Nintendo has gone from worst to first in consecutive console releases, with Sony doing exactly the opposite this generation. A closer look at collective data released by the NPD Group, the official tracker of U.S. video game sales, reveals the stark reversal of roles.

Based on the first 26 months of availability, the Wii is on its way to becoming the best-selling console of all time, a title currently held by the PlayStation 2, which has sold more than 50 million units in America and an estimated 140 million worldwide. In just over two years, the Wii outsold the PS2’s comparable initial sales by 10 percent, according to the NPD. That is, in the first 26 months of the Wii, Nintendo sold 17.5 million Wiis while Sony sold 15.9 million PS2s in the U.S. in the first 26 months of sales. If the sales pattern holds, we expect Nintendo to sell 55 million Wiis in America by 2014 and 154 million units worldwide.

By comparison, the PS3 sold 6.79 million units in the U.S. during the same initial 26-month period, compared to 6.75 million GameCubes, which finished a distant third last generation and forced Nintendo to rethink how it sold video games. Microsoft, for its part, sold 9.2 million Xbox 360s in the U.S. in its first 26 months, trailing Nintendo in a faraway second by a margin of 2 to 1 — the same position the company held last generation. But Microsoft has improved its fortunes: its latest machine sells 18 percent faster than its predecessor, according to NPD figures, and even turned a profit, something the original Xbox never did.

Worldwide numbers will likely follow the same pattern — as it did last generation — but reliable numbers are hard to come by.

While good news for Nintendo, all is not lost for Sony. In the previous generation, the GameCube was profitable for Nintendo, even if it failed to meet expectations. And it was home to dozens of well-received games. What’s more, the PS 3’s graphics are so good that the machine is expected to have a longer shelf life than the GameCube. Lastly, it is quite possible that Sony will have a profitable generation with the PS 3, since the game audience as a whole is much bigger now than in past generations. That means this larger audience can sustain three profitable console companies.

But the chances of the PS3 making any kind of comeback are becoming increasingly remote, if not impossible, because — let’s face it — numbers don’t lie.

http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/19/wi...amecube-sales/ ...

Nintendo's granted the first of its New Play Control series games for the Wii firm release dates, with New Play Control! Pikmin launching on February 6, while New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis will be available from March 6.

Offering revamped versions of GameCube titles, both games make use of the Wiimote to reinvigorate some of Nintendo's recent classics. There's more than just a modernised control scheme in offer as well - New Play Control! Pikmin features a revised save system that replaces the restrictive model of the original, while New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis adds more camera options and a new split-screen mode. Both form the first batch of seven titles receiving the refit treatment, with both Metroid Prime and ChibiRobo also slated to be released under the New Play Control banner.

The details came from Nintendo's UK office, and we've reached out to see if the release dates are applicable in the US and across Europe. We'll report back when we hear anything new.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/946/946263p1.html ...

UPDATE]


gpSPhone v3.6.0 had a bug that caused the controls to not respond to multitouch events only when in landscape mode. I have fixed this bug in v3.6.5 which is now available.

My email inbox is quite full of complaints about gpSPhone not working. So many of these emails came in (some very nasty) that I didn’t realize there was a true bug to be fixed in v3.6.0. So I must stress to those installing or upgrading to the latest gpSPhone that: This emulator REQUIRES a BIOS file “gba_bios.bin” and it’s new location is /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/GBA/gba_bios.bin

[/UPDATE]



I decided to add a few finishing touches to gpSPhone before a larger update gets worked on. I released gpSPhone v3.6.0 publicly on Cydia and it is available in the Games section in the ZodTTD Public Source. Updates since gpSPhone v3.5.0 include much improved controller handling (no more odd bugs!), save states made without sound enabled can now be loaded with sound at a later time, and some small touches here and there to the user interface such as fitting long filenames in the list of games. The next release will most likely include an options menu as well. I’m just taking things one step at a time, bare with me.

http://www.zodttd.com/blog/2009/01/2...ras-with-v360/

Download over at Cydia ...

Apparently, it’s already complete, save for a few more passes for polish and bug hunting.

Rockstar’s claims that the team that created it is twice the size that worked on the PSP’s Liberty and Vice City Stories games and that it contains more lines of code than San Andreas are good indicators of the care that’s gone into squeezing GTA on to Nintendo’s twin-screened handheld.

And playing a few missions and seeing a few sights proves that Chinatown Wars has been designed from the ground up for its peculiar capabilities. We’ve already seen its bustling Liberty City, rendered in smooth, clean 3D and unchanged in plan from that of GTAIV, other than a missing Alderney.

We’ve also experienced the driving, with vehicles sporting varying handling and featuring subtle and very useful auto-straightening steering. Now it’s a chance to sample the details that are so important to any GTA.

Central to life on the streets is player character Huang Lee’s PDA, which is displayed on the DS touchscreen. Taking the place of GTAIV’s mobile phone, it shows the minimap, which is identical to GTAIV’s, even down to the way the sat-nav works. It’s also where you access such staples as emails, the main map and now Ammu-nation. The weapons chain is no longer found scattered around the city – it’s now an online store that delivers goods direct to your safehouse.

The safehouse performs the functions that it did previous in GTAs, but will now also display trophies earned through playing the game and features a large whiteboard covered with photos of contacts and magnetic letters. Apart from rearranging the letters to spell rude words via the touchscreen, you’ll also be tapping on contact photos to access a list of the missions they’ve doled out, with the option to replay them and see online leaderboards.

http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/gta-chinatown-wars ...

Blazepro have today released the Wireless Keypad for the PS3, this wireless keypad is similar in design to the official Sony Wireless Keypad but Sonys version comes at an expensive $62, a few weeks ago the 3in1 Wireless keyboard controller remote was released and that boasted a Keyboard/Remote/Joypad at a much cheaper $28.52, but todays release from Blazepro comes at a credit crunching USD 10.90, heres the full details:




Personally i prefer the 3in1 Wireless keyboard controller remote over this but for the price you cant lose really. ...

Blazepro have today released the Wireless Keypad for the PS3, this wireless keypad is similar in design to the official Sony Wireless Keypad but Sonys version comes at an expensive $62, a few weeks ago the 3in1 Wireless keyboard controller remote was released and that boasted a Keyboard/Remote/Joypad at a much cheaper $28.52, but todays release from Blazepro comes at a credit crunching USD 10.90, heres the full details:




Personally i prefer the 3in1 Wireless keyboard controller remote over this but for the price you cant lose really. ...

Looks like Sony may or may not have patched the new exploit already ??


And so on the games continue :P ...

MaGiXieN has released a new version of the GripShift Binary Loader for the Game Gripshift that allows you to play homebrew on the PSP3000, heres the details:


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