Tack's Analysis Issue 1

Hello, I'm Tack Angel and this is Tack's Analysis


The latest NPD numbers have been released, and they come with some changes. First, the sales of PS2 hardware are still being tracked but will not be released. Second, NPD will no longer release the sales figures for anything but the top 5 software titles. With that in mind, here's the list:

Hardware:

1. DS - 440,800
2. Wii - 277,200
3. Xbox 360 - 185,400
4. PS3 - 180,800
5. PSP - 65,500

DS & Wii are King still almost every single month

Compare that with last month:
1. Nintendo DS 700,800
2. Wii 557,500
3. Xbox 360 338,400
4. PlayStation 3 313,900
5. PSP 119,900
6. PlayStation 2 118,300

There was a significant drop from last month for Nintendo. (Nintendo Exec: Oh no, we only sold 277,200 Wiis at $200 each. Now I can't afford that Olympic Sized Pool!)
360 almost Doubled it's sales from last month and that can be attributed to the release of High Profile games released in the month.
Sony is still chugging along, taking a last sip of it's Gin Bottle as it wonders how it went from 1st place in the last gen to last in this gen. I could tell you Sony but it's not the answer you are looking for or wanting.
By the by, the DS is expected to become the best selling console ever by the end of the year. The DS Pimp Hand is Strong.

Software:

1. Splinter Cell: Conviction - 486.1K
2. Pokemon SoulSilver - 242.9K
3. New Super Mario Bros Wii - 200.3K
4. Pokemon HeartGold - 192.6K
5. God of War III - 180.3K
6. Wii Sports Resort
7. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 360
8. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board
9. Just Dance
10. Super Street Fighter IV PS3

Splinter Cell and the 360 take top honors but Nintendo again has swept the majority. Super Street Fight IV didn't sell as well as I thought but I think will have a steady stream of sales over time. If not then Capcom needs to do some rethinking on timing of Expansion paks such as Super.
Everyone should know by now that the cool colors win in the race of the Pokemon Games: Red, Silver, Ruby, Diamond, & eventually Black.
By the by, Monster Hunter Tri is still considered a success despite not being in the Top 10 this month.


Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is not concerned about the possible demise of the console
, saying it's not coming soon.

"We do not think that the combination of a game system and dedicated software will last forever," Iwata said. "However, we do not believe that hardware dedicated to gaming shall (become obsolete and) perish in a few years. I personally think that kind of scenario is unthinkable."

Iwata went on to say that engaging people on games systems "is the lifeline for the company," and added "Should we stop what we are doing, the current business configuration with a video game system and dedicated software could become obsolete. However, as we have been thinking and proposing new ideas one after another, we do not think that it will become obsolete at all."

Iwata is basically saying what all Nintendo execs will say because no one wants to abandon the Money Making Wii. It does bring up a good point though that Home Consoles are slowing starting to go in the reverse of where Handheld Consoles are doing. Handhelds are of more use nowadays because everyone is on the go and wants their Gaming Fix anywhere. It's why the DS & iPhone Gaming are big at the moment and in my opinion are only going to get stronger. This is stated as such when Iwata has said himself that their war with Sony (& Microsoft) is won and that Apple is their current Rival. That says a lot of the current status of the industry where the leader of the industry is already calling this generation "A Win".


Super Mario Galaxy 2 is set to have 3 playable Characters. Mario right at the start, Luigi after 20 Stars, and a 3rd after getting all 120 Stars. Some are saying Wario, some Toad, some say Peach, and even some say Waluigi. But I wanna point out a rumor from a few months ago about SuMariGal2. The rumor was that for one level, you would lose control of Mario and play as Sonic. Yes, this was a legit rumor (as legit rumors go) and it came and went just as quickly. my guess is that Nintendo went into Hush Hush mode as they didn't want to get that rumor out there.
But really, It's not just wishful thinking. SuMariGal2 is really by Nintendo Exec standards, a throw away game. it uses the same engine as SumariGal1 just with new trinkets, So it's cost effective. And cost effective is music to the Nintendo Exec's Ear. Throwing a bit of money SEGA's way to get Sonic in is no problem and may set a new precedent for the Nintendo-SEGA relationship. Besides, Rock Mario is so totally Sonic.


The Humble indie Bundle done by Wolfire Games was a huge success as they brought in over $1 Million Dollars with the majority going to the developers. The charities got $300,000+ to split. The charities being Child's Play, a group that gets Video Games Hardware & Software as well as Toys for Children's Hostpitals, where kids go through Cancer treatments and various surgeries. The other charity being the Electronic Frontier Foundation who are a lobyist group who help the gaming industry in the Political Field (They are the people that push back on Laws against Video Games). So overall a great moment for the gaming industry & community.


The final big gaming news is that Steam has/is come out/coming out for Mac & Linux. And as an incentive, any Steam user from any Computer Platform (PC, Mac, Linux) can download "Portal" for the low low cost of $0. It's an incredible game and not one to pass up, so get it before May 24th as that's when it goes back to full price.


Sources: 411mania.com


In other news, Haim Saban (The Multi-Billionaire, yes he has more money than Vince McMahon) has bought back Power Rangers from Disney.

So I think it's time for a bit of history.

Haim Saban made most of his money by gaining media rights and distributing them in other markets than the media's home. He's the one behind some of the influx of Anime TV Shows in the English Speaking markets in the 80s and early 90s (EX: Samurai Pizza Cats was his import). As well as the music score of some other Animation Properties (Along with Shuki Levy) that you may have heard of, Inspector Gadget, He-Man, She-Ra, and Dragon Quest.

He was in Japan once and turned on the TV on a Sunday Morning when he happened to catch Chodenshi Bioman on TV. He went on to give France 3 Sentai Sereis to be translated and aired on their TV Broadcasting (So essentially, he inspired the France Born Sentai, Shin Kenjushi France Five).

Haim was said to fall in love with the Toku genre, so much so that he kept poking at TV companies in America to give Sentai (& other Toku) a shot (Even after the Dynaman Joke Dub). Eventually he caught the ear of FOX (Who were still new to the Network game) and they started Demographic testing with Chojin Sentai Jetman. They eventually settled with the Dinosaur Theme that was going to air the next year (Thank you Jurassic Park) and as you know, Power rangers was a smash hit.

Due to the success of Power Rangers, Saban was able to help FOX start the FOX Family Channel (Basically FOX Light). Buena Vista saw this and went after the channel, no matter what. Disney eventually were able to buy FOX Family and turn it into ABC Family but in the process bought a lot of FOX Animation Properties that Saban had a hand in (Digimon, the 90s Marvel Cartoons, & Power Rangers). All Disney wanted was the FOX Family Channel and these other properties were incidental. (This was about near the end of Power Rangers Time Force's Airing)

As such, Power Rangers was put on Low-Low Priority and could continue if it was cost effective (There's those words again). Thus they moved production to New Zealand where it was cheaper to film, and everyone at MMPR Productions could join if they want to, they just have to move to New Zealand. (The story of the closing of MMPR Productions can be found in the Internet Film, Diary of a PA)

Disney's standard for the show was to use as much Sentai footage as possible and don't change the script that much (If at all), bring it to the easiest of the Parent Television Council's approval, and do it quickly. The stories suffered, which was unfortunate.

Eventually, Disney saw how much money they were losing (Using the Exec logic of, "If it was a Triple A Product, it needs to bring in at least a Double A Revenue). So they wanted to end the show with PR Operation Overdrive. But when they bought FOX Family they also bought Saban's Contract with Toei on the licensing of the show. This meant that Disney had to make 2 more seasons with at least 3 for just Bandai of America. This gave us the cheaply made Jungle Fury and the last hurrah (As in Disney said, do whatever you want) in RPM (Which I do recommend you watch). So now Disney's contract with Toei was done and they just had to deal with BoA, this gave us the re-imagined MMPR Season 1. Disney within all of this bought out Marvel, which gave them a boost in stock sales and will allow them to not rely on Power Rangers for Children Products.

Toei was not happy with this as they now lost money because Power Rangers was ending (Disney basically playing hardball). this is why Toei went all out with their Smash Hit, Kamen Rider Den-O to help supplement the loss of Power Rangers. Saban came back in the picture when he saw that Disney was going to stop production on PR and with Toei's help, bought back PR from Disney and signing a deal with Viacom to air the shows on Nickelodeon's Nicktoon Channel. And that's where we are now.

Saban is going to produce the next season (The 18th, Production #19) for a 2011 Release and will so far have 20 episodes (Depending on how well the first few episodes go).

Sources: Wikipedia, Rangerboard, Henshin Justice Unlimited, Ranger Crew

New Pangaea: Prologue

Here's a Prologue for my upcoming project, "New Pangaea". Tweet me your thoughts at http://twitter.com/tackangel





>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:29 No.5005647

Hey /w/, I haven't watched wrestling in years.
What's a good promotion to follow?

>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:30 No.5005650

What are your preferences?

>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:32 No.5005663

>>5005650

I used to watch WWE but am tired of the S.o.S

>> whiterose !!InDgLOyLC1S 05/09/10(Sun)13:34 No.5005668

You could give DDT a try

>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:35 No.5005673

>>5005668

DDT?

>> whiterose !!InDgLOyLC1S 05/09/10(Sun)13:38 No.5005682

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1w0b2_ddt-nosawa-rongai-vs-muscle-sakai_sport

>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:39 No.5005689

>>5005682

What the hell?

>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:41 No.5005696

>>5005682
Ha! I could get into this

>> Anonymous 05/09/10(Sun)13:44 No.5005719

Where can I keep up with DDT?

>> whiterose !!InDgLOyLC1S 05/09/10(Sun)13:52 No.5005769

I usually just go to the shows.

>> ELLIPSE 05/09/10(Sun)13:54 No.5005778

>>5005719
Try http://www.puroresufan.com/
The users on the message board tend to keep track of everything Puroresu.

>> whiterose !!InDgLOyLC1S 05/09/10(Sun)13:54 No.5005780

>>5005778
I never heard of this site, I gotta check it out.



A child in a windy city turns on a TV on a Sunday Morning

SUPER HERO TIME!

It has come to Mons Drake and Ryuusei no Dereputa working on a joint operation.

What will the Goseigers do?

Crisis is in Crisis, He's lost all his power. The Joker Undead is on his trail.

A return to Gavan's World is needed.

Let's Start! Showtime!

KoF XI, Sonic, & Wrestlemania

Tried out 2 of my newly aquired PS2 games today.

First up, King of Fighters XI.

I love Fatal Fury, I love the characters, I love the Anime OVAs & Movies, and more importantly the games. I'm not that great at fighters, but they are VERY fun. KoF XI is the first of the series that didn't go by a year, instead going by Roman Numerals.

I did a quick single play of the game and this edition apparently takes place after the final Fatal Fury game (Garou: Mark of the Wolves), evident by the lack of a Red Jacket with Terry Bogard. Also, there being no Andy Bogard or Joe Higashi (No Rock Howard either). I always play on easy, so I looked through the options and noticed that you can max the power meter, which is nice for beginners. The Final Boss Magaki, for easy mode, showed that he can be a bother if you're not careful. I can only imagine how he is on Normal or Hard.

I then notice that there is a character options mode, which is basically KoF's version of Fire Pro Wrestling's EDIT Mode. You can not only customize the colors of the fighters, but of their energy attacks as well. I love this, and now want all 2D fighters to have this. I customed a Terry to have Blue Fire normally and Red Fire on the final attacks. I'm gonna sometime custom a Ryo to be Dan Hibiki.


I also took a stab at Sonic Unleashed. If there's one thing Sonic Team can get right, it's cutscenes. The Opening vid is incredibly made. I had played the demo for this on the 360, but I played through the tutorial & 1st stage. I'm looking forward to see how this "Modified Internal Engine" (Wii/PS2) compares to the "Hedgehog Engine" (360/PS3).

Speaking of Sonic, I spoiled myself and looked up the Final Boss for Sonic & The Black Knight. And man...It's this boss fight's dialog that makes me feel that Sonic will forever be as great a Video Game Hero as Mario, Link, & Lucas. Sonic's story will never end, because he'll just keep running.


Mania was okay. Orton is just incredible right now. He knows exactly when to make a movement, How to make the movement, and how to convey the movement. I called for McIntyre to win, but Swagger winning was a surprise. However, he's a complete idiot to not cash in after the World Title Match, that's just bad booking and/or bad communication. Bret v Vince was exactly what it needed to be, if you were expecting Hogan v Vince, you missed the point. It was all about screwjobs, and have one side be the dominator was to be expected, Bret being the logical choice. Vickie with the Eddie tights and the Frog Splash was sad, not a pathetic sad, but just sad. I love Shawn Michaels, but I felt he should have stayed retired when he did in 98. not because of storyline or that he started wrestling badly, but that I didn't want him hurt anymore. I glad that he lost (Even though I thought it'd be a draw, Taker stayed Undefeated and Shawn would wrestle more), now he can go home and rest that weary body. Whether you like him or not, you know there will never be another Shawn Michaels.

Back to the Past/Future/Present...Wibbily-Wobbly, Timey-Whimey...Man, this is heavy.

So, for whatever reason, I am no longer able to access Strong Style Spirit (www.puroresufan.com) and it's message board. So from the outside, I'm gonna try to move on past SSS, willing or not, and see if I can get expand my creativity.

I wasn't limited to SSS before, but more people looked at the pieces there than if I were to here. So hopefully, since I'm outcasted, people will read on this blog on on my Twitter account (@tackangel).

So big news of the day is that a local Hollywood Video is closing down thanks to the evil greatness that is Netflix. The result, as always, is everything must go!

The Result of my Treasure Hunting?
de Blob (Wii)
Megaman Network Transmission (GC)
Raiden III (PS2)
King of Fighters XI, The (PS2)
Ratchet & Clank Going Commando (PS2)
Ratchet Deadlocked (PS2)
Jak 3 (PS2)
Sonic Unleashed (PS2)
SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom (XBOX)
Street Fighter IV (360)
Digimon The Movie (DVD)
100-Pack of Blank Single DVD Cases

All games were 70% off (New & Used) and all DVDs were $1.99. The Blank DVD Cases were $0.10 each. So I made out like a bandit and joked to the family that I just shopped at my version of IKEA.

So now yes, I am now able to face off against you guys on 360 with SFIV. I'm a little late to the party but with SSFIV coming soon, I'm sure more people will play up to it's release (As evident by the 3 challenges that were made as I tried to play the first battle in Arcade Mode).


So now, non-gaming news.

I'm almost done with my Series Bible and am cooking up ideas for the first story of my Not High School Romance/Manga-less Manga/Fan Service/Episodic Release Story. If I had the talent to draw a manga, the stories would be more vivid. Hopefully though, you'll be able to imagine what I'm trying to create.

The story (Not named yet) will have 6 Main Characters, 4 of them not being references to real or fictional people but have traits taken from such. 2 of the characters are from a fictional source and it will be my own spin on the characters as they interact in this new world (oops, a hint).

There are a few Main Side Characters, all are new, as well as interaction with the Main Character's Families. There are also other side characters that are COMPLETE fan-service, not of any SSS user though (But you guys are referenced).

More information, as I continue to build the Series Bible.


That's all for now, any updates and comments can be found on Twitter (@tackangel).

Later