Selling 17 Wii Per Second

Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday its 2007 holiday season was its best ever, with the Nintendo Wii as one of its top sellers. Amazon said it sold about 17 Nintendo Wii per second when the product was available. That has to be a record of some sort… right?

I would like to know how many Wii total that they sold during the Holidays this year.

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 26, 2007–Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the 2007 holiday season finished as its best ever, with its busiest day being December 10. On that day, Amazon customers ordered more than 5.4 million items, which is 62.5 items per second. In addition, the company wrapped up its second year of Amazon Customers Vote, with more than 4.6 million votes cast during the promotion.

“We are very grateful to our customers,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “On behalf of Amazon.com employees around the globe, we wish everyone happy holidays and best wishes for 2008.”

Amazon Worldwide 2007 Holiday Facts (Includes www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, and www.amazon.ca)

– Amazon shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to meet holiday deadlines worldwide.

– On the peak day this season, Amazon’s worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 3.9 million units.

– Amazon shipped to over 200 countries.

– One of our most remote shipments was “Full Metal Panic Fumoffu - Full Metal Pandemonium” (Vol. 1) DVD and “Full Metal Panic Fumoffu - Full Metal Fracas” (Vol. 2) DVD delivered to Barrow, Alaska.

– Amazon shipped over 160,000 shipments to APO/FPO addresses.

Amazon.com 2007 Holiday Facts (www.amazon.com Only)

– Amazon.com sold Nintendo Wii systems at approximately 17 per second when they were in stock.

– Amazon.com sold enough high-def DVD players to cover seven football fields.

– If you lined up all of the GPS units Amazon.com sold this holiday, they would make a trail from New York to Philadelphia; however, a new trail wouldn’t be necessary with the use of a GPS.

– Amazon.com sold enough auto wrenches to stretch all the way around the Daytona 500 track.

– Amazon.com sold enough Hannah Montana wigs to outfit the entire audience at her December 20th show in Providence, RI.

– Amazon.com’s One-Day Shipping was extended an extra day through Sunday, December 23rd for Prime members this holiday season.

– The last Prime order placed on December 23 in time for Christmas delivery contained “Futurama, Vol. 1″ DVD, “Lost in Translation” DVD, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” CD, “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand paperback, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” CD, and “Pulp Fiction” (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition) DVD delivered to Herndon, VA on December 24th.

Amazon.com’s Hot Holiday Best Sellers (Nov. 15 through Dec. 19 Based on Units Ordered)

– In Toys, top sellers included Jakks EyeClops Bionic Eye, IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit and Spinmaster Air Hogs Havoc Heli.

– Top sellers in video games and hardware included Nintendo Wii, “Super Mario Galaxy” and “Call of Duty 4.”

– In DVDs, top sellers included “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

– Top sellers in books included “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, “The Dangerous Book for Boys” by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden and “I Am America (And So Can You)” by Stephen Colbert.

– In music, top sellers included “Noel” by Josh Groban, “Raising Sand” by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and “As I Am” by Alicia Keys.

– Top sellers in consumer electronics included the Garmin GPS, Canon PowerShot digital Elph cameras and Samsung LCD HDTVs.

– Top sellers in the Beauty Store included Burt’s Bees Head to Toe Starter Kit, Imju Fiberwig mascara and Bare Escentuals Get Started Kit.

– In PCs, the top sellers included Apple MacBook, Nokia Internet Tablet PC and HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook PC.

– Popular shoes and handbags at Amazon.com and Endless.com included the FEED bag, FRYE women’s Campus tall boot and FRYE women’s Adrienne Button tall boot.

– Top sellers in apparel and accessories included Kenneth Cole Reaction men’s Eden wool pea coat, Gruppo Italiano women’s cashmere-lined leather glove and Red Moon women’s long sleeve cashmere turtleneck.

– The top-selling products in Amazon’s Automotive Parts & Accessories Store included Black & Decker Simple Start battery booster, Actron diagnostic code scanner and Highland waterproof car top carrier.

– Top sellers in home improvement included Black & Decker auto wrench, Black & Decker Gecko grip level and Leatherman Micra multitool.

– The top-selling items in the Sports and Outdoors Store included the Ripstik caster board, Perfect Pushup and Bowflex Series 7 treadmill.

– Jewelry top sellers included sterling silver open double flower pendant, sterling silver Filigree circle pendant and 14k yellow gold four prong oval peridot stud earrings.

– Top-selling watches included the Timex heart rate monitor watch, LEGO Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader watch and Skagen women’s Silver Dial mesh bracelet watch.

– The top-selling home and garden items included KitchenAid stand mixers (various colors), Pinzon Microtech throw (various colors) and Foreman removable-plate grills.

– Top-selling items in the Baby Store included Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube, Lamaze Spin & Explore Garden Gym and Lamaze Musical Inchworm.

– Top-selling items in Amazon’s Grocery Store included Numi’s Bouquet bamboo gift set, Lavazza Crema e Aroma coffee beans and Senseo Douwe Egberts dark roast coffee pods.

– Top-selling items in Amazon’s Gourmet Food Store included Soup’s On gift basket by Wine Country Gift Baskets, Starbucks assortment gift basket by Wine Country Gift Baskets, and Fireworks popcorn and seasoning set.

– Top-sellers in health and personal care included the Braun Pulsonic system with LCD screen, Farouk CHI ceramic flat hairstyling iron and Homedics Therapist Select quad-roller massaging cushion with heat.

What Are Wii Waiting For?

A Breakdown of the Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2008.

While many of us (read:me) are still struggling are way through Zelda and Mario Galaxy, more savvy gamers are already looking forward to the 2008 releases. There are a lot of new titles on the way in the upcoming year, with a game to appeal to almost anyone. In fact, if you cannot find something here to get excited about — call 911 — you may not have a pulse. So, here’s a sneak peek at the games that will be the most sought after in the coming year.

10.) Samba De Amigo
Release Date: Spring 2008

Who needs a guitar when you can be a maraca hero? Previously released for the ill-fated Dreamcast, Samba De Amigo is a classic rhythm game that has you shaking maraca’s to all kinds of crazy songs. I’m assuming the game will use both the Wii remote and nuchuck attachment for dual-hand shaking action. It may not be for the serious gamer but will certainly hold appeal for the family and should be a lot of fun.

9. Endless Ocean (Nintendo)
Release Date: January 2008

This is really more of a diving simulation than a game in fairness. However, it will be in contention as the most relaxing game of all time and could be a perfect cure for the February blahs. There are tasks then can be completed as part of the ‘gameplay’ but I’m looking at this more as a marine meditation - the game already exists overseas and has a solid fan base.

8. Sid Meier’s Civilization: Revolution
Release Date: Fall 2008

Civilization is the original and much-loved, turn-based strategy/simulation game that should translate well on the Wii where previous console games have failed. I see a HUGE market for online play for all the power-crazed empire builders out there. Sit tight mini-Naploeon, this game won’t be available until the fall of 2008.

7. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Release Date: Winter 2008

This game has already been two years in the making with almost another one to go. With little known about this title as of yet, it makes the list simply because the title starts with ‘Final Fantasy’. There is no reason to think that this will not be on most top 2008 lists when and if it hits shelves.

6. King Story
Release Date: Winter 2008

They had me at dragons. There is no promises that King Story will come out on this side of the pond at all, but reports say that this title is visually stunning. You play the role of the king and control the villagers in a ‘Sim City’ like way - with the addition of well, fighting dragons.

5. Spore
Release Date: Winter 2008

Okay, while I would not exactly hold your breath this long-anticipated title is currently scheduled for this time next year. From the creator of the Sims, this game allows players to bring a primordial mess of an animal from the stone age to the space age. It should be noted that Spore has already been delayed several times and there seems to be a good chance of this game not coming out in 2008, but one can hope, right? Right?!

4. Wii Fit
Release Date: Spring 2008

What!? You don’t think this game should be so high? How many hours do you have logged on Wii Sports? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, Wii Fit will bring us more of the same but also get our feet into the action. This will truly be where die-hard gamers will start to be among the most fit people on the planet! Okay, maybe I went a bit too far with that last part - but this will certainly change the way we look at gaming. Great - now it won’t just be my arms that hurt the next day.

3. No More Heroes (Ubisoft)
Release Date: February 2008

Agreed that much of the general public have not heard much (or anything) about this title yet but it will be huge when it comes out early in 2008. In short, this visually stunning title has you to work your way up the assassin’s leaderboard by knocking other assasins off, one by one. Think of it as the game ‘Assasin’s Creed’ meets the movie ‘Deuce’s Wild.’ Oh, hell yeah!

2. Mario Kart Wii
Release Date: Spring 2008

I think this one speaks for itself. Many people already LOVE this game and therefore will be looking forward to the new Wii version. While little is known, we can say that online play will allow up to 12 racers at a time and motorcycles will now be available.

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo)
Release Date: February March 2008 (for now…)

This is a no-brainer. If you are not looking forward to this game, or even worse do not know about it - you need to close your browser and walk away from the computer now. This much-anticipated third game of the franchise will feature all the wacky four player free-for-all fighting of the past two titles, with the addition of new characters, new levels, online play, spectator mode, stickers, photo sharing, level building just to name a few of the biggest announcements to date. There is no doubt that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be the definitive Wii game of 2008.

In closing, if your new year’s resolution was to play less video games next year - well, you may want to put it off a year. If this site seems a little sparse in 2008, you need to look no further than the list above for the culprits. Happy gaming.

Did Santa Bring You A Wii?

Were you good enough this year to receive the gift of all gifts? It is the Grand Puba of Christmas gifts for the past two years now. I’m sure you know what I am talking about. You wouldn’t be here reading this if you didn’t know. It’s the Nintendo Wii of course!

With several million Wii in circulation, the odds are pretty good that if you wanted one, you got it. With that being said, there were still not enough to go around. It may not have been so hard to find one, but the people who happen to know how to score twenty at a time to resell on Ebay don’t really help make it any easier for those people who don’t want to pay more than double the retail price (read $500 US or more.)

The Wii has really brought a generation of gamers who had all but quit playing, right back into the mainstream gaming community. While the Wii is not as graphics rich as the Xbox 360 or Sonys PS3 it has some of the better games, in my opinion. What other console can you play Mario on… legally? Mario is the character that got us late 20 to early 30 somethings into gaming into the first place. If it weren’t for the NES and Super Mario Bros. I can’t say for certain that I would have gotten into gaming. I’m sure that goes for a lot of others as well.

I used to have an XBOX, and played it quite a bit at first. In fact, I was a Beta tester for the XBOX Live service, back in the day. I was in the first round of 20,000 or so that got to play LIVE. After all of that wore off, I got tired of it. The XBOX just didn’t do it for me, and I wasn’t a big fan of the PS2. I had pretty much gotten out of gaming…until the Wii.

Thank you Nintendo for bringing me back into the gaming world. Thank you Nintendo for the Wii.

So what’s your story? Did you get or give a Wii for Christmas?

Virtual Console Games For 12-24-07

BLADES OF STEELâ„¢ (NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Violence, 500 Wii Points): With stick in hand and confidence brimming, you are looking to bring home the cup, win the MVP award, get on the covers of major sports magazines and date a beautiful model (not necessarily in that order). But soon you will learn that, in this league, nothing is ever given to you, and before you can reach your goals, you’ll have to put the puck in the net and score some. You’ll need both the artful skills of a finesse player and the bone-crushing brutality of an enforcer. Defend your own goal against unrelenting power plays, or put the pressure on your opponent’s goalie and try a slap shot of your own. Don’t forget to defend yourself when anger flares because the gloves come off and fists start flying. So strap on blades of steel and prepare to either make a name for yourself or be put on ice.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Troubleâ„¢ (Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Revisit Donkey Kong Island and join the Kong family for their latest adventure. The Kremlings have a mysterious new leader named KAOS and are up to their usual mischief, even capturing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Now it’s up to Dixie Kong and the newest Kong, a giant infant named Kiddy, to rescue the two missing apes. They’ll travel across previously unseen parts of the island in their search, and even take to the skies in a rocket at one point. Lucky for them, Dixie and Kiddy’s powers complement each other (including Kiddy’s talent for rolling like a barrel), so they form a powerful team capable of major Kremling damage. They’re not completely on their own, either, since returning favorites like Funky Kong and Enguarde the swordfish provide help along the way. And in a series known for its abundance of secrets and high replay value, this entry doesn’t disappoint, with enough hours of game play to satisfy Donkey Kong himself. Anyone else have a sudden urge for some bananas?

Rolling Thunderâ„¢ 2 (Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Violence, 800 Wii Points): In this follow-up to the original classic, you are once again a member of Interpol’s Rolling Thunder task force, and it’s up to you to stop the return of the evil Geldra organization. Now known as Neo-Geldra and led by a newcomer named Gimdo, the bad guys are bent on destroying several valuable outer-space satellites. In this one- or two-player game, you can play as Leila or Albatross-both characters from the original-as you venture through several different levels, trying to put a stop to the nefarious efforts of Gimdo and the rest of Neo-Geldra. Use your bullets wisely and make Rolling Thunder proud.

Do you have protection?

Want a free Wii Remote Jacket?

Is it possible that your Wii Remote is a little cold this time of year? Or maybe feeling a little fragile and insecure?

Despite the ‘heavy-duty’ strap - Wii Remotes continue to drop faster than Lindsay Lohan at a kegger. Nintendo announced some time ago that all new Wii Remotes will come with a protective jacket going forward. Much to the chagrin of the companies who want people to shell out $10+ for their wonderful neon pink ones or other crimes against Wii fashion. This begs the question - what about us schmucks who already bought one? Well, this is where it gets a little hard to believe - but, Nintendo is offering to send free Wii Remote Jackets for their existing Wii Remotes. This has actually been going on for a few months now - but it is surprising how many people are not aware of it. The jackets themselves are clear and look quite nice on the controller (see below).

There is only one step - go HERE! You will need system serial number and a bit of patience. Filling in the request is very easy but it does take a week or two to ship - which I think is fair, given the price.

I did receive mine in the mail fairly quickly and actually prefer them to the naked remote - the grip is better and I know both the remote and my TV are safer for it. So remember, no glove — no Wii love. Happy playing …