Industry
2007 Video game growth outpaced music, video
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.
Nintendo’s Wii software sales are No. 1 for December
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 s...
The Wii’s Success: It’s time for developers to put up or shut up
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.
EA, again: No Rock Band Wii planned
Even the mighty Rome fell, eventually. So too will EA, I think, although not in quite as catastophic a fashion as the great decendents of Romulus and Reemus. But eventually, nonetheless.
Wii has more kiddie titles in first year than GameCube
What to make of this news? Gamasutra has a bunch of pie charts up today comparing the distribution of ESRB rated games for this and last generations’ consoles. By the looks of these charts the Wii, when compared to the GameCube, looks like a Chucky Cheese’s game room. Meanwhile the ‘cube is Studio 54 in the 1970s.
To find Wii, stalk the UPS man
To get yourself a Wii this holiday, you should not stalk the UPS man, but you should stalk the UPS man. Get it? So says George Harrison in an interview with Wired’s Chris Kohler today, during which he also responded to that lingering conspiracy theory about fake Wii shortages. Game|Life: “Typically, we’d have begun stockpiling console hardware back in August” for the holida...
Tabloid says video games make kids dumb
There’s something inherently ironic about a tabloid reporting on mediums that make people dumber, but for the sake of this post I’ll continue. Basically, U.K. tabloid The Sun is blaming videogames for England’s drop in literacy rates. The article cites a study that claimed 37% of English ten-year-olds play videogames for more than three hours a day, for more than other European c...
Video games to see best October in a while
Analyst Michael Pachter, Mr. Video Game guru himself, has cast down the tea leaves into his voodoo pot of stray animal bones and sees incredible October sales numbers not only for Nintendo, but for video games in general. GameIndustry.biz: Most of the sales growth was driven by Activision’s Guitar Hero III, which accounted for USD 100 million in sales. Pachter’s estimate reflects USD 4...
Smash Bros. delay part of overall strategy shift at Nintendo
Are you one of those people that believes all the good games should come out in Q4? Nintendo was, once upon a time, but just like all the other disrupting they’re doing to the industry right now, they’ve decided to turn their sights to the calendar too. No, I’m not talking Calendar DS Fun Time Touch or some other wacky new title, I’m talking release dates.
Will Wright: Wii is the only true next generation console
I think I just added Spore creator Wii Wright to my Christmas shopping list. In an interview with Guardian Unlimited Wright, who also created the Sims, called the Wii the only true next-generation console out of the three new console platforms on the market. Of course some of us already subscribe to this belief, but to hear someone of Wright’s caliber put it so succinctly might win over a fe...
How I know the Wii will dominate this holiday season
OK, so no one *knows* anything until it actually happens, but something came across the Infendo news wire today not directly related to the Big N and confirmed in my mind the Wii will dominate the holiday–again. Weird thing is, it was an Xbox 360 box and the press release that accompanied it. Jeff Bell, MS PR drone, take it away: “As families gather together this holiday, it’s th...
Nintendo value hits lifetime high thanks to DS, Wii
Think of the coin sound from Super Mario Bros. Ka-ching. Now, multiply that sound a trillion times. That’s the sound at Nintendo today, which hit a lifetime high in terms of value thanks to the DS, Wii and its overall strategy to turn the video games industry on its collective head — in a good way. According to people who keep track of such things, Nintendo’s market value has pea...