New NPD data has once again given the Xbox 360 the lead in console sales in the US during January, but in grim conditions. At 270,000 systems in the month, it had enough to outpace the Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3, whose sales researchers were keeping secret. However, its performance was noticeably worse than a year ago, where it had moved 381,000 systems.
Nintendo is reportedly considering changing the name of its upcoming game console, the Wii U. The reason for this internal mulling, CVG heard, is supposedly due to the confusion with the 3D and 3DS, which Nintendo found to be too similar in the public eye. It supposedly fears the same would happen with the Wii U and its existing Wii.
Nintendo’s quarterly earnings report out today (pdf) shows that company’s fourth quarter profit, normally a strong suit, collapsed by 61 percent compared to the same period in 2010. The company is now well on track to report a larger than expected annual loss, marking the first time it will have been in the red. Part of the gaming giant’s fortunes will rest on its Wii sequel, the Wii U, which Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said will reach the US and other key markets for the crucial holiday season 2012.
New Media Create data has made clear that the PlayStation Vita isn't yet threatening most other consoles or smartphones. After a blockbuster launch in December, it has tapered off for a second time in a month to just 18,361 systems as of January 15. Every console's sales dropped off sharply in the same period, but it still sat behind Sony's seven-year-old PSP, the PS3, and Nintendo's 3DS.
Netflix confirmed its long-in-the-making plans to expand to Ireland and the UK on Monday. The service works much like its American equivalent but has some accommodation for the local market, such as The Only Way is Essex. Going to the area also brings the full Facebook integration that's currently off-limits to Americans.
Nintendo returned from holiday with word that it had shipped more than four million 3DS systems in the US. The milestone, which it reached in nine months, was enough to outsell the Wii over its own intro period. Nintendo had already passed four million in Japan just days earlier.
Sales of Sony's recently launched PS Vita handheld games console have cooled significantly, the latest numbers from Japanese site 4Gamer.net reveal. The first full week of the console's being on the market saw just 72,479 Vitas find homes, a marked decrease from the 321,400 units sold in its first two days on the market. This puts the system in fifth place after the 3DS, the Vita's predecessor the PSP, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's PS3, respectively.
The NPD Group in a rare step began tracking some of the contributions of non-traditional gaming to the industry for the first time. It estimated that about $1.64 billion came from "other content," which includes mobile games as well as direct downloads and social network games, generated $1.64 billion in revenue. The growth made it larger than the traditional software side of the business, which dropped to $1.3 billion
LG gave a teaser for its CES plans Monday with plans for a brand new remote. The Magic Motion Remote Control will center on a Wii-like gesture system for navigation, such as by drawing the letter "V" to watch videos. Voice commands will be present, although they should be simple and focus on basic channel changes and tasks.
New leaks from within Apple's media talks have hinted that the long-rumored Apple TV set may go beyond just voice commands. The sources for the Wall Street Journal had the set responding also to "movements," hinting at a motion system like Microsoft's Kinect or the Nintendo Wii remote. Development has also supposedly been underway for uniting DVR storage with iCloud, hinting that a user might stop watching a regular broadcast TV show on the set itself and then pick it up later on an iPhone or a computer.
Streaming and video-on-demand on game consoles has seen a sharp increase over the past year, media researcher Nielsen revealed after performing a study in October. Users now spend 14 percent of their time on the Xbox 360, 15 percent on the PS3, and 33 percent on the Wii watching videos from services such as Netflix, Hulu, MLB Network, and ESPN3.
Nintendo is vehemently denying reports that its main game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, is stepping down to a lesser role at the company, said a Thursday report. Miyamoto is responsible for popular franchises like Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda, and his stepping down would not be good news for the company. In an interview with Wired, Miyamoto said he will retire from his current position and work on something small by himself.
Microsoft on Tuesday marked its best week ever for gaming. The company sold over 960,000 Xbox 360 consoles during Black Friday week, getting its best one-week Xbox hardware sales ever even with a holiday. Over 800,000 of those were sold just on Black Friday itself, and it was one of the top sellers at Best Buy.
Yet another game console had an anniversary in the past week as the Nintendo Wii turned five years old on Sunday, just as its creator launched a long-delayed game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The company's most successful console by sales launched November 19, 2006 and was an immediate return to form for Nintendo. Most of its first few years were spent in near perpetual shortages, even lasting into early 2010, and led to a total of 88.3 million shipping as of October.
Walmart's flyer for its Black Friday sale [Flash needed] has revealed that it will have an extremely rare blue edition of the Nintendo Wii. The Limited Edition Blue Console bundle has what looks to be the cheaper Wii, minus GameCube support, in the same light blue as Nintendo had previously been using just for an add-on remote. Accordingly, the remote is color-matched to the console; the included Nunchuk controller hasn't been shown, but likely matches as well.
Apple virtually controls what kids want for Christmas this holiday, Nielsen found on Thursday. Among US children aged six to 12, 44 percent wanted an iPad. The company also swept the top three, with the iPod touch at 30 percent and the usually unobtainable iPhone at 27 percent.
Sony on Thursday will mark the fifth anniversary of the PlayStation 3. The system was launched on November 17, 2006, within days of the Nintendo Wii. As of the end of this September, Sony had shipped 55.5 million of the console and will likely have passed 56 million by the anniversary.
Microsoft kicked off the tenth anniversary of the Xbox with a celebration page and bonuses. Everyone gets access to a free avatar prop for Xbox Live that provides a gift box that opens to reveal fireworks. Some downloadable games will also be on sale as part of the anniversary.
Convergence Technologies is hoping to build a universal remote intended for networked media hubs, not just traditional home theater hardware. The Bridge uses a gamepad-like shape that holds both a joystick to replace the mouse, a full QWERTY keyboard, and buttons for common remote control tasks. The device talks over IR and RF (using RF4CE) and should support Apple TV, the Boxee Box, Google TV, and Roku players, as well as most Macs, Linux, and Windows PCs.
New NPD data for October on Friday showed Nintendo recovering some of its pace in mobile but still in a struggle with Apple and Microsoft. The 3DS had reached 1.65 million systems shipped to the US since it reached the country in March and was on track to break the original DS' first-year sales record. With 720,000 units left to go by March 2012, the company expected a rush of holiday sales and the winter to tip the balance.
Nintendo's Wii U might get a much-requested support for two of its signature tablet controllers. A developer executive claimed to Develop that there were clues in the code that it was being readied to support the special, very high speed wireless controllers. The console designer looked like it was "on the cusp" of solving the problems that had led it to at first limit the Wii U to one of the special gamepads.
The US International Trade Commission gave Nintendo a respite late Wednesday after it defeated a patent violation claim by Motiva. An administrative law judge determined that the Wii didn't violate two of Motiva's patents for tracking movement through a controller. As with all ITC cases, the ruling is preliminary and will be reviewed by a Commission panel in March to decide if any of the verdict needs to be overturned.
Nintendo has posted a huge loss for the first six months of the fiscal year and expects the first annual loss in more than 30 years. While better than feared, the video game maker netted a loss of ¥70.27 billion ($923 million) in the six-month period ending on September 30, which compares to a loss of ¥2.01 billion yen just a year earlier. This is due to a mixture of factors, including slowing sales of the Wii, a weak global economy, and a comparatively strong yen that is bad for export profits.
Apple holds the most popular brands among American youth, at least in terms of electronics, a new Harris Interactive study claims. The market research firm polled people aged eight to 24 to gauge brand equity, as judged by factors including familiarity, quality and interest in buying. Within the categories Apple succeeded in, however, the age span was narrowed to 13 to 24.
Nintendo wrapped up the week with plans on Friday to add Hulu Plus to the 3DS and the Wii. Both will get the unlimited TV streaming access sometime before the end of the year. Access should cost the same $8 per month as it does elsewhere.
Nintendo saw some hope return to its mobile gaming on Thursday after it crossed a historic milestone. Based on NPD September data, the DS line passed 50 million lifetime sales since its launch in 2004. This helped cement its position as the bestselling game console in history, Nintendo claimed.
The Microsoft Xbox 360 was the best selling gaming console during the month of September in the US, market research company NPD Group revealed. The company outsold the Wii and PS3, moving 438,000 units, though what the others sold isn't available, as neither Nintendo nor Sony has made the data public. Other than December of last year, Microsoft sold the most consoles for the last 15 of 16 months.
Nintendo has just announced a new Wii holiday bundle that will come to the US, unlike the 2012 London Olympics edition. The bundle centers around a black Wii and matching Wii Remote Plus controller and Nunchuck. It also adds New Super Mario Bros. Wii and an exclusive official soundtrack from Super Mario Galaxy.
To commemorate the hosting of the 2012 Olympics in London, Nintendo will release a special edition Wii gaming bundle. Paired with the Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games game, the blue Wii comes with a blue Wii Remote Plus, a blue Nunchuk, and a sticker sheet. The Wii is the lower-cost Family Edition and doesn't have Wi-Fi or Gamecube support, however.
Comcast will bring its Xfinity video-on-demand service to consoles other than just the Xbox 360 as well as other TVs and set-tops. These include Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PS3, as well as LG and Samsung TVs along with the Roku media hub. Comcast Converged Products president Sam Schwartz revealed these plans at a panel on Thursday.
Microsoft claimed one of the longer unbroken video game console sales streaks in recent memory as the Xbox 360 was once more the top-selling console in the US, according to NPD data. August sales bounced back from July's low point and hit 306,000 of the systems. Nintendo added that the 3DS price cut made a meaningful impact and saw sales jump to 235,000, about 185,000 of which were after the August 12 drop to $170.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Zelda franchise, Nintendo has made official the promised The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword game for the Wii. Initial shipments will ship with a The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert music CD or with the CD and a special gold-colored Wii Remote Plus controller. Either ships in stores on November 20, priced at $50 for the game and CD or $70 for the controller, game and CD combo.
Nintendo is planning a sendoff for the Wii in at least Europe with a new model. The Wii Family Edition has a new, slightly streamlined design meant to sit on its side rather than the vertical layout the Wii has been known for. The design will lower the price to an unknown level and primarily shed support for legacy Gamecube accessories and games, although it will still have both Wii Sports and Wii Party in the box.
Netflix has developed a special area of their Website with content intended for children aged 12 and under. The "Just for Kids" selection can be reached via a special new tab that now appears at the top of the Netflix homepage. Kids can then click on an icon of their favorite character, from SpongeBob SquarePants to Big Bird, and find a large selection of TV shows and movies featuring that character.
New NPD data has given the Xbox 360 the lead in a market that was the worst since October 2006. Microsoft's console moved 277,000 units in July, just half of what it managed in June, but was still enough to outsell Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii. While NPD didn't have hard data for the other systems, the lead was going to lead to the greatest year in the Xbox's 10-year history, Microsoft said.
Nintendo has been facing calls Thursday to drop its policy of developing only for its own systems and support the iPhone. Following a steep 3DS price cut to make up for slow early sales, Stats Investment Management fund manager Masamitsu Ohki argued that Nintendo should either "buy its way" into the iPhone's platform or else make something of its own. He along with others is believed to have seen the Pokemon wing's plans for an iPhone game, and Nintendo's refusal to follow suit, as a sign of a disconnect with the mobile strategy.
Netflix and Hulu occupy almost entirely separate camps of digital streaming, Nielsen learned in a study Wednesday. Both are now available on many platforms, but Netflix is the dominant form by a wide margin on non-PC devices, including iPads, game consoles, and Internet-aware media hubs, ranging from a three-to-one ratio on Apple's tablet to seven or eight times higher. Hulu only wins out on computers but often does so by a wide margin, with 89 percent of its viewers watching on a computer versus just 42 percent of Netflix owners wanting to do the same.
Microsoft kept up a year-long string of leads with new NPD data giving it the lead in June. About 507,000 Xbox 360s shipped last month, making it not only the top selling game console but giving it a wide lead. The NPD's decision against providing open data made comparisons difficult, but Microsoft in a comment said it sold "nearly twice as many" systems as rivals, with Nintendo's DS or Wii the most likely runner up.
PC maker Lenovo, through its Eedoo games subsidiary, will begin selling a home entertainment console called iSec in China, a company spokesperson said this week. This news is significant, as the Chinese government has a ban on the sale of games consoles in place and the Lenovo spokesperson hasn't said whether the company's planned product somehow isn't covered by this law or if it has permission to sell it.
The Wii U from Nintendo will have the ability to play back streaming media from Netflix on its touchscreen-equipped controller, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America president and CEO revealed during an interview with Forbes. The executive also said the console will launch after April 1st of 2012 and likely be sold alongside the existing Wii console for some time. In response to a direct question, he also said that, "theoretically," it would be possible to watch Netflix on the Wii U's gamepad.
Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has revealed in an interview with Gamasutra that the Wii U controller could have been a standalone portable system. Iwata also reveals he and his team knew as far back as 2007 that they wanted to add a second screen to its next-gen console. The team would liked to have done so for the Wii, but cost considerations persuaded Nintendo otherwise.
Redbox has made good on its promise to bring $2 video game rentals to its self-service kiosks by announcing the service will kick off on Friday, June 17. Game rentals will be available at all 21,000 Redbox locations and include popular and fairly new gaming titles for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 consoles. Some of the newer available titles include LA Noire,Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, Infamous 2 and Brink.
New NPD data unveiled Monday night showed the video game business at a rare low with Microsoft getting the most benefits. Although it hesitated to give full numbers, it had the combined hardware and software sales in May at their lowest point since October 2006 based on a "light slate of new releases" led mostly by LA Noire and Brink. The Xbox 360 was the top system of the batch at 270,000 units and was up 28 percent, making up 34 percent of the revenue, while the Wii's continued fall was the primary drag on the industry.
Nintendo Japan has issued a press release informing it will soon bring out a Red Flare edition 3DS portable console to its home market. The third color, sanguine, will thus complement the already available Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue versions of the new console. Other than the color, no other changes to the console are planned, and it will also retain its 25,000 Yen price tag (about $312) when it launches on July 14, coinciding with the release of Star Fox 3D.
Nintendo’s just-released Wii U will cost more to make and sell than the current Wii console, said the company’s president Satoru Iwata recently. It is capable of playing back HD resolution content and has an advanced wireless controller with a built-in touchscreen. The Wii launched in Japan at the equivalent of $313 back in 2006, but the Wii U will more than likely cost more than that.
We managed to get some extensive hands-on time with the Nintendo Wii U at E3 to get a feel for how well it works and whether any claims that it might be an iPad rival are well-founded. Our first impression is that it's much more manageable to hold than it looks: the controller is light and easy to steer if you're using a motion-sensitive game. The layout was clearly designed to be comfortable for both buttons and touch, and we had no problem with games that needed either the analog sticks or the touchscreen.
Nintendo in the aftermath of its E3 2011 keynote showed the full Wii U console. The controller is the centerpiece, with its 6.2-inch touchscreen, dual analog stick, front camera, gyro sensors, and rumble support. Afterwards, however, we saw that the main system is slightly larger, if more polished-looking, than the original Wii and still has an optical drive as well as a "sync" button, presumably to make sure the wireless controller is properly in step its home base.
Gaming peripherals maker Power A has brought a new line of controllers to the currently ongoing E3 expo in Los Angeles. The lineup includes gamepads for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Batarang controllers for the PS3 and Xbox 360 are styled after the Batman: Arkham City games series and have lights, a rumble motor and large grips meant for comfort. The Xbox Batarang has a 9.8-foot cable while the PS3 version is wireless and gets a rechargeable battery.
Nintendo is about to hold its E3 2011 keynote, where it should show off the sequel to the Wii. Possibly codenamed Project Cafe, it could have a touchscreen display and a front camera even as as it brings back analog controls. Connections in the venue are intermittent, but visit our live coverage page for updates as they appear.
The replacement for the current Nintendo Wii may simply be called Nintendo, according to SlashGear. The new console will be revealed at the E3 expo on Tuesday, June 7 and goes by the Project Café moniker thus far. Other possible but unofficial names for the device could include Wii 2 or Wii HD, the latter to reinforce the system's ability to play back HD content, be it movies or games.
