Square Enix Co’s Final Fantasy XII has finally been released in the UK and the game beat Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Crackdown for the number one position on the sales charts (hat tip zukaus). The game also opened at number one in Australia, beating Crackdown on two fronts (hat tip Joe80). On Friday, Final Fantasy XII shares climbed a modest 7.76 DKP (1.53%) to 515.20 DKP, translating into an increased global sales forecast by 77,700 copies to 5.152 million copies as the game’s strong debut in these regions was largely expected.

Midas Oracle, the blogging authority on prediction markets, has been providing some great coverage on the simExchange. In this post I'd like to review Chris Masse’s chronicling of the simExchange's corner of prediction markets over the past month.

Following my invitation to Midas Oracle readers on January 31, Chris commented on vertical prediction markets focused on topics that are “fun to trade” and then the possibility of expanding into more general contracts, such as politics, once the prediction market reaches critical mass. Chris speculated on whether the simExchange will become a more generalist exchange, like BetFair, which began as a horseracing market before transforming into a general prediction market.

The simExchange is indeed exploring the possibility of expanding beyond traditional console and PC games, such as the immediately close tangent of downloaded games, such as Xbox Live Arcade and Wii Virtual Console games, and new online games, such as Second Life type games. However, our focus continues to be developing a strong prediction market in which the video game industry and gamers can rely upon to gauge video games.

Chris sent his props on how the simExchange explains the informational aspect of prediction markets while maintaining the fun side of trading—though the boxes have now been updated with a new look.

Recently, the Midas Oracle posted a bullish forecast for the simExchange as we reached 2,400 registered players and as the simExchange has made it to the list of popular “predictionmarket” tagged bookmarks on del.icio.us. On a side note, we have made it easier for you to view tags and add posts from the simExchange Official Blog to del.icious.us and other sharing sites by adding that functionality to the bottom of each blog post.

Shares of Sony Corp.’s (NYSE:SNE) God of War II have climbed to 158.80 DKP (forecasts 1.588 million copies sold globally) on Sony’s announcement that one million copies of the game have already been ordered. The stock was trading as low as 135.69 DKP before the announcement, which has resulted in a 17% climb in the past two days. The game has also received very strong reviews from numerous online gaming publications.

Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ: TTWO) The Darkness for the PS3 and Xbox 360 will debut on the simExchange on Thuesday, March 6, 2007. It will be categorized under the Shooter genre. Shares will open for purchase at 50 DKP (forecasts 500,000 copies sold globally) for the PS3 version and 75 DKP for the Xbox 360 version. The release of this game is scheduled for May 1, 2007. The game listing was submitted by MyNameIsJon.

Sony Corp’s (NYSE: SNE) Motorstorm for the PS3 will debut on the simExchange on Monday, March 5, 2007. It will be categorized under the Racing genre. Shares will open for purchase at 100 DKP (forecasts 1 million copies sold worldwide over lifetime). The game will be released in North America on March 6, 2007 and in Europe and Australia on March 23, 2007. The game was released in Japan on December 14, 2006 and has sold 50,750 copies according to VGCharts. The game listing was submitted by mbettelman and contributed by Joe80 and pcostabel.

GameDaily Biz reports on the simExchange. Check out the article here.

See the simExchange's first press release in the new Press Room. All future press releases will be available on that page. There is also an RSS feed to subscribe to press releases.

Morning purchases of the Burnout Dominator (PS2) IPO have been rolled back because the IPO was set at 30 DKP instead of the 50 DKP price that was intended. All purchases have been refunded. If you wish to subscribe the IPO at 50 DKP a share, please place a new order. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Electronic Arts Inc's (NASDAQ: ERTS) NBA Street: Homecourt for the Xbox 360 and PS3 will IPO on the simExchange on Friday, March 2, 2007. The games are categorized under the Sports genre. The Xbox 360 version will open for purchase at 45 DKP (forecasts 450,000 copies sold worldwide over lifetime) and the PS3 version will open at 30 DKP. The Xbox 360 version was released on February 20, 2007 and the PS3 version is scheduled for March 6, 2007. The game listing was submitted by pherstothelee.

Majesco Entertainment Co's (NASDAQ: COOL) Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii will IPO on the simExchange on Thursday, March 1, 2007. The games are categorized under the Minigames genre. The game's shares will open for purchase at 50 DKP (forecasts 500,000 copies sold worldwide over lifetime). The game is scheduled for release in North America on March 27, 2007 and in Europe on May 10, 2007. The game was released in Japan on February 8 and has sold 6,750 copies according to VGCharts. The game listing was submitted by Mynameisjon.