Only one game stood between Nintendo and perfect top ten ownership, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was #9 on Amazon's list of bestsellers, which includes both hardware and software.

Amazon.com's bestseller in the video game department was the Wii console itself, with the Wii Remote and Wii MotionPlus taking second and third, followed by the Wii Nunchuk. And, impressively, New Super Mario Bros. Wii landed at fifth, the retailer's bestselling game of the year.

Granted, Amazon.com does not represent the market as a whole, but the following list should be a decent indicator of what's selling well across all platforms, including non-Nintendo games like Assassin's Creed II, Halo 3 ODST, Left 4 Dead 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Marvel at the top twenty below.

01. Wii
02. Wii Remote controller
03. Wii MotionPlus
04. Wii Nunchuk controller
05. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
06. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
07. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
08. Wii Fit (Wii)
09. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
10. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

11. PlayStation 3 Dualshock 3 controller
12. Wii Play (Wii)
13. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
14. Wii Wheel
15. Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)
16. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)
17. PlayStation 3 120 GB
18. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
19. EA Sports Active (Wii)
20. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)

Bestsellers in Video Games for 2009 [Amazon via NeoGAF]

Amazon.com's Deal of the Day puts L4D2 at just $29.99 USD for the PC version, $39.99 USD for the Xbox 360 version, which may help you get over any qualms about the game being Left 4 Dead 1.5 or a glorified expansion pack and help offset whatever price Valve may put on the recently announced "The Passing" downloadable content.

Of course, if exploding zombie corpses aren't your thing—and portable role-playing games are—there are a few other Amazon.com deals you may want to pounce on.

Catch up on your Nintendo DS backlog with The World Ends With You or Final Fantasy IV, each less than ten bucks today. Or, if you want something fresher, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days can also be had for less than previously asked.

The Rocksteady Studios title is going for a mere $34.98 USD for the standard edition on either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. The more deluxe, batarang-filled edition now goes for the asking price of $59.98. I mean, you were going to buy it anyway, just so you can be caught up for the sequel, right?

Bargain hunters would also be advised to pay attention to what Amazon's offering up for the PlayStation 3 owner this Tuesday. The online retailer is promising a day full of "Gold Box" deals on Sony's current generation console, typically the stuff of respectable mark downs.

Amazon.com's Video Game Deal of the Day [Amazon]

Amazon.com has already struck a handful of video games with deep "Lightning Deal" cuts. If you're just waking up, you've already missed a chance to save on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year edition for PlayStation 3, but you can still have these fine products for a song.

• New Play Control! Pikmin (Wii) - $14.98
• Rock Band 2 Special Edition (Xbox 360, PS3) - $70.00
• UFC 2009 Undisputed (Xbox 360) - $25.00
• EA Sports Active (Wii) - $39.99

Upcoming deals include savings on a title teased as "World War II on the Wii"—which we'll assume is Call of Duty: World at War on Nintendo's console—and a "Gaming for people on the go" product, which could mean savings on a PSPgo.

Update: Yes, Call of Duty: World at War for Wii is now available for a measly $27.00 USD. But the "on the go" hardware savings applies to the Nintendo DS (crimson/black), which Amazon is selling for $97.98.

Black Friday Video Game Deals [Amazon.com]

The latest Call of Duty kill-fest has overtaken Amazon's previous pre-order record holder, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Activision Blizzard and its shareholders must be so pleased.

In other Modern Warfare 2-is-selling-well news, Amazon tosses us another figure, saying that "Release-Date Delivery pre-orders" for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 surpassed the total orders for Wrath of the Lich King at the company. Which must mean this "release-date delivery" thing at Amazon is working out for them.

The only downside to this consumer love-in is the PC version of Modern Warfare 2's customer rating at Amazon.com, currently suffering from a revenge score of one-and-a-half stars. Hey, you can't win 'em all.

As they did with Xbox Live Arcade and WiiWare, Amazon does with the PlayStation Network, launching a new section of their PlayStation 3 section dedicated to game add-ons and downloadable titles for the PlayStation 3 and PSP. The new area is live now, with a selection of the more popular PSN games and PSP titles. Purchasers will receive a code immediately after making a purchase, which they can then redeem through the PlayStation Network or send to a friend as a gift.

"With more than 600 million pieces of content downloaded to date, consumers are turning to PlayStation Network more than ever for digitally distributed entertainment content," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of Marketing and PlayStation Network. "We are excited to team with Amazon.com to expand our reach with Amazon's market leading ability to target current and future PlayStation consumers."

The benefit here is that friends and family can now easily gift downloadable content to their more game savvy counterparts instead of scouring store shelves for cold, impersonal PlayStation Network cards. Good for them.

You should all know how this works by now, but just in case we'll explain. At 12:01AM Pacific time on Friday, August 28th, Amazon will post a special discounted video game deal as its Deal of the Day. Then starting at 6:00AM Pacific, a series of Lightning Deals will appear, each with a limited window of availability. Miss one, and it's gone forever, or until Amazon gets around to doing it again.

Of course we don't know what the games are yet. It could be something spectacular, or it could be Amazon clearing out its $19.99 Wii shovelware back stock. Been in the market for a cheap copy of Go Play Lumberjacks? Friday might be your big day!

All Video Games Gold Box Event [Amazon.com - thanks Bakushu!]

Amazon is offering a limited edition pack that contains Ghostbusters the Video Game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Wii, packed with enough exclusive goodies to satisfy even the most rabid fan, provided they have the disposable income to afford it. The package includes an Ecto 1 key chain with lights and sound; a set of Ghostbusters Gamer Graffix console skins; four exclusive Ghostbusters Mini-Mates action figures (concept shots below); and the piece de resistance - exclusive Slimer bust designed and created by the original movie sculptor, Steve Johnson.

An attractive package, but the hairs on the back of our necks began to stand up a little when we saw the price tag. Amazon wants $129.99 for the Slimer Edition on the PlayStation 3 and 360, knocking off $20 for the Wii version. As I said, definitely attractive, but probably not $70 worth of attractive. Boo.

Ghostbusters the Video Game Amazon.com Exclusive Slimer Edition [Amazon via Proton Charging]

Ubisoft's Shaun White Snowboard was released on every console and the PC, so it serves as the Gold Box Deal of the Day, with prices ranging from $29.98 for the PlayStation 3 and Wii versions to $14.98 for a PlayStation 2 copy. By far the best deal is on the Xbox 360 version, discounted 55% to a mere $17.98.

The Gold Box deals unlock all day long, starting with Warriors Orochi 2 for the Xbox 360, currently available for $25.98. It'll be followed by some sort of Wii song pack at 10am Pacific, a Fire Emblem game for the DS at 11am, Trivial Pursuit for the PSP at 1pm, and Fallout 3 for the PlayStation 3 at 3pm. At 5pm the clue reads "Get in the zone with your PlayStation 3", which very well could point to a Killzone 2 deal, especially considering the deal only lasts an hour. The big day winds down at 6pm with some version of Guitar Hero World Tour for the PlayStation 2.

Not only are these Amazon video game deal days getting more frequent, they're getting bigger as well. How long before Amazon just spins off their gaming unit to its own store?

Amazon Gold Box - Deal of the Day [Amazon.com - Thanks Dave!]

Today and today only, Amazon has discounted Guitar Hero World Tour across all platforms as part of their video game Deal of the Day program, with generous discounts across all four versions of the complete band kit. The Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 versions have all been dropped 37% to $119.98, while the PlayStation 2 version comes in at $10 cheaper, which for those of you with an aversion to simple maths is $109.98.

They've only got a limited amount for each platform, so if you feel so inclined, now would be a great time to catch up on your fake musical instrument collection, while helping Amazon free up massive amounts of warehouse space at the same time.

Amazon.com Video Games Deal of the Day [Amazon.com - Thanks Taylor!]

Kotaku spoke to Greg Hart, Vice President of Video Games and Software for Amazon.com about the new service, who explained that offering casual games for purchase and download via the popular online shopping marketplace is a boon to both customers and developers. Customers benefit by having a safe place to download their games with the same quality and convenience they've come to expect from Amazon.com, while casual developers who have never released a retail box have the online equivalent of a big box retailer where they can display their wares.

Customers are able to download and try any game sold through the service for 30 minutes, after which they can either purchase the full game or forget they ever played it. As a special promotion good for the first week only, customers can download full versions of Jewel Quest II, The Scruffs, an Built-A-Lot completely free of charge.

So why casual games, instead of just going for an all-encompassing online store model like Valve's Steam?

"Casual Games are a natural fit with our demographic," explains Hart. "We have 88 million active customers who can appreciate the convenience of the true amazon shopping experience combined with the casual games experience." The man makes a very good point. The person who spends a great deal of time browsing Amazon.com is open to new experiences on their computers, and quick, inexpensive casual games delivered by a trusted source should prove extremely popular to the shopping masses.

That's not to say that the Game Downloads section won't expend into other, more mainstream titles in the future. "We always want to offer the widest selection possible, just like we've done with our boxed games over the past two years."

So don't worry, Valve. With Amazon focused strictly on providing inexpensive casual titles to the shopping masses, they are no threat to your digital download empire at all. For now.

Amazon Game Downloads [Amazon.com]

While supplies last, Amazon.com is selling the 80GB version of Sony's PlayStation 3 console for only $349.98, shaving $50 off of the suggested retail price. As it is one of those Deals of the Day, supplies are limited, and once they are gone, they stay gone. Reader Kevin informs us that it looks like the five free Blu-ray disc deal also applies with this discounted price, so you can jumpstart your Blu-ray collection along with adding a shiny black game console to your house in one fell swoop.

Every day that passes I feel more and more silly for spending $600 on the 60GB at launch. Then I slip in a PlayStation 2 game and feel much better about it.

Amazon.com Video Games Deal of the Day [Amazon.com - Thanks everyone!]

Starting Thursday night at 12:01AM, Amazon.com's Gold Box will be kicking off an entire day of PS3 bargains. While we've no idea what said bargains are as of yet, chances are they'll have something for the PS3 owner in your life marked down ridiculously as only Amazon can.

For some odd reason we generally don't hear about these things until the day they are happening, generally after the best item on sale has already come and gone, so a big shout out to all of our lovely readers for passing this on.

Gold Box Deals - Bookmark and come back Thursday [Amazon.com]

Each bundle contains an 80 PS3, packaged with The Force Unleashed and a Firefly box set, LittleBigPlanet and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, or Far Cry 2 and a James Bond Blu-ray 6-pack, the last one a bit more expensive than the other two. Chances may be slim, but chances are chances!

Amazon Customers Vote - Round 1: Go Blu [Amazon.com - Thanks Pedro]

If you do decided to purchase it, I'd opt for the free super saver shipping. They make excellent stocking stuffers.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa [Amazon.com - Thanks ampersande!]

Amazon Gold Box Wii Games [Amazon.com - Thanks Andrew!]

5 Wii Game Deals On Friday [Amazon.com - Thanks BtownDesignGuy!]

Not too long ago, Amazon.com started a new feature in their video games section called Deal of the Day where they offer a popular game for a really cheap price for 24 hours. Recently we saw Rockstar's Bully for $25 and several other really great bargains. Definitely a feature to keep your eye on if you are looking to get some great games you may have missed on the cheap.

Today's featured Deal of the Day is Elite Beat Agents for $20. For the record, I am much more enamored of Ouendan! than Elite Beat Agents, but for twenty bucks I might be able to swallow my pride and sit through the likes of Ashlee Simpson and Cher. Combine this with the earlier Castlevania deal and you can get three DS games for the price of one PS3 or 360 game with no shipping! Pretty sweet! Flynn De Marco

Deal of the day: Elite Beat Agents [Amazon.com]

Here's a hot deal for all you Castlevania fans out there. Amazon.com is currently offering Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the DS at the low, low price of $21.99! Also available is the sometimes hard to find Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for $20, which seems to be the regular going rate for this title now. Both games are eligible for free shipping so you can get both of these solid Castlvania DS titles delivered to your doorstep for a mere $41. If you haven't checked out either of these games yet, they are well worth having, especially at such a cheap price. So, fire up that credit card and get your Castlevania on! Flynn De Marco

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin [Amazon]
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow [Amazon]
[via CheapAssgamer]

The generically named Brand Name Coupons has put together a great little page with links to items on sale on Amazon.com. It's divided into categories and then each category has links for items ranging anywhere from 10% to 90% off. Quickly scrolling through I found deals on Psychonauts, New Super Mario Brothers, Lost Planet and others. While every entry may not be that special low, low price you were wanting, there's enough there that you'll probably find something you're looking for, even if you didn't know you were looking for it. if you want to scroll though everything on sale, click the 10% link and it will take you to a page with everything that 10% off or more. Also included is a link to the Amazon UK version of the same page. Good luck and happy clicking! Flynn De Marco

How to search Amazon for Deals [Brand Name Coupons - Thanks, Nick]