"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..."

"Looking like a humongous Rubik's Cube, the Wii Fit ad in Times Square actually comprises of several screens that each show people doing various exercises with Nintendo Company Ltd.'s fitness program. It's a pretty neat sight, especially during the evenings."

"There have already been countless stories about how titles such as Wii Fit have been integrated into rehabilitation programs for poorly patients, and now it looks like Wii Fit and the Balance Board will have a part to play too."

"Not yet released in the US, Wii Fit has already sold millions in Japan since December and over 338,000 copies in the UK since its release two weeks ago.

With such massive promotion, experts are predicting that the exercise title is set to become the best-selling interactive fitness tool ever, outselling the likes of fitness DVDs."

"Electronic Arts has revealed that it is currently developing an exercise-title for the Nintendo Wii that makes use of the Balance Board and aims to rival Wii Fit.

The firm’s Peter Moore explained that he wanted to create a title that was more “western” in approach compared too Wii Fit; a title that will make players really sweat while working out. The key, however, making it fun:

I’ll call [Wii Fit] more eastern fitness, where it senses weight and balance, like Tai-Chi. It’s more abo..."

"Me - “Hey son! Would you like a copy of the new Transformers game where you get get to control massive robots that stomp all over everything and can fly and shoot lasers and stuff? Or do you want the text based crossword game where you get to do crosswords….oh, and word searches?”

Son - “Gee Dad, what a choice. Let me think…FOR A NANOSECOND!”

Of course I would have to teach him what a nanosecond is, but you get the point. Using a DS, or any console for that matter, to do crosswords or B..."

"Online shoppers seem to have fed frenziedly on Wii Fit at Amazon.com, up for pre-order as of April 15, with the retailer already claiming its allocation of the Nintendo fitness title is already at capacity. The site says it is "actively seeking more of this product from suppliers" and we suspect that the impression that one will be able to get their hands on the game/non-game day one—as we foolishly suspected would be possible with the Wii itself—is looking less and less likely."

"Forget the flowers and chocolates, what Walmart wants you to treat your mother to on her special day of the year is a copy of Wii Fit. The American retail giant is pushing Nintendo’s exercise title as “the perfect gift” for Mother’s Day.

The firm’s Internet homepage is dominated by Wii Fit, with an offer that gives consumers a $10 voucher to spend on the site if they place a pre-order for the software.

“Initial response is extremely strong, and we’re feeling really good about Nintendo W..."

"This is a bit of a strange one, and something we can't see many consumers agreeing with. It seems that retailer GameStop is charging a non-refundable handling fee of $9.99 USD when purchasing Wii Fit online, bumping the price up from $89.99 to $99.99."

"A new survey conducted about the Wii has revealed that 20% of 16 to 24-year olds questioned said that they would stop going to the gym in favour of sweating it out while playing the Nintendo Wii, which can only be positive for the upcoming release of Wii Fit in the US."

"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..."

"YOU wouldn't expect to find a videogame in the middle of an exercise convention – but at the Australian Fitness Expo, the place was teeming with technology.

There were virtual fighting machines, running games, and even an exercise bike that simulated the Tour De France. But the biggest stand was reserved for the most unlikely demonstrator – Nintendo.

The computer game company muscled in on the expo to exhibit its upcoming new game, Wii Fit. It consists of a series of minigames control..."

"“Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good,” said Miyamoto. “I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together.”"

"Girls Aloud pop group member Sarah Harding and ex-Playboy model Nell McAndrew both turned up to promote Wii Fit at its launch on London’s South Bank yesterday - and both, unsurprisingly, came away with nothing but praise for it - ex-Playboy model McAndrew describing it as "perfect for her."

"Wii Fit lands on European shores this Friday, so with that in mind Nintendo's UK arm has announced that its official microsite for the fitness title is now open, giving gamers the chance to inspect the software that little bit closer."

"During the two hours, Miyamoto demonstrated the game and mostly talked about Wii Fit's origins, many of which have been discussed in the Iwata Asks series published on the game's official site. Five years ago, he says he started weighing himself every day and graphing the results in his bathroom. Eventually, that evolved into the game that will soon hit store shelves."

"April 15, 2008
Nintendo News: Wii Fit to Keep Americans Moving at $89.99 MSRP

In anticipation of the U.S. launch of Wii Fit™, the new interactive fitness game for the popular Wii™ system, Nintendo of America Inc. has announced pricing details for this groundbreaking release. Available at Nintendo World store starting on May 19, Wii Fit and the innovative Wii Balance Board™ accessory will be bundled and sold together at a suggested retail price of $89.99.

Boasting a dynamic mix of more..."

"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..."

"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..."

"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..."

"Dead Space (Oct 31, 360/PS3/PC)

Dead Space feels eerily similar to Aliens, but the introductory trailer and our first hands-on demonstrated a level of suspense, mood, and intensity we haven't seen in a while. The premise: the entire crew of a deep space mining ship has gone missing, and it's up to you, the sole survivor, to rid the vessel of alien baddies. It should be noted that EA's survival horror only marginally beat out Left 4 Dead (360/PC), the fast-paced Zombie Killer by Valve with ..."

"I’ll make this easy for you:

Wii Fit:

USA - May 19

Europe - April 25

Wait what? Europe gets a game like Wii Fit before the US?! Preposterous! But alas, it is confirmed, as Nintendo told GamesIndustry.biz that there is no special reasoning for the earlier release, stating that they “just decided to release Wii Fit in Europe first.”

WiiWare (Wii Software in Europe):

USA - May 12

Europe - ?

So Nintendo’s original content rival to Live Arcade and PSN will arrive just one ..."

"Iwata: So you were confident that you could make something interesting because you enjoyed just measuring your weight and collecting the data.
Miyamoto: I thought this project perfectly suited the Wii concept of involving the whole family. That’s why I felt it was my mission to make it into a full-blown product somehow, and went to all the necessary lengths to eliminate the negative elements connected with it. However, just when development got underway, the scale manufacturers we had talks ..."

"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 ..."

"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 ..."

"Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto is interviewed in the latest issue of Famitsu. While the interview, which was done to commemorate the magazine reaching issue number 1000, is mostly reflection, Miyamoto did give a few hints on future plans.

First, the Balance Wii Board, the peripheral that's included with Wii Fit. The magazine noted that Wii Fit has been quite the success story for Nintendo so far. To this, Miyamoto responded that if the game sees success overseas as well, Nintendo may end up r..."

"01./01. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 92,471 / 1,194,000
02./00. [NDS] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 89,909 / NEW
03./02. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 33,003 / 1,560,000
04./03. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 30,458 / 2,689,000
05./05. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom) - 23,614 / 1,534,000
06./06. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 22,032 / 730,000
07./04. [NDS] Final Fantasy IV (Square-Enix) - 21,662 / 559,000
08./09. [WII] Mario and Sonic a..."

"The study revealed that the Nintendo Wii, while certainly promoting an increase in physical activity, failed to impress in terms of convincing as a decent form of cardiovascular exercise.

Specifically, the 30 minutes of boxercise emerged as the most taxing on the cardiovascular system, while the 30 minutes on Wii boxing came in second and a 30-minute walk came in third."

"01./02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 89,584 / 1,101,000
02./01. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 43,082 / 1,527,000
03./03. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 33,267 / 2,658,000
04./04. [NDS] Final Fantasy IV (Square-Enix) - 32,427 / 537,000
05./14. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom) - 25,927 / 1,511,000
06./08. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 25,303 / 708,000
07./07. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 24,992 / 1,143,000
08./06. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 24,820 ..."

"01./03. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 195,781 / 1,484,000
02./02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 127,142 / 1,011,000
03./06. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 118,286 / 2,625,000
04./04. [NDS] Final Fantasy IV (Square-Enix) - 90,634 / 505,000
05./10. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 81,967 / 802,000
06./11. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 78,065 / 2,130,000
07./09. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 77,603 / 1,118,000
08./08. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 76,263 / 68..."

"01./00. [PS2] Super Robot Wars OG Gaiden (Banpresto) - 196,684 / NEW
02./03. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 134,928 / 884,000
03./01. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 131,428 / 1,288,000
04./02. [NDS] Final Fantasy IV (Square-Enix) - 126,434 / 414,000
05./00. [PSP] Star Ocean 1: First Departure (Square-Enix) - 105,104 / NEW
06./09. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 81,671 / 2,507,000
07./00. [PSP] Haruhi Suzumiya's Promise (Bandai-Namco) - 81,089 / NEW
08./10. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's..."

"Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has once again been honoured by the Academy, which has awarded the groundbreaking company with a coveted Emmy for its "excellence in engineering creativity.""

"Cheesemeister

01./01. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 329,826 / 1,156,000
02./00. [NDS] Final Fantasy IV (Square-Enix) - 287,697 / NEW
03./02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 214,334 / 749,000
04./05. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 113,831 / 664,000
05./00. [PS2] Naruto: Shippuuden N-Ultimate Accelerator 2 (Bandai-Namco) - 108,717 / NEW
06./07. [WII] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 104,948 / 317,000
07./06. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 94,425 / 963,000
..."

"Cheesemeister

01./02. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 180,042 / 826,000
02./01. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 124,238 / 535,000
03./00. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (Sony) - 115,748 / NEW
04./05. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 74,378 / 444,000
05./09. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 74,113 / 550,000
06./06. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 73,061 / 868,000
07./10. [WII] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 64,228 / 212,000
08./14. [WII] Wii ..."

"Cheesemeister

01./02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 149,587 / 411,000
02./06. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 106,995 / 646,000
03./00. [NDS] Tales of Innocence (Bandai-Namco) - 104,317 / NEW
04./00. [PSP] Hot Shots Golf Portable 2 (Sony) - 87,231 / NEW
05./01. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 75,609 / 370,000
06./04. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 63,447 / 795,000
07./00. [360] Lost Odyssey (Microsoft) - 54,581 / NEW
08./00. [NDS] Powerful Pro-kun Pocket 10 (K..."

"The prospect of stepping onto the Wii Fit pressure board might fill some gamers with dread, not least because Nintendo’s drive to reach every possible demographic looks to be creating a great many experience that cannot be categorised as games, new Wii Fit trailer clips are revealing that there’s a lot of fun to be had while working up a sweat."

"Cheesemeister

01./00. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 293,897 / NEW
02./00. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 261,226 / NEW
03./00. [PS2] SD Gundam G Generation Spirits (Bandai-Namco) - 252,380 / NEW
04./01. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 134,556 / 732,000
05./00. [PS2] Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Capcom) - 95,409 / NEW
06./04. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 79,531 / 539,000
07./02. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami) - 73,744 / 368,000
08./00. [360] As..."

"A new retailer poll from across the Pacific has Nintendo hardware and software scoring big for the year end holiday sales rush. Famitsu got the opinions of 93 shops regarding what game product will be big for the end of the year.

Topping the list of product that retailers expect to be in short supply towards the end of the year was Wii Fit. Nintendo's heavily-marketed fitness product, which hit shops on 12/1, got 37 votes, beating out Dragon Quest IV's 26 votes."

"





"

"Tony Hawk knows a trick or two on them there wheelie boards. That's probably why he got a whole line of games bearing his name. And, following the release of his latest title, Tony conducted an interview with Eurogamer to discuss the new game and, more interesting to us Wii-loving folk, the new Wii Fit peripheral and Channel coming from Nintendo. As if you didn't think about its use for skateboarding titles yourself ..."

"It's been a while since we've seen anything on Wii Fit, but Dengeki Online has an update that includes several screens, a shot of the boxed set, and a video preview of the fitness title. The Japanese release date is getting closer and closer, and we can't wait to gauge public reaction to the title. Critically, of course, the nongame continues to be lauded; Popular Mechanics recently named it one of the top ten "gadgets" of 2007, and it's not even out yet!

Jog on past the break to get a pee..."

"Nintendo will show off the capabilities of its new Wii Zapper peripheral with a new game called Zelda Crossbow Training, according to reports.

Apparently shown to GameStop managers in a presentation in Las Vegas today, Zelda Crossbow Training is a simple, third-person target shooting game believed to be using the Twilight Princess engine.

It is yet to be confirmed if this is the pack-in game Nintendo promised would show off the abilities of the new peripheral as Wii Play did the Wii Rem..."