via Games Industry


Nintendo will once again look upon the Spanish and German software sales charts with satisfaction as its platforms accounted for the top four places in both charts, and 15 of the combined top ten lists as well.

Few of the titles will come as any surprise, with Spain dominated by Wii Play, Mario & Sonic at the Olympics and the Brain Training titles, with Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament 3 marking the only non-Nintendo platform entries in the top ten.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Big Brain Academy and Triiviial - all for the Wii - completed the top ten for the week ending February 24 according to data compiled by Media-Control GfK International.

Meanwhile in Germany, Mario & Sonic took top spot for the DS, with the Brain Training titles in second and third, and Prof Kageyama's Maths Training in fourth.

Call of Duty 4 was fifth, with Wii Play and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings in sixth and seventh. World of Warcraft, along with the Burning Crusade expansion, and Super Mario Galaxy finished the list.


The full charts are as follows:

Spain

1. Wii Play (Wii)
2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS)
3. More Brain Training (DS)
4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Wii)
5. Call of Duty 4 (PS3)
6. Brain Training (DS)
7. Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3)
8. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Wii)
9. Big Brain Academy (Wii)
10. Triiviial (Wii)

Germany

1. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS)
2. More Brain Training (DS)
3. Brain Training (DS)
4. Prof Kageyama's Maths Training (DS)
5. Call of Duty 4 (PC)
6. Wii Play (Wii)
7. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)
8. World of Warcraft (PC)
9. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
10. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) ...

via Games Industry


Sega has announced that its Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games title has sold five million copies worldwide in just over three months.

The game brought together the popular videogame icons for the first time.


The game was developed by Sega, with creative input and approvals from Nintendo, for the Wii and DS systems. Sega published the title across Europe and North America; Nintendo published the title in Japan.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was one of the Top Ten best-selling games in the US in December according to NPD Group data. The game has topped the charts in the UK for several weeks, and has been at or near the top of the charts in other European countries such as Spain and Germany.

The title was licensed through a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia -the exclusive Interactive Entertainment Software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). ...

via Computer and Video Games


Activision has listened to the cries of the community by releasing a Guitar Hero III Double Pack for Wii, which comes with two guitars in the box.

Initial packs only came with a single guitar, forcing those wanting to jam with a partner by their side to go on a hunt for rare-as-gold-dust standalone guitars (we've never seen one in shops).

But the new Double Pack will pack two of the controls in with a single copy of the game (in a box the size of your house), reports Gameplayer. Although the packs being shipped to US stores as we speak, Activision is yet to confirm a price, although it's expected to cost around $200.

A UK release has also gone unannounced, and this release only seems to apply to Wii - not 360 or PS3. But we'll be on to Activision about all of this later this morning. Don't even worry. ...

via Joystiq


We've known for a while that Mario Kart Wii would support twelve-player online races, but given Nintendo's less-than-stellar online record, we were a little worried about how smooth the online experience would be. Well, we're a little less worried now that the Nintendo UK web site has revealed some details of how online racing on the Wii will work. Among the details discussed:

• Spectator mode - When you join a room in progress, you can watch the race unfold while waiting for a new one to start.
• Global friend view - Lets you view your friends' locations and online status.
• Room structure - Host chooses race type, but player votes determine course selection.

The site also revealed a dedicated Mario Kart Wii channel, which can be run independently of the disc-version of the game. The channel lets players view global rankings, share and download ghost data, and download daily missions (similar to those found in Mario Kart DS). Can we suggest a mission dedicated to arranging dropped banana peels into jaunty patterns? That would be awesome. ...

via Computer and Video Games


The Australian Office of Film & Literature Classification has recently rated Sega's Master System platformer Wonder Boy, leading to speculation that the game is on its way to the Australian virtual console.

Originally released in 1986, Wonder Boy first graced the arcades before being ported over to the Game Gear and Master System. The versions are basically identical, except for slightly reduced graphics in the ports.

Last week, Fist of the North Star became the first title from the Master System to be release on the Virtual Console, available at 600 Wii Points.

We've dropped Nintendo Europe a line enquiring into any Master System Virtual Console releases in Europe, but it has yet to respond as of the time of writing.

Virtual Console releases come out every Friday, so cross your fingers. ...

via Games Industry


Capcom has revealed that Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles has shipped over one million units worldwide.

The title is the second game from Capcom to reach the milestone, following Resident Evil 4 for the Wii reaching the mark last October.

The Umbrella Chronicles was the first Resident Evil game created specifically for the Wii. The entire Resident Evil series has now sold over 34.5 million units worldwide, as of February 29, 2008. ...

via Kotaku


The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has been poked and prodded by the folks at Akayuki.com, revealing a game that's been rumored since the middle of last year, Disgaea for the Nintendo DS. According to the translator the game is titled Disgaea DS: Prince...and that's all we've got.

Simply an announcement that the game exists. No screens, no interesting tidbits, and no telling if the prince in question is Laharl or the aging pop sensation. I'm sure that most Disgaea fans are with me when I say that just knowing it's coming is enough...for now. ...

via Kotaku


The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has been poked and prodded by the folks at Akayuki.com, revealing a game that's been rumored since the middle of last year, Disgaea for the Nintendo DS. According to the translator the game is titled Disgaea DS: Prince...and that's all we've got.

Simply an announcement that the game exists. No screens, no interesting tidbits, and no telling if the prince in question is Laharl or the aging pop sensation. I'm sure that most Disgaea fans are with me when I say that just knowing it's coming is enough...for now. ...

via Games Industry


UK retailers are looking forward to continued growth in 2008, with GTA IV leading the way.

"We expect the market to continue to grow based on increase availability of hardware, publishers spreading their release schedule across the year and product innovation," Patrick Kelly, Zavvi's head of games, told GamesIndustry.biz.

"The expectation is that publishers will continue to push the capabilities of next generation hardware and we’ll see some outstanding games during 2008," remarked Play.com's head games buyer, Gian Luzio.

Marc Dean, the home entertainment buyer for Morrisons, agreed.

"We expect developers and publishers to continue broadening the market with more family and mass market products," he said.

Although the retailers think that 2008 will see family/social gaming take a larger slice of the pie - with titles such as Wii Fit and Rock Band - they all agreed that the biggest release of the year will be Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.

Despite some analysts predicting that the PlayStation is poised to have a bright year, the retailers didn't see an end to the "console wars" any time soon.

"The release schedule for 2008 is looking strong for all three formats and pre-orders for cross platform titles such as GTA IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed suggest a very level playing field," Luzio said.

"It's unlikely that the console battle will be won or lost in the space of a year."

"I really hope that PS3 comes through for us - it has not peaked as we expected," admitted tgrav.com's Matt Holland.

"However, with more titles launching on the format and some fabulous peripherals I am hopeful that with Sony's support we can deliver some great numbers for them."

"I'm sure Sony are delighted with recent announcements regarding Blu-ray versus HD DVD, but that is only one aspect of the console battle," said Tim Ellis, head of games for HMV.

"Consumers are lucky to have three strong home console propositions with their own USPs and I'm sure we'll still be debating what's best in a year's time."

The complete interview with representatives from various UK retailers can be read here. ...