Exciting stuff if you can't get enough of statistical figures.

If you've been curious how Sony's market share with its console and handheld division, the latest figures below reveal a rather interesting portrait of success as reported by the November 2007 NPD sales data. A few of the highlights which stood out and was generously bolded by Sony's PR division indicate the PS3 had the biggest increase of any hardware platform in between the months of October to November. Reportedly, 466K PS3 units were sold in November… a 285% increase over previous month's sales. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare stood out as one of huge hits this holiday season with 444K units sold, followed by Assassin's Creed with 377K units. All of this sounds great on paper and hopefully means that third-party developers will focus on bringing A-class gaming to the PS3 instead of exclusively hooking up the Xbox 360.

I'd go over the PSP and classic PlayStation info, but that would defeat the purpose of this article. Read on for the full NPD report:

Hardware Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

**For the month of November, PlayStation hardware unit sales reached more than 1.5 million units, an increase of 160% when compared to last month's unit sales (October 2007).

**PlayStation total hardware revenue was $373 million in November, sales dollars increased by 170% compared to last month's sales.

**For the month of November, PlayStation console sales reached 962K units.

**466K PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) hardware units were sold in November, a 285% increase over the previous month's sales. PS3 had the biggest October to November sales increase of any hardware platform.

**PlayStation 2 (PS2) also experienced great momentum in November, hardware unit sales reached 496K, a 170% increase over last month's sales.  Since its release in North America on Oct. 26, 2000, more than 120 million hardware units and more than a billion units of PlayStation 2 software have sold worldwide, making it the best-selling gaming platform ever released.

**According to the latest Nielsen data (April – November 2007), PS2 is the most played videogame console averaging 42.2% usage minutes compared to 11.8% for Xbox 360 and 5.5% for Wii.

**PSP (PlayStation Portable) continues to experience strong sales momentum with new pricing and the availability of new entertainment packs.  In November, 567K PSP hardware units were sold, nearly a 100% increase over last month sales.

Software Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

**PlayStation total software revenue in November was $414 million, sales dollars increased by 128% compared to last month's sales.

**In November, retail dollars from PS3 sales totaled $138 million, a 192% increase over last month's sales.

**PlayStation had three software titles in the top ten list across all consoles: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for PS2 sold 966K units, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for PS3 sold 444K units and Assassin’s Creed for PS3 sold 377K units.

PLAYSTATION Network Momentum

**Just one year after launch, there are more than 3 million registered PLAYSTATION Network users worldwide who have downloaded more than 60 million pieces of content.

**In North America alone there are more than 1.8 million registered users who have downloaded more than 34.5 million pieces of content.

**A recent PLAYSTATION Network price promotion for Calling all Cars™, Everyday Shooter™, flOw™ and Pixel Junk Racers™ resulted in a combined 920% increase in total downloads

Apparently, doing a halfway-decent cover version is grounds for a cheap money-grab.

The Romantics licensed their song "What I Like About You" for a cover version in Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's, but apparently something went wrong somewhere along the way.  Wavegroup Sound, who have made all the cover versions of the songs in the Guitar Hero series, did their usual job of mimicking the sound of the original, and The Romantics feel that it "has infringed the group's right to its own image and likeness."

There's no issue here about whether or not Activision and Wavegroup Sound, both named in the lawsuit, acquired proper licensing for performing the cover version.  The paperwork is there and signed, and the respective companies were perfectly within their rights to include the song they paid for in the game.  At issue is how close the Wavegroup Sound version is to the original.  No, I don't get it either, but maybe this quote from The Romantics's attorney Troy Horton in the USA Today article can clear things up-  "We're all for good commerce. We just want to share in it."

The Neo-Geo is reborn on every console on the market. 

If the impending releases of Neo Geo Coliseum and King of Fighters XI wasn't enough to get your SNK fill, the home of fighting excellence has announced a flood of titles coming to the US shores in the near future.

"We're pleased to once again be bringing fans more of the quality fighting and great arcade games they've come to expect from us," said Ben Herman, president of SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION, "and with the addition of a number of downloadable console titles, SNK aficionados will have even more options available to them."

No kidding.  Here's the big list:

THE KING OF FIGHTERS COLLECTION: THE OROCHI SAGA (Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP)
METAL SLUG 7 (Nintendo DS)
SNK ARCADE CLASSICS Volume 1 (PlayStation 2, PSP)
SAMURAI SHODOWN ANTHOLOGY (Wii, PlayStation 2)
METAL SLUG 3 (Xbox LIVE Arcade)
SAMURAI SHODOWN 2(Xbox LIVE Arcade)
FATAL FURY (Wii Virtual Console)
WORLD HEROES (Wii Virtual Console)
MAGICIAN LORD (Wii Virtual Console)

In addition to these console titles, they've reaffirmed a selection of arcade newcomers:

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII
KING OF FIGHTERS: MAXIMUM IMPACT REGULATION "A" 2
SAMURAI SHOWDOWN SEN (JAPANESE TITLE)

NIS releases its latest PSP RPG and we’ve got videos of the game in action.

Developed by HitMaker and published by NIS America, Dragoneer’s Aria is a tale of dragons, their protectors, and the struggle to save the world. In this PSP RPG, the balance of peace comes from six elemental dragons, worshiped by all, especially Dragoneers, elite knights who train and live to protect them.

Valen, a young academy graduate, is the hero who must fight a powerful black dragon set on destroying the world. Dragoneer’s Aria features item customization, timing-based mechanics, chain combos, dragon orbs that can be combined with weapons, and strategic turn-based combat. Besides the single-player adventure, there is also a team mode where up to 4 players can take on enemies together.

Check out the videos below for a look at some of the combat elements to Dragoneer’s Aria.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya9APFQkPP8

Summoning Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkjJoyys1v4

Dragon Skills Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYn0c5jLY5A

Guarding Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgPzaKmIKA

Now you can enjoy over 15 years of SNK classic 2D fisticuff action.

For the slim price of $14.99, you can own a volume of fighting game history.  The great rival franchise to the Street Fighter series is coming to the PS2 in the form of Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Vol. 1. It comes packed with Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, and Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, and all the tweaks featured in the Art of Fighting Collection, all for one low price.

On the technical side, Fatal Fury was the first fighting series to feature a two-plane system, letting characters dodge incoming attacks in a way that's now taken for granted in 3D fighters.  More important to fans is this franchise marked the first appearances of unforgettable characters, such at the cruel Geese, the sexy ninja Mai, her reluctant love interest Andy, and the Hungry Wolf himself, Terry Bogard.

"With the release of FATAL FURY: BATTLEARCHIVES Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2 system, a brand-new generation of gamers will be introduced to one of SNK PLAYMORE's earliest fighting classics," said Ben Herman, president of SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION, "and gamers who loved FATAL FURY 15 years ago will relish the chance to revisit the golden age of 2D fighters."

This series became the foundation of the SNK fighting empire for a reason.  Great characters and solid action that still shine as a king before the King of Fighters.