WIRE REPORTS

Earthtimes (press release) New Nintendo DSi XL Makes Portable Games More Social with Extra-Large Screens Earthtimes (press release) About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware ... and more » Blizzard Offshoot Adjusts to Video Game World's New Normal Orange County Business Journal Last year, US sales of games for consoles such as Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 were down 8% to $20 billion, according to market ... Manufacturers' Chip Spending To Rise Notably In 2010 -ISuppli Wall Street Journal Foxconn is expected to increase spending 19% to $22.6 billion, boosted by its manufacturing of HP products, Nintendo Co.'s (NTDOY, 7974.OK) Wii, Sony Corp. ... and more » Headlines: Weird press releases, Part IV: Libertarians do not count, dammit. News Trends (blog) s Xbox 360 beat Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 last month to become the best-selling video-game console in the US for the first time in ... and more » Samurai Warriors 3 exclusive to Wii Punch Jump (blog) Nintendo Co. this week said it will partner with Tecmo Koei to publish the title Samurai Warriors 3 exclusively to the Wii hardware this fall. ... and more » Research and Markets: Games Consoles in the United Kingdom: An Essential ... TMCnet ... Companies CHAPTER 7 Market Forecasts CHAPTER 8 Macroeconomic Indicators CHAPTER 9 Appendix Companies Mentioned: Microsoft Corporation Nintendo Co., Ltd. and more » Guitar Hero 5 PS3, Xbox 360, Wii $28.99 in one-day sale Punch Jump (blog) s Xbox 360, and Nintendo Co.'s Wii to under $29 in a one-day sale. In the Deal of the Day promotion, the Guitar Hero 5 PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 SKU hold ... and more » Samurai Warriors 3 IGN The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for ... and more » Final: Deca Sports Nintendo DS yields solid sports Punch Jump (blog) Hudson Entertainment Inc.'s Deca Sports DS for Nintendo Co.'s Nintendo DS is a solid round of sports mini-games perfect for mobile handheld owners. ... Samurai Warriors 3 Set To Go Into Battle Exclusively On Wii NewDesignWorld (press release) About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware ... and more »

DAILY REPORTS

Mar 11 Sony unveils motion-sensing game control kit Sony has a new message for Nintendo Wii gamers: Come join us. The maker of the PlayStation 3 unveiled on Thursday its highly anticipated motion-based controller system, as it takes aim at Nintendo's dominance in gaming. With PlayStation Move, Sony hopes to lure gamers who have outgrown Nintendo, which launched the Wii in 2006 and became the first to introduce motion-detecting controllers. (Japan Times) Mar 2 Japanese Stocks Rise as Chip Companies Advance; Sekisui Gains Japanese stocks rose for a third day as global chip sales climbed and U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected. Sumco Corp. led gains by chip-related stocks. Sony Corp., an electronics maker that gets almost 25 percent of sales in the U.S., advanced 1.3 percent. Sekisui House Ltd., Japan's second- biggest homebuilder, climbed 3.3 percent after the company forecast a return to profit. Nintendo Co. jumped 3.1 percent after Kyodo News said the company sold more than 10 million Wii consoles in Japan. (BusinessWeek) Feb 13 Japan Is Still Big Portable Country In Japan, the PSP and Nintendo DS platforms are still outselling the home console competition. And it's the bigger versions of each portable platform, the standard PSP-3000 and Nintendo DSi LL, that Japan's buying more of. Sony's PlayStation Portable once again tops the charts, thanks to strong sales of God Eater and the three-way split of the Nintendo DS platform. Combined, the DS would have sold some 52,000-plus units, but that's not how sales tracker Media Create does it. (Kotaku) Feb 10 Queensland Nintendo pirate cops $1.5m fine The Australian Federal Court has ordered Queensland man James Burt to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in damages after he illegally copied and distributed a part of the Super Mario Bros. videogame for the Nintendo Wii console a week before its official release. The Japanese gaming company announced the settlement today and said the damages would compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the piracy. (The Australian) Feb 3 2009 videogame sales dip eight percent in Britain, Japan, US Videogame sales in the three leading markets -- Britain, Japan and the United States -- declined eight percent last year to 379.3 million units, according to a report released on Wednesday. Activision's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," was the top-selling game of the year, meanwhile, despite only being released in November, according to the Top Global Markets report. Nintendo games grabbed the next four places on the 2009 best-selling list, according to the report, which is compiled using figures from the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Ltd and Enterbrain Inc. (AFP) Jan 4 Nintendo Dominates in Japan Final Fantasy XIII topped the Japanese game charts -- for exactly one week. But New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Nintendo's lineup of long selling hits quickly showed who's boss as the year came to a close. Media Create has provided Japanese sales stats for the last full week of the year, covering December 21 through December 27. Nintendo usually rules the year-end period in Japan, and this trend continued this year as New Super Mario Bros. Wii dominated with over 500,000 units sold. Since its release in early December, the multiplayer Mario has topped the 2.4 million mark. (IGN) Dec 17 Tokyo man marries video game character Nene Anegasaki is a witty, doe-eyed beauty. She looks perfectly perky in sexy skirts, doesn't pick fights and is always at one Tokyo man's beck and call -- that is why the 27-year-old decided to marry her. The only complication: She is a videogame character in the Nintendo DS game called "Love Plus." Still, that didn't stop Sal 9000 -- the only name the groom would give -- from marrying Nene in a ceremony witnessed live by thousands on the Web. (CNN) Dec 11 Japanese Software: Mario Wii Tops Charts As Change Comes To Top 10 To nobody's surprise, New Super Mario Bros. Wii topped the Japanese sales charts for the week that ended December 6, selling 953,000 amidst a chart featuring numerous sales debuts. That figure is an all-time first-week Wii sales record for the nation, beating Nintendo's own previous high point of 816,000 for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. (gamasutra.com) Dec 2 Man marries video game girlfriend Oh, Japan. Land of techno toilets, seven-patty burgers, and where a man can marry his video game girlfriend. Mazel tov to the groom and virtual bride! Last week, a Japanese man, who goes by the name SAL9000, tied the knot with Nene Anegasaki, a character from the digital dating simulator Love Plus. The two had flirted for some time through SAL's Nintendo DS. Clearly crazy for each other, the pair got hitched in a public ceremony in Tokyo on Sunday. (csmonitor.com) Nov 2 Where To Go Next: Nintendo Earlier in the week, Nintendo Co. Ltd. (NCL) announced their first profit drop in four years. The company's first half profits for the current fiscal year declined by 59% as a result of sluggish Wii sales in both Japan and North America. NCL president, the often frank and amicable Satoru Iwata stated in an earnings press conference: "We didn't release strong software continually [for the Wii] and let the good mood cool down." (siliconera.com) Oct 27 Nintendo to launch new DSi handheld in Japan Nintendo Co plans to launch a new version of its DSi hand-held videogame player with a larger screen in Japan as early as this year to kick-start sluggish demand, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday. Nintendo, which cut the price of its popular Wii videogame console last month, has been looking to bolster demand for the DSi, whose monthly sales have slowed to a third of their peak levels following its launch about a year ago. (Reuters) Oct 20 PlayStation 3 outsells Wii for first time in U.S. Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo Co.'s Wii console for the first time following a $100 price cut, helping the U.S. video game market end six consecutive months of declining revenue. Hardware, software and accessory sales in the world's largest game market rose 1 percent to $1.28 billion last month, researcher NPD Group Inc. said Monday. Sales of Sony's PS3 more than doubled to 491,800, while those of the Wii fell 33 percent to 462,800. (Japan Times) Oct 9 Wii Fit Plus Takes Japan By Storm The release of Wii Fit Plus has been met with open arms in Japan. The newest Balance Board-powered fitness game from the house of smiles sold more than 340,000 copies in its first week on sale. It was a good week for Nintendo platforms, with Level 5’s soccer RPG sequel Inazuma Eleven 2 scoring the second place spot, an impressive 280,000-plus copies moved week one. (Kotaku) Oct 2 Sony's PlayStation 3 Outsells Nintendo in Japan for First Time Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 video-game console outsold Nintendo Co.'s Wii for the first time on a monthly basis in Japan in September, after a price cut, according to market researcher Enterbrain Inc. From Aug. 31 to Sept. 27, 309,939 PS3s were sold, a monthly record for the console in Japan since it became available in November 2006, the Tokyo-based research firm said in a faxed statement today. Nintendo's DS Lite and DSi handheld players sold a combined 297,060 units. (Bloomberg) Sep 23 Nintendo fans flock to Tokyo gaming parties Over the past two months, thousands have made the pilgrimage to Yodobashi Camera's sidewalk. Some were lured by word of mouth. The young woman, who clutched a pink Nintendo DS wrapped in a furry case the shape of a teddy bear's head, said friends had told her about it. Many others read about it online on blogs or news sites, or came across it by chance. (NewsWeek) Sep 14 'Recession proof' gaming industry now struggling Despite its reputation for being recession-proof, the domestic video game industry is having a tough time and first-half sales are looking weak, industry experts said Monday. This month, a version of "Pokemon" for the Nintendo DS and the debut of new PlayStation 3 are scheduled to take place, but it will still be difficult to achieve last year's sales figures. (Japan Times) Sep 1 Wii Internet Channel now free, with updated Flash Nintendo just dropped the price of the Wii Opera browser in Japan and PAL markets to nothing, its original "price" during the system's launch, when the browser was in beta. VOOKS photographed the Wii message that announced the price drop, which also revealed that the version of Flash used in the Wii browser has been updated from Flash 7 to Flash Lite 3.1-- which should make the Internet Channel much more useful. (joystiq.com) Aug 23 Wii ranks No. 2 in Japan sales Nintendo Co.'s Wii ranked No. 2 in Japan sales due to continued momentum from Capcom's Monster Hunter 3. Media Create Co. on Fri. reported that the Wii sold 47,732 units between Aug. 10 and Aug. 16. to rank second in overall sales. (punchjump.com) Aug 5 Nintendo's DSi now sends photos to Facebook Nintendo, which months ago announced that this feature was coming, and which had already launched it Europe, Japan and Australia last month, has finally updated its popular portable gaming system. Now DSi owners in North America can share their DSi photos on their Facebook pages, too. (modbee.com) Aug 3 Man gets 2-1/2 years over Nintendo downloads The Kyoto District Court sentenced a company worker of Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, to 2-1/2 years in prison and fined him 2 million yen on Monday for violating the Copyright Law by enabling people to download copies of Nintendo's game console software for profit last year. Presiding Judge Junichi Tochigi said Yoshiaki Asagiri, 38, had infringed on the rights of the copyright owner, which had spent a massive amount of money to produce the product, causing the firm serious financial damage. (Yomiuri) Jul 31 Wii sales drop hurts Nintendo profit Nintendo Co. reported Thursday a 61 percent drop in profit as sales of its flagship Wii consoles fell for the first time since the product debuted in 2006. (Japan Times) Jul 30 Where is my Japanese toilet? Since the dawn of time, Japan has outdone the rest of the world in what some might consider the realm of unnecessary technological advancement (take for example Nintendo and Tamagotchi). Most of these products end up hitting the American marketplace, sometimes changing our lives forever, while others simply cause riots at toy stores during the holiday shopping rush. (thefastertimes.com) Jul 23 Sony Japan unveils NV-U3DV navigation device Sony Japan has recently announced its NV-U3DV navigation device that offers a host of delectable features to the range, including 4GB of internal storage, a delicious 6.1" WQVGA LCD display at 480 x 272 resolution, bigger buttons, a refreshed user interface for the better (including gesture control for those who miss their Nintendo Wii when outside of the home), alongside the ability to play back movies, songs and videos, supporting MPEG-4/AVC+H.264 with restrictions, MP3/AAC up to 320kbps and JPEG formats. (Canberra Times) Jul 22 Wii Sports Resort passes 600,000 unit sales in Japan Wii Sports Resort, the next chapter in the Wii Sports phenomenon which got millions of people up off the sofa and competing in their living rooms, launches across Europe this Friday, 24th July. Nintendo have recently announced a series of tour dates to accompany the launch, at which audiences can try the game for themselves. Wii Sports Resort introduces a whole new era of motion controls with twelve resort themed sports enhanced by the Wii MotionPlus; a small accessory which plugs into the base of your existing Wii Remote, to bring exacting precision to games that are specifically designed for it. (electronictheatre.co.uk) Jul 12 Game makers target Nintendo DS The latest edition of the 'Dragon Quest' role-playing game series released Saturday was specifically designed for the Nintendo DS portable game device, a move that reflects game creators' increasing awareness of the importance of the portable gaming market. (Yomiuri) [ More... ]