Kotaku: nitnendo ds

Nintendo Responds To October NPD Sales, Seems Pleased

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:00:18 MST

When you're consistently moving well over a million units of hardware in the U.S. every month, how can you not have a spring in your step? Nintendo does, plugging in October's NPD sales data into this month's statement. Nintendo sold 803,210 Wiis and 491,176 Nintendo DSs in October, bringing lifetime to date sales to 13.35 million and 23.02 million respectively.

And Wii Fit? Chalk up 2.83 million in the U.S. alone in six months. I can't even imagine how fit we're going to be in a year's time.

Ms. Cammie Dunaway, who Wii Balance Boards with the best of 'em, does her economic downturn best, pointing out that Nintendo "provides consumers with the best value not only among video games, but also among most entertainment options." Oh, the value of it all!

Nintendo News

Wii and Nintendo DS Top October U.S. Sales

Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ topped the U.S. sales charts and combined to sell more than 1.29 million units in October. Nintendo sold 803,210 Wii consoles and 491,176 Nintendo DS systems in October, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. These figures bring the lifetime U.S. sales for Wii to more than 13.35 million and Nintendo DS to more than 23.02 million, extending their leads as the best-selling hardware of this generation.

Nintendo’s total hardware unit sales represent a 25.7 percent increase over October 2007. They also account for 59.3 percent of the industry’s total hardware unit sales.

Wii Fit™, the game that combines fun and fitness, sold nearly half a million copies in the United States in October, six months after it launched. The lifetime U.S. sales for Wii Fit now total more than 2.83 million.

“Nintendo provides consumers with the best value not only among video games, but also among most entertainment options,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Nintendo also provides an incomparable range of experiences that everyone can enjoy, whether you’ve been playing for years or are just getting into video games.”

Three games made for Nintendo systems placed in the top five best-selling games of the month, including Wii Fit™ at No. 2 with 487,234 copies sold, Mario Kart Wii™ at No. 4 with 289,869 copies sold and Wii Play™ at No. 5 with 281,844 copies sold.

Patrick Stewart Engages Brain Age 2 Pitch Engines At Shill Factor Ten

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:00:00 MDT

It's hard not to think of Patrick Stewart in his creepy Extras faux persona, in which he talks about his screenplay that involves him telekinetically removing women's clothing. We're just thankful that he's not tearing the clothes off of his fellow female traveler while she plays Brain Age 2 in this commercial. We're going to need a higher quality version of this for animated GIF purposes. That "The synapses are firing!" moment is gold.

Chrono Trigger Might Be Coming To The Nintendo DS

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:40:18 MDT

We know that the very suggestion of a Chrono Trigger port, remake or sequel for just about any platform (that isn't a mobile phone) might just make your head swim or various body parts explode with delight. Therefore, we'd like to ask that you sit down for the duration of this post. Pregnant women and those operating heavy machinery are advised not to read further. Instead, a friend read it to you.

Okay, here's the deal. We're hearing that in the new issue of Jump magazine, Square Enix has announced Chrono Trigger DS for a Winter release in Japan. Currently, that rumor and a very shady scan is all we got. Rock gently while repeating to yourself "This is a rumor, this is a rumor" until we get some sort of confirmation.

Thanks to Jay and Tim for the heads up.

Nintendo Gold Box Deals Hit Amazon Friday

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:40:17 MDT

Planning on buying any Nintendo games soon? Put the brakes on, pal. Amazon's teasing us with big savings on nine — count 'em, NINE! — Nintendo... things for this Friday, June 27. They say it's a "first time ever" kind of thing. They'll be given the Gold Box treatment that's sure to help you scratch that video game consumption itch. The specifics from Amazon are...

At 12:01 AM PST the first deal will be the Gold Box Deal of the Day. Its special discounted price will be available all day only on Friday, June 27 (or until we run out.)
Starting at 6:00 AM PST, the second deal will be featured as a Lightning Deal. This special price will be available for the following two hours.
Each of the eight remaining deals will also be Lightning Deals. Starting every two hours that follow at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 6:00 PM PST, and 8:00 PM each deal will be available for two hours after it begins.

I'm predicting a Wii Fit blowout! Okay, that's less than likely, but maybe I'll get a few bucks off that copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess I never got around to. What? I'm busy.

Nintendo Icons [Amazon - thanks, Spencer!]

Iga Eyes Xbox 360 For Next Console Castlevania

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:40:42 MDT

The man who eats, sleeps, breathes and craps Castlevania, Koji Igarashi, sat down with Game Informer to chat about the future of the classic Dracula slaying franchise. With "IGA" and crew already hard at work on wrapping up Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP and churning out another Nintendo DS sequel, one might wonder when the team plans to revisit Castlevania on home consoles. Iga says it's a possibility, but you might want to secure yourself an Xbox 360 if you want to play it.

He tells GI that "I think the Xbox 360 would be the best platform for the U.S. market" citing the series' lopsided success stateside. Igarashi does, however, give PLAYSTATION 3 owners some hope, saying "As you know, Konami will release Metal Gear for the PS3, so Metal Gear might expand the PS3 market. In that case, we may release Castlevania for the PS3."

The Castlevaniac also touches on staying true to 2D, revealing that, based on the performance of the PSP port, he may decide to stick with side scrolling gameplay for any future console releases. I just pre-ordered ten copies. I suggest you do the same if you don't hate gaming.