wii control is that even the most active title on the launch line up, Wii Sports, doesn't require you to make large body motions unless you want to."

1up had a chance to speak with Clover Studios before the word came down of the studio closure and the departure of some key designers. The interview with Clover's president Atsushi Inaba touches on game concepts, the next-gen consoles, and their thoughtful development process. From the article: "When we started development on Okami the Wii didn't exist. We had no idea what the Wii was. If the Wii had existed when we began designing Okami, then we probably would have considered doing something with the controller. It's really hard to say how that would have worked out, as Okami is very finely tuned for the PS2 system. While I agree with you the Wii controller would have been interesting for using the Celestial Brush, for instance, at its heart Okami is an action adventure RPG." Sad to think we'll never see an Okami for the Wii, now.

1up has a hilarious article up looking at the state of Wii Preorders across the U.S.. Despite the fact that preorders began (and likely ended) this morning at EBs and Gamestops across the country, the employees of the megalithic game store were less than fully prepared. From the article: "WEST VIRGINIA: GameStop #1330: 'We don't know. I mean, we're gonna be doing reserves. We're just waiting for them to tell us we can.' WISCONSIN: EB Games #4626: 'It looks more like we'll just sell that one. Because there will be 2 to 4 million units available on launch day, and EB/GameStop will be getting 70% of them that first come first serve would be doable. Even a smaller store like ours could be getting upwards of 50 units day one.' WYOMING: EB Games #4294: 'Any day now, man. Any day now.'" Despite my wife's best efforts, I missed out on a preorder by three people in line. Stupid cross-country trips.

Punkster812 writes "Tomorrow, Friday October 13th, EB Games and Gamestop will begin taking pre-orders. They say they have very limited numbers and will do a first come first serve. A $50 deposit is the minimum down payment for a console and they suggest for you to call your local store for availability. Their online pre-order information will be released at a future date. For full information, visit EB Games or Gamestop for full details."

LifesBlood writes "The PlayStation 3 operating system used at the Tokyo Game Show was apparently not final. Sony confirmed to GameDaily BIZ that the company has been in the process of finalizing it and that just like the Wii's OS, it will be upgradeable in the future." From the article: "We were told that this should not affect PS3 production whatsoever. Moreover, SCEA does not believe that the state of the OS at TGS had anything to do with the system resets or other glitches that some witnessed. Sony reiterated that it was the confined cases and other unfriendly trade show conditions that caused problems with the consoles. In addition, Sony said it has the capability to upgrade the PS3's OS after the console launches through its online network, memory stick files or Blu-ray discs."

Gamasutra has up an article, their latest in the 'Analyze This' series, exploring whether gamers are really clamoring for the HD era ... or if the only people looking forward to HD gaming are the game makers. All three analysts seem to think HD is very important, but with varying levels of fervency. From the article: "On the Nintendo front, Nintendo has sacrificed graphics that can be viewed by the minority for a price that can benefit the majority. So, no, I don't think that they've made a mistake in the short run. Over the long run, we'll have to see: If HDTV adoption rates accelerate, the differences between the Wii and the Xbox 360 and PS3 may become more important, and it may end up that sell-through of the Wii begins to decline. That's a couple of years away, and my crystal ball isn't quite that clear."

eldavojohn writes "There's bits and pieces of information floating around that revolve around Iwata Asks interviews on Nintendo's website. What I found interesting was the tidbit about the updatable operating system: 'Wii is the first system from Nintendo that we can continue to be involved in (via operating system updates) after the customer buys it. This means that Wii will greatly expand and diversify the ways in which people will enjoy games in the future.' The Wii is reported to operate on top of a proprietary form of the Linux kernel, although there are already efforts to make a GNU/Linux for the console. So, the answer to the age old question is that it already runs Linux."

Gamespot is reporting that Nintendo's production of the Wii is actually going better than expected. Analyst firm UBS is now estimating that 7-9 Million Wii units should be off the production lines by 2007. From the article: "Citing industry 'checks,' UBS analysts Alex Gauna and Steven Chin claim that Nintendo already made 2 million Wiis by the end of September. They go on to predict that, 'at least 7 million and potentially as high as 9 million more units are in the build plan for Q4 06. This production ramp handily exceeds a publicly announced target for 6 million units to ship by year's end.'"

Next Generation is reporting on comments from Ubisoft, indicating that they are heavily relying on the Wii to fend off advances from business adversary Electronic Arts. From the article: "Ubisoft vowed to stay independent [after EA made inroads to a buyout], and it plans to keep it that way. 'Our goal is not to sell to EA but to beat EA,' said Laurent Detoc (pictured), president of Ubisoft North America in a Reuters interview this week. He hopes that an early adoption of the Wii platform will help push Ubisoft up from the fifth largest independent publisher in North America to the fourth. Worldwide, the company is ranked fourth, although that excludes Japan."

Microsoft's 'Major Nelson' and executive Peter Moore have been visible representatives of the 360 console for well over a year now. 'Grandfather of Gaming' Shigeru Miyamoto and asskicking Reggie Fils-Aime have have preached the Wii concept through good writeups and bad name jokes. Sony ... well, Sony has Ken Kutaragi, Phil Harrison, and Kaz Hirai. They say helpful things like 'we don't care', and 'disks won't matter', and (my personal favorite) 'the PS3 is a computer'. RPG Site has a compelling argument stating that Sony needs a Major Nelson to cut through this crazy executive talk, and reconnect the company with real gamers. From the article: "While it's not something that appeals to every group of people that play games - the casual market and kids, for example, the existence of these people allows the part of the market that is most opinionated - the core gamers, those who have a very clear opinion on what they want and what is good and bad - to interact with somebody who can actually bring about change. Hell, on a lesser note, it even gives the fanboys someone to worship."

simoniker writes "Wal-Mart game buyer Steve Perry discusses the U.S retail giant's approach to stocking both current-gen and next-gen consoles, including pricing, launch supply flow, and the availability of demo units for Wii and PlayStation 3. Perry also updates on what's been hot in Wal-Mart stores this summer: 'We've been really successful with Madden, that's been really good. NCAA has been great. Guitar Hero's been on fire. The new DS Lite, the colors came out a few weeks ago, those have done really well.'"

In the age of months-early previews, reviews the day the game ships, and opinionated bloggers, it's always really nice to find something unexpected in a videogame. I went into Yakuza expecting something like GTA in Japan, and was very pleasantly surprised. I've been frustrated by this before, but here Amusement Vision presents an engrossing story strung together by a bare minimum of gameplay ... and it completely works. Yakuza is a Japanese gangster story with a uniquely cultural outlook, some very different minigames, and a zen-simple but highly enjoyable combat mechanic. If storytelling and character development mean as much to you as framerate and polygon counts, read on for my impressions to see if this title is for you.