wii-play
Latest
Wii Play: Motion has stone skipping, ghost hunting
Nintendo hasn't officially detailed the MotionPlus-enhanced minigames in the Wii Play: Motion collection, but a set of screenshots posted by GoNintendo gives an impression of all the new minigames you'll own when you decide to buy another Wiimote. There's a game in which you fly around using an umbrella in strong wind; one called "Spooky Search," which makes use of the Wiimote speaker (to locate ghosts in your room); a stone-skipping game; and a sort of "Human Tetris" scenario in which you pose a Mii to fit through Mii-shaped holes in the wall. There's also a side-scrolling minigame about guiding balloons through mazes, something diving-themed, and a spacecraft flight game. Wii Play: Motion will begin irritating hardcore gamers with sales on June 13 in North America and June 24 in Europe.
NPD: Guitar Hero 3 is this generation's highest-grossing game
Call of Duty: Black Ops might be the best-selling game by unit sales, but it isn't the US bestseller in terms of gross revenue. According to NPD data going back to 1995, and compiled by CNBC, the honor of the highest-grossing game of "this generation" goes to another Activision game, the Axl Rose-angering Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. Black Ops is #2. The list of the NPD's top ten best-selling games by revenue (after the break) includes a second Guitar Hero game, too -- R.I.P. -- along with Rock Band and both Wii Fits, which suggests that the best way to make a lot of revenue is simply to make your game cost more. Although Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii are also on the list, so maybe people just really like finding peripherals inside their game boxes, like cereal box prizes.
Nintendo: 65.3 million Wiimotes sold in US
Nintendo announced an unusual statistic today: 65.3 million Wii Remotes have been sold in the US since the system's 2006 launch. That includes the 30.41 million Wiimotes included in system bundles sold in the country to date (according to NPD data gathered by Nintendo), along with the 12.92 million controllers sold in Wii Play bundles. Of the standalone Wiimotes, the white model has sold by far the most, at 18.56 million -- which makes sense, given it was the only option for the first three years of the system's availability. The black Wiimote, introduced in November 2009, has sold 2.44 million units; while the pink and blue versions released on Valentine's Day 2010 have sold 467,500 and 465,200 units, respectively. They will all be obsolete on November 7.
NPD: Wii Play is best selling 'game' of all time in the US
If there's a statistic measuring how well a game sold, you're likely to find Wii Play lingering in it somewhere. It's not only been the best-selling game of 2009, but also just recently made itself known as the top seller for the last decade. Now, according to NPD data (via GameSpot), the software-hardware hybrid has claimed another throne: top-selling non-PC US game ever. It's a pretty prestigious list and while no exact figures are listed (save for the bundle's October performance, selling a whopping 11.1 million units in that month alone), the other games listed should give you an indication of just how many homes Wii Play has invaded. Taking second place is Guitar Hero III, the first game to earn $1 billion in revenue, followed by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The others in the top ten are generally expected, including Activision's other $1 billion earner, Modern Warfare 2 (notable because, damn, that was fast!), along with a pair of other Call of Duty games. Head over to GameSpot for the full list.
Heavy Rain official site launches, announces 'Four Days Challenge'
Heavy Rain's marketing may be missing that "mainstream appeal" factor it needs to push sales with the Wii Play crowd, but the folks in charge of the game's website sure do know how to whet the whistle of those of us chomping at the bit for anything new. Starting on January 26 and running "in real time across three weeks," the Heavy Rain "Four Days Challenge" intends on tasking participants with solving a murder mystery. The advergame's description claims it consists of "interacting with characters, identifying clues [and] making decisions," allowing those involved to complete said tasks between Tuesday and Friday of the three weeks that the game is scheduled to run. You can head over to the sign-up site right now and get yourself all set up for what is sure to be three weeks jam-packed with pure, unbridled excitement. Or a viral marketing campaign. But hey, at very least, you'll get yourself a voucher for a free Heavy Rain t-shirt in Home. That's something, right? Right? Hey guys, where are you going? %Gallery-30067%[Via VG247]
Wii Fit may surpass San Andreas sales, Wii Play is top selling 'game' of the last 10 years
Wii Fit is on the verge of becoming the second-highest selling "game" in the US of the last 10 years. IGN reports on NPD data, revealing that Wii Fit has reached 7.9 million sales, passing by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's 6.9 million and creeping up quickly on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' 8.25 million units. The only thing ready to kill Wii Fit's momentum is Wii Fit Plus, which will replace the previous version at retail.Some out there are probably ready to argue that Wii Fit should not be counted among other games. Yeah, those folks are going to pitch a fit about the top seller: Wii Play. The controller-bundled "software" holds the crown, having reached 11.1 million sales. We can't wait to see how the Vitality Sensor does.%Gallery-4745%
Top five best sellers for 2009 tracked for each console
Finding it hard to get interested in the June NPDs? Perhaps a visual aide from the folks at Gamasutra will help boost your enthusiasm. They've compiled the sales figures from all of 2009's NPD charts to find the top five best-selling games of the year thus far on each of the three home consoles.The big winner so far on the PS3 is Killzone 2, trailed closely by Resident Evil 5. On the 360, Resident Evil 5 is currently in the lead, followed by a surprising contender -- UFC 2009: Undisputed. The Wii's current leader is -- who'd have thunk it? -- Wii Fit, followed by Wii Play. For the full five for each platform, check out Gamasutra's writeup.
Top brands of 2008 owned by Nintendo, EA, Activision, and not Sony
Wedbush Morgan Securities' 2009 industry report includes a list of the top thirty brands of 2008. The report notes that of the companies whose brands appear on the list, Nintendo, EA, and Activision were the only three with more than one brand to generate over $100 million at retail in the US last year.And boy, did they. The top brand of the year, Guitar Hero -- perhaps you've heard of it -- was responsible for $992 million in US sales in 2008. The next two brands, Mario Bros. and Rock Band, generated $761 million and $662 million, respectively.One company is notably absent from the top brands list: "Most strikingly," the report reads, "Sony had no top 30 brands for the third year in a row." Microsoft had two brands on the list (Gears of War and Fable) and Nintendo had four (Mario Bros., Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Pokémon). See the list of brands after the break.
10 million accept Wii Play with Wiimote purchase
Nintendo brings word that its Wii Play software has sold over 10 million units in the United States. When combined with the 12.7 million Wiimotes sold individually, that's a whole lot of people waggling together in living rooms and old folks' homes.Nintendo's EVP of Sales & Marketing Cammie Dunaway says, "Even if you believe people are buying Wii Play solely for the controller ..." No, that's not what anybody with more than 512MB under their hood believes. People are buying the controller solely for Wii Play. We're sure it looks lovely to see Wii Play at the top of the NPD's software sales list month after month, but we all know that's based on a fabrication of what's the real star in that product bundle. Of course, all of this is debatable.
Wii Play back on top of UK sales charts this week
Wii Play has finally regained its spot at the top of the charts in the UK, as it has bested previous top-seller Mario Kart Wii this week. Not since February of last year has Wii Play been the top dog in the UK, which is just plain surprising, if you ask us. Sure, we may not all agree on the bundle's worth, but it's still a pretty tempting package, especially to someone who hasn't even tried the bundled software for 5 minutes, gotten bored, and wandered off to make a sandwich.%Gallery-18693%
7.9 million American Wii owners didn't mind getting Wii Play with their controllers
Most people buy multiple controllers for their game systems. That's more of an anecdotal or common-sense conclusion than one based on statistics, but we think it holds. Even people who live alone generally like to have a second controller around for company. And with the Wii's status as a party system, a lot of people are likely to have third and fourth controllers as well. Nintendo found a way to get many of these controller sales to count as software in NPD: by bundling controllers with a game and adding just $10 to the price. And the strategy has worked. Nintendo told Gamasutra that since the product's launch in February of last year, 7.9 million copies of Wii Play have been sold in the US. That's more than half the number of Wii systems sold in the US (15.4 million).We like the cow racing game.%Gallery-18693%
Top 5: Nintendo's Worst
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Top_5_Nintendo_s_Worst'; 15 days ago, Guns N' Roses released their comically delayed album Chinese Democracy, giving hope to those who are still awaiting Duke Nukem Forever. Unfortunately, anyone looking for another Appetite for Destruction will be disappointed, as the new album's overcoming of its absurd delay overshadowed the album itself. One should question the album's association to the same band of twenty years ago, as Velvet Revolver contains more members of that legendary set. A more accurate title would be "Axl Rose solo project with some Buckethead." After hearing the album, I can confirm that it deserves a hearty "meh." If you truly consider this to be a Guns N' Roses album (which I'm not so sure that I do), it's undoubtedly their worst. This got me thinking about the bottom rungs of other quality serial productions. Being the nerd that I am, it didn't take long for thoughts to drift towards gaming. We're all aware that it's a bit redundant to bash Nintendo as a company. But one aspect of the Big N which is almost never called into question is the quality of their games. Certainly there's always a few outliers which stray from conventional feelings just for disarray's sake, and good for them. Yet one would have to be certifiably bonkers to label anything from the main Zelda or Mario series as a truly terrible game. But like anyone who hasn't sold their soul to the devil, there's bound to be a few slip-ups. When you're talking about a history as enormous to gaming as Nintendo's, it'd be suspicious if there wasn't a blotch here or there. These aren't quite at the top of the "worst games of all time" list, but they'd certainly be if the list was Nintendo-exclusive. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
2008's best-sellers revealed, familiar outcome ensues
Gamasutra has compiled a bunch of charts showing the best-selling games of 2008 (so far) across all formats. At first glance, the results are thoroughly predictable -- it's yet more Wii dominance in the U.S. -- but there are interesting factoids to be drawn from this.Wii Play, for example, looks like finishing in the top five games of the year for the second year running. Even more impressively, Gamasutra thinks it could sell more copies in 2008 than in 2007, which is all kinds of crazy. Surely that would be some kind of first?The top two spots are held by Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, a pair of titles that we always expected to sell well, but to beat the likes of Wii Fit or other games aimed at Nintendo's broadened audience? Speaking of Wii Fit, it tops the chart for estimated revenue so far this year, thanks to its higher retail price. We'll reproduce the 2008 YTD sales table below, but Gamasutra has other data worth looking at here.1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) -- 3.5 million2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) -- 3.4 million3. Grand Theft Auto IV (360) -- 3.2 million4. Wii Play (Wii) -- 3.0 million5. Wii Fit (Wii) -- 2.8 million%Gallery-3347%
Report: Wii games dominate top 5 US sellers in '08 (so far)
Still obsessing over sales statistics, Gamasutra has crafted a report on 2008's five top-selling games in the US -- so far. Though some figures are approximated, there's assurance that "the maximum possible error in each figure should not affect the rankings." All consoles considered, the rankings are as follows: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (3.5 million, estimated) Mario Kart (3.4 million) Grand Theft Auto IV (3.2 million, estimated) Wii Play (3 million) Wii Fit (2.8 million) Be sure to check out the report for further details, several of which are likely to fuel the fanboy fires for, oh, the next fifteen minutes at least. We look forward to entertaining your "Wii games don't sell," "GTA IV is overrated" and "Wii Play is just a controller in disguise" arguments. We do not, however, want anything to do with your "Why isn't Golden Axe: Beast Rider on there?" madness.
Circuit City does buy one, get one 50% off sale on Wii games
For those of you with some extra money burning a hole in your pocket, know that Circuit City has a sale running from now until this upcoming Saturday. When you purchase any Wii game at full price, you can get a second game for 50% off. The sale also works with Wii Play, if you're not among the folks who've already purchased the bundle. Need some suggestions? Mario Kart Wii is a good choice (and you can play with us at Game Night!), as well as Wario Land: Shake It! (which we're pretty fond of). There's also ... actually, just head on over there. The list of games is fairly long.[Via GamerDeals]
NPD dishes out the 5 top-selling Wii games of this year
When we think of what games could possibly be the top 5 for the Wii, it doesn't seem like there's much room for mystery. Those that follow the monthly NPD numbers will likely be able to recite the top 5, in order, off the top of their heads. So, let's get to it!The top 5 games of 2008 so far according to the NPD are: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Mario Kart Wii (with wheel) Wii Play Wii Fit (with Balance Board) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar) We're amazed at how well GH3 still continues to do on the Wii. Obviously, Wii Play is no surprise, as it's a constant fixture in the top software titles month after month. And we have a feeling that Wii Fit would be higher on the list if only more people could actually find it.
NPD reveals Top 5 console games of '08 ... so far
As we head into the last stretch of the year, which is synonymous with a glut of titles flooding the market, it's worth seeing what the top titles in 2008 were up to this point. Gamasutra, using data from NPD, has posted the Top 5 titles for consoles up until August. Don't expect any surprises: Grand Theft Auto IV is in the top spot for PS3 and Xbox 360, while Super Smash Bros. Brawl is champion on the Wii.The Wii certainly is the most interesting of the lists, with four out of the five SKUs belonging to games with included with some sort of peripheral (Mario Kart, Wii Fit, Wii Play and Guitar Hero III). Gamasutra also estimates that the software sales of the top five Wii titles combined is about 12 million units, nearly double that of the top five on the other consoles (separately). Of course, the year isn't over yet.
Toys R Us offers buy one, get $20 off deal
Wii owners should head over to Toys R Us next week (or, toysrus.com), as the retailer is having a good deal on Wii titles. From 8/3-8/9 (and even starting earlier in select stores, according to ads), if you buy a Wii game that costs $29.99 or more, you'll get $20 off a second Wii game.Fortunately this deal includes games with peripherals, like Wii Play, Wii Fit, DDR, and Guitar Hero. That is, of course, if you can actually find said games (silly old Wii Fit) in stock.Does anyone plan to use this deal to pick up a long desired title?[Via CAG]
June NPD: Snake can't break Nintendo hegemony
Solid Snake, schmolid shnake. Try as the PlayStation 3 might, even the North American debut of Konami's most famous son and a drop in Wii sales couldn't prevent a Nintendo one-two for the fifth month running. DS: 783K 368.2K (+88.7%) Wii: 666.7K 47.5K (-6.6%) PS3: 405.5K 218.4K (+116.7%) PSP: 337.4K 144.7K (+75%) 360: 219.8K 31.8K (+16.9%) PS2: 188.8K 64.4K (+51.7%) Peer down your sight to scope out June's software sales past the break.
Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 7/7-7/13
We're kind of glad to see Persona 4 blow away the competition in software, even if it's not a Wii game (cough -- it should be). Nothing else really sold all that well, not even the games in the top ten. Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii keep piling on copies to their ever-growing mountains, though, and remain snug in the top ten.The other big news in terms of Japanese software is the release of Resident Evil 0. Capcom's port did debut at spot six, but only sold 20k copies in its first week. This game won't come even close to being the cash cow that Resident Evil 4 was, but we're sure Capcom will still make a pretty ported penny.Hardware sales show that the Wii was stuck in third, again:You can check out Japan's software sales and rankings from last week after the break.
