Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America CMO, spoke to an audience of investors at a recent UBS conference. The Reginator discussed Nintendo’s strategy of marketing their next-gen console to more casual gamers. Here were some key points covered in his presentation:

Iwata was quoted in the presentation as saying: “If we cannot expand the market, all we can do is wait for the industry to slowly die.”
Nintendogs has sold nearly one million copies in the US alone, more than half of the buyers were said to be female.
The presentation featured the following comment by publisher, EA in regards to the Revolution: ”It’s a brilliant controller, and as usual we can credit Nintendo with being innovative and neat and fresh and fun. They continue to pioneer in our industry…they make some of the best games in the industry…and we look forward to partnering with them.”

It appears that Nintendo’s Blue Ocean strategy is working in the portable market. Do you think the low-tech, game innovating DS is the precedent for Nintendo’s upcoming console strategy? ...

Success have the Wifi Adapter from Nintendo for use on Amimal Crossing and More importantly Mario Kart DS.

If you love Mario Kart DS and you rate yourself then the adapter will let you play from anyone around the world, its an essential DS Purchase. Heres the info:



This USB connector is for those who don't have a wireless Internet connection, the adapter can plug in to a computer's USB port to create a Wi-Fi connection with the DS. Users can then use this to play compatible Nintendo DS games online. ...

Success have the game Robots in stock:



Save robot-kind from being turned into scrap metal! Play as Rodney Copperbottom and join his outrageous mechanical pals, the Rusties, as they try to fail Ratchet's evil plan! All the humorous characters and non-stop action of Robots The Movie come to life in this immersive game. ...

A new article from SuccessHK

Animal Crossing on the GameCube went from quirky anomaly to unstoppable epidemic in record time. It's a game about mundane activities and cutesy characters, but all in its blast radius were powerless to resist it. For the DS, not enough was done to consider Wild World a true sequel, but what has been included makes living out your virtual life even more addictive.

For those poor souls out of the loop, the events of Animal Crossing play out as such: You're a human moving into a new town, populated by animals. Day turns to night, seasons change, and residents move in and out. Meanwhile, you pay off your house, fill the museum, and choose from countless other ways to kill time.

Fortunately, there are too many ways to amuse yourself in Animal Crossing, per se. Fishing, digging holes, gossiping with neighbors, participating in special occasions, and decorating your domicile still dominate daily life. A few new tasks are added here and there -- making constellations for the observatory, watering plants, designing the town flag -- but only enough to make a little splash in the teeming pool of activity. Still, they're enough to add a few more minutes to your ritualistic daily playing.

When we say you'll be playing daily, we mean it. After all, you wouldn't want to miss out on a must-have furniture item for sale, the chance to find buried treasures, or being able to get a few Bells closer to paying off your mortgage. Unlike Nintendogs or other simulations, playing Animal Crossing never feels like a chore; it's always fun, and it's by your rules rather than those of the artificial intelligence.

Where things do get a bit different in Animal Crossing: Wild World is in the control. Literally everything you can do in Animal Crossing is accomplishable with the touch screen and stylus. There's a slight learning curve, but odds are you'll be sold on it and abandon the d-pad and buttons for the vast majority of your playtime; and it's a blessing for things like writing letters.

Little things do make a difference in a game you're bound to pour dozens if not hundreds of hours into. Traversing your town no longer uses the old-school Zelda-like separate screen design; instead, it's all one big screen where the landscape curves like a log. When selling items, you can easily pawn multiple items at a time. Without controller rumblings, finding bugs and detecting when to reel in your line are more audio-centric.



One cannot ignore the multiplayer aspects of Animal Crossing. Here, Multiplayer over Nintendo Wi-Fi is very appealing. Visit someone else's town to sample the local fruit, chat with humans, do a little sightseeing, and meet interesting animals -- some of which may even decide to move to your neck of the woods.

Nintendo wisely put a few locks on Wi-Fi multiplayer, so any old griefer can't just invade and chop down all your trees. You must get a player's character name, town name, and friend code in order to visit them. On top of that, they must have their gate open to visitors, and you can't come in if they're somewhere else. This necessitates more real-world communication, but it's really better that Nintendo err on the side of caution. You'll notice some lag when more than two humans are occupying the same town, but it's forgivable.

Animal Crossing on DS is as addictive as ever. NES games, boating to the island -- it makes up for with wireless multiplayer, touch screen control, and the little additions. Portability is also a great asset too, of course, and your power bill will thank you for it. Anyone who loved Animal Crossing on GameCube need not hesitate before picking this up. For those who missed it before, let's just say, "Welcome home." This is still a totally unique, expertly balanced gaming experience that will consume you with its clever cuteness and quirky customs. ...

SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. can exclusively announce OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, the latest instalment in the iconic OutRun series, will appear on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSPTM portable entertainment system for the very first time! OutRun 2006: Coast to Coast is set for release in March 2006 giving a new legion of gamers the opportunity to experience the thrills of this hugely popular franchise.

The enchanting draw of the open road has never been so appealing with the choice of one of 12 fully licensed Ferrari models, featuring the all-new F430 and the dazzling Superamerica. Gamers will feel the throaty whine and that distinctive Ferrari exhaust tone as they power their way across 30 glorious stages from the best of the OutRun2 original, and the new OutRun2 SP arcade experience. Race from coast to glorious coast with a fresh new mission structure, a license mode and online play with up to 6 players for a thrilling head-to-head journey.

"Amazing Ferraris, incredible courses, beautiful girls - and all available on Sony's PSP and PlayStation 2," commented Matt Woodley, Creative Director of SEGA. "The only thing you'll be asking for is another go!"

With platform specific missions, the player will also be able to unlock PSP exclusive content by connecting with the PS2 version, and vice versa. Stack up the OutRun miles from the sun-drenched sands of Palm Beach to the charms of Cape Way to unlock new tracks, cars and much more! With a girlfriend by your side and open country before you, which route will you take?

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is being developed by UK developers, Sumo Digital Ltd, the team responsible for the critically acclaimed OutRun 2. OutRun 2006: Coast-2-Coast is scheduled for release in March 2006 for PS2/PSP/PC. For more information on these and other SEGA titles, please visit www.sega-europe.com ...

The president of Warner Home Video has criticised Sony for the tactics it has employed in the battle of the next-gen DVD formats - and for dragging home entertainment companies into the console war.

In a speech delivered at the Perspectives in European Video conference, Lieberfarb said: "If I put Blu-Ray in PlayStation and I don't license it to Microsoft for Xbox and I get all the studios to only publish in PlayStation, I'll beat Microsoft in the next-generation games market."

"We've been sucked into PlayStation versus Xbox."

Lieberfarb went on to compare Sony's strategies to those used by Samurai swordsmen, stating: "If you ever read The Art of War, you will see all of Sony's moves, including taking all its enemies in the same tent and then leaving them empty-handed. These are things that they have done historically."

"They did the same thing to Matsushita and Betamax, they did the same thing to Matsushita on compact disc, they did the same thing to Matsushita on the digital video camcorder," Lieberfarb continued.

"They compete like Samurai. It isn't the way we compete in the West."

Lieberfarb said that although it may look like Blu-Ray is set to win the battle of the next-gen formats, the war is not over yet.

"Hollywood blew it. They got duped. They could have created the format that optimized their creative interests. It looks like we lost, because there are six studios supporting Blu-Ray and only three supporting HD-DVD. But you know, there's always surprises," Lieberfarb stated.

He concluded by urging the industry to join Microsoft and Toshiba in supporting the HD-DVD format, telling the audience: "Convergence is here, everything is digital, the Internet is going to deliver video, you are going to want to pass information from one device to another and HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray is really the first battle in the issue of who controls the home." ...

from GI.Biz

Virgin Megastores has predicted that handhelds will outsell current generation consoles this Christmas - and that includes Tiger Telematics' beleagured Gizmondo.

The retailer says that the Xbox 360 is likely to be the best-selling console this festive season, followed by the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and Game Boy Micro - with the Gizmondo in fifth place.

Neither the current generation Xbox or PlayStation 2 were mentioned in Virgin's forecast, however. Which may seem odd, since Sony recently announced that it has now shipped 100 million PS2s worldwide, shifting nearly 50,000 units just last week.

The Gizmondo, on the other hand, has not fared so well - only 5000 units were sold in the three months following launch.

But perhaps sales have picked up since. A Virgin spokesperson told our sister site, Eurogamer, that the predictions were made "based on sales at the time" - which would suggest Gizmondo has been outselling Xbox and PS2 in Virgin Megastores branches recently. ...

Speaking at the 33rd annual UBS Global Media conference, Nintendo of America's chief marketing officer spoke candidly to an audience of analysts and investors about its approach to expanding the games market.

Unsurprisingly, innovation and a desire to reach new, non-traditional audiences was a focus for Reggie Fils-Aime, as he discussed marketing games, and the forthcoming next-generation Revolution console to casual gamers, families and a female audience, in addition to the 18-24 year old male.

The speech included several quotes praising the company's ambitions and continued innovation in reference to the Revolution console, including publishing powerhouse Electronic Arts, quoted as saying: "It's a brilliant controller, and as usual we can credit Nintendo with being innovative and neat and fresh and fun. They continue to pioneer in our industry… They make some of the best games in the industry… And we look forward to partnering with them."

After stressing the continued success of the Nintendo DS which, according to Nintendo, is still outselling Sony's PSP, Fils-Aime pointed to the Nintendogs phenomenon, which has generated immense excitement amongst gamers young and old worldwide. The title has sold just under a million units in the US alone, and has attracted twice as many female players than usual. According to Nintendo, the DS has achieved total sales of around 6 million to date, compared to 4.26 million for the PSP.

To bring home the point once and for all, Nintendo president was quoted in the presentation as saying: "If we cannot expand the market, all we can do is wait for the industry to slowly die." ...

Nintendo has announced that more than 200,000 unique visitors have made use of its new Wi-Fi Connection service since last month's launch, logging nearly 3 million connections around the globe.

Wi-Fi Connection allows Nintendo DS owners to play titles such as Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk DS online, via either Wi-Fi hotspot, wireless router or a special USB dongle.

The service launched alongside Mario Kart DS in the US on November 14th, with a European release following on November 25th. Since then, according to Nintendo, more than 45 per cent of DS owners have taken the game online.

So far, Nintendo has yet to confirm whether any third parties will publish games which make use of the Wi-Fi Connection service. The first party title, Animal Crossing: Wild World, is out today in the US, while Metroid Prime Hunters will hit the shops on March 20th. ...