VGChartz has just uploaded the new hard- and software sales for the week of September 30 - October 6. Not suprisingly, Halo 3 remains the top selling game in the US with an additional 562.000 copies in its second week, which brings its total to almost 3.2 million. Nintendo DS's biggest title of the year thus far, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, debuted on second place with almost 350.000 copies. Also, NBA 2K8 on the Xbox 360 outsold NBA Live 08 on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 2 with a debut of 116.000, compared to NBA Live's 102.000 on the Xbox 360. Microsofts exclusive title Project Gotham Racing 4 debuted with just 90.000 copies in its first week.

On the hardware side, the Halo 3 effect seems to still effect the Xbox 360 hardware sales as Xbox 360 hardware numbers jumped another 6% to almost 130.000. Nintendo DS was still the top selling hardware this week, despite a 5% decline to 135.000 copies. Nintendo Wii sales dropped 2% to 95.000 as Playstation 3 numbers remained at the same level with almost 30.000 units. Check out all this weeks numbers after the jump.
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Electronic Arts today unveiled the music track listing for NBA Live 08 set to release October 2, 2007. Long considered the industry's most influential launching pad for innovative new music, this year's soundtrack features 19 songs ¿ including 5 debut tracks ¿ for an unprecedented international mix of hip-hop, rock, reggae, R&B and more.
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It's no secret that most so-called "screenshots" of video games released by game publishers aren't just grabbed out of the game. They're carefully posed, using in-game assets. Now, sometimes these are exactly reflective of what the game looks like. Sometimes they are total lies: Penny Arcade has termed these "bullshots."
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EA announced today that Gilbert Arenas will be the cover athlete for EA Sports' NBA Live 08. The company also confirmed that this year will mark the series' first appearance on Nintendo Wii and PS3, and that an Xbox 360 version is also in the works (via the nifty box art pictured to the left of this text) as anyone with a pulse would expect.

"This is a dream come true," said Arenas. "I'm a huge gamer and have been playing NBA LIVE since 1995. I never imagined that I would see my face on the cover of an EA SPORTS videogame."
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There seems to be a problem when the latest "Madden" sells more than two million copies on PS3, Xbox 360 and PS2 combined in the U.S. in August this year - and just a little over 100,000 on the Wii according to sales-tracker NPD.

A few years ago, that kind of sales misery on a Nintendo console would be okay. For a long time, sports games on Nintendo consoles just didn't sell.

But given that "Wii Sports" sparked Nintendo's GameCube-to-Wii console resurrection, it seems like sports games can sell on the Wii.

So why isn't EA Sports having an easier go of it on the Wii? MTV Multiplayer recently asked EA Sports chief Peter Moore to tell them what EA was doing right and wrong with sports games on Nintendo's console.
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Tracey John writes:

"In reviewing the box art of new game releases every week, we noticed that every EA Sports "All-Play" cover for the Wii features a smiling athlete.

It's even more noticeable if you compare them to the covers of the same titles released on other platforms.

When we sat down with EA Sports chief Peter Moore last week, we asked him why there are grinning athletes on the box art of their Wii-only sports titles."
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GamerDeals.net writes:

"The highlights this week include NBA 2K9 (Xbox 360/PS3/PS2) and NBA Live 2009 (360/PS3/Wii/PS2/PSP).

Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of October 5, 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!"
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"After years of lamenting that they see no kickback from the extremely lucrative used game market, game makers have launched a counter-attack by packing new games with one-use codes for extra content."
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In today's newly released teaser trailer, Electronic Arts has announced a new installment of the NBA Street series - and that's about it. The video makes a point that everyday people need relatable heroes and that idolized hero should be a basketball superstar who also stays true to his roots. Street fans'll just be happy to see the urban/aggressive NBA counterpart return. Right now, the game's being called, simply, NBA Street, which is sure to cause all kinds of fun Google and Ebay moments ...
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As GamePolitics has reported, Electronic Arts may soon face a lawsuit by retired NFL players who believe their likenesses were unlawfully incorporated into EA's best-selling Madden game. But former college players now want their slice of EA's money pie as well.

SF Weekly reports that a one-time college quarterback is now making the same claim as NFL retirees in regard to EA's popular NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball franchises. Samuel Keller (left), formerly of Arizona State and Nebraska, is the lead plaintiff in the class action suit.
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