How many Wii accessories is too many?
The photo above proves that people will buy anything. The look of the Nintendo Wii is so sleek and sexy that I proudly display it (along with the Wii Remotes and soon a Wireless Nunchuck) in my living room. The place where my company comes to sit and chat. The place that everyone sees when they come into my house. It is really a beautiful piece of hardware to display.
A few items in the box appear to be tennis rackets, a pool cue, baseball bat, golf club, a steering wheel, and a joypad holster. Does this make you a better gamer? No, but I’ll tell you what it does do. It makes the chances of you hitting the lights above you, the person beside you, or the television in front of you greater.
The sexiness of the Wii tends to cheapen with all of the plastic extras in the photo above. (Not to mention it will set you back about $45.) It belittles the Wii. It becomes a cheap and inferior looking device. Do the world a favor and don’t embarrass yourself or your Wii.
As of January 2008, Nintendo accumulated as much as 5,019,337 sales of its Wii console on Japanese territory alone, as reported by Famitsu. Nintendo’s gaming system landed in Japan on December 2, 2006, and people have been snatching it up like crazy ever since. The ever-popular Mario games are still being bought as quick as they are put on the shelves, and so is the recently released exercise package known as Wii Fit. Wii Fit launched last month (I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this) and has sold 1,113,626 copies since then. Super Mario Galaxy shifted 843,961 units, since its release in November 2007.
Top game sellers to date are:
1. Wii Sports (02/12/06) 2,663,938
2. Wii Play (02/12/06) 2,139,084
3. Mario Party 8 (26/07/07) 1,153,648
4. Wii Fit (01/12/07) 1,113,626
5. Super Mario Galaxy (01/11/07) 843,961
Very impressive Nintendo…very impressive.
The world’s most popular guitar simulation set a new personal record this weekend with sales reaching over $1 billion. The third installment of the ever-popular series faced stern competition from its own creators, who broke free and joined with MTV games to create December’s revolutionary Rock Band. The amount of competition in the market didn’t seem to faze the reigning kings, who according to the latest NPD group data, have officially taken the crown for top videogame software unit and dollar sales for 2007.
While the top honors and a billion dollars might be enough for most companies, both Neversoft/Red Octane (developers of Guitar Hero III) and MTV/Harmonix (Creators of Rock Band) have been pushing the envelope with their digital download services. So far Guitar Hero III has sold a whopping 5 million songs through its online purchasing service, while Rock Band has managed to entertain over 2.5 million with new content. Of course this episodic, pay-to-unlock content is not new to the current generation (as anyone who has bought a game on the Virtual Console would know), but the way in which these extra songs are flying off the digital shelves is phenomenal.
At the moment, MTV/Harmonix has still yet to officially announce a Wii version of Rock Band, leaving the owners of the best selling console of 2007 clamoring for the true group experience found on the PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360. Until that day comes, Guitar Hero will continue to rack up the sales and be the only way for Wii owners to get their shredding fix without plunking down tons of money for a waggle-less console. How many of you out there would like to grab a few friends and join in on the Rock Band fun?
EDIT: Rock Band for Wii has officially been announced! Take a peek at our article to find out the juicy details of EA’s surprise announcement that we’ve all bee waiting for.
[Via Reuters & Next-Gen]
Last week the internet was all abuzz with the news that Factor 5 was once again working with Nintendo after a brief hiatus to work on the PS3 and develop the universally panned Lair. This was great news in general since the Rouge Squadron games were some of the best GameCube games around but it seems to get even better as Kombo.com is reporting that the new game is a brand spanking new Kid Icarus game. That’s right, after twenty years of silence Pitt is climbing back out of another pit and into the Wii and the team bringing him back has proven they know how to work with Nintendo multiple times. This can only lead to good things, especial with Factor 5 designing the game from the ground up for the Wii.
Of course despite Kombo.com’s insistance that the information comes from a reliable source this is only a rumor so don’t get your hopes to high or they’ll be crushed quicker than you can say “Brawl Delay.”
ADVENTURES OF LOLO 2 (NES®, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Lolo and Lala are back in this sequel to the popular puzzle game THE ADVENTURES OF LOLO. On their return from the Haunted Castle, the Great Devil kidnaps Lala and challenges Lolo to rescue her again. Now he must take on the challenge of the Great Devil’s Tower and Castle mazes. Fortunately, Lala was able to analyze each of the mazes as she was taken to the tower and left clues in the Jewel Boxes in each room. Each Jewel that Lolo collects contains information that will help him in the next room. In order to succeed, he’ll also have to push tiles, pick up Heart Framers, temporarily turn enemies into Eggs with his Magic Shots and ward off enemy attacks by moving Emerald Framers. With your help, Lolo and Lala will work together to escape the Great Devil’s clutches and defeat him.
SUPER STREET FIGHTERâ„¢ II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS (Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen - Violence, 800 Wii Points): When SUPER STREET FIGHTER II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS debuted, the fighting-game genre was forever changed. Along with a revolutionary combo system, the game introduced a new set of challengers to fight alongside the original Street Fighter II cast. In addition to the classic characters of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison, take control of four brand-new characters in exciting head-to-head fighting game play. Choose T. Hawk and his unmatched strength to crush your opponents, use Deejay’s unrivaled kickboxing ability to defeat your opponents, unleash your inner dragon with the furious kung fu of Fei Long and drill your rivals with the deadly beauty of Cammy. Get ready for the Street Fighter tournament and the fight of your life.
Bucky | January 24, 2008
