If successful, the anonymous trade-in program will be expanded beyond the allocated 100 consoles and the targeted inner city area.

Not mentioned in the Reuters article is the trade-in bonus of one year of Xbox Live for inner city youth who trade in automatic rifles disguised as guitar cases, but we're pretty sure this is true. Michael McWhertor

Xbox for your gun? Mexico tries swaps in drug fight [Reuters]

Today's mainstream article featuring videogame addicts with predominantly artificial hips comes from Reuters who profile a Virginia retirement community that has Wii Fever. This generation may have let videogames pass them by but that doesn't mean it's too late to get nerdy with some Wii Sports. The article also brings up what could potentially be the next big hit for Nintendo, Wii Bridge. Watch for it.

I hope the elderly don't give up on gaming, as I'm really interested in trash talking some octogenarians at some point in the future. Michael McWhertor

Wii game console bowling over retirees [Reuters]

Reuters is chronicling the latest gaming trend, Wii parties. Whether it's an informal get together, a scheduled Wii Sports tournament or a WiiParty.net organized Excite Truck session it seems that everyone is getting into the waggle scene.

Could Wii parties be the key parties of the new millenium? Maybe. My household is heading out in fifteen minutes for our monthly Geek Night which will include healthy doses of Wario Ware Smooth Moves and some Wii Sports. Of course, we're also going to be getting some Samba de Amigo time in, so let's at least give a little party credit to the Dreamcast. RIP. Michael McWhertor

Wii is guest of honor at new genre of parties [Reuters]

While it may seem like they're a little late to the game, it should be noted that the PlayStation 2 was released in the country as recently as three years ago.

Microsoft has planned to penetrate China since 2005, but has had to meet with approval from Chinese governmental regulators to begin shilling their chill white console onto the masses. When it does happen, it'll go a long way in helping Microsoft reaching their goal of "touching" 1 billion people with their machine. Michael McWhertor

Microsoft to launch Xbox 360 in China soon: sources [Reuters]

Do you have plans to create a social network in the future around the Mii? Maybe online profiles or the ability to customize it further?

We think the ability to customize your Mii if very fascinating, adding more personality, more information, so certainly that's something we're looking at.

Ears? Will we get ears?! Reggie also let slip something that I was not aware of, in that if you take your Wii online, your Wii will "travel" around the world, appearing in other on other people's consoles. Allow me to tape up my nerd glasses while I reflect on how cooo-uhl that is. Michael McWhertor

Nintendo's Fils-Aime on Wii and Second Life [Reuters]

I finally tracked down that rumor, it turns out it came from Electronic Arts own Larry Probst, who told Reuters today that a supply shortage meant that Sony was only able to ship 200,000 Playstation 3 for the launch.

Probst added that he expects Sony to ship just 500,000 to 800,000 PS3s by the end of the year. Which is, of course, significantly less than Sony initially forecasted.

Keep in mind this is Electronic Arts talking about Sony PS3 sales figures, but I suspect Probst has some insight into sales that the typical man on the street doesn't.

Probst said that EA had set a lower bar for initial shipments, but "where they ended up was a bit of a surprise." ... "We think they'll get into that range," said Probst, who noted that console sales and corresponding game sales were typically slow to begin with because of supply constraints, and a clear winner will not be known for as long as five years.

Probst was full of other interesting tidbits not relating to his company as well, like the fact, he says, that 20,000 of the 200,000 PS3s were flipped on eBay.

Hit the jump for Reuter reporter's Lisa Baertlein's excellent story. Brian Crecente

By Lisa Baertlein

NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc. CEO Larry Probst said on Wednesday that initial shipments of Sony Corp.'s <6758.T> new PlayStation 3 have been below his expectations due to shortages, though overall holiday sales thus far of video games and players were at or slightly ahead of targets.

His comments at the Reuters Media Summit in New York pushed down shares of EA, the world's biggest video game publisher, by nearly 2 percent.

Probst said demand for Sony's much-anticipated PlayStation 3 (PS3), which made its U.S. debut on Nov. 17 for the critical holiday season, was strong but a shortage of supply meant that only about 200,000 units of the game console were sold at retail outlets.

Sony had originally aimed to ship 400,000 PS3 units for its U.S. launch, and has not given actual figures.

Probst said that EA had set a lower bar for initial shipments, but "where they ended up was a bit of a surprise."

By the end of 2006, he expects Sony to ship 500,000 to 800,000 units.

"We think they'll get into that range," said Probst, who noted that console sales and corresponding game sales were typically slow to begin with because of supply constraints, and a clear winner will not be known for as long as five years.

This holiday season is crucial for the $30 billion global video game industry. Video game makers reap more than half of their annual sales in the end-year shopping season.

EA, whose games include titles like football game "Madden" and "The Sims," recently raised its 2006 outlook to call for flat to 5 percent growth in overall U.S. game sales. Previously, it expected overall sales to be flat to down 5 percent in 2006.

"That's a much more optimistic outlook for the year than people were previously expecting," Probst said.

"Bottom line, I would say that the first holiday weekend met or slightly exceeded expectations," he added, citing solid sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console, Nintendo's <7974.OS> Wii and Sony's PlayStation 2, as well as Sony's PSP and Nintendos DS handheld devices.

SUPERMAN DISAPPOINTS

Separately, EA Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson said at an investor conference in Arizona that the game "Superman," an important holiday title that was released later than the film, was a disappointment and that sales would fall short of company targets.

Analysts said Jenson's comments also weighed on the stock.

Large crowds had camped out for days ahead of the PS3's U.S. debut. Supplies were scarce, and Probst said some 20,000 owners were able to flip their new machines on Web auction site eBay Inc. for, on average, more than double the $600 price.

EA's shares fell 1.8 percent to $56.19 after Probst's comments, before recuperating some losses to close at $56.77, still down 0.8 percent on the Nasdaq.

Shares in Activision Inc. , the second-biggest U.S. game maker which has a smaller exposure to the PS3, fell 0.6 percent before rebounding to close up almost 2 percent at $16.58.

EA CEO Says Holiday Sales Met Forecast [Reuters]

Sayeth Reggie to Reuters:

All systems are go for reaching the 4-million target we have in our financials by December 31. Exceeding (sales targets) is going to be challenging based on manufacturing capacity. We will sell everything we make so now it's simply a manufacturing thing.

Only 3,400,000 to go, Reggie. Make it happen. If I don't have a Wii by Sunday, heads will roll. Michael McWhertor

Nintendo says Wii on track to meet targets [Reuters]

Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst was practically crowing today, it seems, over the expected revenue the company expects to be earned from the in-game advertising found in Need for Speed Carbon.

He told a gathering in New York City that the game will likely earn $4 to $5 million in in-game advertising for this quarter alone. That revenue stream is split between static and dynamic advertising, he said.

I wonder if it's coincidence that a game that earns most of its profit from ad revenue and not sales is getting mostly crappy reviews. Game Rankings shows that the plethora of ports are scoring in the low 60s to high 70s.

Maybe we can get to a point where EA makes crappy spin-offs that are entirely paid for by advertising and never come to market. Brian Crecente

EA sees $4-5 mln ad rev from game [Reuters]

"We think that Game Boy Advance certainly has at least one more holiday season left in it. For us, it continues to be a great stepping stone for five-, six-, seven-year-old consumers to have their first great handheld gaming experience and then transition right into DS," Fils-Aime told the Reuters Media Summit in New York.

What he doesn't say is what will happen after the GBA is pushing up daisies. Will Nintendo try to redesign the handheld or let it die a respectful death to make room for more DS sales? Brian Crecente

Nintendo Sees at least one more season in GBA [Reuters]

Second Life is the new internet, says embedded Reuters reporter Adam Pasick, whose SL name is Adam Reuters. The news outlet is just one of many descending on the virtual landscape, which is an appealing 3D successor to the net. Pasick will be bringing in real life Reuters news as well as writing news stories for SL residents and covering the community. And what about those who are hesitant to enter? Pasick says:

I've found the best way is to get them in front of a computer and show them. My parents love it now. They have avatars and hang out in the Reuters building.

And that's a good thing? Brian Ashcraft

SL Reuters Reporter [C|Net]

Reuters is reporting that an Iranian group, using state-sponsored development, has modded the fan favorite team based FPS Counter-Strike to allow players to virtually train for demolition runs against oil tankers. From the report:

The game, "Counter Strike", invites players to plant two bombs on the oil tanker to sink it and make the strait of Hormuz impassable, the Jomhouri-ye Eslami daily reported. About two-fifths of globally traded oil passes through the channel.

The Reuters report, most likely written by someone concerned more with world events than playing CS with 15 teenage boys, doesn't seem to have a good grasp on how the game is structured. They imply that the game is less of a mod or custom map than a built from the ground up title. Anyone who has spent time with Counter-Strike knows that bomb planting is one of the core game types.

Thanks for the heads up, Ross. Michael McWhertor

Iranian video game offers chance to blow up U.S. tanker [Reuters]

Nintendo's DS and DS Lite were the top-selling portable in June, with gamers buying almost 600,000 of the portables in the month. While Nintendo raked in the portable cash, Cars managed to outsell the two devices, with THQ clearing more than 646,000 copies of the games from store shelves. Brian Crecente

U.S. video games June sales up 25 percent-report [Reuters]