ATTENTION ALL READERS
*n-gamers.blogspot.com will officially be closed as of this post*
I've finally decided that it is time to close this blog. After 8 months of news, reviews and sharing other info, this blog is coming to an end. I'm sure you'll all have noticed the lack of posts I've been making in the recent weeks, this was due to me being too busy for constant blog updates. The number of visitors per day has been dropping steadily down to about 65 a day, and I'd like to offer a BIG thank you to those of you who are still visiting.
N-gamers was originally created to share the latest info and rumours concerning Nintendo's outcoming console, Revolution. Sinc the controller and most details have been unveiled at last year's TGS, there really isn't much point for the blog to continue. Sure, I could post news articles and such, but there is nothing you won't be able to find at hald a dozen other gaming resources.
A special thanks to RAB, Johno, Bluelight and Froggy, these viewers have been contributing most to the blog. And a thank you to Falafelkid of the nintendo-revolution blog, for adding me to the blog list and greatly boosting the number of visitors. And lastly, a thank you to every fellow gamer who has visited n-gamers, it has been a great privilage and a great experience to be able to share my interests of gaming with you all.
Now to the more important stuff, I am now posting for another gaming resource, Nintendo Players, where I'm employed as a general writer. If you've enjoyed reading entries on this blog, please be sure to check out nintendoplayers.com. NP is the ultimate online Nintendo Resource. With constant (and numerous) updates, including articles, previews/reviews, exclusive news, we are hoping to create a community for Ninty fans of all kinds. Please also check out the forums :).
Basically, rather than retiring I am simply moving, and you can contact me at Nintendo Players in the future. My forum username is "Satoru Iwata", and NP email is jcranston@nintendoplayers.com, alternatively you can try immortaltoad@gmail.com. Also, if anyone wishes to add me to their MKDS list my friend code is 133203 986406. Be warned, I snake :P.
Well, thanks again to all who have been following this blog, it has been a pleasure. Who knows, perhaps some day I'll decide to have this place up and running again, and I'll be sure to notify anyone who's interested if I do :D.
cyaz
Edit: Wow, I found it incredibly hard to make that post, guess the 156 entries I've posted really gave me an attraction to this blog...
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Friday, February 03, 2006
Nintendo World: Store Of The Year
Article courtesy of gonintendo.com, direct link at http://gonintendo.com/?p=713:
At the 35th Annual Institute of Store Planners/Visual Merchandising and Store Design (ISP/ VM + SD) International Store Design Competition Awards, the Nintendo World Store picked up the dubious honor of Store of the Year. It also picked up the First Place Store over 10,000 Square Feet award, but you know Nintendo is enjoying the first award much more!
JohntheSavage had just popped into the Nintendo World Store yesterday to bring his lady friend there, and she was very impressed with the location. I always found the store to be a very welcoming place, with a very open, comfortable atmosphere. Congratulations to Nintendo on this win, and may this award bring even MORE attention to the store!
Article courtesy of gonintendo.com, direct link at http://gonintendo.com/?p=713:
At the 35th Annual Institute of Store Planners/Visual Merchandising and Store Design (ISP/ VM + SD) International Store Design Competition Awards, the Nintendo World Store picked up the dubious honor of Store of the Year. It also picked up the First Place Store over 10,000 Square Feet award, but you know Nintendo is enjoying the first award much more!
JohntheSavage had just popped into the Nintendo World Store yesterday to bring his lady friend there, and she was very impressed with the location. I always found the store to be a very welcoming place, with a very open, comfortable atmosphere. Congratulations to Nintendo on this win, and may this award bring even MORE attention to the store!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Video: Old School Revolution
Source and thanks to: Infendo.com
Here is a fan made video of an ironic presentation of Nintendo's situation in the console wars. It isn't very accurate with some aspects (Bill Gates = Master Chief??), though a hilarious video nevertheless. Please watch, it's a worthwhile 6 minutes.
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2686716
Will Nintendo really be able to "blow competition out of the sky"?
Source and thanks to: Infendo.com
Here is a fan made video of an ironic presentation of Nintendo's situation in the console wars. It isn't very accurate with some aspects (Bill Gates = Master Chief??), though a hilarious video nevertheless. Please watch, it's a worthwhile 6 minutes.
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2686716
Will Nintendo really be able to "blow competition out of the sky"?
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Lite - The New DS
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/news/060126.html
Straight from Nintendo of Japan, a new model of the Nintendo DS has been revealed. This lighter, brighter screened, and sleeker system is due to be released in Australia on the 2nd of March, retailing for slightly higher than the average DS. Its dimensions are 133 x 74 x 22mm, and weighs 218g, 57 grams less than the original DS. The slick, Apple like design reminds one of the outcoming Revolution controller.
Obviously I would prefer this look over the current design, but as much a Nintendo fan I am, I probably won't spend another $200 on it, lol. But if there were trade in deals at EB, I'll be sure to check them out. Other than the corners being a little sharp, this remake of Nintendo's innovative game machine looks awesome.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/news/060126.html
Straight from Nintendo of Japan, a new model of the Nintendo DS has been revealed. This lighter, brighter screened, and sleeker system is due to be released in Australia on the 2nd of March, retailing for slightly higher than the average DS. Its dimensions are 133 x 74 x 22mm, and weighs 218g, 57 grams less than the original DS. The slick, Apple like design reminds one of the outcoming Revolution controller.
Obviously I would prefer this look over the current design, but as much a Nintendo fan I am, I probably won't spend another $200 on it, lol. But if there were trade in deals at EB, I'll be sure to check them out. Other than the corners being a little sharp, this remake of Nintendo's innovative game machine looks awesome.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Sunder: Land Of Divide
As much as I'd want this to be a real Revolution game in development, the anonymous email Kotaku received concerning this unannounced nextgen title seems like nothing more than a fan-made mockup. The game is called Sunder: Land Of Divide (whatever that means), and fits into the first person shooter genre. The email contained a sheet with detiled specs of weapons in the game and how they are used with the Revolution controller.
To read the full article, click the link below. Check back later as scans of the sheet will be posted:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/sunder-land-of-divide/specs-on-new-revolution-game-149876.php
As much as I'd want this to be a real Revolution game in development, the anonymous email Kotaku received concerning this unannounced nextgen title seems like nothing more than a fan-made mockup. The game is called Sunder: Land Of Divide (whatever that means), and fits into the first person shooter genre. The email contained a sheet with detiled specs of weapons in the game and how they are used with the Revolution controller.
To read the full article, click the link below. Check back later as scans of the sheet will be posted:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/sunder-land-of-divide/specs-on-new-revolution-game-149876.php
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Revolution Resolutions
Q: How do you think Revolution will sell?
Reggie: We will sell more units than Xbox 360 did here in the United States in our launch window. I mean, in December, we sold more GameCubes in the United States than Microsoft sold 360s, and Revolution will do better than that.
Reggie Fils-Aime has been intereviewed by CNET's news.com on his 5 resolutions for Nintendo's Revolution console. This interesting article can be found at Gamespot, at the following link:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142598.html
Please take the time to check it out, as he details some interesting information about the Revolution's marketing scheme, as well as it's games and price.
Q: How do you think Revolution will sell?
Reggie: We will sell more units than Xbox 360 did here in the United States in our launch window. I mean, in December, we sold more GameCubes in the United States than Microsoft sold 360s, and Revolution will do better than that.
Reggie Fils-Aime has been intereviewed by CNET's news.com on his 5 resolutions for Nintendo's Revolution console. This interesting article can be found at Gamespot, at the following link:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142598.html
Please take the time to check it out, as he details some interesting information about the Revolution's marketing scheme, as well as it's games and price.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Back From DS Tours
Well, last weekend I attended both Nintendo DS connection tours at Miranda and East Gardens Westfields, for the giveaways, game demos, and meeting new MKDS players. But mainly, for competing in the massive Mario Kart competition.
To be the comp champion, you would need to come first in the heat races, first or second place in the semis to make the g.final, and beat everyone else in the grand final. Quite a difficult task,
considering there were over 300 competitors at Miranda alone.
The East Gardens comp for me was a letdown, I came third in the semis thanks to two blue shells in a single race. And coming 2nd at the end, I was overtaken about a millimeter from the finish line to drop down to 3rd place (knocking me out of the comp). I had better luck at the Miranda comp though, finishing in 3rd place in the grand final. Photos for both events are up, and they can be viewed here:
http://www.nintendo.com.au/ct06/index.html
I won't tell you who I am in those photos, but if you've seen me post at certain forums on the net, you'll already know :P. Ah well, at least I earned a position in the final 8 photo, though winning the comp would have been nice :D. Final 8 players at Miranda comp (me included):
http://www.nintendo.com.au/ct06/img/m1.jpg
Well, last weekend I attended both Nintendo DS connection tours at Miranda and East Gardens Westfields, for the giveaways, game demos, and meeting new MKDS players. But mainly, for competing in the massive Mario Kart competition.
To be the comp champion, you would need to come first in the heat races, first or second place in the semis to make the g.final, and beat everyone else in the grand final. Quite a difficult task,
considering there were over 300 competitors at Miranda alone.
The East Gardens comp for me was a letdown, I came third in the semis thanks to two blue shells in a single race. And coming 2nd at the end, I was overtaken about a millimeter from the finish line to drop down to 3rd place (knocking me out of the comp). I had better luck at the Miranda comp though, finishing in 3rd place in the grand final. Photos for both events are up, and they can be viewed here:
http://www.nintendo.com.au/ct06/index.html
I won't tell you who I am in those photos, but if you've seen me post at certain forums on the net, you'll already know :P. Ah well, at least I earned a position in the final 8 photo, though winning the comp would have been nice :D. Final 8 players at Miranda comp (me included):
http://www.nintendo.com.au/ct06/img/m1.jpg
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Competition Facing Problems
Thanks to Falafelkid at nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com, some interesting information regarding the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been revealed. The first, states that Microsoft have officially abandoned their target sales of 2.75 - 3 million for 360 in the console's initial 90 days of sales. According to the Financial Times, MS blamed a lack of capacity and components for shortages on the 360.
Analysts estimate shipments at 1.3m worldwide by the end of 2005, with shortages predicted for January. The situation has leftgamers frustrated and meant limited sales of 360 titles for video games publishers and retailers.
The full article can be read at nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com. I guess this is good news for Nintendo, already with all their current consoles (exc old GBA) outselling the Xbox 360 each, every week, with the Nintendo DS even outselling it 120 times over just a fortnight ago.
Apparantly, Sony are also facing some troubles with PS3 development. Sony developer Josh Robinson have fired some pretty harsh comments towards Sony's next gen home console. Here are some important quotes in his remarks:
Well my immediate impression of the PS3 is... where is it? Seriously, where is it? They have a case, a controller and a dev kit. But the system still doesn’t even exist.
What most companies do is fake the entire demo. I mean they come up with some great visuals and neat tricks and scripted events. In the end however, its not a real time demo and its not running ON the actual box.
The consistent comment I am hearing from people on my end is, “The XBOX 360 is better”
The game that we are creating for a launch title is a “just get it out” title in my opinion. It doesn’t look next generation. I don’t see how anyone could debate otherwise.
I mean I was at e3 2005 and PS3 was almost no where to be seen.
Not sure how this thing is gonna make it out any time soon. It may be closer to 2007 or christmas of 06 before this thing sees the light of day. We'll see.
You can read his full remarks along with the article at nintendo-revolution. If these quotes are true, they prove that Sony are behind in console development, they are lacking third party support to produce quality titles, and are facing problems with cost. It seems Sony is in even bigger trouble than Microsoft. Now that I tihnk about it, in the last 12 months alone, Sony have had to deal with many problems, starting with the $90 million lawsuit, to the firing of employees, to the greater than ever competition they are facing in every department of the company (Nintendo, MS, Apple etc).
Thanks to Falafelkid at nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com, some interesting information regarding the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been revealed. The first, states that Microsoft have officially abandoned their target sales of 2.75 - 3 million for 360 in the console's initial 90 days of sales. According to the Financial Times, MS blamed a lack of capacity and components for shortages on the 360.
Analysts estimate shipments at 1.3m worldwide by the end of 2005, with shortages predicted for January. The situation has leftgamers frustrated and meant limited sales of 360 titles for video games publishers and retailers.
The full article can be read at nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com. I guess this is good news for Nintendo, already with all their current consoles (exc old GBA) outselling the Xbox 360 each, every week, with the Nintendo DS even outselling it 120 times over just a fortnight ago.
Apparantly, Sony are also facing some troubles with PS3 development. Sony developer Josh Robinson have fired some pretty harsh comments towards Sony's next gen home console. Here are some important quotes in his remarks:
Well my immediate impression of the PS3 is... where is it? Seriously, where is it? They have a case, a controller and a dev kit. But the system still doesn’t even exist.
What most companies do is fake the entire demo. I mean they come up with some great visuals and neat tricks and scripted events. In the end however, its not a real time demo and its not running ON the actual box.
The consistent comment I am hearing from people on my end is, “The XBOX 360 is better”
The game that we are creating for a launch title is a “just get it out” title in my opinion. It doesn’t look next generation. I don’t see how anyone could debate otherwise.
I mean I was at e3 2005 and PS3 was almost no where to be seen.
Not sure how this thing is gonna make it out any time soon. It may be closer to 2007 or christmas of 06 before this thing sees the light of day. We'll see.
You can read his full remarks along with the article at nintendo-revolution. If these quotes are true, they prove that Sony are behind in console development, they are lacking third party support to produce quality titles, and are facing problems with cost. It seems Sony is in even bigger trouble than Microsoft. Now that I tihnk about it, in the last 12 months alone, Sony have had to deal with many problems, starting with the $90 million lawsuit, to the firing of employees, to the greater than ever competition they are facing in every department of the company (Nintendo, MS, Apple etc).
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Some MKDS News
DS Connection tour events have been held at Westfields in Queensland: Carindale and Garden City. They managed to attract hundreds of gamers and non gamers, and both events were a success. There were giveaways, DS demos and new games available for play, but the main attraciton of the tour has to be the Mario Kart DS tournament. I live in NSW, and am still waiting for the tour to arrive this Saturday at Miranda, but folks in Queensland have attanded the event and detailed what it was like. An admin at Aussie Nintendo has made an mp3 audio report of the tour at Garden City, listen to it here:
http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/files/mp3_nds_connection_tour_06.mp3
According to Aussie, there were over 200 people in the audience, and about 250 competing in the MKDS tournament (some people got to enter twice). Runner up entries received MKDS decals for their DS consoles, and the winner received a $2000 prize: a year's supply of Nintendo DS products. The winner happens to be a user at aussie-nintendo.com forums, so check out some of the posts made if you want.
There were 8 DS consoles hooked up to the stage, and one console conncted to a huge DS (with TVs as DS screens), to display ingame actin to the audience (must have been frightening for the driver lol). From what I have heard, it was a pretty tough contest, taking up most of the day (getting through all the heats, then championships). Overall, the day had been a great experience.
On a similar topic, I have been training hard in the time trials mode for the Miranda tournament. Posted below are my current times:
Figure8 1:22:023
Yoshi Falls 0:55:926
Cheep Cheep 1:43:073
Luigi's Mansion 1:48:306
Desert Hills 1:30:428
Delfino Square 1:48:150
Wauigi Pinball 2:13:157
Shroom Ridge 1:57:344
DK Pass 2:11:097
Tick Tock 1:48:357
Mario Circuit 1:41:949
Airship Fort 1:59:467
Wario Stadium 2:12:713
Peach Gardens 1:43:313
Bowser Castle 2:13:358
Rainbow Road 2:09:161
Mario Circ1 0:47:994
Moo Moo Farm 1:15:787
Peach Circ 1:04:176
Luigi Circuit 1:20:613
Donut Plains1 1:04:537
Frappe Snowland 2:01:566
Bowser Castle2 1:46:129
Baby Park 0:47:043
Koopa Beach2 0:49:352
Choco Mt 2:04:261
Luigi Circ 1:39:565
Mushroom Bridge 1:19:208
Choco Island2: 1:01:294
Banshee Doard 2:00:389
Sky Garden 1:29:099
Yoshi Circ 1:40:321
If you have some records which beat mine, please feel free to post them :). Btw, if anyone is up for some Wi-Fi matches, my friend code is on the top right corner of this page (post comment wit your own fc).
DS Connection tour events have been held at Westfields in Queensland: Carindale and Garden City. They managed to attract hundreds of gamers and non gamers, and both events were a success. There were giveaways, DS demos and new games available for play, but the main attraciton of the tour has to be the Mario Kart DS tournament. I live in NSW, and am still waiting for the tour to arrive this Saturday at Miranda, but folks in Queensland have attanded the event and detailed what it was like. An admin at Aussie Nintendo has made an mp3 audio report of the tour at Garden City, listen to it here:
http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/files/mp3_nds_connection_tour_06.mp3
According to Aussie, there were over 200 people in the audience, and about 250 competing in the MKDS tournament (some people got to enter twice). Runner up entries received MKDS decals for their DS consoles, and the winner received a $2000 prize: a year's supply of Nintendo DS products. The winner happens to be a user at aussie-nintendo.com forums, so check out some of the posts made if you want.
There were 8 DS consoles hooked up to the stage, and one console conncted to a huge DS (with TVs as DS screens), to display ingame actin to the audience (must have been frightening for the driver lol). From what I have heard, it was a pretty tough contest, taking up most of the day (getting through all the heats, then championships). Overall, the day had been a great experience.
On a similar topic, I have been training hard in the time trials mode for the Miranda tournament. Posted below are my current times:
Figure8 1:22:023
Yoshi Falls 0:55:926
Cheep Cheep 1:43:073
Luigi's Mansion 1:48:306
Desert Hills 1:30:428
Delfino Square 1:48:150
Wauigi Pinball 2:13:157
Shroom Ridge 1:57:344
DK Pass 2:11:097
Tick Tock 1:48:357
Mario Circuit 1:41:949
Airship Fort 1:59:467
Wario Stadium 2:12:713
Peach Gardens 1:43:313
Bowser Castle 2:13:358
Rainbow Road 2:09:161
Mario Circ1 0:47:994
Moo Moo Farm 1:15:787
Peach Circ 1:04:176
Luigi Circuit 1:20:613
Donut Plains1 1:04:537
Frappe Snowland 2:01:566
Bowser Castle2 1:46:129
Baby Park 0:47:043
Koopa Beach2 0:49:352
Choco Mt 2:04:261
Luigi Circ 1:39:565
Mushroom Bridge 1:19:208
Choco Island2: 1:01:294
Banshee Doard 2:00:389
Sky Garden 1:29:099
Yoshi Circ 1:40:321
If you have some records which beat mine, please feel free to post them :). Btw, if anyone is up for some Wi-Fi matches, my friend code is on the top right corner of this page (post comment wit your own fc).
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Move Over 10 Million
Reports showing a total worldwide count of 10 million DS sales from Tuesday was false, the total number is actually closer to 13 million. Nintendo of Europe has revealed that 3.5 million Nintedo DS units have been sold since its release in March (Europe). Software most contributing to that number includes the Nintendogs range and Mario Kart DS. This is a major rise from the previously calculated 1 million in Europe.
Hopefully with the release of Animal Crossing: Wild World in March, European DS sales can see a further rise. This, and the anticipated Metroid Prime Hunters, along with a Pokemon sequel for DS, both releasing in the coming months, the future for Nintendo innovative handheld looks bright.
Reports showing a total worldwide count of 10 million DS sales from Tuesday was false, the total number is actually closer to 13 million. Nintendo of Europe has revealed that 3.5 million Nintedo DS units have been sold since its release in March (Europe). Software most contributing to that number includes the Nintendogs range and Mario Kart DS. This is a major rise from the previously calculated 1 million in Europe.
Hopefully with the release of Animal Crossing: Wild World in March, European DS sales can see a further rise. This, and the anticipated Metroid Prime Hunters, along with a Pokemon sequel for DS, both releasing in the coming months, the future for Nintendo innovative handheld looks bright.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
In-Car GBA System
Source: Nintendo Insider
Nintendo will be showcasing a portable CD, DVD and Gameboy Advance player, for portable gaming and in-car entertainment. This presentation wil be held in a few short hours at the CES. The device, pictured below (image courtesy of Nintendo Insider), looks like a portable DVD player which can be attached to the roof of a car, and detached for portability.
This device also boasts infrared connectivity (for wireless headphones), and the ability to be connected with the vehicle's network for driver control. Stay tuned for more annoucements as the unveiling draws nearer.
By the way, many apologies for the recent lack of updates. There have been some problems and I haven't been able to post new entries on this blog. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you'll stay for the more frequent updates I will post from now on.
Source: Nintendo Insider
Nintendo will be showcasing a portable CD, DVD and Gameboy Advance player, for portable gaming and in-car entertainment. This presentation wil be held in a few short hours at the CES. The device, pictured below (image courtesy of Nintendo Insider), looks like a portable DVD player which can be attached to the roof of a car, and detached for portability.
This device also boasts infrared connectivity (for wireless headphones), and the ability to be connected with the vehicle's network for driver control. Stay tuned for more annoucements as the unveiling draws nearer.
By the way, many apologies for the recent lack of updates. There have been some problems and I haven't been able to post new entries on this blog. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you'll stay for the more frequent updates I will post from now on.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Absolute Domination
Bluelight has posted another impressive set of Japanese sales statistics. These latest numbers show stunning performances by both the DS and Gamecube. Here are last week's figures:
Nintendo DS 597,628
PSP 161,332
PS2 97,475
GameCube 36,646
GBA SP 35,764
Game Boy Micro19,261
XBox360 5,674
Game Boy Advance 906
Xbox 141
Numbers are represented in a pie chart below:
Here are the top 10 titles in the software department:
1. PS2 - Kingdom Hearts II - 727,591
2. NDS - Animal Crossing: Wild World- 416,132
3. NDS - Mario Kart DS- 302,742
4. PS2 - Naruto: Narutimate Hero 3 - 216,966
5. NDS - Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon Blue - 157,786
6. GBA - Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon Red - 156,181
7. NDS - Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop - 156,181
8. PS2 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence - 103,894 (NEW)
9. GCN - Mario Party 7 - 100,130
10. NDS - Brain Training for Adults - 93,240
In the handheld Nintendo verses Sony department, Ninty currently holds 80% of the total market, with the DS in clear lead over competition and Nintendo's other handhelds. Pie chart below:
The following can be concluded:
- DS sales have gone insane thanks to newly released Wi-Fi titles Animal Crossing and Mario Kart.
- Gamecube makes a comeback with numbers that haven't been reached for a whole year.
- GBA SP takes a large lead over GB Micro.
- DS sold about 3.7 times the PSP, 6 times the PS2, 120 times the Xbox 360, and over 4238 times the Xbox.
- DS pwned all.
Bluelight has posted another impressive set of Japanese sales statistics. These latest numbers show stunning performances by both the DS and Gamecube. Here are last week's figures:
Nintendo DS 597,628
PSP 161,332
PS2 97,475
GameCube 36,646
GBA SP 35,764
Game Boy Micro19,261
XBox360 5,674
Game Boy Advance 906
Xbox 141
Numbers are represented in a pie chart below:
Here are the top 10 titles in the software department:
1. PS2 - Kingdom Hearts II - 727,591
2. NDS - Animal Crossing: Wild World- 416,132
3. NDS - Mario Kart DS- 302,742
4. PS2 - Naruto: Narutimate Hero 3 - 216,966
5. NDS - Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon Blue - 157,786
6. GBA - Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon Red - 156,181
7. NDS - Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop - 156,181
8. PS2 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence - 103,894 (NEW)
9. GCN - Mario Party 7 - 100,130
10. NDS - Brain Training for Adults - 93,240
In the handheld Nintendo verses Sony department, Ninty currently holds 80% of the total market, with the DS in clear lead over competition and Nintendo's other handhelds. Pie chart below:
The following can be concluded:
- DS sales have gone insane thanks to newly released Wi-Fi titles Animal Crossing and Mario Kart.
- Gamecube makes a comeback with numbers that haven't been reached for a whole year.
- GBA SP takes a large lead over GB Micro.
- DS sold about 3.7 times the PSP, 6 times the PS2, 120 times the Xbox 360, and over 4238 times the Xbox.
- DS pwned all.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Pure Pwnage
The latest Japanese hardware numbers are in, thanks to Bluelight's post on Digital Share forums. As you'll no doubt be aware, this week's statistics are particularly interesting, as both the Xbox 360 console and Mario Kart DS received their first full week of sales. Surprisingly the 360 hardly even scratched competition, despite being a next generation console. More surprisingly, the Gamecube even managed to double the 360's sales. And even MORE surprisingly, the Nintendo DS sold FORTY SEVEN TIMES (47x) more than the 360. Here are the hardware (console) sales:
Nintendo DS - 408,770
PSP - 95,689
PS2 - 55,342
Game Boy Advance SP - 19,098
GameCube - 17,849
Game Boy Micro - 14,432
Xbox360 - 8,623
Game Boy Advance - 416
Xbox - 182
These numbers are represented in a pie chart below:
The release of Mario Kart DS last week has boosted (pun?) Ninty's handheld sales by more than 100,000 units. Taking a look at the handheld, Nintendo verses Sony department, the total numbers are 442716 to 95689 units respectively. Here's how they look when placed into another pie chart:
The latest Japanese hardware numbers are in, thanks to Bluelight's post on Digital Share forums. As you'll no doubt be aware, this week's statistics are particularly interesting, as both the Xbox 360 console and Mario Kart DS received their first full week of sales. Surprisingly the 360 hardly even scratched competition, despite being a next generation console. More surprisingly, the Gamecube even managed to double the 360's sales. And even MORE surprisingly, the Nintendo DS sold FORTY SEVEN TIMES (47x) more than the 360. Here are the hardware (console) sales:
Nintendo DS - 408,770
PSP - 95,689
PS2 - 55,342
Game Boy Advance SP - 19,098
GameCube - 17,849
Game Boy Micro - 14,432
Xbox360 - 8,623
Game Boy Advance - 416
Xbox - 182
These numbers are represented in a pie chart below:
The release of Mario Kart DS last week has boosted (pun?) Ninty's handheld sales by more than 100,000 units. Taking a look at the handheld, Nintendo verses Sony department, the total numbers are 442716 to 95689 units respectively. Here's how they look when placed into another pie chart:
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Game Doctor For SNES
This nifty gadget is the main reason the SNES was my all time favourite Nintendo console. Basically, it "piggybacks" the SNES by plugging into its game cartridge, and allows the user to run SNES games off floppy disks. Drawbacks include loading times, but once a game is loaded it is saved into the GD's RAM, and can be stored along with other loaded games, the number depending on the RAM available. Using floppys to play SNES games can save you a tonne of money, as they cost significantly lower than buying cartridge games (as in free, if you download ROMs off the net, but being illegal it shouldn't be even considered :D).
This makes virtually every SNES game ever produced available, and floppys can easily be updated with newer titles once an old game has been finished. The test below is from http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/backup/bung/bungsf7.html:
Its unique feature is that it is able to have multiplegames loaded simultaneously into its memory, which stay there even with SNESpower off! No need to load floppies over and over again! It also has an onscreenmenu system which is controlled through the SNES controllers. The menu systemfeatures self testing (Memory, BRAM, ROM, and disk drive), file management, etc.It has many features including slow motion, real time save, Gold Finger cheatcode system and superior error handling. It cantransfer games from disks, computer, CDROM (optional), or memory. Other featuresinclude: 32 Mbit or 64 Mbit RAM, self test, menus in English, Chinese, orJapanese...
I was too young back then to really make use of this device, but it's given me countless hours of enjoyment none-the-less :P.
This nifty gadget is the main reason the SNES was my all time favourite Nintendo console. Basically, it "piggybacks" the SNES by plugging into its game cartridge, and allows the user to run SNES games off floppy disks. Drawbacks include loading times, but once a game is loaded it is saved into the GD's RAM, and can be stored along with other loaded games, the number depending on the RAM available. Using floppys to play SNES games can save you a tonne of money, as they cost significantly lower than buying cartridge games (as in free, if you download ROMs off the net, but being illegal it shouldn't be even considered :D).
This makes virtually every SNES game ever produced available, and floppys can easily be updated with newer titles once an old game has been finished. The test below is from http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/backup/bung/bungsf7.html:
Its unique feature is that it is able to have multiplegames loaded simultaneously into its memory, which stay there even with SNESpower off! No need to load floppies over and over again! It also has an onscreenmenu system which is controlled through the SNES controllers. The menu systemfeatures self testing (Memory, BRAM, ROM, and disk drive), file management, etc.It has many features including slow motion, real time save, Gold Finger cheatcode system and superior error handling. It cantransfer games from disks, computer, CDROM (optional), or memory. Other featuresinclude: 32 Mbit or 64 Mbit RAM, self test, menus in English, Chinese, orJapanese...
I was too young back then to really make use of this device, but it's given me countless hours of enjoyment none-the-less :P.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Hardware And Software Totals
Nintendo has recently released some total (since launch) sales of their hardware consoles, and top 5 gaming franchises. In first place is the Gameboy Advance, which includes the original, SP and Micro versions. The GBA has sold a whopping 70.04 million units worldwide since its launch in 2001 (that's around 70,040,000 units). Second place is taken by the Gamecube, at 19.31 million units, and closely followed by the Nintendo DS, at 8.83 million. Keep in mind that the GBA received a headstart of 3 years worth of sales before the DS was launched, and Gamecube was out since late 2001 to early 2002.
In terms of software, the GBA has sold 296.12 million units of software (games and accessaries) worldwide since its launch. The Gamecube has sold 165.91, and DS 28.3 million. That's pretty impressive, a large portion of these figures must have been from the Pokemon games :D.
Below are Nintendo's all time top 5 franchises, you can probably guess what they are anyway:
1. Mario 184 million units
2. Pokemon 143 million units
3. Zelda 47 million units
4. Donkey Kong 43 million units
5. Metroid 11 million units
I guess first place would've gone to Pokemon, if it weren't for the Mario range receiving a 10 year head start, though they've all sold a decent amount.
On an unrelated topic, I've been messing around with the tools in Photoshop for about an hour yesterday, trying to whip up a decent Nintendo wallpaper for my desktop. What came out isn't great but I'm satisfied, and tohught I might share the wallpaper too. Here it is, click on the image for the 1024 by 768 version :).
Nintendo has recently released some total (since launch) sales of their hardware consoles, and top 5 gaming franchises. In first place is the Gameboy Advance, which includes the original, SP and Micro versions. The GBA has sold a whopping 70.04 million units worldwide since its launch in 2001 (that's around 70,040,000 units). Second place is taken by the Gamecube, at 19.31 million units, and closely followed by the Nintendo DS, at 8.83 million. Keep in mind that the GBA received a headstart of 3 years worth of sales before the DS was launched, and Gamecube was out since late 2001 to early 2002.
In terms of software, the GBA has sold 296.12 million units of software (games and accessaries) worldwide since its launch. The Gamecube has sold 165.91, and DS 28.3 million. That's pretty impressive, a large portion of these figures must have been from the Pokemon games :D.
Below are Nintendo's all time top 5 franchises, you can probably guess what they are anyway:
1. Mario 184 million units
2. Pokemon 143 million units
3. Zelda 47 million units
4. Donkey Kong 43 million units
5. Metroid 11 million units
I guess first place would've gone to Pokemon, if it weren't for the Mario range receiving a 10 year head start, though they've all sold a decent amount.
On an unrelated topic, I've been messing around with the tools in Photoshop for about an hour yesterday, trying to whip up a decent Nintendo wallpaper for my desktop. What came out isn't great but I'm satisfied, and tohught I might share the wallpaper too. Here it is, click on the image for the 1024 by 768 version :).
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Why Sales Statistics?
I've been asked this a few times, and thought I might point it out. Hardware statistics, are one aspect of the PSP that annoys a Sony fanboy the most. I regularly post these statistics to provide gamers the truth, what is really happening in the console market.
Statistics are solid information, different to marketing and console hype. They represent each console's popularity and the interests of the gaming community. Sony loyalists can boast all they want about the PSP's superior hardware, or multimedia capabilities, but one look at some hardware statistics shows Sony's portable in last place, whether it's Japan, Australia or the States.
Sony reserves a large amount of their profits into marketing their consoles and games. With the help of the media and retailers, they convince people into thinking their consoles are more popular than they really are, especially with the PSP. Take a trip to EB Games, or Games Wizards, and you'll see what I mean. Huge flashy ads hang outside the stores, boxes are stacked high, and wall-fulls of shelves are taken up by PSP games and accessaries. If you're in there looking for a particular DS game, you would probably find about a dozen or so DS game boxes, piled in a corner you wouldn't normally notice.
Alright, maybe that was a little exaggerated, but there certainly is an obvious difference. Same deal with the GBA, despite being the topselling console of the world, has little more room than the UMD movies on PSP. The uneducated gaming community are tricked into thinking the PSP as the dominant handheld.
I've been asked this a few times, and thought I might point it out. Hardware statistics, are one aspect of the PSP that annoys a Sony fanboy the most. I regularly post these statistics to provide gamers the truth, what is really happening in the console market.
Statistics are solid information, different to marketing and console hype. They represent each console's popularity and the interests of the gaming community. Sony loyalists can boast all they want about the PSP's superior hardware, or multimedia capabilities, but one look at some hardware statistics shows Sony's portable in last place, whether it's Japan, Australia or the States.
Sony reserves a large amount of their profits into marketing their consoles and games. With the help of the media and retailers, they convince people into thinking their consoles are more popular than they really are, especially with the PSP. Take a trip to EB Games, or Games Wizards, and you'll see what I mean. Huge flashy ads hang outside the stores, boxes are stacked high, and wall-fulls of shelves are taken up by PSP games and accessaries. If you're in there looking for a particular DS game, you would probably find about a dozen or so DS game boxes, piled in a corner you wouldn't normally notice.
Alright, maybe that was a little exaggerated, but there certainly is an obvious difference. Same deal with the GBA, despite being the topselling console of the world, has little more room than the UMD movies on PSP. The uneducated gaming community are tricked into thinking the PSP as the dominant handheld.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Nintendo Domination System?
This week's hardware numbers for Japanese console sales are in, and due to the release of the second Wi-Fi DS game (Mario Kart DS), the sudden changes in sales numbers are worth noting. Here are the latest handheld console sales:
Nintendo DS 299,328
PlayStation Portable 86,403
PlayStation 2 45,893
Xbox 360 43,970
GameCube 12,212
Game Boy Advance SP 10,456
Game Boy Micro 8,326
Game Boy Advance 396
Xbox 164
It is the first times for several months the Gamecube sales have managed to hit the 12,000 unit mark, nice to see. The Xbox 360 launched in Japan at the beginning of this week, and it has grabbed a healthy share of console sales, though no enough to dominate the home console industry (still a little behind PS2). It's also the first time the Micro's dropped behind the GBA SP in sales, with a small difference of ~2000 units.
Here are the numbers for handheld sales, representated in a pie chart:
You'll see that Nintendo DS sales have really gone bezerk in the last 7 days, this was thanks to the release of Mario Kart. Sales have increased by over 100,000 units compared to the previous week (check my last stat post). Currently, Nintendo are dominating about 79% of the handheld market, and Sony have the other 21%. The gap has widened by a fairly impressive margin since last week. Hopefully this rise will continue into the start of 2006, and be further boosted by the launch of the (long awaited) Metroid Prime.
Here is a quick look at console performances in the States:
1.) GBA / Game Boy micro - 819,733 (+194%)
2.) PlayStation 2 - 535,000 (+112%)
3.) Nintendo DS - 369,012 (+172%)
4.) PSP - 353,434 (unknown)
5.) Xbox 360 - 325,902 (NEW)
6.) GameCube - 272,000 (+166%)
7.) Xbox - 197,000 (+ 79%)
Ha! The Xbox 360 was beaten by 4 consoles, despite it's new release! Just goes to prove that you can't relay on marketing for console performance, only the actualy sales numbers. The Gamecube's overtaken Xbox, guess that's not a suprise thanks to 360. Xbox is officially coming last in console wars in the States, and MS doesn't seem to be performing very well at all. The 360 and Xbox's total sales still can't top the GBA's, or even PS2 for that matter.
Btw, I have removed comment verification, hopefully that will encourage more viewers to comment :).
This week's hardware numbers for Japanese console sales are in, and due to the release of the second Wi-Fi DS game (Mario Kart DS), the sudden changes in sales numbers are worth noting. Here are the latest handheld console sales:
Nintendo DS 299,328
PlayStation Portable 86,403
PlayStation 2 45,893
Xbox 360 43,970
GameCube 12,212
Game Boy Advance SP 10,456
Game Boy Micro 8,326
Game Boy Advance 396
Xbox 164
It is the first times for several months the Gamecube sales have managed to hit the 12,000 unit mark, nice to see. The Xbox 360 launched in Japan at the beginning of this week, and it has grabbed a healthy share of console sales, though no enough to dominate the home console industry (still a little behind PS2). It's also the first time the Micro's dropped behind the GBA SP in sales, with a small difference of ~2000 units.
Here are the numbers for handheld sales, representated in a pie chart:
You'll see that Nintendo DS sales have really gone bezerk in the last 7 days, this was thanks to the release of Mario Kart. Sales have increased by over 100,000 units compared to the previous week (check my last stat post). Currently, Nintendo are dominating about 79% of the handheld market, and Sony have the other 21%. The gap has widened by a fairly impressive margin since last week. Hopefully this rise will continue into the start of 2006, and be further boosted by the launch of the (long awaited) Metroid Prime.
Here is a quick look at console performances in the States:
1.) GBA / Game Boy micro - 819,733 (+194%)
2.) PlayStation 2 - 535,000 (+112%)
3.) Nintendo DS - 369,012 (+172%)
4.) PSP - 353,434 (unknown)
5.) Xbox 360 - 325,902 (NEW)
6.) GameCube - 272,000 (+166%)
7.) Xbox - 197,000 (+ 79%)
Ha! The Xbox 360 was beaten by 4 consoles, despite it's new release! Just goes to prove that you can't relay on marketing for console performance, only the actualy sales numbers. The Gamecube's overtaken Xbox, guess that's not a suprise thanks to 360. Xbox is officially coming last in console wars in the States, and MS doesn't seem to be performing very well at all. The 360 and Xbox's total sales still can't top the GBA's, or even PS2 for that matter.
Btw, I have removed comment verification, hopefully that will encourage more viewers to comment :).
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Calling For MKDS Pros
Heh, there hasn't been any Nintendo news today, I've checked IGN, Gamespot, Nintendoinsider, Revo-Europe, Aussie-nintendo, GoNintendo and several Ninty blogs, and none have posted anything interesting for the past 24 hours.
Anyway, who here has playing Wi-Fi Mario Kart DS? For those who have, who has a fairly decent record to show off? well, my current stats are 153 wins and 13 losses, with a triple star ranking :P. I've since been finding it hard to get into a 4 player race, as half the MKDSers who run into me leave before the race starts. The rivals room isn't all that reliable as several noobs (excuse me) still manage to get searched up.
I am hereby proposing a challenge for any viewers of this blog, to add my friend code and verse a few games :). My code is 133203 986406, please comment here with your own so I can add you.
By the way, this blog receives about 105 viewers daily, but hardly any visitors post comments. Kudos to those of you who do, but may I encourage the others to have their say? Any reply would be really appreciated, I would just like to see this place be a little more active, thanks.
Heh, there hasn't been any Nintendo news today, I've checked IGN, Gamespot, Nintendoinsider, Revo-Europe, Aussie-nintendo, GoNintendo and several Ninty blogs, and none have posted anything interesting for the past 24 hours.
Anyway, who here has playing Wi-Fi Mario Kart DS? For those who have, who has a fairly decent record to show off? well, my current stats are 153 wins and 13 losses, with a triple star ranking :P. I've since been finding it hard to get into a 4 player race, as half the MKDSers who run into me leave before the race starts. The rivals room isn't all that reliable as several noobs (excuse me) still manage to get searched up.
I am hereby proposing a challenge for any viewers of this blog, to add my friend code and verse a few games :). My code is 133203 986406, please comment here with your own so I can add you.
By the way, this blog receives about 105 viewers daily, but hardly any visitors post comments. Kudos to those of you who do, but may I encourage the others to have their say? Any reply would be really appreciated, I would just like to see this place be a little more active, thanks.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Japan Last Week
Source: http://www.m-create.com/eng/e_ranking.html, text directly from source.
Sales of the top 100 titles totaled 1,203,066 units, 83.27% of last week's total and 155.35% of the weekly average. Though lacking last week's vigor, this week also saw a large number of new titles boost the market, and as with last week, total sales surpassed 1 million units.
Twenty-seven new releases took spots in the top 100, accounting for 47.87% of total sales. Top-ranked "Resident Evil 4" sold approximately 243,000 units. The title was released about 10 months after the GC version, which was launched in January of this year, and it appears to have gotten off to a strong start in its first week, surpassing results for the GC version. (At this point in time, the GC version has sold a total of approximately 220,000 units.) "Monster Hunter Portable" in third place sold approximately 114,000 units. The title had an absorption rate of more than 80% and sold out at a series of stores. There were a notably large number of purchases of the game together with the PSP hardware, and the title became a bigger hit than expected.
Meanwhile, sales of existing titles jumped from approximately 458,000 units to 627,000 units partially due to the effects of titles launched last week such as "Animal Crossing: Wild World." This week's strong performance was supported by rich lineups in both the new title and the existing title markets.
Source: http://www.m-create.com/eng/e_ranking.html, text directly from source.
Sales of the top 100 titles totaled 1,203,066 units, 83.27% of last week's total and 155.35% of the weekly average. Though lacking last week's vigor, this week also saw a large number of new titles boost the market, and as with last week, total sales surpassed 1 million units.
Twenty-seven new releases took spots in the top 100, accounting for 47.87% of total sales. Top-ranked "Resident Evil 4" sold approximately 243,000 units. The title was released about 10 months after the GC version, which was launched in January of this year, and it appears to have gotten off to a strong start in its first week, surpassing results for the GC version. (At this point in time, the GC version has sold a total of approximately 220,000 units.) "Monster Hunter Portable" in third place sold approximately 114,000 units. The title had an absorption rate of more than 80% and sold out at a series of stores. There were a notably large number of purchases of the game together with the PSP hardware, and the title became a bigger hit than expected.
Meanwhile, sales of existing titles jumped from approximately 458,000 units to 627,000 units partially due to the effects of titles launched last week such as "Animal Crossing: Wild World." This week's strong performance was supported by rich lineups in both the new title and the existing title markets.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Nintendo Players Dot Com
A member of Digital Share forums, thegetupkid86, presents a brad new one stop online Nintendo resource. On completion, this site will include everything Nintendo, from the latest rumours, to game reviews and sales statistics. With a team of staff who are all Nintendo gamers, the site will receive fast and consistent updates with all sorts of Ninty news.
I would like to recommend each and every one of you to look to nintendoplayers.com in the future, for comprehensive Nintendo information. For now please feel free to join the NP forums, there is a link to them from the main page (or add /forum to the url).
I have been accepted as a staff for posting news, so (hopefully, if all goes well) I'll be able to assist in the latest presentations of Nintendo talk. I'll continue contributions to this blog, though, and again I'd just like to thank all of you who have visited this blog :).
A member of Digital Share forums, thegetupkid86, presents a brad new one stop online Nintendo resource. On completion, this site will include everything Nintendo, from the latest rumours, to game reviews and sales statistics. With a team of staff who are all Nintendo gamers, the site will receive fast and consistent updates with all sorts of Ninty news.
I would like to recommend each and every one of you to look to nintendoplayers.com in the future, for comprehensive Nintendo information. For now please feel free to join the NP forums, there is a link to them from the main page (or add /forum to the url).
I have been accepted as a staff for posting news, so (hopefully, if all goes well) I'll be able to assist in the latest presentations of Nintendo talk. I'll continue contributions to this blog, though, and again I'd just like to thank all of you who have visited this blog :).
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