Nightly News Roundup: 07.13.2012

3DS Hits 5 Million Mark in US

Industry sales tracker NPD has released June’s numbers, and with the 155,000 units sold in those 30 days, the 3DS has hit the 5 million milestone for total lifetime sales in the US. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D also hit a major milestone of its own, having sold over a million copies since its launch. That’s right, one out of every five 3DS owners has Ocarina of Time, which isn’t that impressive when you consider two out of five have Super Mario 3D Land.

Across the rest of Nintendo’s hardware line, DS in its many iterations sold 150,000 units while Wii managed sales of 90,000 consoles. However, the industry leader was Xbox 360 with 257,000 consoles sold.

Source: GameSpot

Scribblenauts Dev Vouches for Wii U’s Power

Inconsistent remarks and numerous rumors throughout the industry has made the question of Wii U’s processing power a major topic of debate. The latest developer to speak up on the topic is 5th Cell CEO, Jeremiah Slaczka, who is currently working on Scribblenauts Unlimited.

In terms of where Nintendo’s upcoming console sits in relation to Xbox 360 and PS3, Jeremiah had the following to say: “It’s kind of frustrating to see the rumours and speculation of people going back and forth saying it’s weaker or more powerful. It’s definitely more powerful.”

The CEO also revealed that Scribblenauts Unlimited has been in production for two years at this point and actually started life as a Wii title before 5th Cell was shown Wii U.

Source: VideoGamer

Supposed Activision Sale off to a Slow Start

Another popular rumor making its way through the press recently is that French media conglomerate Vivendi is planning to sell its majority share of Activision Blizzard, the current king among third party game publishers. The alleged value of their 61% stake is somewhere around the $10 billion mark.

Parties rumored to be interested include household names like Disney and Microsoft, as well as lesser known Asian companies Nexon and Tencent, the latter of which is already partnered with Activision to bring Call of Duty to China. However, sources have indicated numerous reasons as to why these and other parties aren’t that gung-ho right now, ranging from lack of cash and/or lack of interest. And then of course there is Microsoft, who would probably have to radically shift the focus of Activision from a major third party publisher for all consoles to being solely focused on the Xbox brand.

Regardless of whether or not these rumors are valid, nobody at Activision or Vivendi are confirming or denying, Vivendi’s stocks have gone up as the sale would mark a significant return of investment. The French company’s supposed interest is not based on a decline in Activision’s performance, but is instead quite the contrary. Since acquiring the company, Activision has grown substantially, surpassing EA and firmly cementing the Call of Duty franchise as one of the biggest entertainment brands on the planet. In short, Vivendi bought low and hopes to sell high… allegedly.

Source: IGN