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Japan's six top-selling Wii games are ...
Oh, Japan, how we love you. And you love us back simply by existing. Mecca for gamers, the country has more video games than Halle Berry has bad post-Oscar career choices. Every gaming nerd on the planet would love to live there.So, what Wii games do the Japanese public enjoy most? Well, it's not that surprising this list of the six top-selling Wii titles in Japan. But, we know how much you all love this kind of data, so without further delay, let's get to the numbers!The Wii's six top-selling games in Japan are: Wii Sports - 2,979,275 units sold total Wii Play - 2,368,967 units sold total Wii Fit - 2,038,730 units sold total Smash Bros. Brawl - 1,620,119 units sold total Mario Party 8 - 1,254,542 units sold total Mario Kart Wii - 1,227,169 units sold total All first-party titles. Big shocker there! Do you enjoy obsessing over sales data? Well, we've got you covered. Our monthly reports on the U.S. figures appear courtesy of NPD, and we also cover the weekly sales figures from Japan and several countries in Europe. Odds are, we're covering the beat where you live, so check out what folks are buying!
Wii serves over 5 million in Japan
In little over 60 weeks, the Wii console has managed to sell over 5 million units in its home territory of Japan. As impressive as this is, it falls short of the DS, which achieved sales figures of this nature in 56 weeks. But, the Wii did manage to beat the PS2, which cracked the 5 million mark after 66 weeks on the market.A system is only so good as its games though, right? Well, in Japan the games pushing the Wii are Wii Sports (2.6 million copies sold as of now), Wii Play (2.1 million copies sold as of now), Mario Party 8 ( 1.1 million copies sold as of now) and Wii Fit (1.1 million copies sold as of now). Super Mario Galaxy comes in fifth place in the country, only selling a total of 843,961 copies.
Average U.S. Wii owner has 2.2 Wiimotes
Analyzing NPD numbers, it's come to light that those who've purchased a Wii own an average of 2.2 Wiimotes. Personally, we were content with just two Wiimotes when we got our own system. What's weird, though, is that only around 21% of the Wiimotes sold come with Wii Play, while around 34% were purchased just as the base accessory. How many Wiimotes do you own?[Via Infendo]
Happy funtime Memorial Day video: Rejected Wii Play minigames
A caution to our readers: anyone with a conscience or refined sense of humor may want to stay far away from the above video, which features a host of "rejected" Wii Play minigames to hilarious effect. It even includes Ribbon Dancing Revolution, which we called back in August of '06. The excellent reproduction of the Mii's simplistic style is alone worth the price of admission, so go ahead, click on the play button.We're not watching.[via GoNintendo]
'Rejected Wii Play Games' delight, nauseate
The general consensus on Nintendo's Wii Play is that it offers pretty good training in the use of the Wiimote, but tends to get repetitive and thus fails to really succeed as a standalone title. Well the folks over at Loading.Ready.Run clearly wanted more than this rather bland execution, and they've imagined a number of mini-games that for whatever reason -- mostly poor taste -- Reggie and company decided to leave out of the final product, but should maybe reconsider. For instance, Shooting is pretty fun, but perhaps the way to really speak to today's youth would have been with WiiDriveby, where the gunman gets points for every "hater capped." Other rejects range from tedious (Paperwork Mario, Why are Wii hitting ourselves) to cruel (BiiHeading, Seal Hunt) to gross (WiiPii, Prostate Exam) to just plain weird (Rhythm Gymnastics? Cii-Section?). Hit the Read link to catch the entire list [Warning: possibly NSFW due to sexual innuendo and animated urination].
Wii Play turns into Wii Bday
As far as friends go, Paul Pape has to be one of the best we've seen in recent history. As a birthday present to his friend, he was asked by that friend's family to create a video incorporating video games and the song "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors for his 30th. Paul went above and beyond, creating a fake Wii Channel and a rather lengthy music video, incorporating Miis of his friend's family.You can see the video past the post break.[Via The Last Boss]
Get a cheap Wiimote at Gamecrazy, maybe
Some bargain hunters at CAG have sniffed out a pretty cool deal on Wiimotes for US gamers: apparently, when Hollywood Video stores put Wii Play out for rent, they didn't feel the need to offer the included Wiimotes for rental. So they shipped them over to their game-retail satellite, Gamecrazy (and by "shipped" we mean "walked across the room"). Gamecrazy, in turn, is selling these brand-new, out-of-the-package Wiimotes for $29.99.Don't get your hopes up too much: the number of Wiimotes in stock at any store depends on how many rental copies of Wii Play were received by the attached Hollywood Video store ... and on how many CAGs live in your town. [Via Siliconera]
Wii Sports and Wii Play sell one million copies each in Japan
Congrats are in order to Nintendo: both Wii Sports and Wii Play (Hajimete no Wii) have sold in excess of one million copies in Japan. Having two million-sellers already trumps the Gamecube, on which only Super Smash Bros. Melee reached that particular milestone.We know that the bundled Wiimote had a lot to do with selling Wii Play, though of course the degree to which it contributed cannot be measured. It makes sense that the two most casual, inclusive games on the system would sell to a Japanese audience that loves DS training games. We hope you guys like minigames, because it's safe to assume we're getting lots more of them!
Reggie downplays Wiimote's TV wrath, 360's European sales
NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime, ever the iconoclast, had some choice words for the San Jose Mercury News about the success of the Xbox 360 in Europe. In effect, he claimed that the 360's success in Europe is localized to the UK, while the Wii is (obviously!) doing great across the continent.Reggie also slyly wrote off the early (and not so early) strap issues, while blaming consumer ignorance for the few known cases. He said that the strap was originally meant to be a backup safety measure in case the controller slipped out of players' hands, but many users got too rough with their controllers and put excessive force into their motions. Of course, Nintendo has been kind enough to replace the straps.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Wii Fanboy review: Wii Play
Upon inserting the Wii Play disc into your Wii's disc drive, you might feel elation and experience the levels of bliss only known to the few who would actually go on to write a sentence this long about some mundane physical exertion such as placing a disc into an electronic device. It's OK, we felt the same way too, and in being greeted with the snazzy music that accompanies the game's logo in the Disc Channel of your Wii, you might feel as if your life is about to change.
Metareview: Wii Play
With the release of Wii Play yesterday, many are finding that the compilation of minigames isn't really worth the purchase, finding comfort in the knowledge that at least they got another Wiimote. The critics, however, do not have to worry about such things and take the magnifying glass to the title directly, offering up the following review scores: Gamespot (54/100) says that very few of the nine minigames included have much worth: "It's not all bad, but Wii Play doesn't hold up as a stand-alone retail game. Nintendo seems to be aware of that, because the only way you can get Wii Play in North America as of this writing is as a pack-in with a Wii Remote. The continued scarcity of the Wii Remote, and the fact that the Wii Play package is retailing for only $10 more than a remote by itself, makes the game's shortcomings easier to overlook. Regardless of price, Wii Play probably isn't going to hold your attention for long." IGN (55/100) thinks that the worth is in the included Wiimote: "As a standalone game, there is no way I could recommend Wii Play. It is simply not worth $50 or, for that matter, even half that. But it's a $10 companion piece to a Wii remote and it does succeed as a technical demo of what Nintendo's new peripheral can do." 1UP (68/100) is of the mind that this isn't something gamers will enjoy: "Play is made for people who don't really like games, and if you're someone who really does, that's a problem. Sure, most of these minigames are fun...for about 10 minutes. But hey, maybe your grandma will want to marry it."
Come get your Wii Play
Nintendo sent word to us today declaring the availability of the Wii Play, the next collection of mini-games from Nintendo that comes bundled with a Wiimote. Wii Play, as you may already know, includes games such as fishing, billiards and the shooting range, which is the Duck Hunt clone that has the player using the Wiimote as if it were a gun. "Wii Play builds on the types of games and experiences people have come to love in Wii Sports," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. He goes on to further praise the Wii and its innovative style by saying "we are changing how people play games, who plays and how many play." We couldn't agree more ...[Via press release]
Double dose of Wii Play trailers
Some new trailers showcasing a pair of the minigames to be included in Wii Play have hit Game Trailers and, like the trusty internet vacuums we are, have gathered and embedded them for your viewing pleasure. The first trailer, which is labelled as Tank Combat, shows just that! The second trailer shows us the fishing minigame, which reminds us a lot of a game we used to play as kids, involving fishing rods with magnets and gathering ducks in a pool of water (the name escapes us and Google is being no help).
Wii Play videos
It must be video day around here. This time, it's snippets from Wii Play, courtesy of IGN, where they have a load of new movies from the successor to Wii Sports. We've included two after the jump -- the crazy cow racing and a somewhat lackuster round of table tennis. We're really dying to see a good long volley, but it looks like we may have to wait until Wii Play is nestled in our own Wii. Oh well! Until then ... videos! Check 'em out after the jump.
Wii Play bumped to February
While it hasn't been officially announced from the heavens, it looks like the minigame collection Wii Sports II Wii Play will be delayed in the U.S. until February. What have we done to displease you, Nintendo? We need Wiimotes with pack-in games! Nintendo's official online media outlet had Wii Play listed for January ... and now suddenly the game has been moved to February 12, a full month after Wario Ware. Coincidence?
Eurogamer takes an early look at Wii Play
In what is not so much a preview but a treatise, Eurogamer gives Wii Play a few run-throughs and looks at the overall notion of including the collection of mini-games with Wiimotes in non-North American markets (you lucky buggers). After all, Wii Play is the game that will be called Wii Sports II by many, and as with Wii Sports, it's not so much a game as a teaching tool to help people learn the Wiimote. But after they look at the nine minigames -- Billiards, Laser Hockey, and Shooting Gallery aside -- the wrap-up seems to beg the question of whether or not this game is necessary, even included with a spare Wiimote at a bargain price. Wii Play, reports Eurogamer, is very basic -- and we already have a basic tutorial with the system. It's Wii Sports, a game that has depth that has surprised many. We'll have to wait for the full reviews to see if Wii Play will demonstrate similar depth, but from this preview, we're inclined to doubt it. For those who have the Wii Play-and-controller bundle at launch, it may be a worthy purchase ... but for those of us in North America, who won't see Wii Play until January, it may not do as well, bundle or not.
Wii Play gets the preview treatment
The folks over at Siliconera recently got their hands on Wii Play, the collection of minigames that comes bundled with the Wiimote. Designed much in the way Wii Sports is, Wii Play is designed to show gamers how to use the Wiimote through a variety of different types of minigames. The games included are: Shooting: A hybrid between Duck Hunt and those old-fashioned pellet gun game you see at the carnival. Find Mii: A Where's Waldo-like game where the player must track down Miis in a crowd. Table Tennis: Even more simple than Tennis in Wii Sports, the player must move the paddle to the ball where it is automatically returned. Pose Mii: Players mimic the angle of floating Miis by tilting the Wiimote. Hockey: Neon-colored air hockey. Charge: In a bull race, you tilt the Wiimote to maintain balance on your bull.
Wii Play to include Wiimote?
We found your second Wiimote, guys. Play.com has Wii Play (Hajimete no Wii), a collection of minigames designed to show off the Wii's capabilities, listed as including a second controller (but maybe not a nunchuk). Think Wii Sports, but without bigheads. Or, y'know, sports. And hey, instead of being included with your console, it's included with your second Wiimote! So where's our Wii Ultimate Bundle that includes all this stuff for a premium? Since we're going to buy it anyway, if only to get all old school with Duck Hunt. [Thanks, Jules!]
