Late Night Consoling

After months of gamers speculating that Microsoft is deliberately engineering an Xbox 360 supply shortage in order to create false demand, the company has responded. Peter Moore claims to have "seen all the conspiracy theories," but Microsoft is "trying to get as many units into retail as we possibly can." It is overwhelmingly likely that Moore is being completely honest. It is already difficult to generate high yield for an electronics product such as Xbox 360, which uses recent technology that is not yet widely available, especially when tying it to a two-week worldwide launch window. Recently, more and more retailers have been anticipating a shortage of supply, and Microsoft recently admitted there may be lower quantities shipped than previously expected. It would be completely unnecessary for Microsoft to exascerbate the situation even more by withholding units. If you're looking for an Xbox 360 and you aren't on a current preorder list, know that your troubles are probably not the result of corporate sleight of hand.

Metal Gear director Hideo Kojima and his team have been busy lately. They're currently working on the highly-anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3), an unrevealed Revolution game, Metal Gear Acid 2 (PSP), and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2), and now Kojima has announced that his team will also develop another PSP title. The notice comes by way of the designer's blog, though this particular entry has not yet been translated into English.

"The issue is, it will feature a completely new system, so we need to learn if it'll be accepted," said the frequently cryptic Kojima. "We'll have to make a prototype and have it play-tested. It'll play with a system that's different from traditional games. That'll be its selling point. Will it be accepted, or will it be rejected? We're going to see how it goes."

The game is still in planning, so few further details were given, though it was announced that it would be both directed and produced by Metal Gear Acid 2 director Shinta Nojiri. Nojiri previously did script work on various Metal Gear Solid games. Kojima's specific involvement is yet to be determined, but it is likely he will give input during development.

Joystiq reports that WarioWare creator Hirofumi Matsuoka (erroneously referred to as Hiroshishi Matsuoka in the Joystiq article) revealed to Japanese gaming site Gpara that he is currently overseeing titles in development for Nintendo DS and Revolution. It was not stated whether the games for either system would be part of the WarioWare franchise, which has seen life on Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and DS. As part of Nintendo's R&1 team, Matsuoka did design work on the NES and SNES iterations of the Metroid series, so his development background does span a bit of a range, though he is certainly not currently working on a Metroid title given that there are Metroid games in development for both DS and Revolution by other teams.

Adding to the several games revealed for portable systems today, Koei has announced that it is bringing its strategy RPG Uncharted Waters to both DS and PSP. Known in Japan as Daikoukai Jidai IV: Rota Nova, the game is new version of one part in a series. It was originally released for PS1 in 1999. The game has the player vying for control of the 16th century seas, amassing a naval army, engaging in trade, and managing resources. The games are set for a February release in Japan, with no North American date yet given.

The most recently weekly sales charts have been released. This week sees the DS continue its hardware dominance, with 41% market share. The PSP did well also, with 26% market share, followed by the PS2 with 16%. Game Boy Advance took 13%, GameCube took 4%, and Xbox took .1%.

On the software side, PS2 and DS each took four slots of the top 10, with Nintendo's Brain Training (DS) and Gentle Brain Exercises (DS) still showing strong sales. The #1 slot went to Nintendo's Mario Party 7 (GCN), followed by Spike's Shinobido Imashine (PS2) at #2. Somewhat surprisingly, EA Canada's NBA Live 06 (PS2) made its debut at #5.

1UP has a developer interview with Hideo Teramoto, associate producer on Namco's Ridge Racer 6 (X360), and also chats with Andre Emerson, executive producer on Genuine Games' 50 Cent: Bulletproof (PS2, Xbox, PSP).