Shall no one challenge the mighty Bomberman?!  Quake in fear, ye horse petting simulators!  Cower in your beds, PS2 ports!  Bomberman alone shall rule this week’s new releases!!!

DS
Bomberman Land Touch! 2

Wii
Bomberman Land

Endless Ocean and the newest edition of Advance Wars both debut with decent sales this week.

Wii
1. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party Bundle (Konami)
2. Wii Play (Nintendo)
3. Endless Ocean (Nintendo)
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision)
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)

DS
1. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (Nintendo)
2. Wario: Master of Disguise (Nintendo)
3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
4. Brain Age 2 (Nintendo)
5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)

Anyone help contribute to these rankings?

[Source]

All signs are pointing to 2007 being the best year ever for video games, but how did the industry stack up against some of the Old Guard like movies and music?

If the Entertainment Software Association (via Ars Technica) is to be believed, it was a banner year that left tired old things like “CDs” and DVDs” in the dust. (more…)

Is the tide turning? Was I actually right for once with one of my now infamous pro-Nintendo Infendo rants?

I only ask because this morning I read something that was borderline Bible end-of-the-world Revelations territory: Wii software sales for December were officially higher than the market leader, Xbox 360.

This spectacular feat actually occurred last month in the wake of the annual video game software sales Mecca, the “holidays,” and it’s been confirmed by the bastion of video game bloggers’ stats everywhere, NPD.

I wonder… how will the naysayers spin this one? (more…)

After weeks of junk food, Nintendo systems get a feast this week.  We have the DS version of a popular Wii title, the latest version of a handheld classic with added online play, a mature title for Wii that has some gamers salivating, an anime adventure, and a new, budget first party title from Nintendo.  And a jet ski game.  New releases for the week ending January 26th:

DS
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

Wii
Endless Ocean
Kawasaki Jet Ski
No More Heroes
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure

OPINION — It’s officially time for 3d party developers to put up or shut up.

The act of complaining about developing games for a Nintendo console and turning a profit against the big bad Ninty and its cadre of 1rst party behemoths has officially been exposed as the pathetic, cry baby act that it is. (more…)

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ — Nintendo DS(TM) and Wii(TM) finished strong in 2007, commanding sales in the holiday shopping period and finishing the year as the two best-selling video game systems in the United States, according to new data just released by the independent NPD Group.Nintendo DS was the top-selling U.S. system of 2007, with nearly 8.5 million sold, including more than 4 million in November and December alone. Wii placed second, with nearly 6.3 million sold through the year, more than 2.3 million of which sold in the final two months. (more…)

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 14, 2008 - Nintendo of America announces the appointment of two sales and marketing executives to work from the company’s new Bay Area office in Redwood City, Calif. Denise Kaigler joins as vice president of Marketing & Corporate Affairs, while Bill van Zyll becomes the new director and general manager of Latin America. Van Zyll’s appointment is effective immediately, while Kaigler starts Feb. 18. Both will report to Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing.
(more…)

Really not much to see here.  I know Blake was all excited about Nitrobike.  Nanostray 2 might deserve mention as well.  Anything else here of interest to you?

Releases for the week ending January 19th, 2008:

DS
Corvette Evolution GT
Miami Nights: Singles in the City
Nanostray 2

Wii
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence
Furu Furu Park
Luxor: Pharaoh’s Challenge
Nitrobike
Samurai Warriors: Katana

A big screen IMAX film comes to the DS in game form, while a small screen cartoon makes the jump to Wii. New releases for the week of January 6th:

DS
Jackass the Game
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure

Wii
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
Kidz Sports Ice Hockey
Luxor: Pharaoh’s Challenge
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

So when are we going to get a Venture Bros. game?

Nothing new for DS this week (unless the Jam Sessions Performance Bundle counts), but there are a handful of Wii titles looking to scoop up some post-holiday gift card spendings. Releases for the week ending 1/5/2008:

Wii
Classic British Motor Racing
Kawasaki 4X4 Quad Bikes
Kidz Sports Basketball
Monster Trux: Offroad
Myth Makers: Orbs of Doom
Rig Racer 2

Lots of motor sports to choose from this week.  Picking up any of this stuff?

Usually you’d see a nice, tidy post proclaiming the Nintendo purchasing bounty available for the week.  Unfortunately, due to the timing of Christmas this year, it looks like no new games are coming out until next week.  (Hint: Not much coming next week either!)

Hope you’re playing everything you want to during the holidays!

This past year was arguably a year of high’s and more high’s for Nintendo. Any of the firm’s blemishes were easily washed away by its monthly successes, and the core gamer — the everyman and woman who once again controls the fate of the video game industry — would tell you that Nintendo met their expectations and then some (with the exception, of course, that supply chain issues will cost the company an estimated $1 billion). That said, room for growth exists in spades, and I fully expect 2008 to be another banner year for the house that Mario built.

In that light, I suppose it is fitting that the head of Nintendo, President and CEO Satoru Iwata, would top the Top 25 People of 2007 list over at Next Generation. (more…)

Are you one of the doubters? When you saw Wii Fit debut earlier this year, did you scoff and sneer like 95% of the “enthusiast press?”

News today from Japan goes a long way towards making people like you the left out in the cold variety, as Wii Fit has not only sold decently, it also boosted the sales of other Wii games that many people were ready to right off as disappointments in the land of the rising sun. Like Super Mario Galaxy, which had slipped out of the much ballyhooed top ten list picture until today. It was a shame, really, and this new trend, I hope, is indicative of a resurgence for the plucky plumber, whose latest effort is perhaps one of his best ever.

On a related note, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime was peppered earlier this month about the “attach rate” of the Wii and how it was perceived to be poor, especially when compared to the Xbox 360 (here’s some free analysis: it is lower, but it’s not as bad as the press was reporting in 2007. Surprise). I bring that up because I’d like to know if there’s ever been reporting done on the attach rate of an accessory for any given console.

Anyway, here’s the list, which is very reminiscent of Nintendo-themed top ten lists from earlier this year… (more…)

Nintendo of America president Reggie FIls-Aime and I share a nuber of redeeming traits. We both are able to turn coal into diamonds using nothing but brute strength and our fists, for example (related note: Merry Xmas, babe!). We can also affect weather patterns worldwide using nothing but the white hot intensity of our personalities, which burn with the combined heat of a thousand suns. Oh, and we both hate console bundles.

We especially the ones that are ocasionally — OK, incessantly — forced upon us by retailers see consoles like the Wii as the incredibly popular moneymakers that they are. (more…)