2009 has not been a good year for video games here in the US. While console sales were up significantly compared to July, August marked the sixth consecutive month in which industry sales have declined year-over-year. According to numbers recently released by NPD Group, overall gaming sales were down 16 percent YoY despite positive sequential growth for each major console other than the Sony PlayStation 2. Accessory sales were up 2 percent but game sales were down 15 percent and console sales dropped a massive 25 percent. Of note, PS3 sales in August were up over 72 percent compared to July’s numbers (121,800) thanks to a recent price drop. Here’s how August hardware sales break down:

• Nintendo DS: 552,900
• Nintendo Wii: 277,400
• Microsoft Xbox: 215,400
• Sony PlayStation 3: 210,000
• Sony PSP: 140,300
• Sony PlayStation 2: 105,900

As far as game titles, EA’s Madden NFL 2010 for Xbox 360 was the highest-selling game in August with 928,000 copies sold, followed by Wii Sports Resort for the Wii (754,000) and then EA’s Madden NFL 2010 for PS3 (665,000). Square Enix’s Batman: Arkham Asylum took both the four and five spots, having sold 303,000 copies for the Xbox 360 and 290,000 copies for PS3.

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After what was a pretty terrible June for the video game industry, Nintendo looked to July’s highly anticipated Wii Sports Resort release to revitalize casual gamers — and their wallets — and reverse the steep slide the company saw at the start of summer. Fast forward: It did. Nintendo announced this past week that the sequel to its ever-popular Wii Sports title sold over 500,000 titles during its first week of availability beginning July 26th. For those keeping score, that’s about one copy sold every 1.5 seconds. At $50 a pop, it’s also about $25 million in gross revenue. Wii Sports Resort packages 12 mini games onto one disc and includes a MotionPlus accessory, which “brings unmatched accuracy to games that have been specially designed for it.” In other words, it improves upon the revolutionary concept popularized by the standard Wii controller and makes it much more accurate. So, did anyone pick up a copy of Sports Resort this past week or are you all still too busy drooling over preview videos of Project Natal?

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Many would say the worst is behind us where the recession is concerned but gaming giants Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft would probably disagree. An industry that stumped analysts and remained strong throughout the recent turbulent economic climate is finally beginning to feel the impact of the wave of reduced spending that has attacked most industries in recent history. Video game sales began declining slowly in March but NPD Group has just released June numbers that show a slightly more alarming drop than we’ve been seeing over the past few months. US sales in June dipped a substantial 29 percent YoY — a record drop — and consoles sales were down a whopping 38 percent. Long story short, an industry that held strong on the back of Nintendo’s Wii and DS/DSi is looking like it may finally be approaching relative saturation. The odds of another Wii-like breakthrough reaching market any time soon are slim to none but something better happen in the near future to woo gamers back into opening those wallets. Drops in console pricing are rumored but still not confirmed, though we have little faith that minor price adjustments would have the kind of impact the industry needs to rebound significantly.

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We’ve long since given up on Blockbuster and the debacle that is Total Access. As the company continues to struggle with the evolving home entertainment industry, Blockbuster repeatedly reminds us all that it just doesn’t get it. That won’t stop it from trying though. According to the Wall Street Journal, Blockbuster will finally begin piloting the addition of video games to its through-the-mail movie rental service sometime in June — the goal will still be to launch the service nationally in 2H of this year. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumblings of video games being added to the pot but apparently it took a bit longer than expected to get the pilot rolling. Still no word on how video game packages will be priced or whether the half-price in-store game rentals will indeed be part of the offer, but to be honest we don’t really care. The Blockbuster ship has already sailed as far as we’re concerned.

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Yes. Performance Designed Products has just unveiled the Wii accessory every Wii user has been waiting for — even if he or she didn’t know it. That’s right people, say hello to the Energizer Induction Charging System for Wii. PDP’s Energizer-branded line of accessories packs a few gems but none as sweet as this new Wiimote charging dock, which makes use of wireless induction charging technology to facilitate contact-free charging of Wiimotes. Badass. Users won’t even have to remove the protective sleeves or wrist straps from their Wiimotes; just plop that sucker on the charging dock and let induction do its thing. The dock can also be laid flat so Wii MotionPlus users won’t even have to disconnect the adapters to juice up their controllers. Fantastic. The Energizer Induction Charging System for Wii is slated to hit stores next month for $49.99 — a bargain at twice the price.

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While video games may have been able to sail through the recession in the past, it seems that March proved to be a rather tough nut to crack for an industry that provides a great way to escape ones woes. The NPD Group reports that sales of video games in the US fell 17 percent in March to $792.8 million while hardware sales fell 18 percent, bringing in only $455.6 million. A drop of this magnitude did come as something of a surprise, though many analysts attribute the decline to two major differences between March 2008 and March 2009: First, Easter was in March in 2008. Also Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released, a game that went on to be the fourth best selling title in all of 2008. Just in case you’re the type who loves keeping score, the Wii reigned supreme in March with 601,000 units sold followed by the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at 330,000 and 218,000 units respectively.

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It’s not exactly the major coup Sony needs to become a gaming leader once again, but surpassing Nintendo Wii console sales in a market like Japan — even for one month — is a pretty big deal. Fueled by new game titles such as Resident Evil 5 and the PS3 exclusive Yakuza 3, Sony managed to outsell the dominant Wii box by nearly 50 percent in March. No, seriously! According to Enterbrain, a Japanese game magazine publisher, Sony sold 146,948 PS3 consoles in March while Nintendo managed to hawk a mere 99,335 Wii units. For comparison sake, Microsoft shuffled out 43,172 Xbox 360 consoles. No, the Earth isn’t exactly reversing on its axis just yet. While we applaud Sony for a solid month and for topping Wii sales in Japan for the first time in nearly a year and a half, big exclusives aren’t going to be coming around every month to help push units out the door. In order to right this ship, at least where gaming is concerned, the company still needs to find a way to bolster sustained sales growth — surges aren’t going to help in the long run.

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It looks like Xboxers might not be the only gaming console owners who will be able enjoy Netflix streaming in the future, provided customers show interest that is. A new survey currently being conducted by Netflix asks users a variety of questions surrounding the idea of streaming Netflix content directly to their Wii consoles. The survey also questions what the requirement to purchase a $10 “Netflix Instant Streaming Disc” would do to Wii streaming desirability, leading us to believe Nintendo has absolutely no interest in making the service available any time soonvia a firmware update. $10 to stream to the Wii and avoid purchasing and setting up yet another hardware device? Count us in. Reports also suggest a similar survey covering PlayStation 3 is currently being circulated. What do you guys think — would you pay $10 to add Netflix streaming to your Wii or PS3?

Thanks, Jon Jon!

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We suppose the continuing upward trend in the video game industry shouldn’t be a surprise to us anymore but we can’t help it… Will someone tell these guys about the recession? They’re clearly still in the dark here because console and game sales are still through the roof — climbing 10% over January to $733.5 million — while nearly every other industry is on the brink of collapsing. But forget all that for the time being; February was yet another month that saw gaming sales soar further into the black. Nintendo lead the console pack of course, pushing out 753,000 units according to the NPD Group’s numbers — 73,000 more than it sold in January. Sheesh. There is a bit of a twist in this month’s numbers however: The top selling game of the month actually wasn’t a Wii title! You guessed it, Street Fighter IV topped game title sales with 849,000 copies combined (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) and Wii Fit slipped into the number two slot with 644,000 copies sold. Bottom line: if you’re getting ready to graduate high school in the next few months and head off to college, we hope you picked a school with good CS/digital entertainment/etc programs.

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Before we even begin thinking about the rest of the Wii and DS titles Nintendo just announced… Punch-Out! Ok, now that that’s out of the way we can get down to business. Nintendo just unveiled its list of upcoming Wii and DS titles that will hit shelves between now and the Summer. The list is long and continuing record sales are inevitable — there really is something for everyone waiting in queue. Highlights as far as sales are concerned include Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits and a handful of children’s games on the DS, and The Conduit, EA SPORTS Active and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus for the Wii. Oh, and did we mention Punch-Out!? Hit the jump for the full list and let us know which titles all you Wii fans are looking forward to.

Nintendo Wii
2K Sports
Major League Baseball® 2K9 – March 3
Don King Boxing – March 31

Activision
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May
Ice Age 3 – June 30
Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen – June

Aksys Games
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus – May 12

Atari
Ready 2 Rumble Revolution – March 17
Backyard Baseball 10 – March 31

Capcom Entertainment Inc.
MotoGP™ – Spring

Codemasters Inc
Overlord Dark Legend – Summer

Conspiracy Games
Real Heroes: Firefighter – April

Deep Silver, Inc.
Professor Heinz Wolff’s Gravity – April
Fritz Chess – May

Disney Interactive Studios
Hannah Montana The Movie – April

Electronic Arts
TRIVIAL PURSUIT™ – March
MySims™ Party – March
EA SPORTS Active™ – May 19
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 10 – June
BOOM BLOX™ Bash Party – Spring
MySims™ Racing – Summer
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™ – Summer
G.I. JOE™ The Rise of Cobra – Summer
EA SPORTS Tennis (working title) – Summer

Hudson Entertainment
Help Wanted – Summer

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
DanceDanceRevolution® Disney Grooves – April 2
Yu-Gi-Oh! ™ 5D’s Wheelie Breakers – May 19

LucasArts
Indiana Jones® and the Staff of Kings™ – Late Spring

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc
Klonoa® – Q2

Nintendo
New Play Control! Pikmin™ – March 9
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™ – March 9
Excitebots: Trick Racing – April 20
New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat – May 4
Punch-Out!! – May 18

SEGA of America
Virtua Tennis™ 2009 – May
The Conduit™ – June
Let’s Tap™ – June

Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Twisted Towers™ – April 7
Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball™ – April 21

Zoo Games, Inc.
M&M’s Beach Party – March 10
Puzzle Kingdoms – March 31
Garfield Gets Real – April 7
Pennzoil’s Build-N-Race: “Speed Demons” – April 14
Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans – April 21
Smiley World Island Challenge – April 28
Garfield’s Pet Force – June 9

Nintendo DS
2K Sports
MLB® 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars – March 3
Don King Boxing – March 31

Activision
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May
Ice Age 3 – June 30
Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen – June

Activision/RedOctane
Guitar Hero® On Tour: Modern Hits – June

Aksys Games
Jake Hunter Detective Chronicles: Memories of the Past – May 26
Rockin’ Pretty – June 23

Aspyr Media, Inc.
Treasure World™ – June

Atari
Backyard Baseball ‘10 – March 31
My Horse and Me Riding For Gold – March 31

Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
TrackMania® DS – March 17
Tokyo Beat Down™ – March 31
The Dark Spire™ – April 14
Dokapon Journey™ – April 14
Steal Princess™ – April 21
101 in 1 Explosive Megamix – April 21
Super Robot Taisen® OG Saga:Endless Frontier™ – April 28
Knights in the Nightmare™ – June 2
Shin Megami Tensei®: Devil Survivor™ – June 23

Capcom
Mega Man Starforce 3 Black Ace – June
Mega Man Starforce 3 Red Joker – June

Codemasters Inc
Overlord Minions – Summer

Deep Silver, Inc.
Pet Vet: Down Under – March
Professor Heinz Wolff’s Gravity – April
Elite Forces: Unit 77 – April
DJ Star – May
Fritz Chess – May
The Humans – May
Horoscope DS – May

Disney Interactive Studios
Hannah Montana The Movie – April

DreamCatcher
Dreamer: Shop Owner – April 21
Dreamer: Babysitter – April 21
Dreamer: Teacher – April 21
Prank’d – May 19

Electronic Arts
Zubo™ – March 10
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure™ – March 17
MySims™ Party – March
SCRABBLE™ – March
LITTLEST PET SHOP Spring™ – March
MySims™ Racing – Summer
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™ – Summer

Hudson Entertainment
Miami Law – Summer

KOEI
Monster Racers™ – June

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times™ – May 5
Yu-Gi-Oh!™ 5D’s Stardust Accelerators World Championship 2009 – May 19

LucasArts
Indiana Jones® and the Staff of Kings™ – Late Spring

Majesco Entertainment
Puffins: Island Adventure – April 14
Powerbike – April 28
Drama Queens – May
Marker Man Adventures – May
Hot ‘n’ Cold – May
Dawn of Heroes – June

MumboJumbo
Crazy Chicken Star Karts – March 31
Crazy Chicken Atlantis Quest – April 28
Crazy Chicken The Pharaoh’s Treasure – June 2
7 Wonders II – June 30

Nintendo
Rhythm Heaven – April 5
Personal Trainer: Walking – May 25
The Legendary Starfy – June 8

PopCap Games, Inc.
Peggle™ Dual Shot – March 3

Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – March 17

Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Attack™ – April 7

THQ
Desktop Tower Defense – April 29

Ubisoft
Imagine® Makeup Artist – May 5
Imagine® Music Fest – May 5
Imagine® Boutique Owner – May 26
My Healthy Cooking Coach – June 2
Petz® Fashion: Dogz and Catz – June 9
Jake Power Soccer Club – June 16

Valcon Games
History Channel: Great Empires: Rome – March 17

Zoo Games, Inc.
Yamaha Supercross – March 10
Hands On!: Tangrams – March 24
Puzzle Kingdoms – March 31
Garfield Gets Real – April 7
Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans – April 21
Smiley World Island Challenge – April 28
Garfield’s Pet Force – June 9

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Electronic Arts made it known earlier this month that it would be looking to the Nintendo Wii to help propel its lackluster performance of late, and it looks like it picked the perfect place to start. We’re surprised it has taken this long for a company to issue a product that competes with the Wii Fit, as popular as it has been, but EA just made its EA Sports Active title official and slated the release for May 19th. EA Sports Active will guide users through various workouts geared toward cardio and weight loss, and is endorsed by Bob Greene of Oprah fame. The game will not involve the Wii balance board and will instead make use of multiple non-Wii workout accessories that will be used alongside standard Wiimotes. Beyond that, the title will run $60 as opposed to the $90 commanded by Wii Fit — if you can find it at that price — positioning it well amongst Wii-toting fitness buffs. Any takers – or did you just buy a Wii Fit to use the balance board with snowboarding games like we did?

[Via SAI]

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In this day and age it is extremely rare to see a tech company thrive, let alone an entire industry. People still manage to dig up enough cash between the couch cushions for video games however, and Reuters is reporting a hell of a January for the big three of the console world. Nintendo continued to show that reaching beyond hardcore gamers and into the houses of the masses is the way to go, dropping 680,000 Wii consoles and 510,000 Nintendo DS units according to the NPD Group. Microsoft maintained the second spot, as usual, selling 309,000 Xbox 360s and Sony managed to push 203,000 PS3 consoles into new homes. Nintendo also held the top three game sales slots with Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii, while EA’s Left 4 Dead and Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: World at War rounded out the top five. All in all, total industry sales rang up at $1.33 billion – up a substantial 13 percent year over year. Wow. Double-digit growth in what is historically a slow month across most industries is pretty mind-boggling, but the gaming industry continues to defy logic thanks to the Nintendo Wii and DS – aka Nintendo’s licenses to print money.

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Nintendo just can’t seem to make an announcement regarding numbers without wowing us these days, and its recent financial call is no exception. Forgetting about the dollars and cents for the purposes of this post, Nintendo released a list of 26 games for the Wii and DS that have sold at least one million copies since April 2008, along with total sales for each title. Let’s have a look at the full list:

Wii

• Wii Sports – 40.5 million
• Wii Play – 20.91 million
• Wii Fit – 14.01 million
• Mario Kart Wii – 13.67 million
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl – 8.1 million
• Super Mario Galaxy – 7.66 million
• Mario Party 8 – 6.28 million
• Animal Crossing: City Folk – 3.22 million
• Wii Music – 2.50 million
• Link’s Crossbow Training – 2.44 million
• Mario Super Sluggers – 1.21 million

Nintendo DS

• Nintendogs – 21.67 million
• New Super Mario Bros. – 17.63 million
• Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day – 16.82 million
• Pokemon Diamond/Pearl – 16.48 million
• Mario Kart DS – 13.79 million
• Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day – 13.27 million
• Animal Crossing: Wild World: 10.57 million
• Super Mario 64 DS – 7.16 million
• Mario Party DS – 5.49 million
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness – 4.4 million
• Pokemon Platinum Version – 2.4 million
• Kirby Super Star Ultra – 2.19 million
• Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia – 1.80 million
• Rhythm Heaven – 1.71 million
• Personal Trainer: Cooking – 1.68 million

Did you catch that first one? “Wii Sports – 40.5 million.” Damn! Of course this includes game sales bundled with consoles, but this new figure pushes Wii Sports into the number one spot on the all-time best selling games list. Falling to number two is the title that many thought could sit atop the list forever: Super Mario Brothers – with 40.24 million copies sold. Propelled by ridiculous console sales rates, it took Wii Sports only 110 weeks to pass Mario, its seventh cousin four times removed, and 40mm will become 50mm before we know it. To be honest Wii Sports is probably still our favorite Wii game to date, though Resident Evil 4 certainly gave it a run for its money.

[Via DailyTech]

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Despite the slumping economy, Nintendo sold a record setting number of Wii consoles and portable DS systems in the US during 2008. According to NPD Group’s  statistics the Wii dominated the market, selling 10.17 million Wii consoles which accounted for 55% of new console purchases in 2008. Additionally, the four best selling game titles for 2008 were for the Wii console with Wii Play, Mario Kart, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros beating out the likes of Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2 and even Grand Theft Auto IV. Sales of the Nintendo DS were equally brisk with US consumers purchasing 9.95 million units in 2008, an increase of 1.43 million units from 2007. The DS dominated the portable market accounting for 72% of all portable system sales in 2008 and set an industry record by selling 3.04 million units in December alone. With the Wii still flying off the shelves, the DS being the portable system to beat and the DSi expected to hit the US in the spring, Nintendo will continue to be the gaming platform to beat in 2009.

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Nintendo announced on Thursday that it will offer a streaming video service for its Wii gaming console. The new service will launch in Japan in 2009 and will feature original programming developed by Nintendo and partnering companies. Nintendo has hired the advertising firm Dentsu to promote this new service and recruit companies willing to develop the original programming content. Of the estimated 34.55 million Wii consoles sold worldwide, 40% are connected to the internet and present a potentially large pool of online viewers for aspiring video production companies. Though launching only in Japan, the new service is expected to expand to foreign markets.

If you crave some food while watching your favorite Wii-delivered flick, Nintendo has got you covered starting in Spring 2009. In another Japan-only service, Nintendo will be partnering with the Demae-can.com online food ordering service to allow you to order a meal right through your Wii. A wide variety of cuisine selections will be available including pizza, sushi, Chinese food, Japanese food and Western food. Mood music to match your selection will play in the background during the ordering process. Can’t decide what to eat? Let your Wii decide! The service will have a roulette mode that will randomly make a selection for you. We wonder how this movie and food ordering service will integrate with Wii Fit, rather than asking if you have been snacking or watching TV too much, Wii Fit will now know what and when you have been eating and being a couch potato. Will a tongue lashing ensue after your latest Wii movie watching and food indulging marathon?

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Google employees might be getting lumps of coal in their Christmas stockings this year but we have a feeling our pals over at Nintendo will likely be getting regularly scheduled bonuses. We all know that Wii sales have been consistently and ridiculously strong but this past week has been nothing short of astounding here in the US for Nintendo. In the week ending December 20th, VG Chartz estimates Wii sales in the US alone at over one million units. Yes, that’s a one with six zeros after it. The holiday season is shaping up to be quite a coup for Nintendo and Wii sales won’t be slowing down any time soon. Add to that the tremendous success of the DS and you’ve got yourself a hell of a year-end.

[Via Newlaunches]

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On Wednesday Nintendo announced the full lineup of Wii and Nintendo DS game titles the world can look forward to in Q1 of 2009. Totaling 39 Wii games and 64 titles for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo fans have a busy quarter ahead as Nintendo’s console sales continue to leave competing systems in the dust. Highlights for the DS include My Personal Diary, Hot ‘n’ Cold and My Fashion Studio Paris Collection while Wii console owners can look forward to instant hits like Onechanbara Bikini Zombie Slayers, Burger Island and Sega’s video game interpretation of the classic Martin Lawrence film SONIC and the Black Knight. Seriously though, there are some undoubtedly huge titles lined up for both consoles such as new Pokemon and Grand Theft Auto games for the DS and a new version of DanceDanceRevolution for the Wii. Hit the jump for the complete list with release timing where available and look for Nintendo to keep trouncing the competition for quite a while to come.

Wii

Activision
Monsters vs. Aliens – March 24

Crave Entertainment
Monster Pals™ – March
Solitaire & Mahjong – February
Puzzle Challenges and More! – February
Crayola Colorful World – March

D3Publisher 
Onechanbara™ Bikini Zombie Slayers™ – February
Coraline – January

Destineer
WordJong Party – January
Battle Rage – February
Cradle of Rome – February
Cate West: The Vanishing Files – March
Burger Island – March

Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year – Winter

DreamCatcher
Play the World – March

Electronic Arts
NASCAR® Kart Racing – Feb. 10
SimAnimals™ – Jan. 27
TRIVIAL PURSUIT – Early spring

Hudson Entertainment
FISHING MASTER WORLD TOUR – Jan. 6
Marble Saga Kororinpa™ – Spring

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. 
DanceDanceRevolution® Disney Grooves – March

Majesco Entertainment
Escape the Museum – January
Major Minor’s Majestic March – March

Marvelous Entertainment USA
Little King’s Story – Feb. 17
Rune Factory: Frontier – March

Mastiff 
Deer Drive™ – Jan. 20

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
We Ski™ and Snowboard – March

Nintendo
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™ – March
New Play Control! Pikmin™ – March

Sega 
The House of The Dead: Overkill™ – February
SONIC™ and the Black Knight – March
MADWORLD™ – March

Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Twisted Towers™ – Feb. 17
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball™ – March 17
Brave: A Warrior’s Tale™ – Feb. 17

THQ
Paws & Claws Pet Resort – Jan. 5
Neighborhood Games – Jan. 5

Ubisoft
Tenchu™: Shadow Assassins – February
Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director’s Cut) – March

XS Games
Super PickUps™ – Q1

Nintendo DS

Activision
Monsters vs. Aliens – March 24
Pimp My Ride 2™ – March 24
Animal Planet™ – March 10

Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
My World, My Way™ – Feb. 3
Legacy of Ys™: Books I & II – Feb. 10
Trackmania™ DS – March 17

Crave Entertainment
Monster Pals ™ – March

D3Publisher of America
Puzzle Quest™: Galactrix™ – Q1
Coraline – January

Destineer 
USA TODAY Puzzle Craze – January
DinoPets – March

Disney Interactive Studios
Phineas and Ferb – Winter

DreamCatcher
Inkheart – January
Learn Math – January
Drivers’ Ed Portable – January
Monster Band - January
Zoo Quest – February
My Personal Diary – February
Music Star: Pop Star – February
Paint by DS – March
Matchstick – March
Dreamer: Top Model – March
Sarah – Keeper of the Unicorn – March
Learn Chess – March
Dragon Master – April

Electronic Arts
Zubo™ – March
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure™ – Q1
SimAnimals™ – Jan. 27

Empire Interactive
Jagged Alliance – Feb. 17

Gameloft
American Popstar – Road to Celebrity – March 9

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero™ – Q1
Suikoden Tierkreis – Q1
Little Magician’s Magic Adventure™ – Q1

Majesco Entertainment
WonderWorld Amusement Park™ – January
Powerbike – January
Our House™ – Q1
Hot ‘n’ Cold – March

Marvelous Entertainment USA
Avalon Code - February
Flower, Sun, and Rain – March

Mastiff
Moon™ – Jan. 13

MumboJumbo
Chicken Hunter Star Karts – March 10

Nintendo
Personal Trainer™: Math – Jan. 12
Fire Emblem™: Shadow Dragon – Feb. 16
Pokémon™ Platinum version – March 22

ROCKSTAR GAMES
Grand Theft Auto™: Chinatown Wars – Winter

Southpeak Interactive
Big Bang Mini® – Jan. 6
Roogoo Attack™ – Feb. 17
Brave: Shaman’s Challenge™ – Feb. 17

Square Enix, Inc.
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: Echoes of Time™ – Spring

THE GAME FACTORY
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES™ – Jan. 19

THQ
Paws & Claws Pampered Pets – Jan. 5

TOMY Corporation
My DoItAll™ – February

Ubisoft
Jake Power Fireman – January
Jake Power Policeman – January
Imagine™ Cheerleader – February
JoJo’s Fashion Show – February
Petz® Horseshoe Ranch – February
Imagine™ Family Doctor – February
Imagine™ Ice Champions – March
Jake Power Handyman – March
My Fashion Studio Paris Collection – Feb. 17
American Popstar – Road to Celebrity – March 24
Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director’s Cut) – March

XSEED Games
Retro Game Challenge – Jan. 6

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News flash: Nintendo sells tons of Wii consoles. We know, we know – the Wii’s success is hardly news these days. In fact, Nintendo’s console is flying off the shelves almost as fast as the comment count is jumping up over on our BlackBerry Curve 8900 giveaway post. Nintendo did manage yet another impressive feat however, as NPD Group just issued Nintendo’s numbers for November. Drum roll please… over 2 million! That is the number of Wii consoles Nintendo sold – in the US alone – in the month of November. Aside from being a ridiculous number of sales, 2 million+ is a record for single console sales in a non-December month in the US. Wow. On top of that, NPD Group reports that Nintendo also managed to snag the second-place all time for a non-December month in the US with over 1.56 million Nintendo DS sales. In other words, Nintendo broke the non-December single-month sales record with two different consoles in the same month. Sheesh! The Wii recently passed the N64 (32.93 million units sold) to become the fifth best-selling console of all time and we don’t expect it to be much longer until it overtakes SNES (49.1 million units sold) for sole possession of the four-spot.

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Two years is all it took for the Wii to slide on past its grandfather and sneak into the number five spot on the all time best-selling console list. That’s right folks, the spunky young newcomer rang up an impressive 34.55 million units sold around the world and it still has plenty of lifespan to go. Comparatively, the classic it replaces on the list, N64, has sold 32.93 million units since it was released over twelve years ago. Sure the Wii still has plenty of fight in it but the five-spot was pretty easy to snag. Fourth place on the all time list shouldn’t be a problem either as the SNES holds that position with only 49.1 million systems sold. Then comes the hard part. NES is sitting pretty at number three all time with 61.91 million units sold, and is preceded by Sony’s Playstation with an impressive 102.49 million. Sitting atop the pile is the Playstation 2 with a remarkable 140 million systems sold worldwide. It’s doubtful that the Wii will ever reach that mark but if it can somehow manage to keep up this pace, who knows? To further emphasize the accomplishment, the Playstation 3 was also released in 2006 and to date it has sold 16.84 million consoles. Yup, the Wii has more than doubled its sales. After all these years Nintendo has finally figured out that gamers actually want to move. Who knew?

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Last week we told you about a recent update to the Nintendo Wii software that prevented users from enabling the homebrew channel on their consoles. Some people may have had an extreme reaction to the news, like the guy above, but we told you it would likely be a matter of mere days before hackers retaliated and found a way to get around Nintendo’s new patch. Low and behold, here we are on Monday and we’re back in business. The team behind homebrew reacted just as quickly as we all knew they would and counter-attacked Nintendo’s attack on their attacks. Whew. They’ve also thrown in an extra treat for would be homebrewers – SDHC support. Now all you can stuff even more games into your Wii without spending a single dime of your rent money. Sweet.

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Where there’s a console, there’s a battle between manufacturers and hackers. On the one side – the hacker. Always fighting to open closed doors and enable free functionality for gamers around the world. On the other side – the manufacturer. Always trying to seal holes in an effort to thwart hackers from eating into their revenue. Today there was a small victory for the latter as Nintendo released an update that puts the squeeze on homebrew, a Wii channel that eliminates the need for the Twilight Hack and allows users to access games on an SD card that were not obtained from Nintendo. God forbid. Current homebrewers will be happy to know that the update does not seem to affect existing homebrew installations but rather prevents users from installing the homebrew channel moving forward. Of course, that’s the story today. We would be surprised if this new patch from Nintendo isn’t circumvented by the end of the weekend…

[Via Giz]

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In addition to being rather elusive, the Nintendo Wii has also proven to be relatively hack proof. The little console that could has resisted most attempts at homebrew alteration, and has stymied those that have tried to rig it up to access remote discs. The long road of sorrow and failure, however, may soon be over. An enterprising hacker has figured out how to dump the Wii into a special recovery mode, allowing it to access backup discs and run homebrew code. The process is a bit unclear at the moment, but appears to involve the use of a special modified GameCube memory card. Impressed? We sure are, though we’ll have to wait until we can get our hands on the hack to pass further judgement.

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For the first time since it hit the American market, the Nintendo Wii can claim to be the most popular console in the United States. Overtaking the venerable Xbox 360, the Wii now has the greatest lifetime penetration of any next-gen console currently available. 10.6 million Wii’s have been sold, compared to 10.5 million Xbox units. Given the Xbox’s considerable head-start on sales numbers, this is a particularly impressive feat. Sure, the upcoming Xbox 360 60GB might help Microsoft gain some ground, but given Nintendo’s steady progress, we’re pretty sure the company will continue to prove a formidable opponent to both Microsoft and Sony. Wait, who’s Sony again?

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Activision made the official announcement today and Guitar Hero fans will not be disappointed. The fourth entry into the Guitar Hero franchise is slated for a Fall 2008 release and it’s packed full of virtual goodness that is sure to appease even the most discriminating couch rocker. New features, check. Let’s start out with an available full drum kit including pedals and cymbals. Punching buttons on a plastic guitar is one thing but seeing how people fair with the new full drum set is going to be fantastic. There’s also a new microphone and Music Studio mode that allows players to “compose, record, edit and share their own rock and roll anthems.” Good lord. Eight-player “Battle of the Bands” mode sounds pretty intense as well; up to eight players can gather online and compete for the the virtual title. High school audience sold separately. The soon-to-be smash will be issued on Xbox 360, Playstation 2 and 3 as well as Wii. Ready ready people, it’s going to be getting pretty nutty.

[Via Electric Pig]

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Wii Fit is rookie stuff; real gamers use their Wii to pole dance! According to MTV, Peekaboo Pole Dancing is currently shopping for a partner to license its pole dancing game for the Wii. Peekaboo, for those who don’t keep up with the latest in stripper wannabe news, is the company behind Carmen Electra’s pole dancing kit. Apparently the Electra-pole set isn’t enough to get the younger demographic working the pole, so Peekaboo is setting its sights on the Wii. A rep from Peekaboo wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details on how this sacrilege would work exactly in terms of operation, but he did offer some insights:

Peekaboo will be all about fun and fitness for a new generation. Peekaboo wants to make the fitness benefits of aerobic pole dancing accessible to millions of Wii users. The goal is to encourage men and women of all shapes and sizes to improve their pole dancing skills while having fun, toning up and burning calories. Ultimately Peekaboo and AT New Media want to do for pole dancing what ‘Guitar Hero‘ did for rock n roll!

Did he say "men and women"? For real? Barring the occasional YouTube travesty, we can’t imagine any men running to the store to snag a Wii stripper pole kit – for themselves at least. Whatever the case may be, Peekaboo is apparently serious about this and already in discussions with developers about not only a Wii port, but a mobile port as well. We wish we were kidding.

[Via electric pig]

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The Nintendo Wii continues to plow ahead of the competition, posting record sales month after month. According to a recent set of stats released by the NPD group, Nintendo moved 720,000 consoles during the month of April. Whoa! As if that number wasn’t impressive enough, things start to look even crazier when you consider that Microsoft sold just 262,000 XBox 360s, slightly ahead of Sony’s 257,000 PS3s. Nintendo, it seems, is doing something right. The Wii, slotting in at a significantly lower price point than either of its two rivals, has remained in steady demand since its introduction. While Sony’s 257,000 may seem unimpressive, it represents a 98% increase in sales over the same period of time last year. With the upcoming launch of GTA IV on both the PS3 and the XBox 360, Microsoft and Sony should make up some lost ground, but if things continue along these lines, the Wii will most certainly continue to dominate the console wars.

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Remember how jealous you were in elementary school of the rich kid up the block whose BMW-driving parents actually shelled out $650 so that he could rock a Neo Geo? Remember how you had to pick up an extra bike route just to scrape together enough dough for Super Mario Brothers 3 while this kid was sporting a new $200 Neo Geo game every other week? Even if you did kiss his girlfriend behind the bleachers during the "don’t get into the creepy guy’s van" assembly, he still had the better gig and you knew it. You used to wish every day that you were playing Neo Geo and eating pizza at his house instead of playing NES and eating Pathmark Pops at yours. Now you can relive that pain and anguish every time you set foot in your living room. Fan-friggin-tastic. Despite the flashbacks it drums up, the Neo Geo Stick 2 is very, very cool. It enhances Wii’s Virtual Console functionality by letting you play Neo Geo games the way they were meant to be played; with a big honking arcade stick controller. $60 for the controller plus another $45 – $55 for shipping to the US will get you in the door and an extra hour or two per week at the therapist’s office should help suppress the memories it drums up. Totally worth it.

[Via technabob]

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