NPD Group announced on Thursday that the incredible sales of Grand Theft Auto IV did not translate to increased sales of next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony. While 871,000 copies of GTA IV were sold for the Xbox 360 during the month of May, only 187,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold during the same period. Meanwhile, 443,000 copies of GTA IV were sold for the PS3 with Sony selling 209,000 PS3 consoles during the month of May.

Now compare this to the Nintendo Wii which sold 675,000 consoles during the same time period - that’s more than the two other platforms combined. This is pretty incredible when you consider that GTA IV isn’t available yet for the Wii.

Yes.. the Wii continues to rock.

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Technorati Tags: Grand Theft Auto IV, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii

Look out Rock Band - you’ve got some competition coming at you this fall in the form of the newly announced Activision Guitar Hero World Tour. The new game will marry Guitar Hero’s guitar gameplay with a cooperative band experience which includes a genuine electronic drum kit, a microphone, a new Music Studio music creator system that allows players to compose, record, edit, and share music, and new online capabilities including Band Career and 8 player “Battle of the Bands” contests.  The game will feature the largest on-disc set list for any game to date including master recordings from classic to modern rock bands. You’ll also be able to download localized music on all of the next generation consoles.

Here are some of the more interesting details about the new game:

• The electronic drum kit will feature three drum pads, two raised cymbals, and a bass kick pedal
• The drum controller combines larger and quieter velocity sensitive drum heads with soft rubber construction to deliver authentic bounce back
• Instruments will be wireless
• Music Studio gives players a full compliment of tools to create digital music from scratch using all of the instruments in the game. You can then share your content with friends online through GHTunes
• The game introduces Battle of the Bands concept which allows eight players to join online and challenge each other band-to-band.  There’s also a Band mode which allows up to four players to jam together online or offline

Guitar Hero World Tour will be available for the Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, and the Nintendo Wii.

One thought.. I’m going to run out of room storing all of this equipment if I have both Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour! Sheesh!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Activision, Guitar Hero World Tour

Electronic Arts is bringing family board game favorites to the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 2 this fall in the form of the Hasbro Family Game Night video game. The video game will feature six favorite board games - Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, Connect Four, Sorry! and Sorry! Sliders. Gamers will be able to play the classic versions of the above games or play new versions such as Connect Four Power Chips, Boggle Portal Cubes, Reverse Yahtzee and Battleship Barrage. You can play with up to four people with Yahtzee, Boggle, Sorry!, and Sorry! Sliders. You can play with up to two players in Connect Four and Battleship.

Players can also customize their own digital game room within the Hasbro Family Game Night video game. This means you’ll be able to choose a setting, add earned trophies, add distinctive furniture and decorations all themed to your favorite games.

Hasbro Family Game Night is due to come out this fall for the Wii and the PS2

Technorati Tags: Electronic Arts, Hasbro Family Game Night, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2

This must be "let’s attach a display to our game console" day or something.. Right on the heels of the Sony PS3 Clearvision display comes another similar Chinese product - except for the Nintendo Wii. It’s called the Chinavision Nintendo Wii 7 inch LCD monitor (what a name) and it attaches to the back of the Wii. With this display attached, you’ll be able to play your Wii games wherever you take your Nintendo Wii.

All the ports on the back of the Wii are cloned on the LCD display so you’ll be able to connect the Nintendo power cable and any other accessory items to the device. There’s even a ventilation hole cut into the device to provide ventilation to the internal Wii fan. The Chinavision device comes with extra AV ports which allows you to connect external video sources to the display (such as a DVD player etc). You can set the picture direction in case you want to mount the display under the roof of a car.

Specs include:

• 480 x 234 resolution - 7 inch LCD display
• Supports NTSC and PAL
• 2 USB ports
• Built-in speakers
• 12 VDC power
• Measures 258×62x156mm

A single unit costs $101.45.

[Check it out via Ubergizmo]

Technorati Tags: Chinavision 7 inch LCD, Nintendo Wii

The final December video game sales numbers are in and Nintendo won the console sales race for the month of December. According to market research firm NDP, Nintendo sold 1.35 million Wii’s during the month of December while Microsoft sold a commendable 1.26 million Xbox 360 consoles. Sony held up the rear with 798,000 PlayStation 3 consoles for the month of December.

In terms of total installed base here in the US, Microsoft leads the way with 9.2 million units (it helps that Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 a year earlier than the rest). Nintendo has 7.4 million owners here in the US while Sony has 3.3 million.

While PS3 sales have certainly picked up over the last several months (heck I even bought one), the older PS2 is still outselling its newer more advanced sibling. The PS2 sold more than 1.1 million units in December compared to the aforementioned 798,000 PS3 units.

One other important note - it’s all about content. Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy was certainly helping to drive Wii sales (although a lot of consumers simply want a Wii since it’s 1) cheap and 2) fun) while Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and Assassin’s Creed was helping the Xbox 360.

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Technorati Tags: Video Game Sales, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PlayStation 3

Are you still trying to find a Nintendo Wii for Christmas? I have a recommendation for you - forget about it. Consider getting some other gaming console for Christmas. Perhaps an Xbox 360 or even a PlayStation 3? There’s practically no way you’ll land yourself a Nintendo Wii console before Christmas unless you plan on buying one off of eBay. Don’t believe me? Read this blog posting by Daniel Terdiman over at CNET on his trials and tribulations of trying to find a Wii this week. For those of you with the Wii - make sure to take breaks between games of bowling or tennis this Christmas. Time for me to practice so I can thoroughly crush one of my friends this weekend.

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Technorati Tags: Nintendo Wii, Christmas

This has got to be one of the COOLEST hacks I’ve ever seen for the Nintendo Wii remote. It’s by Johnny Chung Lee of Carnegie Mellon University and he basically he’s created what he calls a cheap electronic whiteboard system using the Nintendo Wii remote. The project utilizes the infrared camera built into the head of every Wii remote. What Johnny does is quite amazing and simple! He takes a few ballpoint pens, replaces the tips with IR lights, writes a bit of software, and instantly creates his infrared-based whiteboard system. What’s truly amazing is what he’s able to do with the system. He can take any surface - whether it’s the wall, the table top, or a real projector screen and use it as a way to manipulate objects on your computer desktop, or perhaps to write notes or draw objects.. or better yet - create an multi-touch interface similar to what you would find on the iPhone or on the Microsoft Surface. You can even download the software here. Check out the YouTube video for more info:

[Check it out via ExtremeTech]

Technorati Tags: Nintendo Wii remote hack, Wii remote, Johnny Chung Lee, Carnegie Mellon University

Activision has announced that standalone wireless guitar controllers for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will be available at retail stores nationwide by early 2008. The new wireless guitar controllers will be available for each platform including the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the PlayStation 3 console. The new standalone wireless controllers will also include the new exclusive Gibson Guitar Les Paul model.

Technorati Tags: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Activision, Wireless Guitar Controllers, 2008

Nintendo Wii owners looking for a gun-like accessory will be happy to hear that Nintendo launched their new Wii Zapper accessory today in conjunction with two new custom-colored Nintendo DS portable gaming bundles.

The Wii Zapper accessory houses both a Wii Remote and a Nunchuck controller and is designed for games that require accuracy - such as shooting games. The Zapper comes with Link’s Crossbow Training and will sell for $19.99.

Nintendo also released two custom-colored Nintendo DS systems - the Gold edition Nintendo DS which comes with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and the Metallic rose Nintendo DS which comes with the “Best Friends” version of “Nintendogs”.

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Technorati Tags: Nintendo, Wii Zapper, Nintendo DS

Kyle Monson over at Gearlog.com has published a hands-on review of the upcoming Guitar Hero 3 for the Nintendo Wii. The game itself is due out on Wednesday the 14th which also means that Guitar Hero is now available on all the major platforms. Interestingly enough, the guitar controller integrates the Wii Remote right inside itself. You simply pop open the back cover, slide and plug in the controller and close things up. There’s also a video of the review here on YouTube:

Here’s a quote from the hands-on:

I gotta say, the game makes genius use of the Wii’s controller.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Guitar Hero 3, Nintendo Wii, Review, GearLog