Sony in Vietnam DVD pact

Sony Pictures is to become the first Hollywood studio group to release its titles on DVD titles in Vietnam.

Move follows a deal between its Sony Pictures Home Entertainment unit and Galaxy Studio, the country's leading private sector film group.

First titles into the market will be a package of 15, including "Casino Royale," "Surf's Up" and the "Spider-Man" franchise, that go on sale Friday. After that some 5-10 titles per month will be released. Blu-Ray high definition discs will follow later.

"This deal underscores SPHE's commitment to growing our business around the globe and represents the industry's first major step in developing this untapped market." T Paul Miller, SPHE's senior VP, int'l, said.

"We strongly believe that such a partnership will bring great benefits to Vietnam's growing home entertainment market as well as to our two companies," Tran Vu Hoai, Galaxy prexy said.

After years of neglect and under-investment the theatrical film industry in Vietnam shrank to almost nothing with pirate disc distribution replacing much of the legitimate market. Film, TV and home entertainment sectors, as well as local movie production, now appear to be recovering, albeit from a very small base.

In 2006 another Sony division Sony Pictures Television Intl. acquired Asian TV rights to Galaxy's hit movie "Long-Legged Beauty." The tale of teen rebellion about a girl who breaks from family traditions to pursue a modeling career was understood to be the first time a Vietnamese picture was distribbed by a Hollywood studio.

Form : http://www.variety.com/

Asus P5E-VM HDMI

An HDMI-equipped board ideal for small media-centre systems

The new Asus P5E-VM HDMI microATX motherboard comes packaged with a
hefty feature list that will have home- entertainment buffs drooling.
Complete with HDMI output, integrated graphics that support DirectX 10
and capacity for 8GB of RAM, it’s a formidable choice for a
media-centre PC.

Processor
support comes in the shape of Socket 775, which supports Intel’s
Core 2 Duo and Quad processors right down to Pentium 4 and D models.
One of the big selling points, though, is compatibility with the Penryn
range of 45nm processors on a 1333MHz front side bus, which comes
courtesy of Intel’s G35 chipset.

The chipset also
includes Intel’s latest X3500 graphics, which is the first
integrated unit to support DirectX 10, but don’t expect it to
have you racing through the latest games. Our Call of Duty 2 test
refused to run, so we tried Stalker instead and this only managed
single-figure frame rates.

The backplate features a decent set
of ports, including six USB and the all-important HDMI connection, and
the Asus can swallow up to 8GB of Dual Channel 800MHz DDR2 RAM. There
are six SATA slots on the board, too, and support for RAID0, 1, 5 and
10.

This proliferation of features does mean the microATX form
factor can be a problem. The heatsink covering the north bridge is
large and can interfere with processor heatsink installation. The main
power cable and IDE interface are pretty close together, too, so the
initial setup can be aggravating if you’re working in a confined
space.

The Asus utilities are something of a mixed bag, too:
there’s Probe II, for monitoring, which is getting long in the
tooth now, and the more competent AI Suite for simple overclocking.

But
there’s plenty to like about this Asus board. The latest Intel
processors are supported, the integrated graphics are good, plus the
six SATA ports provide plenty of storage potential. And don’t
forget the HDMI output, which will allow you to make the most of your
HDTV, and the small form factor, which confirms it as an ideal base
board for a media-centre PC. Mike Jennings

Form : http://www.pcauthority.com.au/

ASUS Eee PC 900 US-launch confirmed May 12th

Asustek have confirmed that the Eee PC 900 will
be available in the US on May 12th. The budget
ultraportable - which adds an 8.9-inch display to the standard
ASUS Eee - will be available in two versions, both priced at
$549.99. The first, running Windows XP, will have 12GB of
storage, made up of 4GB of Flash memory and an 8GB SSD. The
second, running Linux, will have a larger 20GB of total storage, using
the same 4GB Flash but doubling the SSD to 16GB.

The larger-screened version was developed as a result of consumer demand, according to
Asustek CEO Jerry Shen. Asustek expect the new model to account
for half of all Eee shipments by June, rising to 60-percent or more
during the second-half of the year. It’s possible that a
10-inch version of the ultraportable could be released by the end of
2008.

The Eee PC 900 is available to pre-order now.

Specification

The Numbers: Sony’s PSP Topped Nintendo’s DS In Japan Again

While the DS is still selling steady and has the overall lead the
handheld race, Sony’s PSP has been doing quite well in Japan.

For the week of April 21 through April 27, PlayStation Portable
outsold the DS by a two to one margin. The exact numbers were
92,111 for PSP while Nintendo sold 42,435 DS units.

However, on the software side, Nintendo had the upper hand with
thirteen appearances in the top thirty — and the software charts
include all the platforms, including Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. To
compare, PSP only had three titles that made the cut.

Taiko Drum Master DS: Seven Island Adventure, Summon Night,
We’re Fossil Diggers, Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage, and
Beautiful Letter Training were the DS’ entries in the top ten
sellers in Japan for the week.

Form : http://www.revolutionportal.com/

Walmart Pushes Wii Fit for Mother’s Day

Visitors to Walmart’s Web site this weekend won’t be greeted with ads driven by traditional Mother’s day gifts like flowers and jewelry.

The company has decided to push the upcoming release of Nintendo Co Ltd’s “Wii Fit” video game – a exercise program that uses a pressure-sensing board as its controller.

Online shoppers who pre-order the game, intended to launch May 19 in the U.S., will also receive a $10 online gift card.

"Initial response is extremely strong, and we're feeling really good about Nintendo Wii Fit dominating the home page," said Kelly Thompson, Walmart.com's chief merchant, of early shopper demand for the game. "... We really like the angle of marketing it to Mom."

The move comes as retailers look for creative ways to entice shoppers to keep spending amid the economic downturn.

Retailers are now aiming at holidays, such as Mother’s Day, to entice otherwise reluctant shoppers to spend their money.

According to a National Retail Federation Mother's Day survey, consumers, on average, intend to spend $138.63 on the holiday -- down from $139.14 last year.

However, the survey showed great promises in the consumer electronics market, which included digital cameras, digital photo frames and video cameras.

Thompson said Walmart has witnessed the new digital-driven buying trend.

Sales of video game accessories and hardware rose 57 percent in March from last year, according to market research firm NPD.

Sales of gaming hardware, software and accessories hit $1.7 billion in March, led by Nintendo's Wii console, which posted its biggest nonholiday month ever.

"You'll see our marketing programs really reach out to both genders and a range of ages," said Cammie Dunaway, executive vice
president of sales and marketing for Nintendo's U.S . operations.

Thompson said that Walmart.com worked alongside Nintendo to promote the Wii Fit game, in order to make sure the gaming company had enough stock to support the increase in demand.

Wii Fit has already sold more than a million units in Japan.

---

On the Net:

Walmart

Wii Fit


Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports

Form : http://www.redorbit.com/

Saling The World: Mario Kart Wii, GTA IV Top U.S. Multiplatform Charts

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide.

This week's charts, with data taken from May 1st, 2008, find Mario Kart Wii taking an early multiplatform sales lead in North America, with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of Grand Theft Auto IV trailing close behind. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded.

This results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows:

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo), 5. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo).

Japan: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Link no Bowgun Training + Wii Zapper (Nintendo), 3. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 4. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 5. Dairantou Smash Brothers X (Nintendo).

UK: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 5. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami).

Mario Kart Wii debuts as this week's biggest-selling game across all platforms at Amazon, outpacing the individual sales performances of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Grand Theft Auto IV. It's likely that the combined sales of both editions of GTAIV eclipse Mario Kart Wii's numbers for the week, however. Wii Play and Guitar Hero III see a boost in sales in North America this week, meanwhile, pushing up past former chart champion Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which falls to fourth place in this week's results.


Xbox 360
North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV -- Special Edition (Rockstar), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Game of the Year Edition (Activision), 4. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 5. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games).

Japan: 1. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 2. The Idolm@ster: Live for You! (Namco), 3. Frontlines: Fuel of War (THQ Japan), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. The Idolm@ster -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco).

UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV -- Special Edition (Rockstar), 4. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft), 5. The Orange Box (EA Games).

Grand Theft Auto IV emerges as the top Xbox 360 software seller in North America and the UK. The Xbox 360 edition appears to be the stronger-selling version thus far in both regions, though GTAIV's PS3 port sees no shortage of sales demand. The Special Edition version of GTAIV is also a highly sought after item, boasting a second-place sales finish among Xbox 360 software in the United States. Amazon-sponsored discounts in price for Assassin's Creed and the Game of the Year Edition of Call of Duty 4 place both titles among this week's U.S. best sellers, while in Japan, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 achieves another first-place sales finish.


PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV -- Special Edition (Rockstar), 3. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEA), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision).

Japan: 1. Senjou no Valkyria -- Limited Box (Sega), 2. Armored Core: For Answer (From Software), 3. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Sega), 4. Senjou no Valkyria (Sega), 5. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami).

UK: 1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 2. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (SCEE), 3. Grand Theft Auto IV -- Special Edition (Rockstar), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft).

Grand Theft Auto IV surpasses last week's PS3 chart champion Gran Turismo 5 Prologue by a wide sales margin, as a price-dropped Assassin's Creed finds a boost that leaves Prologue at fourth place in North America. Senjou no Valkyria continues to top PS3 sales in Japan, meanwhile, as Armored Core: For Answer climbs up from fourth to second place in this week's results.


PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (Atlus), 2. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Atlus), 3. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games), 4. God of War II (SCEA), 5. Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (Konami).

Japan: 1. Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei), 2. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami), 3. Mana-Khemia: Gakuen no Renkinjutsushi-tachi -- Gust Best Price (Gust), 4. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch - Lost Colors (Bandai), 5. Okami -- PlayStation 2 The Best (Capcom).

UK: 1. SingStar Summer Party (SCEE), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar), 4. FIFA 08 (EA Sports), 5. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (THQ).

The recent debut and popularity of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES sparks new interest in Atlus' 2004 RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, which returns to Amazon's U.S. sales charts this week after a years-long absence. Long out of print and notorious for its rarity and inflated secondary market prices, Nocturne's recent reprinting met with fast sales and high demand. This sales rush completely exhausted Amazon's new stock within a matter of days, however, and it's unknown whether additional copies will become available for purchase at any future date.


PC
North America: 1. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (Blizzard), 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 3. The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff (EA Games), 4. Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (Ubisoft), 5. SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition (EA Games).

Japan: 1. Chaos;Head (Nitro Plus), 2. Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series 01: Hatsune Miku (Crypton Future Media), 3. Clannad Full Voice (Key), 4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 5. Little Busters! (KEY).

UK: 1. Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (Ubisoft), 2. The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff (EA Games), 3. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 4. The Sims 2 (EA Games), 5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision).

While the upcoming Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures remains in high preorder demand, this week's North American PC sales at Amazon are headed by World of Warcraft: Battle Chest. Recently featured as an Amazon "Deal of the Day" item, Battle Chest witnessed a jump in sales that continues despite the sale price's recent expiration. The compilation is expected to disappear from the top five as post-Deal of the Day demand cools, however, leaving titles like Call of Duty 4 and The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff to lead in its place.


Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 2. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo), 3. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo), 4. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 5. Brain Age (Nintendo).

Japan: 1. DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo), 2. Emblem of Gundam (Bandai), 3. VitaminX Evolution (D3 Publisher), 4. SimCity DS 2 (EA Games), 5. Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken (Namco).

UK: 1. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 3. 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo), 4. More Brain Training (Nintendo), 5. Sight Training (Nintendo).

This week's North American release of Mario Kart Wii has spurred new interest in Mario Kart DS, which rises to the top of the region's Nintendo DS sales chart. Last week's champion The World Ends With You is nowhere to be found among this week's top sellers, however, and neither edition of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon makes a top-five finish, despite a strong debut for both versions last week. The chart longevity of titles like Professor Layton and the Curious Village and the Brain Age series makes it difficult for newcomers to remain in the top five for long after their release, resulting in fairly predictable sales patterns from week to week.


PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 2. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 (SNK Playmore), 5. Patapon (SCEA).

Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 2. Nippon no Asoko de (SCEI), 3. Maplus Portable Navi 2 (Edia), 4. Star Ocean: The Second Evolution (Square Enix), 5. Minna no Chizu 3 (Zenrin).

UK: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 3. God of War: Chains of Olympus (SCEA), 4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports).

The upcoming shooter-turned-strategy RPG R-Type Command tops PSP software sales in North America this week, with preorder sales boosted by a significant degree thanks to the recent announcement of a limited edition figurine being included with all prerelease purchases. Though R-Type Command can be expected to place high in regional sales upon its release next week, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII continues to lead U.S. PSP sales in the meanwhile, with God of War: Chains of Olympus remaining at second place.

Form : http://www.gamasutra.com/