Wii in Stock

According to the January video game sales figure released by NPD, Nintendo once again dominates the chart. Nintendo is said to sell 68,000 Wii units and 510,000 DS units. Nintendo’s Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart took the top three positions on the software side. Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty: World at War were on forth and fifth positions respectively.

It’s been a year now that Nintendo has been leading the video game industry. So, it seems obvious that Nintendo would dominate the charts for yet another month. The company has been satisfying its customers with fun and a unique experience of playing video games at a very affordable rate. This counts for more as it is quite necessary in such an economy.

Recession has taken everything in its control but still, video games are trying to do a great job by curbing the results due to recession. According to a market research firm, NPD Group, it has been reported that both software and hardware combined together have reached the $1.33 billion in revenue this month. This growth accounts for a 13% jump over $ 1.8 billion in January 2008.

Among the lot, Nintendo still holds the role firmly and dominates the list with XBox 360. This is indeed a very impressive showing. The January statistics for software shows Nintendo’s Wii Fit at the first position and Wii Play at the second position with Mario Kart Wii following on the third position.

Nintendo Wii started their mini-games in 2008 and this year in 2009, they are getting the go kart racing games. The NASCAR Kart Racing is the first title NASCAR title for Nintendo Wii. It has already been shipped to the retailers. The exciting part is that the Wii owners can also look forward to MySimsRacing sometime in June.

Among both the games, NASCAR Kart Racing looks more challenging. The Wii already has Mario Kart for whacky go-kart fun and NASCAR’s go-kart game will prove better for those looking for serious go-kart fun. The game also has the ten animated characters to take care over the wheel.

Reports say that Nintendo is investing huge money into a new research and development centre in Kyoto’s Minami-ku district. This area is close to their headquarters in Kyoto. Around £100 million have already been spent by Nintendo in securing the land. The building will have new research and development centre dealing in both hardware and software.

Way back in 2000, Nintendo shifted from Higashiyama district of Kyoto to a new building because of the increase in the number of development staff. The old office was renamed as ‘Kyoto Research Centre’. Since that time, the research and development has been continued at both the old and the new offices. It is still not known that when will the construction of the new research centre will begin.

The Nintendo DS enters into its fifth year of life in 2009. It has gained success not only in the US but also in Japan where it has enjoyed the same lucrative life as it has in Japan. However, the problem lies in such games that only the Japanese gamers have been enjoying since years. There are games which are still waiting to go across the Pacific.

Perhaps these games will stay over on the other side of the world. However, considering their quality and uniqueness, it seems better to feel a little entitled to get our hands on the localized versions of that territory’s best Nintendo DS titles. One such game which has only been released in Japan and is a favorite for the Japanese is Osu! Tatakae! Quendan

The latest addition in the accessories of Nintendo Wii is a 6 colored Nunchuk Mini’s which is to be launched by Logic3. The Nunchuk Mini’s will add some fun and color which one will experience while playing the games on the Wii. These Nunchuks can also be referred as ‘FunChucks’ and are available in Red, Orange, Yellow Green, White and Black. Each player can select his own choice of colored Nunchuk. It proves great for a group of friends who have the aim to be the best Wii gamer around.

These colorful Nunchuks are designed to fit in comfortably for either left or right handed gamers. The FunChuk Mini controller can also easily get connected to the Wii Remote.

The video game company based in Kyoto, Japan, said this week that it is set to implement a new online service aimed at offering Wii users access to doctors and other healthcare experts, Kyodo News said Wednesday. Nintendo said the new health service is being offered in conjunction with NEC Corp. Panasonic Medical Solutions Company and Hitachi Limited.
Nintendo said Tuesday it has developed a new application that will allow users of the Wii Fit to send the personal health data gathered by the exercise video game to the company's health group. The assembled group of healthcare experts will then e-mail Wii users regarding applicable health recommendations, the Kyodo said. The news agency reported that the three companies working with Nintendo plan to sell their applicable systems to similar advisory organizations or corporate health insurance groups.

Sony on Thursday reported a 95 percent decline in profit for the fourth quarter of 2008. The electronics maker didn't get the sales boost it hoped for during the holiday shopping season as consumers turned to competing products. The Japanese company said sales decreased 24.6 percent year over year as its electronics division sales plunged 29.3 percent in the wake of yen appreciation, the economic downturn, and intensified price competition.

"From the second half of September last year, there has been a sudden deterioration in the economy, and with the effects of foreign exchange it has had severe consequences on our business," Sony Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda said in an Associated Press report. Sony's game segment performed even worse. Sales decreased 32.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2007.

Considering last week’s news that the North American video games market grew 19 per cent to hit $21.33bn last year, NPD figures have also shown that the Canadian industry in isolation also enjoyed significant growth, CBC reports.

Sales of consoles, games and accessories in the region totaled $2.09bn in 2008, 23 per cent up on the year before, with Nintendo’s Wii once again proving the dominant force by claiming 44.1 per cent of total home console sales. Xbox 360 accounted for 25.5 per cent and PS3 21.7 per cent. In the portable market Nintendo was once again dominant, with DS grabbing a 75.5 per cent slice of the sector.

Stimulated by the success of Nintendo Wii, a Hong Kong-based toy company has launched a similar gaming practice in the UK for children as young as three-years-old the Smile Motion console. Vtechs Smile Motion console is a games engine that has motion sensitive gear sticks, which uses similar technology to the Nintendo Wii.
Available for 60 pounds, the device targets children between the age-group of 3-7 years. On Smile Motion, children can play games including Thomas the Tank engine, Dora the Explorer etc, all they need to do is move the gear stick in their hand and the characters on the screen move too.