Did Nintendo Steal your stars? They stole 10,000 of mine and they don't care

I bought Nintendo products and saved thousands of stars yet each time I tried to spend them all the good stuff was sold out... Then Nintendo deleted 10,000 (that's a lot of Nintendo buying) stars from my account. When I ask them why they said they had expired!

Nintendo wins patent battle Court - Overturns Verdict of East Texas Jury

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that none of Nintendo's video game controllers infringe on a patent asserted by Anascape. Nintendo had been accused by Anascape of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 6,906,700. The case was tried before a jury in the Eastern District of Texas in May 2008. The jury found that neither the motion-sensing Wii Remote controller, nor the Nunchuk controller, infringes on the patent.

2000 - 2010 the top twelve video games of the decade

Tech Radar have published their 12 top games of the decade...

01. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (2007) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
02. Fallout 3 (2008) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
03. BioShock (2007) PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
04. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
05. Ico (2001) PlayStation 2
06. GTA 3 (2001) Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC
07. Guitar Hero (2005) PlayStation 2
08. Gears of War (2006) Xbox 360 and PC
09. God of War (2005) PlayStation 2
10. Wii Sports (2006) Nintendo Wii
11. Timesplitters 2 (2002) PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox
12. Call of Duty (2003) PC version

Natsume Launches Harvest Moon Magical Melody video game For Nintendo Wii

Natsume announce that it has released Harvest Moon: Magical Melody for the Nintendo Wii. The re-release of the Player's Choice Nintendo GameCube game will be a GameStop exclusive with an MSRP of $29.99.

In Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, the Harvest Goddess has been turned to stone and the Harvest Sprites need the help of the player to bring her back. Players need to collect musical notes in order to restore the Harvest Goddess to her former self. There are 100 Musical Notes to collect in total; players will need to complete all manner of farming feats if they want to collect them all.

"We are thrilled that so many fans asked us to bring Harvest Moon: Magical Melody to the Nintendo Wii," said Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume. "The GameCube version is very hard to find these days, so this will give everyone a second chance to enjoy this fan-favorite game."

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and is now available.

3-in-1 Virtual Retro Adaptor!

Backwards compatibility has reached a new level of cool with the launch of the 3-in-1 Virtual Retro Adaptor that allows gamers to connect NES, SNES, and N64 controllers directly to the Nintendo Wii video game console.

By accessing the GameCube port that is built in to the Wii system, the 3-in-1 Virtual Retro Adaptor allows gamers to enjoy older, “retro” games using the original controllers for NES, SNES, and N64.

The Retro Adaptor, developed by Komodo and exclusively distributed by Innex, will be available for demonstration at E3, Innex Booth # 2547, South Hall.

Product Highlights:

• Compatible with Nintendo Wii Virtual Console
• Connects Through GameCube Port
• Compatible with 1st and 3rd Party Controllers
• Compatible with NES, SNES, and N64 Controllers
• Analog Function Available for N64 Controllers
• Suggested Retail Price: $19.99
• Launch Date: Mid June

“Whether you’re a young kid or middle aged gaming fanatic, the Retro Adapter is perfect for controlling all the great Nintendo titles from the last 25 years,” stated Titi Ngoy, President of Innex. “The Retro Adapter allows you to step back in time and play all the classics the way they were meant to be played using the original controllers. The old school is now the new cool.”

Make your Nintendo GameCube Wall.E mod

A gamecube mod inspired by the new Pixar film, Wall-E.

read more | digg story

The Best Nintendo N64 Games That Still Matter Today

I thought it would be a good idea to develop a list of games that are still relevant in today’s market because of their unique gamezplay that has not been improved upon on other systems.Our basic rule of thumb for this list is to determine which games are still worth playing today, even if you have a Gamecube and/or a Nintendo Wii.

read more | digg story

X-Arcade: ultimate Nintendo Wii and Gamecube Joystick

Bring The Arcade Experience Into Your Home Today.
The X-Arcade brings a lifelike arcade experience to your fighting, arcade and sports games on your Nintendo Wii & Gamecube for breakthrough control of your games.

The X-Arcade uses the highest quality commercial grade arcade parts available and will provide you with a truly unfair advantage in your gaming battles. Nintendo Wii game support is available on Virtual Console games via Gamecube controller connection. Current game support on Wii is 30 titles.

More info here

Nintendo Is Unstoppable

Remember those commercials that said, “Sega does what Nintendon’t”? Well, it turned out to be true. Sega ended up almost shutting down, left the hardware market entirely and is now Nintendo’s slave, as evidenced by their former mascot Sonic the Hedgehog’s appearance in “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games” and the forthcoming “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.”

A similar thing happened in the last few years, with Sony and Microsoft fanboys claiming that Nintendo had become too kiddy with their GameCube, while “real gamers” play “Grand Theft Auto” and “Halo” and all those ludicrous things.

Most recently, these crowds of what I like to call “newbie gamers,” who have no concept of what makes quality game design, have been trying to pigeonhole the Nintendo Wii as “the casual gamers’ machine.”

Well, that’s crap. Look at the crazy sales figures—Nintendo just missed outselling Microsoft’s Xbox 360 during this past October only because of a supply shortage, and then, by a mere 20,000 units. The Wii has outsold the 360 by double or more almost every other month of the year. Besides that, there is an incredible lineup of titles already out and on the way, including a little game called “Super Mario Galaxy” that came out last week. The game sold 250,000 copies its first day in Japan, and it’s being called “Nintendo’s greatest platformer ever” by IGN.com. Having played it myself, I can tell you it has some pretty astounding physics and graphics for only being on a system that’s supposedly “two GameCubes taped together.”

That aside, the Wii has incredible potential in the future to attract more “hardcore games” from third-party developers, even more so than the 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3, and I attribute this to casual games.

How so? Things like the Wii Remote and upcoming “balance board” accessory have been derided from the get-go by people like Mark Rein of Epic Games (developers of “Gears of War” and “Unreal Tournament III”) as “casual-game devices.”

That may be true as far as games like “Wii Sports” and “Wii Play,” but in reality, these accessories have created the biggest and best revolution in hardcore gaming as well.

“Metroid Prime 3” for the Wii showcases unheard-of precision using the combination of the Wii Remote and nunchuk accessory to recreate mouse and keyboard controls—a control scheme “Halo 3” players can only dream of (or wait for the game’s inevitable release on Windows Vista, thus negating the purchase of a $400 Xbox 360).

The upcoming “balance board” for Wii Fit, a plank that measures shifts in weight, translating them into on-screen action, could easily be expanded for genres like extreme sports, adding real-time motion control to the SSX snowboarding games or Tony Hawk series.

The forthcoming “Wii Zapper,” while packaged with a simple point-and-shoot game called “Link’s Crossbow Training,” has already been adapted for Sega’s upcoming “Ghost Squad,” a first-person arcade-style shooting game in the vein of “Time Crisis.”

People like to say, “Well, Nintendo’s first-party games are the only ones that take advantage of the hardware. Case in point: Metroid Prime.” This, too, is a fallacy. If casual games bring in more of the “mainstream” and, thus, bigger revenues and a wider audience, doesn’t this bode well for third-party support, in that companies will have incentive to devote more money, bigger franchises and higher-quality development teams to third-party games?

The simple answer is yes. Furthermore, it has already happened. “Medal of Honor: Heroes 2” was just released for the Wii and boasts 32-player online capability, which – for a “casual games machine” – is pretty impressive. Besides that, critics have hailed its control scheme as a step above Nintendo’s own “Metroid Prime 3.”

Finally, we can’t forget about another little game known as “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.” From all the information released so far, it looks to be the most hardcore Nintendo has ever been. The game boasts multiple online modes, a level designer, 20-plus fighters with more to come, including Sonic the Hedgehog and “Metal Gear Solid’s” Solid Snake. It will be the biggest gaming extravaganza Nintendo has ever produced and, perhaps, in the history of the industry.

The future is clear: Nintendo will win this Christmas in the short-term and this generation’s console war in the long term with a combination of low development-costs, casual and hardcore software, innovative accessories and the gangbuster sales of the Wii and Nintendo DS. Save your money from that overpriced piece of junk, the Playstation 3 (which happens to be selling worse than the GameCube was at this time five years ago), and invest in some Nintendo stock. Don’t waste your time with Halo. Get a Wii.

Meet the Renegade Gaming Chair

The Gaming Collection are proud to announce the UK launch of US best-seller the from the UGC (Ultimate Game Chair) range, the Renegade Game Chair.

Previous chairs from the UGC range have been featured in such movies as 'The forty year old virgin', 'Stay Alive', 'Grandmas Boy' and on 'CSI Vegas'. The Ultimate Games Chair comes in two latest versions (the Renegade and the UGC) both of which bring a whole new dimension to the gaming experience and to the phrase 'flying by the seat of your pants'.

Available now the Renegade allows gaming fanatics to connect their own wired controller to the chair, enabling them to retain their favourite and familiar gamepad whilst integrating the sensational features of the chair.

For those who want the maximum effect the chair shakes rumbles and rocks in time with the gaming action, headset speakers provide 3D sound whist ground-effect lighting adds that extra dimension to explosive action.

With reclining action for comfortable gaming, this great gaming chair also converts into a relaxing massage-recliner complete with kick plate.

Compatible with all major gaming consoles, the chairs sport a range of fabulous features designed to improve comfort and seriously enhance gameplay experience, including:

Ground Effects Lighting for action packed realism

3D Stereo Speakers for a immersive sound experience

Headphone jacks to keep things quiet when you play into the night

Audio out jacks for maximising sound through home theatres

Smooth Reclining Action to provide the most comfortable playing position

Multiple Massage Settings in sync with gameplay for unwinding after a hard days gaming

A fantastic UGC patented 12 motor vibration system that besides giving the most authentic shakes and rumbles, out-shaking even the washing machine cycle.

Connections for external devices (such as steering wheels and shooters)

Pull-out compartment for easy storage of games and accessories

Beverage and remote control holder - you need never get up again! And don't worry if you spill anything in excitement - the chairs are made from stain resistant fabrics.

Compatibility:
The Renegade is compatible with all games stations including; Xbox, Xbox Live, PS2, PSOnline, Sony PSX, Gamecube and PC/Mac USB 2.0. Xbox 360, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and MP3 Players.
For full specifications please see the following link:
www.tru-pr.co.uk/press/client.php?c=ugcspecs

Availability:
Now available and with delivery guaranteed well in time for Christmas, the Renegade can be ordered from the Gaming Collection Website situated off this link:
www.thegamingcollection.com

Pricing:
The Renegade will be priced at around £ 225.

The Ultimate Game Chair Inc:
The Ultimate Game Chair Company is devoted to the "ultimate gaming experience." True immersion requires maximum external stimulation with minimized distraction. The Ultimate Game Chairs will continually deliver all the benefits from video gaming technology in luxury and comfort.

At Ultimate Game Chair, our goal is to amplify the video-gaming experience. The company achieves this by escalating the existing effects of video games, and delivering them to gamers' senses in style, while delivering a comfortable gaming environment. Supporting Xbox, Playstation/PS2, and Game Cube platforms, the Ultimate Game Chair will revolutionize the world of video-gaming.

Game on: Console makers in three-way shoot-out

As the Chistmas season approaches Nintendo has been winning market share from rivals Sony and Microsoft by targeting consumers outside the hard-core market.

The balance of power in the Japanese electronics industry has tipped further towards Nintendo and away from former bellwether Sony after the phenomenal success of the Wii gaming console helped the Kyoto-based company almost triple its profits in the first half of the year.

Both Nintendo and Sony reported results yesterday and heading into the crucial Christmas trading period, the contrast between the fortunes of two companies could hardly be more stark. Nintendo, which overtook Sony in terms of market valuation in May, has continued its upward march after increasing its forecast for the number of Wii and DS devices it will sell this year. The games company behind classic characters such as Super Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda, is now the second most valuable company in Japan, trailing only the automotive giant Toyota. Meanwhile, shares in Sony, which has lost almost 30 per cent of its market value since May, slipped further after the company admitted that it could miss its sales target for its flagship PlayStation 3 console.

The reversal of fortunes within the games console sector has been stunning and highly unexpected given Nintendo's Wii was tipped to struggle to compete with its competitors. Sony – which had achieved unparalleled success with the first two incarnations of its PlayStation mach-ine – and Microsoft were widely expected to dominate the market for next-generation consoles with state-of-the-art machines. With Nintendo's GameCube spectacularly flopping only four years ago, many observers wondered whether it had a future in the console market and whether it should instead focus its energy on handheld devices, due to the success of its GameBoy series, and on developing more hit games around Mario and his adventures.

The failure of the GameCube – which went head to head with Sony's PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox – triggered headlines proclaiming that Mario – the animated plumber that symbolised Nintendo's dominance of the computer games market in the 1980s – had finally run out of tricks and the company's valuation collapsed as analysts fretted that Micro-soft's entry into the video games sector may have been terminal for the Japanese company. Nintendo's demise was attributed to a serious strategic error as analysts derided its attempts to target older gamers and a more mainstream audience at a time when sales of violent action games such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto were all the rage.

Yet Nintendo stuck to its guns and despite concerns that the Wii would be another also-ran compared with the top-end Play-Station 3 and Xbox 360, the console has sold like wildfire and proved the doubters wrong. It has outsold the PS3 three-to-one in the Japanese market and five-to-one in the US and has taken the PS2's mantle as the fastest selling console in history in the UK after shifting 1 million machines in just eight months.

More from The Independent

By Nic Fildes

Scariest video games? By Phil Villarreal

F.E.A.R.
Movies may tell better stories and boast more artistic credibility than video games, but games easily beat movies in frights. Because interactive entertainment can make you feel as though you are the character onscreen, games are a lot more effective at making you jump out of your seat or sending you to bed with shivers.
In honor of Halloween, here are my picks for the most frightening games out there.

1. Resident Evil 4

(GameCube, PlayStation 2, Wii) — The first time I dared to play this on the GameCube I had to stop for a week because I was too frazzled from the game's mission to take on hordes of crazed villagers as you seek to bring the U.S. president's daughter to safety. Some of your enemies, which include grotesque beasts that will haunt your dreams, come at you with chain saws and deadlier long-distance weapons. Ammunition is so scarce you have to improvise ways besides blazing guns to win your battles. You'll do a whole lot of running and looking over your shoulder to see if you're still being followed.
Eventually, I gathered the courage to come back and play the game as it was rereleased for the PS2, then again for the Wii. It's good enough to draw you back again and again. Some hold "Resident Evil 4," with its blend of excitement, tension and dread, as the best of all video games. It's certainly the best of the horror genre.

2. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

(Nintendo Entertainment System) — Something about two-dimensional backgrounds and simplistic, old-school graphics ups the jitter factor past most realistically rendered environments. You slash your way through a seemingly never- ending assault of mummies, bats, skeletons and just about everything else you wish wouldn't chase after you. The end battle against Dracula is an overwhelming scourge of mental exhaustion, with the count shifting into other forms just when you think you have him beat.

3. Silent Hill 2

(PlayStation 2, Xbox) — Playing as a depressed widower lured into a desolate village by a letter apparently written by his dead wife, you descend into horrific madness. Shadows and fog make you feel as though you're lost in oblivion, tremblingly aware of all the noises made by evil things you sometimes can't see clearly. Particularly freaky are enemies dangling from the ceiling who choke you with their feet.

4. Ninja Gaiden

(Xbox, PlayStation 3) — This game isn't really intended to be scary, although its off-the-charts difficulty level has caused many a gamer to retreat into a corner, biting his nails. There's just something inherently shiver-inducing about battling ninjas who know how to fight a whole lot better than you. Especially ninjas on horses. The game's checkpoints are spread far apart, making it genuinely unnerving to be approached by a gang of enemies when you're low on life and hoping to save your progress without having to redo an hour's worth of work. Note: The game was rereleased twice, and it's arguably best on the PS3.

5. F.E.A.R.

(Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) — The acronym stands for First Encounter Assault Recon. You play as a supersoldier with the ability to slow down time in order to dodge bullets that specialize in vanquishing supernatural threats. To mess with your mind, the visuals play with ominous shadows. Enemies jump out of the corner of the screen, often accompanied by jolting blasts of noise. Your character also slips into hallucinations starring a creepy little girl.

By Phil Villarreal

Do you agree? Use the comment option to have your say...

Engine Software to becomed Wii developers

Engine Software, developer based in the Netherlands, today announces that Nintendo of America has approved the company as official Licensed Wii Developer. The Wii Developer license is the seventh consecutive Nintendo license that Engine Software has acquired, after being approved earlier for Nintendo DS, Game Cube, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Color, Gameboy, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Nintendo’s Wii console, released first in November of last year, has had quite an impact on the games industry, and consumer demographic alike, and has been praised for its innovative technology and accessibility. Initial careful 3rd party support policies have been changed more recently due to the console’s apparant success on the market. With the Licensed Developer approval Engine Software hopes to expand its field of work with the Wii platform in the near future.

Ruud van de Moosdyk, VP of Development at Engine Software: “We are very happy to have acquired the Wii Licensed Developer status, as this will open up new creative opportunities for our team, as well as new business opportunities for our company. In the last few months many of our clients have already inquired whether or not we support Wii development, so demand for developers is high. “

Engine Software has no development projects currently scheduled for the Nintendo Wii platform, but will be investigating the possibilities for Wii Retail, and Wii Ware projects, while recreating its key technology on the new platform, including the licensable Music & Sound Replayer already available for Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS.

About Engine Software
Engine Software B.V., based in Doetinchem, The Netherlands, is a highly experienced game development studio. Founded in 1995, the company pride themsleves on being the longest running game developer in the Netherlands. Engine Software has been developing games for over twelve years, and is dedicated to creating high quality games, now spanning over sixty commercially published titles. In the last few years the company has specialised in developing games for handheld systems such as GameBoy Advance, digiBlast, Nintendo DS, and Playstation Portable (PSP).

Wii Takes Video Game Industry by Storm

Getty Images
With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, what's the best video game system—long wait lines notwithstanding—on the market? Currently, three major video game consoles are vying to rule gamers' sleepless nights: Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3, and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii.

The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are the most thrilling and technologically advanced. They have state-of-the-art computer chips onboard with spectacular graphics, and hundreds of third-party games are available filled with imagination, intriguing story lines, and action-packed game play.

On the other hand, Nintendo's Wii system doesn't have the high-end specs. However, its offerings to consumers are something the gaming industry has never before seen, and has caught on with those outside the usual gaming crowd—housewives, busy professionals, and even senior citizens.

For traditional gamers, the quality of graphical aesthetics tends to be the main draw. According to Microsoft, its newest Halo 3 video game for Xbox 360 —a "first-person-shooter" with immersive 3-D graphics—sold more than 5 million copies within the first week of launch. One GameStop store in New York City was open until 1 am on a weeknight selling the Halo 3.

Due to the popularity of Halo, Xbox has outsold the Wii in the month of September,

Following 2001's GameCube, the Wii is the 5th video game system developed by Nintendo. It's differentiated through its unique wireless controller where players use three dimensional movements and physical gestures to determine game control. This selling point was heavily marketed by Nintendo to a broader demographic—even senior citizens have taken on a great liking to the Wii.

Game developers have introduced titles that utilize the Wii's virtual motion control flawlessly. For example, a bowling game actually requires players to lower their knees and swing their arm as if the Wii's wireless controller were a bowling ball. A tennis game requires the player to execute precise swings and backswings using its controller during a tennis match. Playing the Nintendo Wii goes even beyond playing video games, as there are even titles on personal fitness, home budgeting, cooking, and brain training.

If you're thinking about getting a Wii for Christmas, you better start looking right away. Its level of graphics is noticeably lower than competitors Xbox or Playstation—then again, at $299, so is its price. But for the Wii, addictive game play itself is enough to get a broader range of consumers hooked.

Wii's popularity has also helped Nintendo's bottom line and its stock. Nintendo has tripled in market capitalization since the Wii's launch last year. It's now Japan's 3rd most valuable listed company. Many analysts have a positive outlook on Nintendo in its ability to expand market share and keep up innovation.

Since its introduction, Nintendo has sold over 12 million Wii consoles in less than a year. In short, Nintendo's well executed marketing campaign and its innovative game play has just about redefined video gaming. Only one question remains: is the Wii a mere "fad" or a "golden standard" for the future of the video game industry?

Source: Epoch Times

Super Smash Bros. Goes Super Sonic

SEGA's gaming legend Sonic The Hedgehog to feature in Super Smash Bros Brawl for Wii

Nintendo of Europe and SEGA Europe Ltd today revealed that Sonic, SEGA’s legendary blue hedgehog, will be making his debut in the eagerly anticipated beat ‘em up, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii. This brawling, battling, action packed video game features a varied roster of characters, from Mario to Link to Zero Suite Samus and now players can choose the iconic hedgehog to go into battle with.

Sonic made his first appearance in 1991, appearing in Sonic The Hedgehog for the SEGA MEGADRIVE, and quickly became a well-known household name, securing a dedicated following across the globe. Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series has been a firm favourite since the first title launched in 1999 on the Nintendo 64, and since the launch of Super Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo GameCube, it has since gone on to have millions of fans worldwide.

Laurent Fischer, European Managing Director for Marketing and PR commented:
“I am very pleased that Nintendo is extending its relationship with SEGA in this way and that our gaming icons can come together in such an action packed title. I am sure many fans will share my enthusiasm to see Sonic appear Super Smash Bros. Brawl to battle it out with a whole host of Nintendo favourites!”

Mike Hayes, President and COO of SEGA Europe commented:

”Its amazing that after all these years we get to see these two much loved characters compete against each other in another fantastic title. Bringing Mario and Sonic together again underlines the continuing partnerships between Nintendo and SEGA, and produces another industry first for our two companies.”

In the forthcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl, players will for the first time be able to complete in online multiplayer battles for up to four players. The game will also contain an all-new adventure mode called Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary, where players can select their favourite character before embarking on an adventure to conquer giant bosses from the Nintendo Universe. There will also be a variety of stages where players can commence battles, including Delfino Plaza, Yoshi’s Island and Sky World.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl will launch across Europe on Wii early 2008 at an estimated retail price of €60.

Microsoft Bet Big on Halo 3

In its first 24 hours on store shelves, Microsoft's epic video game, Halo 3, earned a record-breaking $170 million in sales. Halo 3's sales broke records set not just by other video games but by theatrical releases like Spider-Man 3 and the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Of course, the sales were no accident. Microsoft tied a huge marketing campaign to the game, and if the sales had come in less than $100 million, it would have been very tough for the company to swallow. Why is Halo 3 so important to Microsoft? That requires some explaining.

It started in November 2001, when Microsoft entered the crowded video game marketplace with its Xbox video game console. With stiff competition from Sony's (SNE ) Playstation 2 and Nintendo's Gamecube, Microsoft's Xbox was able to withstand the opposition thanks to a video game called Halo: Combat Evolved. Developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox, Halo: Combat Evolved was the story of a futuristic war between humans and a team of aliens called the Covenant that is determined to rid the galaxy of the human race.

With its intriguing story and amazing state-of-the-art graphics and game-play controls, Halo: Combat Evolved not only sold more than a million copies in its first six months, it also contributed to sales of a large percentage of Xbox consoles as nearly half of the consoles were packaged with the video game. In essence, the game became a sales driver for the Xbox consoles.

For the 2004 sequel, Halo 2, Bungie Studios upped the ante, adding more peripherals including online play through it's Xbox Live service, which cost $49.99 a year. Halo 2 sold 2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours, earning as much as $125 million - including millions in sales of Xbox Live subscriptions.

More from Fox News

PSP tops Japan hardware charts

Slim and Lite sales drive new surge in take-up; others remain static

While the release of the PSP Slim and Lite in Japan has reignited hardware sales of the console, numbers for other platforms dropped further, according to the latest retail data from Media Create.

Sales of the PSP, which in the figures isn't divided into individual SKU, hit nearly 280,000 in the week ending September 23 - that's up from 95,000 the previous week, and far more than normal chart-topper, Nintendo DS, on just over 70,000.

In fact most of the other platforms dipped once again as, with the PSP aside, hardware numbers continued to tail off.

The PlayStation 3 dropped by 18 per cent on the previous week, while sales for the PlayStation 2 dipped by 13 per cent, the DS by 12 per cent, and the Wii 5 per cent.

The only console to buck the trend, other than the PSP, was the Xbox 360, which saw sales jump by over a third - although that only represented a increase of about 400 additional consoles, to a total of 1687.

The hardware sales list in full:

1. PlayStation Portable: 277,794

2. Nintendo DS: 70,523

3. Nintendo Wii: 24,992

4. PlayStation 2: 11,373

5. PlayStation 3: 10,732

6. Xbox 360: 1687

7. Game Boy Advance: 382

8. Nintendo GameCube: 15

Miyamoto to speak at Game Developers Conference

First keynote since 1999 from Nintendo's senior MD

Shigeru Miyamoto, the acclaimed game developer behind titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda, will keynote the Game Developers Conference 2007.

In his first keynote since 1999, the developer will reveal the creative process behind his work on highly-regarded software as well as his thoughts on new Nintendo hardware, in a session entitled, 'A Creative Vision'.



"The Game Developers Conference is a place for developers to learn from one another, and I think it is safe to say that every member of the community has at one time or another fantasised about having Shigeru Miyamoto as a mentor and teacher," said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the GDC.

"By guiding us through his creative vision with a keynote at this year's GDC, Miyamoto is allowing all attendees this incomparable privilege."

The Game Developers Conference tales place March 5 - 9 in San Francisco. Discount for early registration for the event closes January 31.

Miyamoto's keynote will take place at the GDC on Thursday March 8, in the Moscone Centre.

EA to launch Sims Stories

Electronic Arts Inc announced a new line of video games called "The Sims Stories" aimed at the laptop-toting youth market as it strives to deliver a bigger proportion of titles based on more lucrative company-owned material.

Players of "The Sims" control virtual people called Sims as they sleep, eat, cook, socialise, buy things and work.

"The Sims" is the No. 1 franchise at EA, the world's biggest video game publisher, which has sold more than 70 million games globally since 2000. It also has a broader audience than most games. Half of its players are female -- unlike most commercial video game audiences, who are mostly male.

"The Sims Life Stories" is the first in the new series and is due in the United States and Europe in the first week of February.


"The Sims Pet Stories" and "The Sims Castaway Stories" are scheduled to ship in mid-2007 and late 2008, respectively.

EA aims to use the new titles to expand the "Sims" audience to more casual players and is targeting multitasking MySpace teens and consumers in their early 20s with the new games.

"The Sims Life Stories" has a comic-romantic plot and offers a new story mode, which runs through 12 chapters of a set story line, while also supporting the franchise's traditional open style of play.

All of "The Sims Life Stories" games are designed to run on laptops and do not require upgraded graphics cards, as many PC games do. The games can also be played for hours or minutes in a window while other programs, such as instant messaging or e-mail, run simultaneously.

The games have a "Teen" rating and will retail for $40.

American Technology Research analyst Paul-Jon McNealy said the franchise-expanding move comes at a time when "The Sims" was due for a refresh and fits in with EA's goal of creating more games with internally owned properties -- which have better margins than games based on licensed material such as films.

It also comes amid changes in the laptop market.

"The laptop market has opened up to a younger demographic in the last seven years," McNealy said.

Video games fulfilling needs

Researchers say they've found another reason why video games are so hard to give up: They may help fulfil basic psychological needs.

In a study published in the January issue of Motivation and Emotion, investigators from the University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. looked at what motivated 1,000 gamers to keep playing video games.

"We think there's a deeper theory than the fun of playing," lead investigator Richard Ryan, a motivational psychologist at Rochester, said in a prepared statement.

The gamers were divided into four groups, each asked to play different games. They answered questionnaires both before and after playing the games. The researchers used the questionnaires to look at the underlying motives and satisfactions that can spark players' interests and sustain them during play.



More than just mindless fun
The researchers found that the games can provide opportunities for achievement, freedom and even a connection to other players. Those benefits trumped a shallow sense of fun, which doesn't keep gamers as interested. Players reported feeling the best when the games produced positive experiences and challenges that connected to what they knew in the real world.

"It's our contention that the psychological 'pull' of games is largely due to their capacity to engender feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness," said Ryan. He believes that video games not only motivate further play but "also can be experienced as enhancing psychological wellness, at least short-term."

For the participants who played massively multiplayer online, or MMO, games - which are capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of players simultaneously - the need for relatedness emerged "as an important satisfaction that promotes a sense of presence, game enjoyment and an intention for future play," the researchers found.

Ryan pointed out that while not all video games are able to satisfy basic psychological needs, "those that do may be the best at keeping players coming back." – (HealthDayNews)