Nintendo said Thursday that its globally popular Wii has become the top-selling video game console in the United States, a crown coveted by rivals Microsoft and Sony. Market-tracking firm NPD Group reports that 666,000 Wii consoles were sold in the United States in June, raising the total sales count in the country to nearly 10.9 million units. Will sales eclipsed those of Microsoft's Xbox 360 consoles, which went on the market a year before the Wii was released in November of 2006.

Earlier this year US sales of Xbox 360 consoles topped 10 million and prompted Microsoft to tout the milestone as a sign Xbox is destined to be more popular than Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3. The rivals battled this week at an Electronic Entertainment Expo, each claiming to be the inevitable victor in the video game console war.

Wii consoles are credited with expanding the video game market beyond "hardcore gamers" with simple motion-sensing controllers and group-oriented games. The Japanese video game giant scored another victory with its DS portable devices, selling more than 783,000 in the United States in June to raise total sales there to 20.8 million units.

Reference:

http://www.npd.com/corpServlet?nextpage=corp_welcome.html

http://news.smh.com.au/technology/wii-becomes-topselling-video-game-console-in-us-20080718-3haz.html

http://www.e3expo.com/

Posted by Maka Asatiani at 2:36 PM | 1 comments  

Labels: Nintendo, Wii

E3, the video-game industry's big trade show, is next week, so a lot of the new software coming between now and Christmas. But there's a bit of a lull until Aug. 12, when "Madden NFL 09" unofficially marks the beginning of the fall game season. Here are the best of the year so far:

1. "Grand Theft Auto IV" (Rockstar, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3): The latest episode of "GTA" has its flaws, particularly in the storytelling department. But living a life of crime has never been more fun, thanks to much tighter gameplay and an exquisitely detailed vision of a decaying metropolis.

2. "Lost Odyssey" (Microsoft, for the Xbox 360): The epic tale of immortal mercenary Kaim is a delight for fans of classic role-playing games.

3. "The World Ends With You" (Square Enix, for the Nintendo DS): This adventure set in modern Tokyo is the most innovative RPG in years.

4. "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" (Konami, for the PS3): It may be more of a movie than a game, but it's a dazzling finale for one of gaming's most fascinating sagas.

5. "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" (Nintendo, for the DS): Charming characters wrestle with clever puzzles in this beautifully written and illustrated gem.

Reference:

http://www.gamepro.com/

Posted by Maka Asatiani at 4:22 PM | 0 comments  

Labels: Game Development, Game Reviews, Games, Nintendo, PlayStation, Wii, XBox

"Boogie SuperStar" - Electronic Art's latest game for the Nintendo Wii system is already announced. But instead of finding Prince Charming, the goal of the game is to beat rival players' singing and dancing skills to earn the grand title of Boogie SuperStar. Players are "discovered" and whisked away in a stretch limo to an island where they hone their skills for the competition. Electronic Arts created the game specifically for female teens.

In the United States, 38 percent of all gamers are female, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

Girls - and boys too - can choose their own character and customize its name, hairstyle and outfit for their performance. They then pick music from a playlist of Top 40 pop songs, including hits from Britney Spears, Leona Lewis and Kanye West.

Unlike other popular music games such as "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero," players of the new game dictate how their character or avatar moves on screen. The game includes a microphone that measures players' vocal fluctuations. The motion-sensing Wii controller records their dance moves.

Another upcoming girl-targeted game for the Wii, Sega's "Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek," will also be released in October 2008 with "Boogie SuperStar." Analysts and critics in the gaming industry say both "Boogie SuperStar" and "Nancy Drew" Wii games are a positive step for video game publishers and will help double their consumer base.

Reference:

http://www.ea.com/read/20080626-BoogieSuperstar.xml

Posted by Maka Asatiani at 4:22 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Electronic Arts, Game Reviews, Wii

New research shows that U.S. retail sales of video games, consoles and game accessories hit $1.12 billion in May, a 37 percent rise over the same month last year. These parameters reported on Thursday by Market researcher NPD Group.


Take-Two Interactive Corp's Grand Theft Auto continues to be the No. 1 selling video game, and its version IV, released in April, sold 871,300 units in May. According to the research the top-selling hardware unit is Nintendo Co.'s Wii console. 675,100 units were sold in May. Nintendo's DS handheld player took second with 452,600 units sold. Those units have captured the top two spot's for four consecutive months. Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 trailed with 208,700 and 186,600 units sold.


As to hardware sales, they rose 34 percent to $428.6 million, while software sales rose 41 percent to $536.9 million, compared to the same month last year. Sales year-to-date come to $6.6 billion and the industry is on pace to bring in revenue between $21 billion and $23 billion for 2008.

Reference:
http://www.npd.com/corpServlet?nextpage=corp_welcome.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2008-06-13-video-games-sales-may_N.htm?csp=34

Posted by Maka Asatiani at 10:17 PM | 2 comments  

Labels: Game Development, Game Reviews, Game Sharing, Games, Hardware, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Wii, XBox

Dominate, sales, incredible demand, breaking records, these key terms are invariably showing up in headlines, and becoming synonymous with PSP. This hardware is continually dominating sales in Japan. Weekly Japanese hardware sales fell across the board once more, but PSP retained its place at the top of the chart by some distance.

Having outsold its nearest competitor, Nintendo's Wii, by 22,500 units the week prior, PSP sales came in at nearly 30,000 greater than those of the home console during the week ended May 18. Sales were likely boosted again by the success of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, which blue shelled Mario Kart Wii to reclaim the top spot in the latest Japanese software chart and pass the two million sales mark. While DS software is selling extremely well in Japan, taking 15 of the top 30 chart places during the week in question, sales of the handheld fell 16,000 units week-over-week, although the system was only 6,500 units short of the Wii's total.

PS3 sales were only 700 units greater than those of its predecessor, but should pick up in the coming weeks as new bundle offerings appear closer to Metal Gear Solid 4's June 12 release. Xbox 360 sold around 200 units more than it managed during the week ended May 11, but its total was still shy of 1,500.

- PSP: 70,536

19,348 (21.53%)

- Wii: 41,572

25,736 (38.24%)

- DS Lite: 34,905

16,323 (31.86%)

- PS3: 7,701

353 (4.38%)

- PS2: 7,022

422 (5.92%)

- Xbox 360: 1,47

196 (13.56%)

Reference:

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/japanese-hardware-sales-may-12-may-18-deja-vu-edition/

Posted by Maka Asatiani at 10:02 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Games, Hardware, Nintendo, PSP, Wii, XBox

U.S. video game sales including hardware and software jumped 34 percent in February to hit $1.33 billion, even with two top-selling consoles in short supply, according to data from market researcher NPD Group.

Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 have been in such high demand stores are having a hard time keeping them in stock. Microsoft spokesman David Dennis said the company moved up shipments during the holidays and hasn't been able to catch up since. He added: "we should be in good shape" by the time "Grand Theft Auto IV," the highly anticipated latest installment of the Rockstar Games franchise, hits store shelves April 29.

The game, which will be available on the Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, is expected to boost sales mutually of both consoles. Pre-orders have been better than expected, according to its publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, expects the game to sell about 9 million units during the company's fiscal year, which ends in October. Roughly 6 million of this, he added, will be to Xbox 360 owners.

February is normally a slow month for video game publishers coming off holiday highs, and consumers have also been cutting back spending amid economic worries.

Game hardware sales rose 19 percent during the month to $480 million, NPD said late Thursday. Of this, the portable Nintendo DS was the best-seller with 587,600 units, followed by the Wii at 432,000. The Xbox 360 sold 254,600 units even amid supply constraints.

"It appears that Wii and DS shortages abated in February, likely in anticipation of strong March software launches," - Pachter wrote in a note to investors.

Going strong since its launch in 2000, Sony's PlayStation 2 continued to outpace its successor. The PS2 sold 351,800 units compared with 280,800 for the PS3.

February's software sales grew 47 percent to hit $668.7 million, with Activision Inc.'s first-person shooter "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" at No. 1 with 296,200 units sold for the Xbox 360. Capcom USA's "Devil May Cry 4" and Nintendo's "Wii Play," which comes with a remote and includes games like pingpong and fishing, also did well.

The NPD Group was founded in 1967. Today it is the global provider of consumer and retail market research information for a wide range of industries.

Reference:

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_080311.html

Posted by Maka Asatiani at 8:29 PM | 2 comments  

Labels: Game Development, Game Reviews, Game Sharing, Nintendo, PlayStation, Wii, XBox

As you already know many gamers that bought the Guitar Hero III disks for Wii, got Mono audio instead of Dolby. To remedy this situation, Activision has started a replacement program, which is valid until August 31st of this year. The true Dolby Pro Logic II discs are now being distributed.

But how can you distinguish among the mono and true Dolby versions of the disks? The label looks the same, however, there is one thing that can help you if you pay an attention to it.




Please look at the little star just above the Activision logo. The disks with a Dolby Pro Logic II audio, have this star. Those disks with the mono audio, don't. So, if you are a lucky owner of the disk with a star, you don't need to replace anything.

Source: http://www.gamingbits.com/content/view/3583/2/

Posted by George S. at 8:29 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Wii

Nintendo Wii has become a tough gadget to find these days. There are even facts of desperate parents paying over 500 Pound Sterling to get one. Is the shortage artificial or is Nintendo really not catching up with demand?

It is a well known fact that creating artificial shortage or more generally limiting something is a dirty but effective marketing tactic. This tactic works for sure. As soon as you limit or ban something altogether, people will do everything to acquire it. Lord Chesterfield once said: "The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost".

We have seen toy manufacturers resorting to this method many times. There even have been some very loud cases in the USA. Will Nintendo face this? No one knows. What we know for sure is that the company officials have denies any kind of PR-ing of or manipulation with artificial shortage. Moreover, according to them, the company is working at maximum capacity producing 1.8 million units per month.

On the one hand, if it is proved that the shortage is artificial and the company is PR-ing it, Nintendo may face serious trouble. On the other hand, if the shortage is a result of the company not being able to satisfy the demand, this may seriously affect Nintendo's business as well.

Posted by George S. at 7:21 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Nintendo, Wii

On the 19th of November, 2007 Nintendo Wii turned out one year old. Infant, but already good at sales. Nintendo's gaming console has outsold both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. In some weeks there are good news for Sony but overall Wii is a winner. Period.

Why is Wii so successful? After all, Wii is technologically the least complicated gaming console. Well, that's Wii's strength - it's simple and it's so much fun. Xbox 360 is a great device quite many great titles. Sony PlayStation in my opinion is the best device in terms of technology but lacks quality games. But most of the gaming console buyers are not hardcore gamers. In other words, the largest segment of the gaming console buyers prefers a simple device with a lot of fun and Wii is the one that is most appealing for them. Add the best price offering and you have the winner.

Happy Birthday Wii!

Posted by George S. at 8:40 PM | 0 comments  

Labels: Nintendo, Wii

It looks like that Sony's latest marketing efforts have started to pay off. According to Media Create's numbers for the week ending November 11th, the sales figures looked as follows:

1. Nintendo DS: 78,884
2. PlayStation Portable: 58,964
3. PlayStation 3: 55,924
4. Nintendo Wii: 34,456
5. PlayStation 2: 9,043
6. Xbox 360: 5,817

For now PlayStation 3 outsells Wii. A while ago Xbox 360 outsold PlayStation 3. Quite funny. Weekly figures are of course more volatile than for example monthly or quarterly sales figures. However, it must be noted that the price cut on PlayStation 3 and introduction of the 40 GB model have definitely helped Sony increase sales by whopping 300%. Another factor for this dramatic increase is the shortage of Wii devices at the moment. Nintendo's inability to keep up to the demand may cost a lot to the company.

Posted by George S. at 11:38 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Wii

Nintendo has been the most successful player on the gaming console market so far. The company has made impressive profits, while its main rivals Microsoft has made relatively modest income and Sony has deep loses altogether.

Both Microsoft and Sony, have made various price cuts. Given this situation, Nintendo has no intentions to cut prices. Moreover, shortly, Nintendo will be bringing a new feature, which will enable Wii users to view TV program listings on the Wii consoles that are connected to the Internet, further increasing value of its already popular gaming console.

Posted by George S. at 9:35 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Wii

Which gaming console is the best? I think this is a rhetoric question and will remain as such for good. However, the gaming console market has another side - financial and probably the most important to the manufacturers. So, let's cut down rhetorics and quickly look at how each console has been performing.

At last, news is quite good for Microsoft. Its Entertainment and Devices division has posted an operating income for the first quarter of 165 million dollars. This may look funny in comparison to Nintendo's 1 billion dollars made on Wii and DS sales. However, the same period last year left the Redmond company with a 142 million dollar loss. Things look even better for Microsoft if we compare Xbox's profits to that of PlayStation 3. Sony has a 849 million dollars loss.

While Microsoft has started making profits from the Entertainment and Devices division, the company is still losing money on each sold unit. However, business is not about how much you make on a single product but how much a business unit makes overall. Microsoft's losses on each sold Xbox are "covered" by the sold games to say so. Recently released Halo 3 has already taken off and is not the last word from the software giant.

Unfortunately, Sony's business model seems to be the same. However, PlayStation 3 lacks killer titles, which ruins the business model, hence Sony's deep losses.

Posted by George S. at 12:43 PM | 0 comments  

Labels: Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Wii, XBox

Little time is left till the holiday season and the competition among gaming console manufacturers is becoming increasingly tough.

To boost sales for the holiday season, Sony has cut the USA price of the PlayStation 3 by 17% and at the same time has introduced a less expensive model.

The price cut has an immediate effect, so from now on the US 80GB model costs $499 (was $599) and the $399 priced 40 GB model will hit shelves from November 2.

Unfortunately, price manipulation is the only weapon available in Sony's arsenal. Nintendo Wii sales have doubled PlayStation 3 sales mark. Microsoft's Xbox 360 sales are pretty strong as well. Moreover, the release of Halo 3 has further boosted Xbox 360 sales and no price cut was necessary.

It will be in the range of possibility to assume that Sony may need to cut prices further to come close to competitors, not to mention matching the more than 120 million PlayStation 2s sold worldwide.

Posted by George S. at 7:42 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Wii, XBox

Nintendo North America has announced that there will be no price cut for Wii, at least in the foreseeable future. Nothing strange here. Nintendo's console is the cheapest among the current offering. Besides, Wii is a sales champion, surpassing sales of both Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's XBox 360.

Strong sales give Nintendo luxury to keep the $249 price. Both rivals, Sony and Microsoft have already cut prices. Most likely, Sony will reduce price for the holiday season even further.

Posted by George S. at 5:05 PM | 0 comments  

Labels: Nintendo, PlayStation, Wii, XBox

According to NPD Group's video game sales data for August, Wii and DS are still the top sellers. However, after price cut on Xbox 360, sales of Microsoft's game console have boosted by 63% and have surpassed PlayStation 2 sales.

If we take into account that both PlayStation 3 and Wii sales have declined in August, Xbox 360 sales dynamics are pretty impressive. Moreover, the release of Halo 3 is expected to further increase Xbox 360 sales.

Posted by George S. at 10:01 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: PlayStation, Wii, XBox

In business correct timing can draw a line between success and failure. Many products have failed because they were introduced early, when the market was not ready for it. Delays can have even more devastating effect on the product's future. In video gaming consoles market timing is even more critical.

Posted by George S. at 9:52 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: PlayStation, Wii, XBox

Ubisoft's upcoming sci-fi first-person shooter Haze will be available for Playstation 3 only. No PC, no XBox, no Wii. The company has already stated that it does not have any current plans to bring this game to other consoles and the PC.

Originally to be a multiplatform game will be available to Sony PS3 exclusively and will be released in November of this year.

If the game turns out to be a successful one, it will seriously boost PlayStation 3 sales. PS3 needs a couple of successful exlcusive titles and I believe Haze will be one of them.

Posted by George S. at 9:49 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Haze, PlayStation, UBISOFT, Wii, XBox

Until recently I have preferred playing computer games on a PC rather than on a console. Why not? My Sony Vaio easily crunches even the most recent games at a pretty high FPS. However, playing graphic intensive games on a laptop is not that comfortable, especially in a hot summer.

That is why I have decided to buy a gaming console and started exploring different options, understanding power and weaknesses of consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

Nintendo's Wii is technologically the least sophisticated and the cheapest of all three consoles. Nevertheless, eight months since its launch, the Wii has outsold both Xbox and PlayStation. Nintendo expects to sell a total of 16.5 million Wii units in the fiscal year ending in March 2008, up from its previous forecast of 14 million. This is a spectacular comeback for Nintendo, especially considering the fact that the Kyoto based maker of "Pokemon" and "Super Mario" games had fallen behind Sony's PlayStation 2 in the previous generation of game consoles.

Nintendo's comeback isn't just based on the Wii. The DS portable game console sold 47.27 million units worldwide since its launch in late 2004, far outstripping any other console on the market.

Generally consumers win from fierce competition and the gaming console market is not an exception. Sony slashed US prices for PlayStation 3 game console by US$100 earlier this month to US$499 for the 60 gigabyte model. Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has been quite successful in the US, sold sluggishly outside of software giant's main US market. Shall we expect a price drop?
Consumers' quick reaction on Sony's price drop (PS3 sales more than doubled in the USA in the two weeks since the price drop) signal tough competition ahead.

Well done Nintendo! Price reduction on Sony PS3 is only welcomed. But my choice goes to Xbox 360.

Posted by George S. at 10:03 AM | 0 comments  

Labels: Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation, Sony, Wii, XBox