Crystal Dynamics’ latest multiplatform Lara Croft adventure sells 1.5 million through December 31; publisher revs rise 27 percent to £80.3 million.

Tomb Raider: Underworld may not have been the unbridled success that Eidos was hoping for, but the Crystal Dynamics-developed game certainly made a positive impact on the publisher’s six-month sales. Today, Eidos reported revenues of £80.3 million ($115 million) for the six months ended December 31, a 26.7 percent climb compared to the same period a year ago. Losses before taxes for the period stood at £1 million ($1.43 million), a healthy recovery compared to the £75.1 million ($107 million) loss sustained during the back half of 2007.

Eidos also provided an update on sales for Tomb Raider: Underworld. Lara Croft’s latest action adventure shipped 2.6 million units since its debut on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, and DS in November. Actual units sold stood at 1.5 million, a sum that Eidos notes is higher than the two most recent Tomb Raider games, but less than initially planned.

In January, Eidos confirmed that it had reduced head count at Crystal Dynamics, with reports indicating that some 30 developers were let go. Today, Eidos officially confirmed that it has also shut down its Rockpool Games and Morpheme Game Studios, both of which dealt primarily with mobile and Web-based games.

Eidos also briefly addressed its ongoing plans to be acquired by Square Enix, a deal valued at £84.3 million ($120 million). The offer, which Eidos’ board of directors unanimously approved earlier this month, is currently expected to be presented to shareholders for approval in March. Pending that outcome, Eidos expects the buyout to close by the end of April.

For the full year, Eidos expects revenues to fall between £160 million ($229 million) and £180 million ($257 million). During the final six months of its fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, it expects to release Batman: Arkham Asylum, Battlestations: Pacific, and Championship Manager 2009.

Check out the source of this item Tomb Raider buoys Eidos’ six-month results

TOKYO (AFP) — Nintendo’s Wii outsold rival Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) three-fold in Japan last year, helping the country’s multi-billion dollar video game market to notch up its best ever year, a survey showed Monday.

Nintendo sold about 3.63 million Wii consoles in its home market in 2007 while Sony sold 1.21 million PS3s, according to magazine publisher Enterbrain.

The Wii also trounced the PS3 more than three-fold in the key year-end sales period between November 25 and December 30, selling 774,123 Wii consoles against Sony’s sales of 232,421 PS3s, the survey showed.

Nintendo won back its lead after the two rivals briefly traded places in November, when the PS3 outsold the Wii in Japan for the first time, helped by a price cut and a stronger line-up of games, according to Enterbrain.

Sony’s game unit said Monday that it had sold 1.2 million PS3s in North America during the holiday shopping period after a hefty price cut.

“The PlayStation brand ended the year in a very strong position and clearly indicates more positive momentum going into 2008,” Jack Tretton, head of Sony Computer Entertainment in the US, said in a statement.

Analysts said that although PS3 sales appear to be improving after a tough first year, in terms of sales it is still far behind the Wii.

“Consumers both in Japan and overseas are still attracted by the Wii, which remains a fresh concept,” said Hiroshi Kamide, a game analyst at KBC Securities.

The Wii also retains a three-fold sales advantage over the PS3 in North America, where Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is also posing competition for Sony, he said.

Sony “either has to slash the price further or increase the number of games available, which is something software makers are reluctant to do” because there are too few owners in the US to make it worthwhile, he added.

Microsoft sold 257,841 Xbox 360s last year in Japan, continuing to struggle on its rivals’ home turf two years after the console’s launch, the survey showed.

Japan’s total computer game market was worth a record 687.7 billion yen (6.37 billion dollars) in 2007, up 9.9 percent from the previous year, Enterbrain said.

The market was buoyed by robust sales of Nintendo’s DS and the Lite version handheld consoles, which have sold a total of just over 21 million units since the initial launch three years ago, it added.

Software sales were also strong, with games for Nintendo consoles making up four of the five top-selling games, the survey showed.