Console : TurboGrafx-16 Games coming to Aussie Virtual Console on July 6

Nintendo confirms pricing.

Hudson has revealed on their official website that TurboGrafx-16 titles will be coming to the Australian Virtual Console in July.

This is actually quite a surprise as it paves the way for other titles not released in Australia to be released on the Virtual Console, such as Super Mario RPG.

Games we can expect to see from July on the Virtual Console include Bomberman '93, Dungeon Explorer, Bonk's Adventure, R-Type, Alien Crush, Dragon's Curse, Bonk's Revenge, Vigilante and Ninja Spirit.

UPDATE: Nintendo has confirmed this today via press release, the first titles will be available from July the 6th on the Wii and the titles will be priced at 600 Nintendo points.

Console : Sony Claims 1 Million PS3s Sold In Europe

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) boss David Reeves has claimed that the PlayStation 3 has now sold over one million units in Europe and other PAL territories, since its launch on March 23rd this year.

In an editorial for British trade magazine MCV, Reeves claimed the figures were sell-through, rather than simply shipped to stores, saying: “Early last week we went through the one million mark on PS3. And we did that in nine and a half weeks. That was faster than both PS2 and PS one. And I think that the analysts out there will also realize that it’s faster than our brothers and sisters in the competitive world.”

Reeves also claimed around two million units of first party software have been sold “into the channel”, with Resistance: Fall of Man selling around 600,000 units in Europe and MotorStorm just over 500,000. Reeves also notes that around 460,000 users have registered to the PlayStation Network in European territories.

With regards to the PlayStation 3’s recent lack of major releases, Reeves states that “our big bangs will be arriving around September and October”, indicating that Phil Harrison would be announcing a series of new releases at a later date, which would be “in the arena of social gaming as well as more traditional games”.

With no independent hardware sales figures ever made available in Europe, and figures from console manufacturers only released sporadically the implication of these figures is difficult to ascertain. It is known that Sony made one million units available in Europe for the console’s launch, which suggests that this initial shipment has only just become sold out.

It is, however, impossible to be certain where sales of the PlayStation 3 console stands in terms of comparison with the Xbox 360 and Wii. PlayStation 3 software can certainly be seen to have had less impact on the European software charts compared to its rivals, though, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that the PlayStation 3 hardware has never been in short supply.

Console : Xbox 360 sweet spot is $199

Lower price and targeting the console at the family group is key to lifting Xbox 360 success above that of Xbox.

Speaking to Bloomberg, group product manger David Hufford has revealed that Microsoft is well aware of the price at which the Xbox 360 will begin to be an attractive proposition for the family audience.

We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks," said Hufford. "When Mom walks into the store and sees she can get a console with a game for USD 250, she sees it as a USD 300 value. They've done a good job."

However, if the Xbox 360 is to compete in the same segment as the Wii, a price cut is only half of the puzzle. New family orientated titles and a strong marketing push will be just as important.

"If we don't make that move, make it early and expand our demographic, we will wind up in the same place as with Xbox 1, a solid business with 25 million people," said Xbox boss Peter Moore. "What I need is a solid business with 90 million people."

Institutional Investor's analyst Heather Bellini estimates that Microsoft could make a price cut to the console as early as September, ensuring they have enough consoles in the market to drive huge sales of the biggest titles.

"If they really are going to have a good Christmas games line-up, then they just have to have the largest number of boxes out there so that they sell the largest number of games," said Bellini.

The latter half of 2007 will see the release of numerous blockbuster Xbox 360 titles from Microsoft, including Halo 3, Project Gotham Racing 4 and Mass Effect.