While Take-Two CEO Ben Feder says that some of the company's "best content really isn't appropriate for the Wii" with some 3 million Carnival Games titles floating about, that "appropriateness" is up for debate. The 2K Sports brand, for example, is totally appropriate and Take-Two is "looking at the Wii as a potential platform."

"Even the M-rated content that we think is much more appropriate for the PlayStation 3 or 360, we have to look at the Wii as a viable platform content across all our labels," Feder said during today's earnings call "because you can't ignore the install base. You just can't."

You know, Ben, Manhunt 2 probably falls under "less appropriate" for Nintendo's console, so what's changed? Oh, two million more Wiis last month, we bet.

The Video Game Blog has posted an interesting list of the third party Wii games that have sold over a million copies. Some of them are pretty obvious like Resident Evil 4 (1.6 million) and Guitar Hero III (1.8 million) while others were definitely a surprise (at least to me) like Carnival Games (1.2 million) and the top seller of all, Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games (3.4 million). There are seven games total on the list including three that are getting pretty close to a million like RE: Umbrella Chronicles (900k) and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (900k).

While all the games on the list may not be your cup of tea, it certainly is interesting to see what sells on the little white console. You can check out the entire list at That Videogame Blog.
3rd party Wii games that sold a million [That Videogame Blog - via GoNintendo]

Not one to look a gift bit of shovelware in the mouth, Take-Two today announced that they are coming out with two new spin-offs for Carnival Games.

"The success of Carnival Games is proof that the casual game market continues to grow," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "We are actively working to expand the 2K Play label and are committed to producing fun, quality games for the mass market with the Carnival Games franchise paving the way."

Carnival Games DS will hit this summer and will feature a new group of carnival games designed from the ground up for the DS. The games, which includel Ball, Frog Leap, Dunk Tank, RC Raceway and Clown Hammer, will use tapping, blowing, speaking and swiping as play mechanics.

Out this fall, Carnival Games: Mini Golf will make use of the Wii Remote's motion controls to let up to four people play mini-golf. The themed park will include dinosaurs, the Wild West and, wait for it, pirates!!!

Hit the jump for the full release.

Step Right Up! 2K Play Expands Its Carnival Games Franchise With Carnival Games™ For Nintendo DS™ And Carnival Games: Mini-Golf™ Exclusive
Original Wii Version of Carnival Games Ships More Than One Million Copies

New York, NY - March 11, 2008 - 2K Play, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), today announced two new titles as a part of its brand extension strategy for its highly popular Carnival Games series. The new titles include Carnival Games for Nintendo DS, which is scheduled to ship this summer, and Carnival Games: Mini-Golf, an all-new game exclusive to the Wii home video game system, which will debut this fall. 2K Play is also announcing that its flagship Carnival Games title has reached a milestone of shipping more than one million units worldwide, while remaining a top-selling game with a number 5 ranking on the January 2008 NPD Wii chart.

"The success of Carnival Games is proof that the casual game market continues to grow," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "We are actively working to expand the 2K Play label and are committed to producing fun, quality games for the mass market with the Carnival Games franchise paving the way."

"The consumer response to Carnival Games has been extraordinary," said Steve Lux, vice president of business development for 2K Play. "The game resonates with every demographic and the feedback we have received from moms, dads, kids and grandparents shows Carnival Games as one of the drivers of family game time. Our new games build on the strength of the first title and will promote this growing trend."

Carnival Games for DS brings the fun of the original to the world's best-selling portable system during the summer vacation and travel season. Each game is designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the DS control mechanism. A frenzied combination of tapping, blowing, speaking and stylus maneuvering brings the now famous midway to life. Favorites such as Alley Ball, Frog Leap and Dunk Tank are complemented with fresh games including RC Raceway and Clown Hammer.

This fall, the all-new Carnival Games: Mini-Golf comes exclusively to Wii. Featuring Carnival Bob™ and characters made popular in the original, Carnival Games: Mini-Golf is home to larger-than-life, theme park style miniature golf courses. Whether back in time to the land of dinosaurs, keeping order in the Wild West or searching for treasure on an island full of pirates, the game combines traditional miniature golf fare with action-oriented game play utilizing the unique capabilities of the Wii Remote™. It is designed for four players and can best be described as "a hole in fun."

"We work hand-in-hand with Nintendo on the design of our Carnival Games titles to make sure they deliver the best-possible gaming experience for their consoles," said Harley Howe and Patrick Wilkinson, studio heads of 2K Play's Cat Daddy Games. "These new titles in our growing Carnival Games franchise are fun, have true-to-life physics and deliver on the promise of the original: you can almost smell the cotton candy."

For more information, log onto www.2kgames.com/2kplay.

Take-Two Interactive's budget label is tapping into the desire of those who pine for the simpler days of gaming, knocking down weighted milk bottles, sinking some poor sap into a dunk tank, winning reems of tickets at Skee-Ball, but without that meth-addicted inbred carny odor.

While the groans of "not another mini-game collection" are easily understood, there's something oddly addictive about the selection of games. They're made even better by the fact that special "sideshow" modes of many, plus the comforting knowledge that the games aren't rigged, add variety and the potential to win fairly.

Carnival Games' rewards are akin to what you'd win at a real carnival, stuffed animals, goldfish, even accessories that your Mii-like avatar can wear while playing the 25-plus included games.

Among the games available for play during the Nintendo Media Summit today were Alley Ball (a renamed Skee-Ball, presumably for trademark reasons, that plays nearly identical to Wii Bowling), Nerves of Steel (a shocking, Irritating Stick-like game of concentration and steady Wiimote precision), Ducky Hunt (the classic tin duck shooter) and Day at the Races (requiring you to hold the remote sideway, and "roll" rubber balls up the game alley). All controlled surprisingly well and featured realistic physics courtesy of the Havok engine.

There are plenty of other mini-games that will see little more than one or two play throughs—the hammer swinging Test of Strength comes to mind—but like most carnival-style games you'll be tempted to revisit them again and again, for "just one more time" chances at a better performance and more tickets. Those tickets can be used in a series of mostly non-interactive bonuses, for instance in the game's Magic Eight Ball-like fortune teller.

At $40, it may seem like a pricey me-too collection of casual games, but there's a surprising fun quality to it. Carnival Games will definitely appeal to those looking to marginally improve on their mini-game scores or collect item #239 in the virtual prize list. However, with a seeming flood of similar titles, it's going to have a more difficult time standing out and justifying its worth in the crowded field. Michael McWhertor

The Warriors' turf of Coney Island is also home to this very unofficial Pac-Man carnival game. It's some sort of water gun race type thingy. I'm just trying to work out why Pac-Man has a tongue and is wearing a top hat. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Flickr] Thanks, Mnemo!