Business
When will the video games industry fight back against Jack Thompson?
The worst school shooting in U.S. history happened yesterday on the campus of Virginia Tech. Thirty-two defenseless, innocent individuals lost their lives to someone we can only call a disturbed, selfish and thankfully deceased individual in Cho Seung-Hui. When I heard the account of one female student, I physically paused and felt ill. Of the 25 students in her German class, she and three others ...
Nintendo tops Japanese charts again (the world is not enough)
The Wii and its smaller but equally porcelain cousin the DS have done it again. They’ve risen against the odds that are stock shortages and confused gaming journalists unaccustomed to strange new technology, and have increased the number of units sold this week in Japan. Truly, our offspring will celebrate the success with the gift of drink and song whilst they waggle away with the Wiimote 2...
We’re Number One – top sellers for the week
Top ten? Top five? Who cares. Boiled down to their essence, here are the number one Wii and DS games sold around the world this week. WiiNorth America: Super Paper Mario UK: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Japan: Wii Sports DSNorth America: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords UK: Dr. Kawashima’s Brain TrainingJapan: Gyakuten Saiban 4 Looks like all the great buzz about Puzzle Ques...
Analyst wonders about the Wii hype
Key points from Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell’s recent note to clients: [W]e are getting tired of what we believe is irrational exuberance about the Wii. Yes, it is popular, and yes, it is taking share, but one investor recently told us how he thought it would revolutionize the way Americans exercise… As we highlighted in our Video Game Publishers: Valuation and Technical Analysi...
Wii enjoys third biggest sales week since launch
This is a good sign from the U.K.: Wii sales this week were at their third highest ever since launch day. This shows momentum is still going strong, and that Nintendo was able to ship a decent number to consoles to the U.K. in spite of the shortages. Oh, and it was all done on the heels of a major console launch from another vendor. Nintendo has told GamesIndustry.biz that Easter gift buying and a...
Perrin Kaplan tells reporter she can spin straw into gold
O, Perrin Kaplan. Once, your words were like sweet honey in the ears of Nintendo fans the world over. Today, they’re like having the hot water suddenly go out in the middle of a morning shower. And your towel is missing. And your house in on fire. So what are we to think of your latest foray into the world of Nintendo PR? “There is a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of working on what...
Nintendo supports US fight against pirates
If you’re a pirate (especially if you live in China), be very wary of buying or selling illicit copies of Nintendo properties: As part of its uncompromising campaign against international piracy, Nintendo continues to be an outspoken supporter of the U.S. government, given that more than 7.7 million counterfeit video game products from more than 300 Chinese factories and retailers have been ...
Top 7 Nintendo mistakes don’t include the Wii
Games Radar has a feature today on Nintendo’s seven deadly sins (or mistakes). It’s almost as hot as Blake’s new Infendo header. Almost. The feature is a nostalgic walk through of the absolute worst of Nintendo’s storied history. The Virtual Boy; strong arming third parties to the point that the U.S. government had to get involved; all but a handful of games on the Nintendo...
Ubisoft reaps Wii rewards; Other publishers like EA? Not so much.
Bloomberg reports that sluggish Wii support by EA has cost the company 25% of its yearly profits. Others are feeling the sting as well contrary to Ubisoft’s success as an early Wii supporter. From the article: “Wii games helped increase [Ubisoft] sales for the December quarter by 24 percent to $405 million. In January, the company raised its 2007 forecast for revenue growth to 16 perce...
Video game patches need not apply
If Aeropause were a person and not a blog, I’d buy it a beer in a pub. Why? Because it seems like I agree with them a lot these days. Then I take their posts, cut and paste a bit, and upload a semi-original post before calling it a day. So here it goes: Patching and consoles don’t mix because patching sucks. I think it’s silly to watch someone sitting in front of a console waitin...
Miyamoto talks Vision, Third-Party Support, and Competition in Newsweek’s post-GDC interview
N’Gai Croal’s LevelUp blog published an interview held after the 2007 Game Developer’s Conference with Nintendo’s legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Highlights and commentary from that interview follow: “I wanted to clear up some misunderstandings that some developers have about what Nintendo is trying to do, and make it really clear that we’re not saying...
Note to Nintendo: Stay far, far away from Take Two, Rockstar
Wired Magazine is covering the shareholder coup going down at Take Two Interactive today, so I thought I’d revisit my post from this week about whether or not Nintendo should swoop in an buy up Take Two. Wired: As all this played out at Take-Two, the Rockstars continued their rise. Dan Houser assumed the creative reins, writing game dialog and directing star-studded voice-over sessions. Sam ...