"U.S. Video Games Industry - April 2008

April 2007 April 2008 YTD Apr 07 YTD Apr 08
Video Games $839 million $1.23 billion 47.0% $4.18 billion $5.47 billion 31.0%
Video Games Hardware $339.2 million $426.2 million 26.0% $1.62 billion $1.84 billion 13.0%
Video Games Software $389.4 million $654.7 million 68.0% $1.97 billion $2.88 billion 46.0%
Video Game Accessories $110.4 million $154 million 39.0% $584.4 million $750.6 million 29.0%

Hardware
PlayStation 2 124.4K
PlayStation 3 1..."

"The game features a large cast of characters like Meta Knight, Pit, Zero Suit Samus, Wario and even Snake. The previous game, Super Smash Bros. Melee, was developed for the GameCube and it is considered by Nintendo one of its best-selling games of all time."

"PSP　99000
Wii　49000
DSL　40000
PS3　11000
PS2　7800
360　1900

1.Mario Kart Wii　143000　(952000)
2.MHP2G　120000　(1851000)
3.Senjou no Valkyria (PS3)　78000
4.Taiko no Tatsujin DS 2　60000
5.Summon Night (DS)　44000
6.WiiFit　36000 (1890000)
7.Bokura ha Kaseki-Horida (DS)　25000　(65000)
8.DS Bi-Mozi Training　22000　(185000)
9.Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (PS2)　18000　(332000)
10.Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage (DS)　17000　(463000)

11 DS NARUTO 15000
12.Mario Kart DS　14000　2979000
13.Pro Basebal..."

"Like a piece of gum that’s lost its flavor and causes your jaw to ache more with every labored chew, Super Smash Bros. Brawl fever has cooled. Gamers have moved on to bigger, better things and are eagerly anticipating other Nintendo ventures (Mario Kart Wii, anyone?). But before you shelve Brawl for good, be sure to squeeze the last ounce of fun from this shiny game disc - savor every moment, every movement and every loading screen. Or, if you can’t bring yourself to do that, at least complet..."

"As spring bounds in and summer edges closer, a range of new titles make their way on to the Nintendo DS and Wii. With some familiar faces, as well as brand new experiences on both consoles, there will be something for everyone to enjoy over the coming months

From fitness to finding the ultimate brawler, an exciting line up of titles is heading to the Wii over the next few months! The much-anticipated European launch of Wii Fit arrives on Wii 25 April. Bundled with the pressure sensitive Wi..."

"Retailers are having trouble selling new games on Wii because publishers are relying on traditional advertising methods for videogames, an analyst has said.

Retailers have expressed concerns in a recent New York Times article, which investigated how many games were being sold for Nintendo's console.

Speaking about Super Smash Bros. Brawl, GameStop employee Xavier Pervez said, "We sold a couple thousand copies in the first week, [but] it's dropped off significantly now. Maybe 100 in each..."

"Industry Sales
Mar-07 Mar-08 CHG
Total Video Games $1.1B $1.7B 57%
Video Games Hardware $377.9M $551.3M 46%
Video Games Software $579.1M $945.6M 63%
Video Game Accessories $139.5M $220M 58%

HW Sales

Hardware Mar-08
PlayStation 2 216K
PlayStation 3 257K
PlayStation Portable 297K
Xbox 360 262K
Nintendo DS 698K
Wii 721K

SW Sales
Top-Selling VG Software - March 2008

Platform Title Publisher Release Date March Units
WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL NINTENDO OF AMERICA Mar-08 2..."

"Remember when that little game nobody paid any attention to called Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out ... it was last month, remember? Well, GameStop helped promote the indie title by holding a tournament to support the game's fanbase and raise awareness. According to GameStop, the tournament had over 75,000 players and, following a couple semi-final rounds across the country, culminated last weekend in San Jose with Lee Martin of Houma, Lousiana, emerging victorious."

"This Smash blog has spanned about 300 posts in almost 11 months, but now it is time to say goodbye.

Before creating this site, I knew I wanted it to be updated 5 days a week and support several languages. It was clear that this would be a massive scale for a website dedicated to a single game.

A lot of people around me were particularly concerned when I told them I planned to write blog posts while development was ongoing and continue to provide updates. Some argued, some just looked co..."

"I can't count the number of times I've heard people talk about getting bested at a videogame by a kid. These stories typically involve people in their thirties (or much older) playing games with their sons/daughters (or nieces/nephews or younger sisters/brothers or younger cousins or friends' sons/daughters, etc.) and getting totally dominated, which then leads them to write on their blogs or talk to their friends about how they can't believe how good this kid is at playing videogames. We've ..."

"Thanks for all of your submissions!

Please understand that snapshots depicting inappropriate content or containing inappropriate comments will not be eligible for selection.

To this point, I’ve received a great number of screenshots that focus on peeking at the undergarments of certain Brawl combatants. So let me just say it again—shots like these will never be posted to the Dojo or sent out to users via the Smash Service."

"When it came time to pop the question, reader Brian Klima did it right. No scoreboard message at a baseball game, no skywriting, no jewelry buried in the dessert. He proposed marriage to his one true love with all the charm and romance that is Super Smash Bros. Brawl Grab your hankies and hit the jump.

In Brian's words:

"I came home from work with the ring on Wednesday, and while she was attending her grad school classes, I got to work on a custom level that would successfully convey my..."

"You may have noticed that the game mode called The Subspace Emissary does not feature any dialogue. It’s still fun that way, but there may have been some story-related items that didn’t fully make sense.

So let me tell you some of the story background you couldn’t have gleaned from the movies. There are some big spoilers here, including the final boss, so you may want to skip this post if you haven’t beaten it yet!"

"Ok Ok Ok, I know some of you have heard our shows, and read our articles. I know by now it may seem that we are out to destroy Nintendo and everything it stands for, but that is far from the truth. I like that Nintendo is about family much like in the vain of Disney, however Disney has shown that it has the abillity to offer adult content without insulting our intelligence. I don’t think the same can be said for the “Big N”.

Now before I get knocked in the head with your hate, we all can a..."

"01./00. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) - 880,468 / NEW
02./01. [NDS] Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage (Pokémon) - 105,855 / 348,000
03./00. [NDS] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (Bandai-Namco) - 48,646 / NEW
04./05. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 41,837 / 1,794,000
05./00. [PSP] Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion: Lost Colors (Bandai-Namco) - 34,472 / NEW
06./07. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 34,180 / 1,524,000
07./00. [PS2] Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion: Lost Colors (Ban..."

"When they’re all lined up like this, it becomes obvious that there is roughly 6-year blank before and after Pikmin. While there have been big series since then like "Animal Crossing," "Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day," and "Wii Sports" it does seem that coming up with a completely new character-driven series has gotten more difficult recently"

"01. Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage (DS) - 242,000 / NEW
02. Deca Sports (Wii) - 65,000 / NEW
03. Armored Core: For Answer (PS3) - 54,000 / NEW
04. SimCity DS 2: Kodaikara Mirai e Tsudzukumachi (DS) - 49,000 / NEW
05. Wii Fit (Wii) - 48,000 / 1,752,000
06. Tales of Rebirth (PSP) - 47,000 / NEW
07. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 41,000 / 1,490,000
08. Crayon Shin-Chan: Arashi o Yobu Cinema Land (DS) - 35,000 / NEW
09. DS Bimoji Training (DS) - 35,000 / 101,000
10. Time Hollow: Uwareta Kako..."

"It’s a really great premise, but, by the end a few things hold it back from really reaching the pedestal worthy of its star power. The SSE mode is a really great addition to "Brawl", and an impressive evolution of the adventure mode from "Melee", but some glaring problems stand out.

Nevertheless, I want a sequel. I’ll explain why."

"Never mind all the options. I now know the best way to control “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.”"

"Game reviewers are taken to task often brutally if the readership catches even a whiff of bias. Lately, discussions of game journalism have revolved around whether reviewers should be “fully objective” or not – as if such a thing were possible. Game reviewers are cut of the same cloth as their audience, and having made their career out of it, might even be more likely than the audience is to have a few hairs rise on the back of their neck at the sound of the Hyrule Overworld theme, no matter ..."

"The Wii was given to the winner of the Super Smash Bros Brawl Competition. We used over 20,000 Swarovski Crystals to create this unique design. Retail price is $4,000."

"Loved:
* Tons of Characters: Impressive from the get go, once you've unlocked all of the characters that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has to offer you'll have one of the greatest assemblages of video game legends of all time at your disposal.
* Excellent Music: The musical talent assembled for the game reads like a who's who of famous Japanese game composers. Akihiro Honda, Koji Kondo, Yoko Shimomura - the soundtrack alone is worth the $50 price tag.
* Their Level Design, Your Level Design: As ..."

"At the initial menu’s you have the choice to play a match with registered friends or anyone from god knows where. This is where Ninty’s online implementation takes a nose dive. Now I’m not sure if the servers were flooded because EVERYONE was trying to get their online Brawl on, but initially I gave up trying to connect a random match because for the first half hour I attempted, it would leave me stuck on the screen before the stage started and then say that the connection was dropped."

"Looks like Super Smash Bros Brawl is having some problems working on a few Wii out there. We've only received a handful of complaints about this here at Kotaku, but it's a big enough problem that Nintendo already has a site set up to deal with the problem in North America.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl utilizes a double-layer disc which has a large memory capacity. A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large capacity disc if there is some..."

"Xbox 360:

Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

PS3:

Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

Nintendo Wii:

Super Smash Bros Brawl

House of the Dead 2 and 3 Returns

George of the Jungle

PS2:

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

WWE Smackdown vs Raw Superstar

Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz

Buzz Jr. Robo Jam

El Tigre

George of the Jungle

Sprint Cars 2: Showdown at Eldora

World Heroes Anthology

PSP:

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

World C...

"

"01./00. [PS2] Gundam Musou Special (Bandai-Namco) - 149,846 / NEW
02./01. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 67,007 / 1,358,000
03./03. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 64,429 / 1,610,000
04./00. [NDS] Soma Bringer (Nintendo) - 50,844 / NEW
05./00. [360] The Idolm@ster: Live for You! (Bandai-Namco) - 43,697 / NEW
06./02. [NDS] Etrian Odyssey II: The Royal Grail (Atlus) - 24,664 / 94,000
07./04. [PSP] Musou Orochi (Koei) - 24,350 / 71,000
08./05. [NDS] Harvest Moon: Shining Sun and Fr..."

"Masahiro Sakurai and his team at Sora have drowned the fighter in high-caliber presentational extras, from a superb soundtrack to gorgeous full-motion cut-scenes. These, coupled with all of the characters and stages to see and master, the many unlockable trophies and stickers, the stage builder, the screenshot and replay tools, and so much more, combine for an exceptionally deep experience overrun with replay value.

You will play the game to death when you get it. But unlike so many singl..."

"Our resident retail mole and NWR Forums regular UncleBob has informed us that his Walmart store has already received shipments of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo's all-star fighter for Wii. This delivery, and presumably many other deliveries in the Walmart chain of stores, comes eleven days ahead of the official March 9 North American release date of the game.


A pallet full of Super Smash Bros. Brawl,currently residing in
an unidentified Walmart warehouse.

Walmart computers will no..."

"Nintendo love spills from every pore and the multiplayer can't be beat, but Smash Bros risks growing too familiar. It never breeds contempt, but it doesn't quite muster that Galaxy magic."

"

"

"Speaking to 1UP, Reggie answered a question regarding why Wii Fit and Mario Kart was coming to Europe first by saying, "Yeah, but they don't get Smash Brothers until fall."

Reggie cited the reason as a production problem, claiming that Nintendo would have to open and convert new factories in order to step up disc duplication, which would no doubt prove costly and wasteful in the long run."

"REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 13, 2008 - Attention all Smash fans: Put up your dukes! Just before the launch of the much-anticipated Super Smash Bros.® Brawl, Mario™ and friends are hosting four regional Wii™ tournaments. The competitions will visit Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and finally New York for a Midnight Madness Launch event at the Best Buy store at 622 Broadway in New York. All of the 256 participants at each location will receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. One lucky grand prize winner ..."

"Mashing buttons equals victory
Say what you will about the different attacks and the interactive stages, but Super Smash Bros. Brawl is nothing but a glorified button masher. We're sure that throwing a well-timed Pokeball will often lead to success, but with so much going on, especially with F-Zero racers knocking into you and waves of lava swallowing everyone up, it'll be difficult to get your bearings, let alone become a hardcore master.

Star Fox overkill
Although we don't mind three c..."

"01./00. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 819,647 / NEW
02./00. [PS3] Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom) - 205,390 / NEW
03./00. [PS2] Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut (Bandai-Namco) - 116,928 / NEW
04./00. [PS2] Haruhi Suzumiya's Wonderment (Banpresto) - 114,335 / NEW
05./01. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 73,325 / 1,356,000
06./00. [PS3] Disgaea 3 (Nippon Ichi Software) - 54,596 / NEW
07./00. [360] Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom) - 40,023 / NEW
08./04. [NDS] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games ..."

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl is more aptly named Melee 1.1:
At the end of the day, it all boils down to one verdict: too much rehashing, and too little "new" content, filler aside. Of course, there's the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but personally, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment. Franchises are meant to evolve, especially a 10-year-old one like Smash Bros. For those who wanted a Melee 1.1, that's great, but I'd rather have stuck to the original instead of she..."

"NGamer has compiled a reason for every letter of the alphabet why Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be one of the best games of 2008."

"This is a huge week in sales for Japan. Smash Brothers sold roughly 1,000,000 units in its debut week, but two other titles debuted with sales of over 100,000 – including Devil May Cry 4 which hit 205,000 for PS3. The Smash Brothers debut is the largest opening week in Japan in at least nine months. Adjusted for their console bases, Smash Brothers reached about 20% of Wii owners in week one, while Devil May Cry 4 reached about 11% of all PS3s owners (and a comparable number of Xbox 360 own..."

"Brawl has a lot to live up to. A lot. Not to mention pushed back release dates and rushed shipments.
This is the game many Wii owners have been waiting for. But does it live up to those expectations? Yes, yes it does.

When you're in the thick of it, the PR machine is a little off putting — unless you've already made up your mind that SSBB is going to be ZOMG great.

Just as Super Mario Galaxy turned traditional platform gaming on its ear, SSBB sticks by those conventions and sticks by t..."

"This is not a vast change for the series. From a basic gameplay standpoint, you're getting the same experience you got in Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Gamecube, though it's ben refined and improved from just about every front.

Here are some of the newbies you start out with:
Pit (Kid Icarus) - Feels like a mash-up of Link and Kirby, Pit dual-wields a pair of swords, but he can also whip out a bow and arrow to take you down from long range. His wings are for easy saves when you're knocke..."

"As Super Smash Bros. Brawl (SSBB) fans in North America anxiously await the March 9 launch of the highly anticipated title, the wait in Japan is over. Japanese gamers came by the masses throughout Tokyo today to pick up a copy of the game, with shortages now appearing evident in the region."

"01./01. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 89,248 / 1,283,000
02./00. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (Konami) - 76,669 / NEW
03./00. [PS2] Lucky Star: Misasagi Sakura Gakuen Sakura Fuji Festival (Kadokawa Shoten) - 71,512 / NEW
04./02. [NDS] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 50,169 / 140,000
05./04. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 25,788 / 2,714,000
06./03. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 21,840 / 1,581,000
07./05. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd ..."

"After reports emerged of Brawl encountering errors upon booting (and also of sluggish video playback), Nintendo have sat down, looked at the problem and decided that problem is not on their end. It's on your end! They reckon it's all down a dirty disc lens, caused by a buildup of dust and...tobacco. Other games haven't seen this problem because Smash Bros is one of the few Wii games to date to ship on a super-sensitive, dual-layer DVD. And because Average Joe can't clean a disc lens himself, ..."

"I’ve introduced quite a number of game modes to you here on the Dojo. However, the sheer number of modes is such that I worry I might have confused some of you with all these explanations.

So I decided to rig up a short movie that showcases each mode. There are so many modes that the video moves at a rather brisk pace, but it lets you absorb everything in one quick shot.

... ...Or it might just confuse you further.

Sorry about that, but there’s just so many modes in here, you know?"

"Back before Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released, footage of Nintendo Co., Ltd. in Kyoto and SSBB developer Sora in Tokyo playing each other online surfaced. The online aspect of the game looked very smooth with no lags whatsoever. I'm assuming it is smooth. Assume because I haven't been able to clock a single online brawl.

Sure, the interface is nice and all, but in the last a hour and a half, I've logged on almost twenty times. I have connected to the game's servers, and I have picked my..."

"For those living under rocks, Super Smash Bros. Brawl went on sale today. (Devil May Cry 4, too!) Not all stores in Japan were doing pre-reserves. Know what that means? LINES. In front of the Akihabara Yodobashi Camera, there were a hundred people lined up by 9:00am. The line grew to something like 500 people an hour later. Meanwhile, at the Yodobashi Camera, the first in line got there at midnight. By 6:00am, the line grew to thirty people and mushroomed to 300 people by 9:00am.

We're hea..."

"Iwata
Because we don’t often have the opportunity to sit down and talk about Smash Bros., I’d like to use the last part of this interview to turn back the clock and talk about the start of this series, beginning in 1999 with the Nintendo 64 title Super Smash Bros. You and I were responsible for developing this prototype.

Sakurai
Right. We called it "Kakuto-Geemu Ryuoh" (Dragon King: The Fighting Game)

Iwata
At that point in time, we weren’t utilizing any Nintendo characters, and whil..."

"On the eve of Super Smash Bros. Brawl hitting Japan, we've gotten our copy and are starting to dive in! Watch this space for new videos, impressions, and more, as we'll be adding lots as we go.

"

"Mario [Mario Series]
Luigi [Mario Series]
Yoshi [Mario Series]
Peach [Mario Series]
Bowser [Mario Series]
Donkey Kong [Donkey Kong Series]
Kirby [Kirby Series]
Pikachu [Pokemon Series]
Jigglypuff [Pokemon Series]
Fox [StarFox Series]
Falco [StarFox Series]
Zelda/Sheik [Legend of Zelda Series]
Link [Legend of Zelda Series]
Ness [Earthbound Series]
Ice Climbers [Ice Climber Series]
Samus [Metroid Series]
Captain Falcon [F-Zero Series]
Marth [Fire Emblem Series]
Gannondorf [Leg..."

"Looks like this week's release of the Wii fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl in Japan is more of a paper launch. Retailers are reporting that Nintendo is only shipping enough games to fill a tiny fraction of retail orders on January 31.

NCS says this means, for example, that vendors who ordered 100 copies of the game will only receive 25.

"Nintendo has badly cut preorders placed by all distributors and is only shipping very limited quantities into the market this week," writes Hong K..."

"n case you didn't know, Brawl was released in Hong Kong last night. Thanks to BrawlCentral.com (Website is down at the moment) to their leaks dozens of pictures along with a few videos. Two characters that are returning without a doubt are Marth And Ness. Which you can see in the following Japanese Introduction to Super Smash Bros. Brawl."

"Thirty Games Worth of Music
Iwata
Let’s talk about music next. The music for the previous Smash Bros. titles was truly amazing, but the music for Smash Bros. Brawl is something else entirely.

Sakurai
You think we went overboard?

Iwata
Maybe just a bit. (laughs)

Sakurai
(laughs)

Iwata
Actually, the department that handles contracts and copyrights said this game has thirty games worth of music.

Sakurai
Wow. Sorry for getting so carried away. (laughs)

Iwata
Naturally th..."

"Sure, it's not the game. It's not even the whole manual. But there's a fever amongst you for all things Super Smash Bros Brawl, and you'll take anything and everything you can get. Like this! Sent through by someone who works at the Seattle printing press that's handling production of the game's Norteamericano manual, this is the raw run-off of some of the manual's pages. Nothing on there that'll really rock your world, but hey, if you lean close enough to the screen I'm sure you can conjure ..."

""

"Final Smash
Iwata
Let’s talk about some of the new fighting features. First and foremost, why don’t we talk about the Final Smash?

Sakurai
Absolutely. I think it’s the biggest feature we added.

Iwata
Can you give us a brief overview?

Sakurai
Simply put, it’s a special move that can be used only once. During a match, there’s a small probability that an item called the Smash Ball will appear. By picking up this item, you can use that character’s Final Smash. People who have played..."

"


Lately, we have heard only good things about Super Smash Brothers Brawl, but now a Japanese game developer who uses the alias “JC Barnett” has expressed concern for the new Nintendo Wii title. Surprisingly, I basically agree with his opinions of Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the Nintendo Wii. He believes that this game will confirm the fact that the Wii is not appealing to hard-core gamers and that future developers need to stick to casual games for the system. He also mentions that he..."

"If a delay didn't hurt enough, reports of a shortage of copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl should have Japanese gamers clutching their chest and their reserve tickets.

Our sister site Japanator points to a couple of shortage issues that have already arisen in the island country. Japanese game retailer Lepton says that they are only getting 154 copies. We wish them luck in filling their 800+ preorders. Yikes!

J-blog Canned Dogs says that the store is going as far as to purchase copies fro..."

"Iwata
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there were some big developments for solo play.

Sakurai
Whoops! (laughs) Maybe I did go a bit overboard.

Iwata
It’s just that Smash Bros. has always been played as a fighting game and I didn’t think it would be possible to make the single-player Adventure Mode a primary form of game play. However, I was impressed by how well it turned out. Can you talk about why you were set on developing an Adventure Mode and how you got there?

Sakurai
Well, as ..."

"With expectation levels building to an absolute frenzy with Nintendo fans as the retail release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl looms ever larger on the horizon, lucky gamers in Japan will tomorrow (Jan 26) get the opportunity to put the game through its paces courtesy of demo units at 30 country-wide retailers."

"Well, what do we have here...

Several memorable characters compete for brawl supremacy—that’s Super Smash Brothers Brawl in a nutshell.

But what about the past fights for each of those characters? What were they like?

It may sound impossible, but you can experience those battles in Brawl as well!

That’s right, for the first time ever, you can play trial versions of these games by the miracle of Virtual Console!

That’s what Masterpieces is! Here you can relive the greatest battl..."

"While it’s true you can battle over Wi-Fi, your connection environment and the distance between players can cause great changes in speed. That fact probably makes you a little uneasy.

So, we conducted an online battle between Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto and the development team in Tokyo. The distance between Kyoto and Tokyo...is nearly the same distance between Los Angeles and Las Vegas."

"Ah, the Mushroom Kingdom. Most Smash players recognize this place from previous games in the series, where the world was represented in a pixel-art style reminiscent of the original Super Mario Bros.

But why the "y" on the end of "Mushroom"? What’s the difference?

This time around, we’ve designed a stage that recreates the layout of World 1-1 in Super Mario Bros.—but with rich backgrounds added to the mix.

The kingdom you once knew has turned to ruins over the long years, and it is n..."

"If the following screens are true gamers, be prepared to be blown away. As if we needed any more reason to feed our need for this game how about 44 of them! 44 looks to be the magic number of characters playable in the new Smash Bros. Brawl, although none of the screens are confirmed as of this point."

"It’s Manaphy! This Pokémon also appeared in a movie.

This Manaphy is quite different from the other Pokémon that appear in this game. So much so that you’ll think, is this even possible?! Or words to that effect."

"Remember all that talk about a mystery developer being tapped by Nintendo to work on Smash Bros. Brawl? A couple of weeks before the game's Japanese release, and the developer has finally been revealed. When pounding the eggs out of Yoshi as Mario, you'll be experiencing the handy work of the makers of the Grandia and Lunar franchises.

That's right, GameArts! The Japanese developer, known for its RPG series as well as the Sylpheed shooting series is the mystery developer mentioned by Smash..."

"There’s a web page nestled within Nintendo’s official site where Mr. Iwata, President of Nintendo Co. Ltd., interviews other Nintendo employees. This corner of the website is known as "Iwata Asks."

For some reason, I, Masahiro Sakurai, was invited to one of these interviews.

Wha--?

But I’m not a Nintendo employee! I-is this OK? Are we seriously doing this? Oh, is that so? All right, well, if you insist!

I imagine this interview should give you a tiny glimpse behind the curtains to..."

"Hello, Everyone. My name is Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Beginning today, I would like to deliver an interview that explains the vision and the development process behind the creation of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But before we begin, I would like to offer an apology.

With the completion of the game falling behind schedule, we were unable to keep our promised release date, despite our greatest efforts in attempting to release this game on time. I would like to extend my mos..."

"It’s not everyday we find out new information about Super Smash Bros. Brawl before it’s official on the Dojo. We recently learned of the stickers update on the Dojo, where you can attach stickers to characters to power them up, however some are restricted to certain characters and the details are marked with little icons of the characters face to tell the difference. When some stickers were shown in a recent Japanese Brawl video, the details part was blurred out, but the video was updated wit..."

"Use Zelda’s down special move to transform into Sheik! Once you do so, you’ll have access to a new character completely unique from Zelda.

Sheik doesn’t appear in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but we based her model on a design that was drafted up during the development of that game."

"As if you couldn't be any more excited for Super Smash Bros. Brawl: NeoGAF has scans from Famitsu magazine that show that the game has received a perfect 40/40 review score.

The four reviewers praised the lengthy single-player mode ("you forget the time") and the "surprising" Final Smash super moves.

Yes, it's generally agreed upon that Famitsu scores, and the vast majority of other Japanese magazine coverage, are mostly determined by the exchange of money or other considerations that f..."

"Nintendo UK has refused to comment on whether the recent official delay of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in Japan and the US will impact on the game's as yet unannounced European release.

Earlier today we reported on word from Nintendo that the North American release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii will now be on March 9, a month later than the previously confirmed February 10 date.

Currently the game is still without a European release date and was missing from Nintendo Europe's most rece..."

"Pikmin’s protagonist, Captain Olimar, was forced to make an emergency landing on this unexplored planet.

Let’s just call it the Distant Planet for now, shall we?

The flooring in the middle of the stage is made of vines and is very bouncy.

As you play, you’ll see numbered Pellets fall from the Pellet Posies around the stage. Grab one of these and throw it into a nearby Onion to get items.

Also, this planet experiences frequent torrential downpours. When things get wet, you’ll want ..."

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the most highly anticipated games of this or any other year, was already delayed from late 2007 until February 10 for North America. Now, reports are pointing to yet another delay, this time to the second week of March."

"Goodness! Captain Olimar joins the fray with five colors of Pikmin in tow! He plucks Pikmin from the ground and they fight as his allies.

Without Pikmin, Olimar can’t even do a Smash Attack. And the short-lived Pikmin tend to scatter. Theirs is a fated symbiotic relationship."

"Dive into a ruthless battle with an army of enemy pawns: the Multi-Man Brawl!

Multi-Man Brawl hosts a wealth of different brawls, including the widely recognized 100-man Brawl.

This is the Multi-Man Brawl menu.

Speaking of the Multi-Man Brawl, what could the enemy team of fighters be this time around? It’s the Fighting Alloy Team!

Red Alloy! He’s not the leader or anything!

Blue Alloy! For some reason she seems kind of gentle.

Yellow Alloy! Those horns are scintillating!

..."

"Expectant Wii fans (im)patiently waiting for the arrival of Super Smash Bros Brawl – and its impressive canon of prominent battling Nintendo characters – are facing the possibility of receiving an advance playable demo of the game via the Wii’s Shopping Channel."

"This is another story I’ve been sitting on, and so far I haven’t seen anything to prove it false. With the Japanese release date quickly approaching, it does make sense that Brawl has gone gold in Japan. Just imagine all the videos and leaks that will happen once the game hits there!"

"In the last game, you plopped the coins you collected into a prize-dispensing machine for a chance to get trophies. That was fine and all, but I got to thinking that there really wasn’t any strategy involved.

So this time, I dropped it. Instead, you’ll be getting your trophies in THIS kind of game!

I dub this the Coin Launcher!

I’m gonna have you play every inch of this game!

That option on the right is the entrance to the Coin Launcher.

That thing down below is the launcher.
..."

"Wired's annual Vaporware Awards went up yesterday, and because this is the Internet quite a few of the slots went to videogames. But we're not nearly done yet.

We have some slightly different rules for this list. The game in question didn't have to ever have an official 2007 release date attached to it, just as long as the hype coming from the publisher vastly outweighed the substance."

"Well, I really do love Super Smash Brothers. It’s a great series…but, Nintendo hasn’t asked me yet if they can use Mega Man in their game. I’m still waiting…we have a little bit of time left, it’s not coming out for another few months. They might get around to asking us if we’d like to put Mega Man in Super Smash Brothers. Maybe if somebody from Nintendo is listening to this podcast, they’ll give me a call."

"This appears in Metroid Prime. It’s the first spaceship Samus infiltrates.

What you see in the background is the Parasite Queen.

Th-the power went out?!

For a spaceship that just causes trouble, it sure does have a lot of problems.

But what really defines this stage is the way it rotates 180 degrees.

The siren scream is a warning!

Suddenly, it flips...

The terrain inverts!

When the siren goes off, jump into the air to flee.

But when you’re in a pinch, so is your opp..."

"The Mario Circuit stage appears! Of course, we HAVE shown it briefly in past movies...

It’s a so-called figure-eight course, and you do battle at the crossing of the 8.

It hurts when the karts racing around the track hit you. They come in from the side and from the back of the screen, so be careful.

When they come from the front, look out below.

When they come from the side, look out above.

The karts are serious about their race. You can get a general idea of their location on ..."

"Hotly anticipated Wii title Super Smash Bros. Brawl won't be coming out in Europe until after June 2008, Nintendo has confirmed to VideoGamer.com.

We thought something was up when we noticed the game was absent from Nintendo's updated schedule, distributed to media this morning. This seemed odd considering Mario Kart Wii, another high-profile first-party Wii game, was listed as coming out in Q2.

When contacted by VideoGamer.com a Nintendo spokesperson revealed that SSBB won't be out unt..."

"A selection of different costumes in a beat-'em up is nothing new but when the outfits area s good as those in Smash Bros. Brawl it's something to get excited about. Especially when you see Mario dressed up in his Fire costume.

Each character has six different coloured costumes and you can select them by pressing buttons on the character selection screen. Some of these costumes are brilliant. In addition to Mario we can see Zelda in an old dress, Samus in his Fusion suit and we really lik..."