Newsbriefs: Wright Ships 500k, Sam & Max Finale, C&C3 Novel

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 12:30pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include news of the latest success for Capcom's Phoenix Wright series, the final episode of Telltale's Sam & Max series released on GameTap, and Electronic Arts and Del Ray announcing a novelization of EA's Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. - Capcom has announced that the latest version in its cult Phoenix Wright adventure game series which has just recently been released in Japan has shipped over 500,000 units in its first week. Ace Attorney 4 is the most recent DS version of the franchise that launched on the Game Boy Advance in October of 2001, which has gone on to ship more than 2 million units series-wide since. Capcom also notes that the mobile version of the game, currently available both in the East and the West, has been downloaded by over 500,000 users. Unlike earlier DS versions, Japan's release of Ace Attorney 4 doesn't include the full English localization, but with the third volume in the series recently announced for North American release, it's likely the latest will make its way to American shores in due time. - Turner Broadcasting's 'all you can eat' PC gaming service GameTap has announced that the final episode to Telltale's Sam & Max: Season 1 is launching on the service, bringing six months of episodic gaming to a close. Entitled Bright Side of the Moon, the final episode ends what GameTap is calling "the first truly successful series in episodic gaming." With all six episodes now released and available on GameTap, Telltale will soon be launching a retail release containing all episodes on one disc. Said GameTap VP of content Ricardo Sanchez, "Before we embarked on this experiment with Telltale, 'episodic gaming' was a concept that no one had ever put terms around. We structured Sam & Max: Season 1 in the TV model because it's a form that people are already familiar with. In the end, it has been a phenomenal success for us both." - Publisher Electronic Arts and Random House imprint Del Ray have announced the first novel based on the world of Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars will be coming to North America in May. Written by Keith R. A. DeCandido, author of other gaming tie-in novels based on World of Warcraft and Starcraft: Ghost, the novel will cover the story of Earth's tri-part between The Global Defense Initiative, the Brotherhood of Nod, and a third alien rage as they struggle over the alien Tiberium substance that has infected the planet. The novel will be released in North America on May 29th, with versions for the U.K. and Germany to come in the months following. Said EA VP of business affairs Patrick O’Brien, “We’re excited to expand the Command & Conquer franchise to a new form of media and offer a depth to the underlying fiction of the game series like never before. Keith DeCandido wrote a great story, and we’re pleased to have partnered with him and Del Rey.”