Gaming Insider

The Xbox 360 version of BioShock 2 topped the sales charts in February, moving half a million copies in a month packed with big game releases, the NPD Group said Thursday.

Boosted by BioShock, Dante’s Inferno and continued sales of Modern Warfare 2, the Xbox 360 was the best-selling home game console in the U.S. last month. On the software side, Wii hits New Super Mario Bros. and Just Dance continued to sell boatloads, and Sony’s innovative Heavy Rain had a strong showing for such an experimental game. If you look at the charts, you’ll see it actually outsold the PS3 version of BioShock 2.

All in all, it was a $1.26 billion month for the business — down 15% from last year.

“Honestly, I had expected the industry to perform somewhat better this month. Nonetheless, strong new releases and Easter gift-buying bodes well for industry performance in March,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in an emailed statement.

Hardware Sales, February 2010

1. Nintendo DS 613.2K
2. Xbox 360 422.0K
3. Wii 397.9K
4. Playstation 3 360.1K
5. PSP 133.4K
6. Playstation 2 101.9K

Top 10 Software Sales, February 2010

1. BIOSHOCK 2* 360 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE Feb-10 562.9K
2. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. Wii Wii Nintendo OF AMERICA Nov-09 555.6K
3. CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 314.3K
4. JUST DANCE Wii UBISOFT Nov-09 275.4K
5. Wii SPORTS RESORT W/ Wii MOTION PLUS* Wii Nintendo OF AMERICA Jul-09 272.5K
6. CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2* PS3 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Nov-09 252.8K
7. MASS EFFECT 2 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Jan-10 246.5K
8. DANTE’S INFERNO: DIVINE EDITION PS3 ELECTRONIC ARTS Feb-10 242.5K
9. DANTE’S INFERNO 360 ELECTRONIC ARTS Feb-10 224.7K
10. HEAVY RAIN PS3 SONY Feb-10 219.3K

Image courtesy 2K Games

Green Day: Rock Band has a release date of June 8, 2010 announced publisher Electronic Arts and MTV Games.

It will be released worldwide on that date for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. The former two console editions will cost $60 while the Wii edition will cost $50.

The U.S. and Canada will be privy to a Premium Edition on the Xbox 360 and PS3 that will cost $70 (in Canada, other regions To Be Announced) and will include six additional Downloadable Green Day tracks bundled in with the package. That’s in addition to special packaging and a voucher that allows you to export all the Green Day songs to your other Rock Band games for free. Which will normally cost $10.

And for those fans who might be wondering, the Green Day songs that are already available for Download from the Rock Band store will be jazzed up to fit with Green Day: Rock Band’s visual style.

Green Day: Rock Band will include a total of 47 tracks from across the career of the band. The band’s three current members: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool will also appear in the game as playable avatars. The game will also include the harmonizing feature that was debuted in The Beatles: Rock Band.

Fans of the band will also be delighted to hear that it will include 100 images from throughout the course of the bands career that players can unlock through the course of the game. And even better than that, the game will include 40 minutes of “rare and unreleased video” from the band that players can also unlock.

Here is the debut trailer for Green Day: Rock Band.

This game is the ultimate 2D fighting game on the go! BlazBlue features all of the console modes—Arcade, Versus, Score Attack, Training, and Story…in addition to the all-new Shop and Legion modes, where you control your own party of fighters in an attempt to conquer the world of BlazBlue.

• Twelve unique combatants to choose from, which now include Unlimited versions for all characters! Choose a character that represents your own fighting style, like the lightning-fast Taokaka or the wickedly powerful Tager.

• Drive your way to victory! Use the unique “Drive Attacks” specific to each character to decimate your opponent. Control the elements, like wind or ice, or even absorb the life-force of your opponents.
• Multiplayer battles via Ad-Hoc Mode Battle with up to four players in a single room and play with custom rule sets. Two people will fight each other at a time while the others spectate.
• Legion Mode Build your army and conquer the map! Have up to 20 members join your party.
• Shop Mode! Use in-game currency to purchase illustrations and Unlimited characters.

Release Date:Tue, 09 Mar 2010