Sale estimates of the DSi continue to climb, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stating that the handheld has – in the space of two days – sold 600,000 units across Europe and the US.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, Iwata claimed that the DSi had sold evenly across both regions; 300,000 units in the US, 300,000 in Europe, all during the handheld’s launch weekend.

Despite blurring the lines between new system and new iteration, the unit has already proven itself in Japan, selling over two million units from November 2008 to March this year.

Joining Iwata at the Correspondents' Club was Mr Miyamoto, who spoke again of plans to turn the DSL and DSi into useful tools for school teachers. The handhelds will be used to conduct customised tests for pupils, he claimed.

Miyamoto also wants the DS to provide local maps, tour guidance, virtual coupons and other such tools. "Convenience in life will be enhanced by having a DS," Miyamoto said.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/101/...-600k-two-days ...

As the home console market leader sits below the pack in Japan, Nintendo has admitted that the Wii has fallen into an “unhealthy” condition.

Edge’s weekly Japan sales reports show the Wii has sold below 20,000 for six consecutive weeks, on occasion dipping close to the 15,000 mark. And while games such as Wii Music and Animal Crossing City Folk have likely turned a profit for the Kyoto firm, neither has shown the sales stamina of Wii Fit or Mario Kart.

On Monday Nintendo stated that the Wii’s sales decline wasn’t of particular concern. Today, Iwata made a wholesale change of tune at a press conference, declaring that “the Wii is in the most unhealthy condition since it hit the Japanese market.”

While admitting that the Wii’s position is not one that Nintendo is happy with, Iwata refused to be drawn into the idea of selling the console at a lower price. “A price cut in a difficult economy cannot really excite the market and drive up sales. As of now I really don't think that a price cut is a good option for us,” he said.

It was clear that Nintendo has pinned much of its hopes on the upcoming Wii Sports Resort, as well as the Wii Motion Plus controller add-on. The original Wii Sports was a tremendous success in Japan, and June will be the month that its successor will arrive.

Europe and North America will see Sports Resort, and Wii MotionPlus, arrive in July.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/102/...troubles-japan ...

Check out the first trailer for upcoming PSP title “Rock Band Unplugged,” where your hands are the peripherals.
The game will be out on June 9 with the PSP. There will also be a “Rock Band Entertainment Pack” that comes with the game, a black PSP, a 4GB memory stick and a voucher to download the movie “School of Rock.”

Trailer Here --> http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/...and-unplugged/ ...

Last week I reported that Nintendo of America is not publishing “Fatal Frame IV” in the U.S. Gaming website IGN followed up by asking a spokesperson for the longtime “Fatal Frame” developer Tecmo if that company will be publishing the game. The response IGN got from Tecmo:
“Nintendo holds the publishing rights to ‘Fatal Frame Wii,’ which was developed by Tecmo LTD. and Grasshopper Manufacture and released in Japan on July 31, 2008. Nintendo of America has since then decided not to publish the title in North America – consequently, the title will not be released in this territory. As the owner of the IP, Tecmo feels very unfortunate that the fans of the series in North America will not have a chance to play the game, but respects the final decision made by Nintendo of America.”
Sorry “Fatal Frame,” fans. That’s not very encouraging.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/...e-of-nintendo/ ...

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata believes his company is ready to rescue the Japanese videogame market from decline, despite falling Wii sales in the country.

"The Japanese market is not very strong right now overall," Iwata told the Wall Street Journal, "so we need to do something to re-energise it."

Iwata was not responding to lacklustre Wii sales in Japan, but to the yearly decline of game sales across the region - around 18 per cent last year.

He is confident that Nintendo can not only match PlayStation 3's building momentum in Japan, but once again top the regional market.

The Wall Street Journal, however, pointed out that events like this blip in Wii sales can often be mirrored in other markets - those that Nintendo routinely dominates right now.

But the Mario-maker put on a brave face and denied weakness, claiming it was "not particularly concerned" about the Japanese sales results for March.

Nintendo used its Japanese press conference today to announce initial Western sales numbers for DSi, and to rule out a price cut for Wii, Kotaku reports.

DSi sold 600,000 units during its first two days on sale in North American and Europe, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto told the press.

They also said that there were no plans to cut the price of DS or Wii, despite the latter's falling sales in Japan.

They did discuss additional services that might come to DSi in future: museum maps, tour guides, and schoolroom applications. But, they said, Nintendo was not going to head off the threat from Apple's iPhone by moving into the mobile phone market.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-market-iwata ...

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata believes his company is ready to rescue the Japanese videogame market from decline, despite falling Wii sales in the country.

"The Japanese market is not very strong right now overall," Iwata told the Wall Street Journal, "so we need to do something to re-energise it."

Iwata was not responding to lacklustre Wii sales in Japan, but to the yearly decline of game sales across the region - around 18 per cent last year.

He is confident that Nintendo can not only match PlayStation 3's building momentum in Japan, but once again top the regional market.

The Wall Street Journal, however, pointed out that events like this blip in Wii sales can often be mirrored in other markets - those that Nintendo routinely dominates right now.

But the Mario-maker put on a brave face and denied weakness, claiming it was "not particularly concerned" about the Japanese sales results for March.

Nintendo used its Japanese press conference today to announce initial Western sales numbers for DSi, and to rule out a price cut for Wii, Kotaku reports.

DSi sold 600,000 units during its first two days on sale in North American and Europe, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto told the press.

They also said that there were no plans to cut the price of DS or Wii, despite the latter's falling sales in Japan.

They did discuss additional services that might come to DSi in future: museum maps, tour guides, and schoolroom applications. But, they said, Nintendo was not going to head off the threat from Apple's iPhone by moving into the mobile phone market.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-market-iwata ...

"Ports don't work on the Nintendo Wii" - at this point in the console's life-cycle, that phrase is considered common knowledge by most in the industry. However, rarely do a group of industry executives gather to acknowledge they misjudged the Wii - and its audience.

But that's what happened during a session at this year's MI6 marketing conference in San Francisco, with RedOctane, Electronic Arts and 2K all pitching in on the subject.

"We didn't realise the Wii was going to come on so strong," said Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane. "It took us a while to realise it was going to be a major force."

RedOctane began its Wii patronage by porting its titles from other platforms, but that method didn't generate the sales the company had expected.

Now, Guitar Hero is now one of the best-selling third-party franchises on the console and it's important for games to be designed specifically for the Wii, says Huang, noting that it's a big priority for RedOctane.

Similarly, Electronic Arts ignored the Wii when it first launched, and most of its games were ports - something which EA quickly discovered did not sell well to the Wii's audience.

"This is the first year we've thought we had a really good line up," said the company's chief operating officer John Pleasants. Such titles include EA Sports Active and Grand Slam Tennis - both new intellectual properties that will help move EA "out of its comfort zone," he added.

Part of the problem is publishers are still coming to grips with the Wii's audience, needing to adapt their message to a consumer that does not live on enthusiast gaming sites, Pleasants continued, citing Boom Blox and his belief that the game wasn't marketed correctly.

Not only did it fail to target the right audience (it needed to aim younger), he explained, but the conversation about the game didn't take place where the game's audience lived - it needed viral marketing.

Now Electronic Arts is taking the conversation to the consumer via interactions on Facebook and YouTube.

Meanwhile 2K president Christoph Hartmann said that he thought its title Carnival Games was the perfect storm, but admitted that one secret to the game's success was that 2K brought the title to market early, so it had a chance to establish the brand.

Another, he said, was that it assigned the project to a well-known casual game developer.

But perhaps most importantly the packaging indicated exactly what the game experience would be, given that many Wii consumers are impulse purchasers, he added, and that it's important to convey fun to consumers.

Part of Carnival Games' success was luck, he says, but now it can be built into a franchise.

Moving forward, Hartmann predicted it will be more difficult to recreate successes on the Wii. Success on the platform will depend on a publisher's continued ability to generate word-of-mouth buzz.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...judged-the-wii ...

A consumer has discovered pills, believed to be ecstasy tablets, inside the box of a pre-owned copy of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Richard Thornhill bought the title from a Gamestation store in Gloucestershire and found the pills inside the box - wrapped in cling film - which he delivered to a nearby police station.

He was offered an apology by the store, but expressed his fear over concerns that his 12 year-old son or 16 year-old daughter could have been harmed.

"When I opened the box up, the cling film wrap fell out. I could not believe it," he told the Telegraph. "I have two children and my son plays Xbox all the time. He could easily have opened the box and found them.

"I dread to think what the consequences would have been if he had. He is only 12. He could have died.

"It was a pre-used game, but that should not make a difference," he said. "My wife is beside herself over this because she keeps thinking about what could have happened and so do I."

Gamestation commented: "We have rigorous procedures for accepting pre-owned titles and checking them before they are put back on sale.

"We have launched an immediate investigation and we will work closely with police to find out what happened in this instance. It would be inappropriate to comment further until the police investigation is complete."

Gloucestershire police said: "We have collected the tablets and will be destroying them at a later date. It is likely that they are ecstasy pills.

"We are now conducting enquiries to see if it can be established who brought them into the store."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...wned-gtaiv-box ...

layStation Portable title Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable has held the top spot of the Japanese software sales chart, for the week ended April 5, according to Media Create.

Mario & Luigi RPG 3 for the DS climbed two places to come in second, while Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 debuted in third place with 27,000 units.

Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (PSP the Best) secured a spot at number four, compared to last week's place at seven, and PlayStation 2 title Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 took number five.

Koei's Musou Orochi Z for the PlayStation 3 climbed two places to number six, Disgaea 2 for the PSP re-entered the top ten at seven, and DS title Super Robot Taisen K dropped to eighth.

Winning Post World debuted on the PS3 in ninth place with 13,000 units, and Wii Fit closed the chart at number ten.

Full Japanese software sales chat follows:

01. Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (PSP)
02. Mario & Luigi RPG 3 (DS)
03. Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 (DS)
04. Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (PSP the Best) (PSP)
05. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 (PS2)
06. Musou Orochi Z (PS3)
07. Disgaea 2 (PSP)
08. Super Robot Taisen K (DS)
09. Winning Post World (PS3)
10. Wii Fit (Wii)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...japanese-chart ...