Sony’s PS2 and Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance (GBA) again dominated videogame hardware sales in Japan, Media Create (MC,www.m-create.com) data for the week ended Aug. 8 showed. PS2 won the week with a 47.46% market share, up from 43.54% a week ago (CED Aug 9 p8). GBA followed with 42.63%, down from 43.9%. MC said 39.69% was the front-lit GBA SP and 2.94% the standard system. Nintendo’s GameCube once again trailed with 9.46% (down from 11.96%). But GameCube sales again far outpaced Xbox. MC said Microsoft’s console had only a 0.29% share, down from 0.41%. Sony’s legacy PS one console and Bandai’s handheld SwanCrystal had 0.07% and 0.08% shares, respectively, vs. the 0.10% and 0.09% each had a week ago. MC said sales of the top 100-selling games in Japan totaled about 1.34 million units -- up 53.18% from a week ago and 37.37% better than the weekly average. It said the significant improvement was driven by sales of #1 World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 for PS2 from Konami, which sold about 697,000 units in its first week. MC noted that was a better start than the 7th entry in the series, which sold only about 642,000 units in its first week. Because sales of Eleven 7 reached one million, MC predicted it was “only a matter of time” before sales of the latest game hit the same mark “and one can expect it to outpace its predecessor.” MC said game sales topped one million units in the week for the first time since the 4th week of May. Apparently helping: 26 new titles made the top 100. But MC said that although new releases “accounted for a significant 66.78% of total sales,” most of those sales came from Eleven 8. While Nintendo’s GBA title Legendary Stafy 3 at #2 saw relatively strong sales of about 42,000 units, MC said sales of other new games were “all below 20,000 units.” It said there was “a lack of middle-sized titles” in the week to balance out the big hits. Only 2 other GBA titles made the top 10: Square Enix’s Final Fantasy I & II Advance at #4 (down 3 from a week ago) and Konami’s Power Pro-kun Pocket at #8 (down 2). Only one GameCube title made the top 10: Nintendo’s Paper Mario RPG at #3 (down one). Rounding out the top 10 were other PS2 titles: Konami’s Jikkyo Power Pro. Baseball 11 at #5 (up 2), Sammy’s Pachinko Slot! Fist of the North Star at #6, Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin: 4th Generation at #7 (up 2), Sony Computer Entertainment’s SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs at #9 and Bandai’s One Piece Round the Land at #10 (down 7).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an updated version of its frequently asked questions (FAQ) and responses on its final rule requiring, among other things, the advance electronic presentation of information for inbound vessel cargo.
Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance (GBA) and Sony’s PS2 again dominated videogame hardware sales in Japan, Media Create (MC, www.m-create.com) data for the week ended Aug. 1 showed. GBA won the week with a 43.9% market share, up from 42.57% a week ago (CED Aug 2 p7). MC said 40.97% was the front-lit GBA SP and 2.93% the standard system. PS2 followed with 43.54%, down from 46.1%. Nintendo’s GameCube once again trailed far behind, with 11.96% (up from 10.85%). But GameCube sales again far outpaced Xbox. MC said Microsoft’s console had only a 0.41% share, up from 0.31%. Sony’s legacy PS one console and Bandai’s handheld SwanCrystal had 0.10% and 0.09% shares, respectively, vs. the 0.08% each had a week ago. MC said sales of the top 100-selling games in Japan totaled about 872,000 units -- up 1.69% from a week ago but 9.23% lower than the weekly average. Although sales had “made quite a comeback after the slump of early July,” MC said the market continued to experience “a summer downturn,” like last year. It noted the top 100 games in the comparable week a year ago sold about 819,000 units. There were 21 new titles in the top 100 this time, headed by Square Enix’s Final Fantasy I & II Advance for GBA, which was the #1-selling game of the week, selling about 149,000 units. MC said it was the only game to break the 100,000 barrier in the week. Other new titles included Bandai’s One Piece Round the Land for PS2 at #3 (about 49,000 units) and Arika’s The Nightmare of Druaga for PS2 at #4 (43,000). MC said new releases accounted for less than 1/2 total sales, guessing that “the lack of big titles is probably one of the reasons for the chill in summer sales.” PS2 games dominated the top 10 and the other titles for Sony’s console that made the chart included Sammy’s Guilty Gear Isuka at #5, Konami’s Jikkyo Power Pro. Baseball 11 at #7 (down 4 from last week), From Software’s Tenchu: Kurenai at #8 (down 6), Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin: 4th Generation at #9 (down 3) and Sammy’s Pachinko Slot! Fist of the North Star at #10 (down one). There was only one other GBA title in the top 10 -- Konami’s Power Pro-kun Pocket at #6 -- and only one GameCube title -- Nintendo’s Paper Mario RPG at #2 (down one).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a notice describing new features to its Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI). The FDA's announcement concerns PNSI Version 1.3, which was released on July 10, 2004, and PNSI Version 1.4, which is scheduled for an August 7, 2004 release.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the Arrival-Departure Record (I-94 Form) and Crewman Landing Permit (I-95 Form). CBP states that each form shows the date of arrival in the U.S. and the "Admitted Until" date (i.e., the date when the authorized period of stay expires). According to CBP, the blank forms are received from a CBP officer upon arrival at a U.S. port of entry at a land border, airport, or seaport, and the forms must be completed prior to inspection.
The Coast Guard is seeking applications by October 31, 2004 for appointment to membership on the Chemical Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC), which provides advice and makes recommendations on matters relating to the safe and secure transportation and handling of hazardous materials in bulk on U.S.-flag vessels in U.S. ports and waterways. (USCG-2004-18650, FR Pub 07/27/04, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-17052.pdf)
Anyone seeking a right-of-way (ROW) on federal lands or waterways can now go to an NTIA-managed website for information. Many federal agencies have jurisdiction over lands and waterways, and NTIA has sought to streamline ROW permitting. The site -- www.ntia.doc.gov/frowsite/index.html -- was announced Thurs. and described in an NTIA statement as part of President Bush’s effort to promote broadband. Administration officials Wed. listed federal ROW streamlining as one of several administration initiatives (CD July 29 p2). They cited an agreement to coordinate on ROW that NTIA crafted with federal agencies this spring. That NTIA effort was followed by a Presidential directive instructing agencies to comply. NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher called the website “the first step in a government-wide effort to simplify and streamline rights-of-way processes at the federal, state and local level.” The NTIA initiative has focused on federal ROW. State and local organizations have expressed strong resistance at federal efforts to curtail local ROW authority. The site was one of the recommendations from the Federal Rights-of-Way working group, and a referral page from the FirstGov.gov site will be created, NTIA said.
Regulation is a key element in the Bush administration’s push for greater broadband deployment, officials said Wed. At a briefing for reporters on the administration’s efforts to promote multiple broadband options for consumers, Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) Dir. John Marburger said “regulation is necessary” to prevent interference and support standards: “It’s an essential function of government.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its second version (dated July 19, 2004) of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and responses regarding its final rule requiring the advance electronic presentation of information for inbound air cargo.
LCoS developer SpatiaLight, whose many supply agreements over the last 3 years have yet to bear fruit in the commercial market, signed a new deal with LG Electronics calling for delivery of 21,000 chipsets over the 6 months starting in Jan. The order is SpatiaLight’s largest for a 0.8” microdisplay with 1920x1080p resolution expected to start production this fall.