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NPD: April sees Wii on top (yet again)
Well, you should all be used to this by now. Sound the trumpets and all that, Nintendo dominated the U.S. market yet another month, proving Pachter's prediction right. Even though that Grand Theft Auto IV game released in April, Mario Kart Wii was still in the running. But, before we get to software sales, we should probably check the hardware charts.Hardware sales- Wii: 714.2K 6.8K (0.94%) - DS: 414.8K 283.2K (40.6%) - PSP: 192.7K 104.3K (35.1%) - Xbox 360: 188K 74K (28.2%) - PS3: 187.1K 69.9K (27.2%) - PS2: 124.4K 91.6K (42.4%)%Gallery-4772%
April NPD: GTA IV, Mario Kart Wii race to the top
Things that won't surprise youApril proved to be yet another lucrative month for the ol' gaming biz, with total industry sales reaching $1.23 billion, reports GameDaily. Software sales in particular grew to $654.7 million, an increase of 68% carried on the fine leather seats of Grand Theft Auto IV's recently stolen convertible. Rockstar's urban riffraff romp sold 2.85 million copies -- that's 1.85 million on Xbox 360 and 1 million on PS3 -- while Nintendo's Wii took the top spot in hardware sales. Mario Kart Wii, however, had to settle for second place.Things that will surprise youIt was a photo finish for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but the photographers had likely packed up and left for the day by the time the steeds reached the finish line. Selling 188K and 187.1K units respectively, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were thoroughly bested by the systems that didn't have GTA IV. We'd feel a bit silly if we were them.- Wii: 714.2K 6.8K (0.94%) - DS: 414.8K 283.2K (40.6%) - PSP: 192.7K 104.3K (35.1%) - Xbox 360: 188K 74K (28.2%) - PS3: 187.1K 69.9K (27.2%) - PS2: 124.4K 91.6K (42.4%)You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.
New Mario Kart tournament opens for Wii Wheel users
Fans of the Wii Wheel, take note: Nintendo has opened up yet another Mario Kart Wii tournament catering exclusively to you and your primary control scheme of choice. As you can see above, the tournament takes place on the GBA Battle Course 3 track, but you better hurry because this tournament ends on the 24th of this month.So, who's getting down with this? Just another disappointing tourney to you?%Gallery-4772%
Pachter: Wii owned in April, despite GTA IV release
The NPD numbers aren't going to be available until later this week, but Michael Pachter is still doing his thing and tossing some predictions out there. With that Grand Theft Auto IV game releasing in April (and shattering records like crazy), many might think that Nintendo is going to have to relinquish its throne for a short while, like when that Halo 3 game released. Pachter doesn't think so, however, and called for another victory for Nintendo.600,000 units is the magic number, according to the analyst, as he says Wii will once again reign supreme when the April NPD numbers release. Considering a pretty big Wii title released during that month, we're inclined to agree with the man.
Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 4/28-5/4
Ah, remember Link's Crossbow Training? The game that was bundled with the Wii Zapper last November (December, for PALs)? It was only released in Japan last week. If sales are any indication, though, Japanese gamers were clamoring for the goron-junk shooter rail shooter, as it claimed the third place spot.Even so, Link had to hail to the king (baby), as Mario Kart Wii still dominated the charts. The other big news for Mario Kart Wii? It passed one million sales in the Far East, denoting its success. Meanwhile, Deca Sports clamored back into the top ten, but Brawl only slipped further downward, thus answering our question from last week. Also proving that the Japanese love their sports games for the Wii, Bandai Namco's Pro Baseball Family Stadium debuted at spot twenty.The Wii triumphed in hardware last week as well. While the console continues to trail behind Sony's handheld, Wii sales went up almost 30,000 units from last week -- perhaps from the Link's Crossbow boost. Go on and check things out for yourself after the break, if you feel so inclined.
Cowboy Jed implores you to look at more footage
By far the most enjoyable thing about Mario Kart Wii (and we're not saying Mario Kart is bad) is the psychotic "Cowboy Jed" advertising campaign, in which a hyperkinetic salesman attempts to sell us karts, while impressing upon us the importance of looking at the footage. Look at the footage!The footage has just gotten a lot cooler with the discovery of a ton of previously-unseen Jed clips. They're available on archive.org under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, meaning you're free to remix and share the all-important footage as long as you're not making money off of it. If you just want to, you know, look at the footage, the "Cowboy Jed Song" link features a footagey music video (as seen above), and the "Cowboy Jed Montages" link features montages of the remixable material for viewing. Look at the cow! Look at the footage.Read: The Cowboy Jed SongRead: Cowboy Jed Clips for RemixingRead: Cowboy Jed Montages
Circuit City has huge sale next week
Next week is going to be hard on your wallet. Circuit City is going to be having a big sale, according to DVDTalk, and our favorite Wii game is going to be available for insanely cheap. Supposedly, you'll be able to nab Suda 51's No More Heroes for only $19.99 (or you can try your luck at nabbing it from us). If, for some crazy reason, you haven't gotten the game yet, you need to do so next week.Aside from that, the deal is further sweetened through the retail giant offering buy one, get one %50 off on select games. These games include: LEGO Star Wars Super Mario Galaxy Super Smash Bros. Brawl Mario & Sonic at the Olympics Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 Mario Kart Wii Outside of the games, they've also got DVDs and other junk on sale. If you're into that sort of thing.[Thanks, Nate!]
Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 4/21-4/27
Mario Kart Wii continues to top the charts in Japan, but a lot of movement happened with the Wii's other software. Because a bunch of new games came out last week, Wii Sports, Deca Sports, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl were all knocked out of the top ten. We know that Wii Sports will return to top ten fame soon enough, since it always does, but we'll be interested to see whether the other two titles can pull that off as well.On the hardware side of things, the Wii got sandwiched by the two portables as it jumped up into second place: PSP: 92,411 Wii: 48,796 Nintendo DS: 42,435 PlayStation 3: 9,107 PlayStation 2: 7,108 Xbox 360: 1,283 To see the software sales, just bring your super smooth moves past the break.
WRUP: Is it Iron Man? edition
Uh, no post title, it is in fact not Iron Man (although, we should say the prospect of seeing the film this weekend sounds nice). What we're all going to be playing, no doubt, is Mario Kart Wii. With its multitude of tracks, online play and plethora of control schemes available (got to love that wheel!), it looks like it's a shoe-in for this weekend's down time. What about you all?Will you be racing it up in Mario Kart Wii, or are you playing something else? Maybe you're still chipping away at Okami? What are you playing?%Gallery-4772% What are you Playing? is a weekly feature where we ask what it is that you're, well ... playing! Every Friday, look for a new topic and a new chance to converse with the community about what games you're enjoying and which games are disappointing. So tell us already!
Nintendo releases first Mario Kart Wii tournament
Nintendo has announced the launch of worldwide Mario Kart Wii Tournaments, which will be coming every few weeks. The first one, available now, is a competition for fastest time on Mario Circuit. "Look closely though," said the press release, "something may be different." (For whatever reason, we haven't been able to get online to see what difference there might be.)Best times will be recorded and viewed on worldwide rankings. Future tournaments might also include collecting coins and Wii Wheel-specific challenges.
Wii Fanboy Poll: Best control scheme for Mario Kart?
We've heard from a lot of you that Mario Kart Wii is awesome -- we completely agree. Some of you were even surprised to find out that you actually liked using the Wii Wheel.But now that you've had some time to play around with the game, you have to have a favorite control scheme. So, what is it?Hit up our poll after the break to let us know, and feel free to explain why in the comments section.
First Mario Kart competition opens, disappoints
Those of you who booted up the Wii this morning and checked out the Mario Kart Channel may have noticed that the first competition has finally been opened for entry! The process is simple: complete three laps of Mario Circuit as quickly as possible, upload your time to Nintendo's big list 'o times, wait until the deadline (May 9th or May 10th, depending on your timezone), and get ready to bask in internet glory. Hurray, right?Wrong.When we think of Mario Kart time trials, we think of gradually shaving milliseconds off of our best times, of taking every corner as finely as possible, of finding the best way to utilize our three mushrooms, of locating the perfect racing line, and of keeping our noses just ahead of the time trial ghosts. Yet this first Mario Kart Wii competition totally misses the point.For instance, it's not a time trial at all, but a fully fledged race, complete with eleven opponents and all the usual items. In other words, you can take every corner as flawlessly as possible, only to get blue-shelled on the final straight. Which doesn't strike us as a terribly fair contest. We guess this is meant to level the playing field for newer players, but shouldn't more skillful players be justly rewarded?Anyway, if you do want to try your hand at being robbed of a deserved victory, this blogger's best time so far is a quite appalling 2:03.325.
British magazine giving away free Wii Wheel
Here's something: despite our initial skepticism, we actually really like the Wii Wheel -- in fact, it's all we use now for Mario Kart Wii. The only downside? At $10 per wheel (or £7 in the UK), buying enough for four-player matches can get kind of pricey.So the way we see it, you have two choices: Go with one of our totally awesome (and totally free) homemade Wii Wheels (the option we'd recommend) or: Pick up the latest issue of NGamer, which comes with the above "free" wheel packed in. It's not technically free, obviously, because you'll have to pony up the £4.99 for the magazine, which optimistically suggests that the free gift is worth £7, meaning somebody in NGamer's accounting department may well be clearing their desk later this month. Incidentally, while NGamer is a UK publication, some of my U.S-based colleagues think they may have spotted copies in Barnes & Noble, so keep your eyes peeled and you too might save hundreds of cents.Update: Corrected U.S. price.%Gallery-20778%%Gallery-19823%[Via Go Nintendo]
Joyswag: Win our copies of Mario Kart Wii (and some launch swag)
[Update: Entry period is over, folks. We're contacting the winners by email, so go check!] Looking for some new wheels? How about two of 'em -- that's right, two Wii Wheels, and we'll even throw in a copy of Mario Kart Wii ($49.99 value) with each (and, if you're lucky, an "I Heart Kart" air freshener), as well as some miscellaneous swag from the NYC launch party (1 t-shirt, 1 sticker and one "driver's license," a $15 value). Just follow these five steps and a winner can be you! To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on any of the designated gallery pictures (one, two, three) with your favorite track from the Mario Kart series. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec -- désolée!). Limit 1 entry per gallery picture, per person This entry period ends at 8:00pm ET on Friday, May 2nd. We'll randomly select the winners at that time (please check your email!). For a list of complete rules, click here. %Gallery-21747%
Wii Warm Up: Favorite tracks?
Okay, you've had some quality time with every Wii owner's latest obsession, Mario Kart Wii. Now that you've had ample time to play a few of the game's tracks repeatedly, we were hoping you wouldn't mind chiming in and telling us who's hot, and who's not, so to speak. Loving the newer tracks? Been enjoying some of the remakes? Weigh in!%Gallery-4772%
Mario Kart Wii NYC launch: Mario + Priestley = BFF
Click for high-resolution version At the Nintendo World Store on Saturday, Mario and has-been heartthrob Jason Priestley combined forces to promote Mario Kart Wii. It was an unconventional union with perfect ties: Two products of the early 90s (90210 debuted in the fall of 1990, Mario Kart two years later) with a passion for racing. However, Priestley wasn't the only pseudo-star wearing a smug smile, as Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford made a surprise appearance to appease the crowd of young debutantes, while their mothers snuck photo ops with their old crush. Mario, of course, remained the most popular persona of the afternoon. After all, who could deny the charm of that adorable mustache?For pics of the debaucherous after party (was Peach really not wearing any ... !) you'll have to try TMZ -- we were just there for the family-friendly festivities, where young and old challenged one another for racing supremacy. 250 lucky attendees were able to purchase the game early, while everyone had the opportunity to enter a tournament and go hands-on with the Wii Wheel. The top three tourney racers went on to challenge Priestley for a chance to win a Wii and copy of Mario Kart. Of course, there was only one winner: Nazareth (was it divine intervention?). The champion received his brand new system and game, a high-five from Mario, and all-important bragging rights. (So much for Priestley's experience on the race track.)Other highlights from the Nintendo World Store party? Best Mario Kart t-shirt ever. So, cruise through the rest of our photo gallery below and then be sure to check out Game Daily's interview with Jason Priestley. Is the man a gamer? Find out.%Gallery-21667%
Wii releases this week: Mario Kart Wii edition
It's been one big week leading up to here and this week is also bound to be a big one for the lot of you. That's right, Mario Kart Wii is on shelves right now, and likely many of you did the right thing and picked it up yesterday. Did you get a new Wii with it? Did you race Jason Priestley at the Nintendo World Store?This week's releases are: Mario Kart Wii Iron Man Also, in case you might have missed it, don't forget to check out our off-the-wall features and fun we had up until the game's release to retail locations nationwide. It's been a fun ride, now we look forward to taking the turns and bumps with you all at Game Night. See you Thursday!%Gallery-4772%
Wii Warm Up: Karting
Okay, so it's here -- Mario Kart Wii's North American launch day, that is.Who's getting it (or got it already)? What are your initial impressions? Have you played online?And, folks in Europe and Japan (and even Australia!), have you noticed a difference in online play? Has it been lagging more since North American players joined that fray, or are things still smooth? Have you been schooling a lot of Mario Kart Wii "noobs" in races and battles?
Joystiq's official Mario Kart Wii friend codes ber-list
Are you feeling lost, lonely, scared of racing with computers or unknown online drivers? Fear not, Joystiq reader, you have a whole community of gamers who will scare you for entirely different reasons. Please consider this the official post for the Joystiq community to drop their Mario Kart Wii digits. A couple quick ground rules: All that's required is the Kart code and not your Wii digits. Please don't post your Wii code. This post is only for Kart codes. This post is only for Kart codes, seriously! --Love, Joystiq Need a Kart fix? Check out all our coverage of Mario Kart Wii!
A walkthrough of Mario Kart Wii's online multiplayer
We decided to create a gallery outlining the steps you'll go through to play the game online. Click here to get acquainted. While Europe is laughing that they already have the game, US gamers finally get their hands on Mario Kart and midnight tonight.(Note: Due to technical difficulties, we had to physically take pictures of the game running in 480i. The quality of the images does not affect what Mario Kart Wii actually looks like.) Need a Kart fix? Check out all our coverage of Mario Kart Wii!
