NPD Reports Nintendo Finished March with Top Game, Top Hardware
In March, Nintendo again defined industry momentum in both home and portable video games sales, according to the independent NPD Group, which monitors retail activity in the video game industry. More than 720,000 Wii™ systems sold in March, representing the highest monthly sales total outside of holiday months (November or December) to date, while Nintendo DS™ also sold through nearly 700,000 systems.
Nintendo also finished with the top-selling U.S. game of March. Super Smash Bros.® Brawl, which launched March 9, came in at No. 1 with 2.7 million units sold.
“Nintendo systems represented 58 percent of all video game hardware sold in March in the United States,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We expect our momentum to continue with big upcoming game launches like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit.”
Other March U.S. statistics, according to NPD, include:
Three Wii games finished in the top 10, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl at No. 1, Wii Play™ at No. 4, and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at No. 7.
Nintendo DS has now sold more than 19 million units in the United States alone since it launched in November 2004.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - April 17, 2008 - Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans to bring the first of several Wiiware titles developed for North America. Known as Saku Saku Animal Panic in Japan, Critter Round-Up will be Konami’s first Wiiware title in North America.
Developed by Los Angeles, CA-based Epicenter Studios, Critter Round-Up is a puzzle game for up to four players. Players are challenged with building fences to separate different critter species into their own area, while avoiding predators and other mischievous animals attempting to stop you from rounding them up. Players can corral exotic critters from five environments encompassing 50 levels, with gameplay modes including a co-op Adventure Mode as well as special co-op challenges for up to four players. There’s also a Marathon Mode that supports up to four layers on a nearly infinite number of levels, as well as a collection of Critter Games, an entertaining selection of mini games such as Snowball Soccer and Predator Rampage.
Critter Round-Up is the first of several planned Wiiware titles to be distributed by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. Future planned releases include Crescendo (working title), a musical experience fused with quick, frantic action of classic arcade action, and Fresco Beach (working title), a game where players create their own sandcastles and maintain their structure amidst the dangers of the beach.
Critter Round-Up is rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB.
About Konami
Konami is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties. Konami’s titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid®, Silent Hill®, DanceDanceRevolution® and Castlevania®, among other top sellers. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany. KONAMI CORPORATION is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker
symbol KNM. Details of the products published by Konami can be found at www.konami.com.
Peekaboo Pole Dancing is in the concept stages for the Wii and the actual company has announced via e-mail
that they are looking for partners to license the product. Peekaboo’s current big name product is the official Carmen Electra stripper pole. More information about this megaton as it breaks.
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 than 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities, Wii Fit provides consumers with a fun, easy and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines. Using the included wireless Wii Balance Board accessory, every member of the household can step up and stay active, setting individual fitness goals and tracking their progress over time.
Consumers in the New York area who pre-order Wii Fit from the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza will receive a special bonus item. From April 18-20, the first 1,000 consumers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit will receive a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
Through mid-February, Wii Fit had sold more than 1.4 million copies in Japan since its Dec. 1, 2007 launch. For more information about Wii Fit, please visit www.WiiFit.com or contact:
Within a game display in a random Japanese game store an ad for Osouji Sentai Clean Keeperreads “worldly desires are completely open.” Whenever you see something like that used to advertise a game in Japan you’re usually in for a graphic adventure novel on a disc and low and behold that’s what it is.
In Osouji Sentai Clean Keeperyou basically save underage looking scantily clad women, who are actually in their 20s, from some kind of devil. When you do, by basically choosing numbered options with the Wiimote, you get a victory video of one of the girls doing something ridiculous like sucking on a banana. See all the victory images here.
While none of this is really shocking, the heartbreaking thing is this is already climbing up the Amazon Japan charts and currently resides at #450. Could this be a sign of the apocalypse? Check out a boring ass player video of the game in action below. Oh and you can import this piece of crap April 24th and play it with a Freeloader I’m sure.
Just remember that if you do you’ll lose the respect of anyone and everyone you tell about it.
I never played Baroque on the Sega Saturn when it originally came out in Japan in 1998. In fact, until it was released for the US on Wii and PS2, I only knew it existed because I have the soundtrack. When I saw screenshots from the game, I was immediately enthralled by the dark imagery and bizarre creatures. I picked it up the day it came out and rushed home to play it. (more…)
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