10/08, 9:20am
PSP sales triple, PSN downloads double
The launch of the PSP Go last week shot Sony's total PSP hardware sales up 300 percent in the US, according to the company's local communications director Patrick Seybold. He wouldn't break down the ratio of the new PSPs versus the old, UMD-supporting PSP-3000 but told Gamasutra that it was evidence of "strong" interest in the handheld system as a whole, not just the new model, over the first few days. The PSP-3000 is normally $200 in a bundle with one or more games and is widely assumed to be the backup choice for those who consider the $250 PSP Go too expensive or limited by its download-only catalog.
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08/20, 3:05pm
Apple pulls DS app
Nintendo on Thursday acknowledged its role in the removal of a DS simulator app, DS DoubleSys, from the App Store. The app was not licensed or approved by Nintendo, although it simulates the DS interface with similar sounds and menus. Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta told CNET News the company notified Apple that the app was violating intellectual property rights.
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08/18, 2:40pm
PSP Go 15 Games to Start
The PSP Go's launch October 1st will come with easily downloadable small games to match, Sony said during its Gamescom expo keynote. Known as Minis, the titles will be capped at 100MB or less to make them quick downloads over Wi-Fi and are similarly meant to encourage smaller, more independent developers to produce titles that don't have to compete on the same field as full-fledged PSP titles. Prices and other details weren't made public, but up to 50 games should be ready by the end of the year.
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07/30, 2:20pm
Nintendo Hurt by iPhone
Nintendo today encountered a rare setback in its history owed partially to the impact of Apple on its business. The company's profit has dropped a steep 66 percent year-over-year to $426 million and said in a conference call that the iPhone and iPod touch, not Sony's PSP, are having the greatest impact on the performance of the DS and DSi. It also expects its fiscal 2010 profit to drop for the first time in years as a result of the added pressure from Apple's touchscreen devices.
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07/08, 1:25pm
Razer outs Moray+ headset
Razer on Tuesday announced the release of its Razer Moray+ in-ear noise isolating headset and inline microphone combo. The replacement for the original Moray, the device is meant for those who do their gaming on a wide array of portable devices, including cellphones. The headset's 3.5mm audio jack fits into all iPhones, and Razer includes three adapters that make the microphone usable with Sony's PSP 2000 and 3000, the Nintendo DS Lite and DSi, as well as netbooks and most other notebook PCs.
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05/30, 1:10pm
PSP Go Leak
(Updated with PR shots) A leak Saturday morning on Sony's own PlayStation forums has confirmed major details of the PSP Go now expected to debut at E3. Spotted in a Qore episode slipped out early, the device is as rumored and switches to a slider design that renders it much more portable. It now also has 16GB of internal memory (plus a card slot) that gives it a much greater role as a media player and signals a shift to download-only PSP games; the PSP Go drops the UMD drive entirely.
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05/20, 2:50pm
Nintendo DS pedometer due
Nintendo entered into the world of portable exercise hardware on Wednesday through the imminent launch of its latest addition to Personal Trainer: Walking game for the DS and DSi. Each copy of the game will ship with two Activity Meters, or advanced pedometers, that sync wirelessly with the gaming system and count and record steps during a given period of time. The game's software then converts these into statistics. Each Activity Meter can store up to seven days of data, while the DS/DSi game card can hold up to five years' worth of downloaded data. A single game card can store four users and their data.
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04/29, 9:25am
PSP Go Launch Rumor
The long-rumored Sony PSP slider has gained further support with a new but detailed rumor that points to the handheld competing more closely with the iPod touch as well as Nintendo's DSi. Now given the title of the PSP Go!, the game console is still said by 1UP to move the controls from the sides to a slide-out panel but is now believed to be coming in versions with 8GB and 16GB of flash storage, letting them hold several games or more at once. Accordingly, Sony will shift to a more App Store-like model and put at least 100 old and new PSP games online as downloads.
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04/24, 11:50am
Nintendo Lime DS Lite Soon
In spite of the launch of the DSi, Nintendo is near releasing at least one more special edition of the DS Lite. The new bundle appears timed for Mother's Day and will tie in a lime green-colored version of the DS Lite with Personal Training: Cooking. In a relative rarity for DS bundles, it will also have a carrying case with a tropical print.
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04/09, 12:40pm
Nintendo on DSi sales
The DSi gaming handheld has done very well in its post-Japanese launches, Nintendo claims. Despite having debuted in Europe and the US on April 5th, a Sunday, some 300,000 DSis were sold in the two regions during the first two days of availability. Nintendo has also revealed some of the non-gaming apps coming to the platform, which should include tour guides, museum maps and a coupon recorder.
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03/25, 3:00pm
Nintendo DSiWare Apps
Nintendo's DSi should make non-game apps an important core of its DSi Shop mobile online store when the console is released on the 5th, the company revealed as part of its efforts at this week's Game Developers' Conference. Having spoken with CNET earlier, Nintendo said the handheld will get a free version of Opera's browser that is described as upgraded over an earlier version for the DS that depended on Nintendo's proprietary cartridges to work; the new version can be saved either directly to the DSi's internal 256MB of storage or to an SD card.
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03/23, 10:15pm
Young talks up iPhone
Neil Young, co-founder of ngmoco, praised the iPhone during his keynote address at the Game Developers Conference, according to Gamasutra. "Our love affair with the iPhone began by simply touching it," he said. "This was rapidly becoming the most important device I had ever owned, it was an all-encompassing, complete device. And I knew that that device was going to enable incredible things for gaming."
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03/20, 4:05pm
Xbox 360 tops PS3, NPD
With the recent release of the NPD market research group's sales numbers for gaming consoles and associated game titles for the month of February, Microsoft product management director Aaron Greenberg boasted about the superior performance of the Xbox 360. In the Friday Gamasutra report, Greenberg points out Microsoft's 53 percent annual sales boost for the Xbox 360, saying it exceeded expectations. He also has something to say about rival Sony's year-to-year declines, which showed two consecutive months of declines, blaming it largely on a price of entry for the PS3 that hasn't budged despite the tough economic conditions.
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03/11, 7:40pm
Nintendo ships 100m DSs
Nintendo has announced that shipments of its DS handheld gaming devices have surpassed 100 million as of March 6th. In contrast, Sony has shipped 50 million PSPs in roughly the same period of time. Nintendo released the first DS model in 2004, followed by updates such as the DS Lite in 2006. The company claims that 83 DS game titles have sold more than 1 million units each, while seven have achieved sales exceeding 10 million.
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02/23, 11:25am
Sony PSP 4000 Rumor
A new rumor today from a "highly-trusted" source at VG247 indicates that Sony is reportedly slated to introduce a redesigned PSP this year. The PSP-4000 would have internals fundamentally identical to the existing PSP-3000 but would switch from the fixed-in-place screen that has dominated the console to a design with a Sidekick-like sliding screen. It would represent a "complete aesthetic overhaul" of the PSP, the tip says, and partly resembles a mockup circulating online (pictured).
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02/13, 10:45am
PSP Hits 50m as PS3 Slumps
Sony today reached an unofficial milestone with news that it has sold its 50 millionth PSP. The achievement comes just over four years after the handheld PlayStation's launch in December 2004 and after two minor revisions to the design that have slimmed it down and added functionality, including a built-in mic in the PSP-3000 for game chat and Skype calls. The game system has also since gained direct access to a download store for PSP and PS1 games that has put increasing reliance on flash-based Memory Stick storage instead of the UMD disc format Sony initially pushed not just for games but for movies.
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01/16, 1:55pm
Wii and DS Set Records
Nintendo late Thursday claimed an industry record by pointing to NPD Group data revealing that it sold 10.17 million Wii systems in the US for 2008, making it the first video game system of any kind to crack the 10 million mark. The achievement tops Nintendo's own previous best of 8.52 million for the Nintendo DS in 2007; the handheld itself topped the older record this year with 9.95 million trading hands. The console creator further observes that about 132 million games were sold just for its platforms in the same year.
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01/14, 11:45am
Nintendo DSi April Rumor
Nintendo's DSi handheld could surface in the US as soon as the start of April, a leak from IGN claims. Multiple purported sources from within Nintendo say partners are being advised of an early April ship date, most likely April 4th, and that the system will cost significantly more than the stock DS Lite with a $180 price tag versus $130 for the earlier console. The dual-camera system, SD card slot and extra software all contribute to the cost.
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12/12, 10:35am
Wii Sales Top 2 Million
Nintendo late Thursday revealed that the company had sold two million Wii consoles in the US during November based on NPD Group data. The figure is a record amount of console sales for any month outside of December for Nintendo and was nearly paralleled by the DS, which reached its second-highest ever total outside of December at 1.56 million of the handheld. The tallies bring the Wii to a total of 15.4 million systems sold in the country since 2006 and the DS to 24.6 million since 2004.
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11/25, 11:30am
DS Lite Mario Brain Age
Nintendo today unveiled two special edition DS Lite handhelds specifically intended to spur sales at the height of Black Friday. The Mario Red Nintendo DS comes in its namesake color with Mario's signature "M" logo and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. bundled with the system. An Ice Blue DS is targeted more at girls and women and comes in its logo-free color along with a copy of the original Brain Age puzzle game. Both are functionally identical to the inaugural DS Lite.
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10/31, 9:25am
Nintendo DSi US by Summer
Nintendo today set expectations for the launch of the DSi in the US that suggest a summer or earlier release for the new take on the game console. Company president Satoru Iwata notes that individual regions have their own discretion as to when they release the dual-screen system but that a launch in fall would "probably be too late," steering any potential release outside of Japan towards the middle of the year.
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10/07, 12:20pm
Nintendo on Wii HD Rumors
Claims of leaked early details for a Wii HD console are false, Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aime says in a new interview with VentureBeat. The rumor, which described an upgraded console fast enough to output HD video and with permanent storage, is described as "pure rumor and speculation" by the executive that has been misinterpreted as fact by some outlets. Fils-Aime doesn't deny an eventual update but debunks the notion that Nintendo would gauge first reactions to an update by showing a prototype to developers.
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10/03, 3:40pm
Nintendo pedometer confirm
Some questions regarding the leaked pedometer from Nintendo have been answered on Friday, as multiple reports reveal the device will ship with the game entitled Your Life Rhythm for the existing Nintendo DS and upcoming DSi portable gaming console. Judging from the game’s screen captures, the game will keep track of not only how many steps users have taken and when or how often, but also how much energy they have used and therefore calories burned.
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10/01, 3:10pm
New DS May Show Tomorrow
A known Nintendo event scheduled tomorrow is said to include a redesigned DS handheld, according to MCV. Reportedly coming from an "impeccable" source, the report asserts that the camera-equipped DS will be announced at the event and will also include built-in music playback. Whether the change will include extra features or a cosmetic redesign isn't known at this stage, though multiple past claims have suggested Nintendo may scrap the legacy GBA slot for cost and size reasons.
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09/30, 11:15am
Nintendo Pedometer Leak
Nintendo is in the midst of developing a pedometer add-on for its consoles, if a European trade document translates to a finished product. The largely mysterious device is described only as a "pedometer" and has just a bare minimum of connections and controls, suggesting a role as an add-on to add data from walking and running to DS handhelds for use with exercise programs and games. One strip on the side also hints at a potential wireless link.
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09/28, 10:05pm
Nintendo DS Upgrade Claim
Nintendo is developing its first real update to the DS since the Lite and may be prepared to launch it soon, according to claims from alleged sources for the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri. The new upgrade would have an integrated camera and would use at least photos in games. Nintendo would also focus on expanding the handheld's role as a wireless data device and would create a more "user-friendly" look for the system. Prices would be kept under $189 in the company's home country and could see Nintendo release the new DS before the end of the year, according to the report.
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09/02, 11:45pm
Silver Nintendo DS in Sept
Nintendo on Tuesday announced it would continue its trend of offering multiple color renditions of its console systems by introducing a Metallic Silver Nintendo DS. Details on the new unit are sparse, but the overall design and functionality is expected to remain unchanged, as with most other product color revisions seen from Nintendo. The Metallic Silver Nintendo DS is due to see store shelves September 7th.
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04/18, 4:10pm
Wii Leads March NPD Sales
Nintendo's Wii console continues to be the strongest-selling of all systems a year and a half after its launch, according to March statistics from The NPD Group. The organization says that about 720,000 examples of the motion-driven Wii were sold last month, helped in part by both its lower $250 price and the launch of the first Super Smash Brothers game for the platform. The result is nearly three times the 262,000 Xbox 360s sold and a slightly larger increase again over the PlayStation 3, which was near-equal at 257,000 systems sold.
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