via kotaku

Nintendo might not be planning any DS price cuts over the next year, but Amazon is running them all day! Today's Gold Box deals on Amazon are all Nintendo DS games at low, low prices. The Deal of the Day is Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $16.99, though I don't see that one lasting too much longer. Also not lasting much longer is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare DS, which has two hours left at $18.99. After that? A mystery! The hints for the next three games are as follows:

1. Dazzle your unsuspecting friends with your magical prowess.
2. Protect the Earth, destroy the invaders.
3. Your destiny awaits. Experience the power.
To demonstrate my complete lack of guessing skills, I will go ahead and say the first one is Magical Starsign, the second one is something about a duck, and the third one is a slotted soup spoon. Told you I suck at guessing.

Buy at Amazon ...

In my last column I suggested that, if Microsoft is to make a Wii-like controller, it should still continue to focus on the "traditional" types of games that have so far made the 360 a success, because Nintendo had already basically wrapped up the "casual" crowd. I also mentioned that the only Wii games that are apparently selling are Nintendo games and some casual games. And with that in mind, the New York Times published an article on Monday detailing that, while the Wii hardware is selling well, even seemingly popular Wii software still has some trouble continuing to sell to the Wii audience.

A somewhat surprising tidbit from the article is that, while Nintendo broke records selling more than 1.4 million copies in its first week with Super Smash Bros., its sales dropped a precipitous 90% after just 4 weeks. At that point, the sales of the game were apparently bad enough that retailers began to bundle the game with the Wii system in order to sell through their inventory. What this data suggests is that, while Nintendo may be expanding the audience that it can sell the Wii to with casual games like Wii Sports, it's failing to expand that same audience into other franchises that may represent more traditional genres. The Wii isn't just selling Nintendo-developed games and some casual games to a big audience; the audience seems almost strictly divided into casual, low-attach-rate gamers, happy with Wii Sports and picking up the occasional Wii Play and whatnot, and Nintendo loyalists who have probably played Nintendo games since the NES days. The Nintendo loyalists snapped up Super Smash Bros. instantly, and once all of those gamers had it, sales dried up soon after, seemingly failing to really expand through word of mouth into the casual crowd.

At the same time, well-reviewed 3rd-party games, like Zack & Wiki and No More Heroes, typically perform poorly on the system. This makes perfect sense considering the schema of Wii owners that we're assuming, as these games don't fit into either the casual gamer or Nintendo loyalist profile. The exception to these rules are well-established franchises, like Resident Evil or Guitar Hero, as even Nintendo loyalists (and some casual gamers) know about these and probably have played them on other systems, whether theirs or a friend's.

Is this starting to sound familiar to anyone else?

Here's a hint:

Best-selling Gamecube Software (Source: Wikipedia)

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee (7.09 million)
2. Super Mario Sunshine (5.5 million)
3. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (4.67 million)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (3.07 million)
5. Luigi's Mansion (2.53 million)
6. Animal Crossing (2.32 million)
7. Mario Party 4 (2 million)
8. Metroid Prime (2 million)
9. Mario Party 7 (1.86 million)
10. Pokemon Colosseum (1.86 million approximately)

Best-selling Wii Software (Source: Wikipedia)

1. Wii Sports (17.85 million)
2. Wii Play (9.23 million)
3. Super Mario Galaxy (5.19 million)
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (4.463 million)
5. Mario Party 8 (4.35 million)
6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (4.3 million)
7. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (3.4 million)
8. Super Paper Mario (2.16 million)
9. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (2 million)
10. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2 million)

For as much as Nintendo was touting its "Blue Ocean" strategy for the Wii, it sure doesn't look like much has changed. Of the Gamecube top sellers, all ten were published by Nintendo. Of the top-selling Wii-games, eight are Nintendo published, one is both arguably a Nintendo game and a "franchise" game (Mario & Sonic, since it includes the two company mascots), and the other is a well-established franchise (Guitar Hero III). Granted, some of the Nintendo games are focused on this new "casual" crowd as well, but what this suggests is simply an augmentation of its Gamecube strategy and not necessarily a completely new direction as "Blue Ocean" would suggest.

"For as much as Nintendo was touting its "Blue Ocean" strategy for the Wii, it sure doesn't look like much has changed."
This isn't necessarily such a bad thing for Nintendo. After all, even through all the doom and gloom of the Gamecube, the company was still profitable. Like the Wii, the Gamecube always sold at a profit (or very close to it). With arguably the best development teams in the industry, Nintendo has cultivated an extremely loyal fanbase who anxiously await every one of their new releases. Since these games are Nintendo published as well, they reap the full reward of their sales as well. And, of course, the Wii hardware is selling at a much better overall rate than the Gamecube, meaning that Nintendo's installed base is bigger and allows for higher software sales. But, like the Gamecube, there are some troubling aspects of the strategy. Namely, it seems to alienate 3rd-party developers, and it makes the company dependent almost entirely on self-developed "hits" a few times a year.

What Nintendo must have ...

In the outside world, we all know the iPod can take a one-man dance party from 0-60 in under 3 songs. But ever wonder what it's like on the inside? The Porta Party adopts its shape from the similarly named Porta Potty, but has the skin of an iPod. Insidethe Porta Party is an iPod dock and disco ball that will also take the one man party from 0-60 in under 3 songs — if you provide the tunes. And when you're finished inhabiting the iPod, it's kind enough NOT to spit you out on the New Jersey Turnpike.

http://gizmodo.com/383868/porta-part...-no-stinkiness ...

Conspiracy theorists and Mac rumor-mongerers, start your engines. According to an internal O2 memo we've received, stock of both the 8GB iPod touch and iPhone have run their courses, and have been EOL'd (at least in the UK). The brief letter sent out yesterday evening states that, "Due to the highly successful sales of the Apple 8GB I-Phone [sic], supply chain have today run out of stock & will not be replenishing stock of this product as it has now gone to end of life." Whether this is due to the recent price cuts, the rumored upcoming 2nd generation iPhone, or just a sign that Apple is moving towards higher capacity devices is anyone's guess. All we know is that soon the 8GB iPhone -- at least in the UK -- will become as rare and precious as the Pygmy Three-toed Sloth.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/25/8...ast-in-the-uk/ ...

We just know you haven't forgotten that the PS3 Laptop auction ends today, but just in case all of your friends have, here's a friendly reminder from us to you. Ben Heck's masterful machine is up for grabs to the highest bidder, and yes, 100% of the proceeds will go to National Cancer Coalition. Head over here for all the rules and regulations, and tap the read link to place your bid. Good luck!

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/25/r...on-ends-today/ ...

Attention out of shape Europeans: you can now whip your body into a pristine temple of hotness thanks to the Wii Fit. Nintendo's next pile of money has launched all over the UK and EU, so if you've been hankering for a good workout -- but you've been too lazy to actually work out -- now is your chance to shine. The exercise board and accompanying software will cost you £69.99 (around $142) in Britain, or €89.99 for the rest of the Union. If you're waiting for it Stateside, it drops May 19th, and will run you a thrifty $89.99.

Buy At Amazon UK ...

Remember when you discovered that you could check out your Xbox 360's heatsink without voiding the warranty? Yeah, fun times. Now, we're getting a closer look at the third-generation PlayStation 3 heatsink -- and this time, you won't be required to perform any strange feats of inverted photography in order to take a peek. Furukawa Electric recently showed off the next-gen sink at Techno-Frontier 2008 in Japan, and aside from ditching the copper pipes used in the first two iterations, this one has also split in two in order to cool the Cell and RSX processors separately. Additionally, the latest version sucks down up to 70 fewer watts than the first-gen model, yet manages to still keep your precious console from spontaneously melting. Three cheers for progress, we say.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/25/f...-ps3-heatsink/ ...

Source: Press Release ...

NoWay studios is in early development of a new FPS for the Nintendo DS. As the title states, C.O.R.E. is the title. The new DS title will support 4 player simultaneous online play.

In the story, you are an elite marine in a squad of other elite marines like yourself. After a meteor crash, your squad must work it's way to the center of a secret facility to find the secret of the meteor crash.

For any updates, screens, or any other additional information visit:
http://www.corethegame.com/ ...