30 Million Wii’s & Mini Wiimote Unboxing!!

FYI, 30 million is a lot. It’s also the number of Wii’s that have been sold in the United States alone. Worldwide the number is closer to 45 million. Yeah, those are crazy bonkers numbers. Nintendo is killing it this generation, and it’s only a matter of time before Wii surpasses Sony’s PlayStation 2 as the top selling console of all time. Don’t sleep, it’ll happen.
In other news, I was the lucky recipient of POWER A’s Pro Pack Mini Wiimote & Nunchuck combination recently, and I’ve got the full unboxing just for you guys. I’m not gonna lie, it was one of the most original, and thought out packages I’ve ever received from a company. The box containing the goodies had a letter attached to it that was from my Wii. It was basically my Wii saying that I neglect it, and that hopefully with the Mini’s included I’ll give it the attention it deserves.


Inside the box I was the Pro Pack Mini, some Swedish Fish, two movie tickets, and a picture frame with a picture of my Wii on vacation with someone that would be me once I glued my face into the picture. Told you it was original. I haven’t had enough time to review the Wiimote and Nunchuck yet, so expect that by Friday. I will say that they are definitely smaller, but they don’t feel too small. I have small hands, so I think they may actually work for what I need. The one problem so far is with WiiMotionPlus; it looks HUGE when attached. I’m sure WMP is fairly proprietary, but hopefully POWER A figures out a way to make a mini version of the peripheral. Once they get that sorted, I can’t imagine they’d have problem selling plenty of Wiimotes. I mean, there are 30 million Wii’s out there… Check the jump for more pictures, as well as the full press release from Nintendo about the sales numbers. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.



Logo
Aug. 10, 2010
Nintendo’s Wii Video Game System Reaches 30 Million Sales Milestone
Nintendo’s internal sales figures show that the Wii™ video game system has now sold 30 million units in the United States alone. This significant milestone was reached in just 45 months. This further establishes Wii as the fastest-selling console in the history of the industry, reaching this milestone 15 months faster than the next best-selling console.
Wii launched in November 2006 and ushered in a new era of video games. The built-in motion controls of the iconic Wii Remote™ controller drew millions of new players to the world of video games. Kids started playing with their parents and grandparents, people got up off the couch and got active, and seniors and baby boomers formed virtual bowling leagues.
“More than any other video game system in history, Wii has expanded the world of video games to new audiences,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “This milestone is another reminder that people want fun games they can play with others – all at a value-minded price.”
To continue building on this foundation, Wii has a strong slate of games on the way for the fall. These include Metroid™: Other M on Aug. 31, Samurai Warriors™ 3 on Sept. 27, Kirby’s Epic Yarn™ and Wii Party™ this fall, and Donkey Kong Country™ Returns, FlingSmash™ and PokéPark™ Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure for the holidays. That’s in addition to New Carnival Games from 2K Play in September, NBA JAM from EA Sports in October, GoldenEye 007 from Activision and Just Dance 2 from Ubisoft this fall, and Disney Epic Mickey from Disney Interactive Studios and Sonic Colors from SEGA during the holidays.
The Wii video game system is now available in either black or white at a suggested retail price of $199.99. That price offers a great value to consumers, as it includes two engaging games, Wii Sports™ and Wii Sports Resort™, as well as the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers and a Wii MotionPlus™ accessory, which brings additional precision to specially designed games.
The 30 million milestone is a good time to look back at all the fun Wii games and experiences that are just not possible on any other system. One of the unique features of the Wii platform is that many games follow an evergreen sales trend that keep them selling over long periods of time.
According to the independent NPD Group, the top 10 best-selling Nintendo-published Wii games in the United States (through the end of June) are:
1. Wii Play™
2. Mario Kart™ Wii
3. Wii Fit™ (with Wii Balance Board™ accessory)
4. New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii
5. Wii Sports Resort
6. Super Smash Bros.™ Brawl
7. Super Mario Galaxy™
8. Wii Fit™ Plus (with Wii Balance Board™ accessory)
9. Mario Party™ 8
10. Link’s Crossbow Training
According to the independent NPD Group, the top 10 best-selling Wii games from third-party publishers in the United States (through the end of June) are:
1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock from Activision
2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games from SEGA
3. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga from LucasArts
4. Carnival Games from Take-Two Interactive
5. Game Party from Midway
6. EA Sports Active from Electronic Arts
7. Just Dance from Ubisoft
8. Rayman Raving Rabbids from Ubisoft
9. Deca Sports from Hudson Entertainment
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games from SEGA
For more information about Wii, visit http://wii.com.

 

30 Million Wii’s & Mini Wiimote Unboxing!!

FYI, 30 million is a lot. It’s also the number of Wii’s that have been sold in the United States alone. Worldwide the number is closer to 45 million. Yeah, those are crazy bonkers numbers. Nintendo is killing it this generation, and it’s only a matter of time before Wii surpasses Sony’s PlayStation 2 as the top selling console of all time. Don’t sleep, it’ll happen.
In other news, I was the lucky recipient of POWER A’s Pro Pack Mini Wiimote & Nunchuck combination recently, and I’ve got the full unboxing just for you guys. I’m not gonna lie, it was one of the most original, and thought out packages I’ve ever received from a company. The box containing the goodies had a letter attached to it that was from my Wii. It was basically my Wii saying that I neglect it, and that hopefully with the Mini’s included I’ll give it the attention it deserves.


Inside the box I was the Pro Pack Mini, some Swedish Fish, two movie tickets, and a picture frame with a picture of my Wii on vacation with someone that would be me once I glued my face into the picture. Told you it was original. I haven’t had enough time to review the Wiimote and Nunchuck yet, so expect that by Friday. I will say that they are definitely smaller, but they don’t feel too small. I have small hands, so I think they may actually work for what I need. The one problem so far is with WiiMotionPlus; it looks HUGE when attached. I’m sure WMP is fairly proprietary, but hopefully POWER A figures out a way to make a mini version of the peripheral. Once they get that sorted, I can’t imagine they’d have problem selling plenty of Wiimotes. I mean, there are 30 million Wii’s out there… Check the jump for more pictures, as well as the full press release from Nintendo about the sales numbers. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.



Logo
Aug. 10, 2010
Nintendo’s Wii Video Game System Reaches 30 Million Sales Milestone
Nintendo’s internal sales figures show that the Wii™ video game system has now sold 30 million units in the United States alone. This significant milestone was reached in just 45 months. This further establishes Wii as the fastest-selling console in the history of the industry, reaching this milestone 15 months faster than the next best-selling console.
Wii launched in November 2006 and ushered in a new era of video games. The built-in motion controls of the iconic Wii Remote™ controller drew millions of new players to the world of video games. Kids started playing with their parents and grandparents, people got up off the couch and got active, and seniors and baby boomers formed virtual bowling leagues.
“More than any other video game system in history, Wii has expanded the world of video games to new audiences,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “This milestone is another reminder that people want fun games they can play with others – all at a value-minded price.”
To continue building on this foundation, Wii has a strong slate of games on the way for the fall. These include Metroid™: Other M on Aug. 31, Samurai Warriors™ 3 on Sept. 27, Kirby’s Epic Yarn™ and Wii Party™ this fall, and Donkey Kong Country™ Returns, FlingSmash™ and PokéPark™ Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure for the holidays. That’s in addition to New Carnival Games from 2K Play in September, NBA JAM from EA Sports in October, GoldenEye 007 from Activision and Just Dance 2 from Ubisoft this fall, and Disney Epic Mickey from Disney Interactive Studios and Sonic Colors from SEGA during the holidays.
The Wii video game system is now available in either black or white at a suggested retail price of $199.99. That price offers a great value to consumers, as it includes two engaging games, Wii Sports™ and Wii Sports Resort™, as well as the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers and a Wii MotionPlus™ accessory, which brings additional precision to specially designed games.
The 30 million milestone is a good time to look back at all the fun Wii games and experiences that are just not possible on any other system. One of the unique features of the Wii platform is that many games follow an evergreen sales trend that keep them selling over long periods of time.
According to the independent NPD Group, the top 10 best-selling Nintendo-published Wii games in the United States (through the end of June) are:
1. Wii Play™
2. Mario Kart™ Wii
3. Wii Fit™ (with Wii Balance Board™ accessory)
4. New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii
5. Wii Sports Resort
6. Super Smash Bros.™ Brawl
7. Super Mario Galaxy™
8. Wii Fit™ Plus (with Wii Balance Board™ accessory)
9. Mario Party™ 8
10. Link’s Crossbow Training
According to the independent NPD Group, the top 10 best-selling Wii games from third-party publishers in the United States (through the end of June) are:
1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock from Activision
2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games from SEGA
3. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga from LucasArts
4. Carnival Games from Take-Two Interactive
5. Game Party from Midway
6. EA Sports Active from Electronic Arts
7. Just Dance from Ubisoft
8. Rayman Raving Rabbids from Ubisoft
9. Deca Sports from Hudson Entertainment
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games from SEGA
For more information about Wii, visit http://wii.com.

 

Black Ops First Strike DLC hitting PS3 March 3

First add-on pack for Treyarch's shooter dropping for Sony's console worldwide early next month; PC still not yet dated.   Get the full article at GameSpot


"Black Ops First Strike DLC hitting ps3 March 3" was posted by Eddie Makuch on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:05:32 -0800

Dirt 3 spinning out May 24

Off-road racing sequel hitting stores worldwide at the end of May.  
The Dirt franchise has lifted Codemasters to the top tier of racing game developers, ably assisted by the well-reviewed Race Driver: Grid, helping the firm win the Formula One licence to bring the pinnacle of motorsports back to consoles after a long absence.



I feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe you should drive…

The long-standing Colin McRae franchise started life in 1998 and gained the Dirt moniker in 2007. Since then the franchise has gone from strength to strength as Dirt has moved from a serious rally sim into a more extreme motorsports festival. Codemasters today confirmed that gamers would be able to see if this trend is to continue on May 24, when Dirt 3 will be released worldwide on the playstation 3, PC, and xbox 360.

Dirt 3 looks to continue the series' move away from pure rallying with the addition of the gymkhana discipline to the event list. This sits alongside traditional rallies, point-to-point races, rallycross events, and more primarily off-road activities in a range of vehicles.

The title was first shown off in a trailer that was released in conjunction with the X Games in August 2010. For more on the Dirt series, check out the GameSpot review of Dirt 2, the latest hands-on with Dirt 3, or the developer diary below.

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"Dirt 3 spinning out May 24 " was posted by Alex Sassoon Coby on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 04:29:54 -0800

 

Bathaxx released, a new method to enable Wiibrews without modifications

From the infamous Team Twiizers and wiibrew dev lewurm, here's comes the the initial release of Bathaxx, a "safe way to enable homebrew on a wii without hardware modification."
 

 

Big in Japan Jan. 24-30: The Last Story, Valkyria Chronicles 3

Mistwalker's latest wii RPG and Sega's PSP strategy sequel take top two spots as new releases dominate Japanese sales charts.  
If the Wii role-playing game The Last Story really is the final game from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, at least the revered developer gets to go out on top. Tracking firm Media Create has released its Japanese sales charts for the week of January 24-30, with The Last Story in the best-seller spot for its debut week.


The Last Story may yet serve as a happy ending for Sakaguchi's career.
The Last Story sold 114,722 copies in its first week on sale, leading a flood of new releases that claimed seven of the top 10 spots on the charts. Sega's PSP strategy RPG Valkyria Chronicles III was a relatively close second, selling 102,779 copies for the week. Other notable new releases in the top 10 included the latest Kenka Banchou title from Spike (fourth place with 58,977 sold) and the Japanese debut of BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins for the ps3 (sixth place with 42,854 sold).

As might be expected, the three titles that retained a spot in the top 10 were the three best sellers from the week prior. Former sales champ Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Final Mix) slipped all the way to ninth place, selling 20,528, while the previous week's third place finisher, Donkey Kong Country, rounded out the top 10 with 19,214 sold. The January 17-23 runner-up, Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 3, showed the most staying power of the group, finishing the week in seventh place with 33,338 sold.

On the hardware front, the pecking order remained the same. Sony's PSP led the pack once again with 34,648 sold, followed by the PS3, which managed to move 25,149 new systems into Japanese gamers' homes. Although the Wii remained in third place, it did see a notable uptick in sales, with 19,448 sold compared to 14,547 the week prior.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JANUARY 24-30, 2011
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. The Last Story / nintendo / Wii / 114,722
2. Valkyria Chronicles 3 / Sega / PSP / 102,779
3. Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii wake ga Nai Portable / Namco Bandai / PSP / 88,493
4. Kenka Banchou 5: Otoko no Housoku / Spike / PSP / 58,977
5. Toaru Majutsu no Index / ASCII Media Works / PSP / 56,017
6. Dragon Age: Origins / Spike / PS3 / 42,854
7. Monster Hunter Portable 3 / Capcom / PSP / 33,338
8. Dream C Club Zero / D3 Publisher / xbox 360 / 21,734
9. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Final Mix) / Square Enix / PSP / 20,528
10. Donkey Kong Country Returns / Nintendo / Wii / 19,214

Hardware:
PSP - 34,648
PS3 - 25,149
Wii - 19,448
DSi LL - 11,891
DSi - 9,611 xbox 360 - 3,513 ps2 - 1,938
DS Lite - 1,059
PSP Go - 280
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"Big in Japan Jan. 24-30: The Last Story, Valkyria Chronicles 3" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:02:30 -0800

 

LG Optimus Pad (aka G-Slate) coming to MWC 2011 with Honeycomb, Tegra 2 and 3D display

The T-Mobile G-Slate may be fully official now, but the rest of the world needs love too, and LG's just announced it intends to deliver said loving at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few days from now. The Optimus Pad, as this 8.9-inch tablet will be known outside the US, will offer Android Honeycomb as its OS, along with a 3D-capable 1280 x 768 display, dual-core Tegra 2 processor, a front-facing camera plus a pair of imagers on the back allowing for 3D picture-taking, 32GB of onboard storage, and a 6,400mAh battery. We should be getting to grips with the device at MWC in due course -- look for it to launch alongside or shortly after its US twin hits retail in March.LG Optimus Pad (aka G-Slate) coming to MWC 2011 with Honeycomb, Tegra 2 and 3D display originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Unwired View, Android Community  |  Hankyung  | Email this | Comments

 

Star Wars: The Old Republic needs only 500K subscribers - EA

CEO John Riccitiello claims that the forthcoming sci-fi MMORPG will be "substantially profitable" with just a half-million subscribers.  
During a conference call with analysts following Electronic Arts' earnings report yesterday, executives did not comment on recent reports that Star Wars: The Old Republic has been delayed to September. They did say BioWare's massively multiplayer role-playing game will still ship during the publisher's 2012 fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012. Previously, the game had been slated for a spring 2011 release window.



Star Wars: The Old Republic will need only 500,000 subscribers to be profitable, says EA.

While tight-lipped on The Old Republic's date, EA CEO John Riccitiello was quite chatty about some other aspects of the game. First and foremost, he said that according to EA's models, it will not require a mammoth subscriber base a la Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft to turn a profit.

"We previously described to folks that 500,000 subscribers saw the game as substantially profitable, but it's not the kind of thing that we would write home about," he said. "[But] anything north of 1 million subscribers is a very profitable business."

Riccitiello went on to say that as EA sees it, its "leading competitor"--a thinly veiled reference to World of Warcraft--has 6 million of 12 million MMOG subscribers in Western markets. He believes that gives The Old Republic plenty of room to expand without even toppling WOW's dominance.

"So it's our view that we can be very successful without fundamentally challenging the market leader because we think we'll probably hit the smaller competitors harder when we get out there," he said. "Of course, we have no particular ambition to be a distant number two. Our ambitions are higher than that."

Riccitiello also said that The Old Republic is already being put through its QA paces. "We're currently testing it with a large-scale consumer testing, but not the beta scale level in the coming months," he told analysts.

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"Star Wars: The Old Republic needs only 500K subscribers - EA" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:45:10 -0800

Onkyo tablet roadmap shows a selection of Android and Windows devices in a variety of sizes

Onkyo is giving us a taste of what next, revealing its plans for future tablet onslaught that will leave no operating system untouched -- well, Android and Windows anyway. For Windows 7 lovers, the company's three SlatePC tablets, the TW317A5, TW217A5, and TW117A4 are all going to see updates through the year, including Oak Trail power from Intel sometime before June. Meanwhile, the 10-inch Android SlatePad TA117C1 and TA117C3 will receive built-in 3G and will be joined with a 7-inch, ARM-powered model later this year. Ruggedized tablets are mentioned too, but no plans for a US release for any of them. No surprise there.Onkyo tablet roadmap shows a selection of Android and Windows devices in a variety of sizes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Netbooknews  |  Impress  | Email this | Comments

NEWS: Devil Survivor Returns on 3DS

The demon invasion will occur again when Atlus releases a 3DS enhanced version of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor later this year.
Atlus U.S.A. revealed today that they will be releasing Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked on the 3DS in North America. Originally released on DS in 2009, this updated port will feature many additions including an extra ending. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked takes places in a locked down Tokyo with the city being devoured by demons. Players must fight to survive and possibly save the world as well.One of the additions is the inclusion of voice acting for the entire story. Also, the tactical RPG will feature a special 'eighth day' chapter as a treat to fans. The graphics will also have some enhancements with the art in particular looking sharper on the 3DS's new screens.
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1.1 trillion shots fired in Call of Duty: Black Ops

Developer Treyarch parses playtime statistics for megapopular shooter; $15 First Strike DLC out now.   Get the full article at GameSpot


"1.1 trillion shots fired in Call of Duty: Black Ops" was posted by Eddie Makuch on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:19:57 -0800