The NPD Group has sent out the U.S. hardware and software sales number for February, and once again the Wii was found to be a hot item for the month by selling in excess of 335,000 units despite it being near impossible to find. The Wii was topped only by the Nintendo DS, which sold 485,000 units in February.
In total, Nintendo systems represented 54 percent of all hardware sales in February, more than those of all other manufacturers combined. The Xbox 360 sold 228,000 units while the PlayStation 3 dropped to just 127,000 units. Perhaps most interesting in this is how the PlayStation 2 continues to be such a strong contender, breathing down the Wii’s neck by selling through 295,000 units.
Other figures include 176,000 PSP units sold in the month, 136,000 Game Boy Advance handhelds, and just 24,000 units of the GameCube.
The top 10 games sold in February are as follows:
1. Crackdown (Xbox 360) – Microsoft – 427K
2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – Nintendo – 371K
3. Diddy Kong Racing (DS) – Nintendo – 262K
4. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) – Nintendo – 130K
5. Guitar Hero 2 w/ guitar (PS2) – Activision – 130K
6. Gears of War (Xbox 360) – Microsoft – 119K
7. Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360) – Take-Two – 113K
8. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Xbox 360) – Capcom – 111K
9. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii) – Nintendo – 109K
10. NBA Street Homecourt (Xbox 360) – Electronic Arts – 102K
With E3 now taking a more covert road this summer, the door has been left open for another, more manic convention to swoop in and fill the void. This emptiness was filled earlier this year when officials from IDG World Expo announced the Entertainment for All Expo (E for All), scheduled to take place in from October 18-21 at the former E3 venue the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The public event, up until now, has remained much of a mystery, though today Gamasutra was [url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13160]passed along some interesting information[/url], including a heads up that both Nintendo and Sony will be on hand – giving the event a great deal more creditability in the process. Both companies will have large booths at the show, though considerably less so than what media were used to wading through at E3. The entire E for All event has been relegated to the convention center’s South Hall, with the center’s Kentia Hall devoted to those companies wanting to sell their wares.
Other booths, according to available information, are currently “reserved by companies such as IDG Entertainment itself, Future Publishing, G4 and TechTV, DirecTV, and the World Series of Video Games Tournament.”
In addition, according to a statement by IDG on the [url=http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=106348]GamePro website[/url], tickets are expected to go on sale June 1, with pre-sale tickets going on sale a month earlier. Pricing for these tickets remains an unknown at this time. The event will also be home to yet another iteration of the long running Video Games Live concert series as well.
Sounds like a good time, though the idea of a public event alongside memories of how manic E3 had become with the public having the “sneak in” leaves me with more than a few reservations.
[img]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/news/2007/03/e_for_all.jpg[/img]
Admit it, deep inside all of us there is an 11 year old girl yearning to break free. Because of this, I believe that we all like to play with paper dolls. That is what makes this post so significant, as the enigmatic Sarah from the Cartoon Doll Emporium has posted up [url=http://www.cartoondollemporium.com/shigerudoll.html]a paper doll of Nintendo darling Shigeru Miyamoto[/url] for the dressing up. How do you like your Shiggy? In a suit? Dressed as Link or Donkey Kong? The options are many. There is even a game Developers Choice Award to paste in his two dimensional hand. Fun!
[img]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/news/2007/03/shiggy_paper.jpg[/img]
The Adventure Company and Telltale Games have partnered to bring the first season of Sam & Max to retail in August. The game, which is currently avaiable from Telltale and Turner’s online game service GameTap, is an episodic adventure currently on its fourth installment.
Over the last two decades, Sam & Max have appeared in a number of formats, including independent comics created by Steve Purcell, an interactive PC adventure game, a Saturday morning cartoon, a webcomic strip, and now innovative episodic games developed by Telltale. The Adventure Company’s Sam & Max: Season 1 release marks this series’ first foray into retail stores since the original LucasArts’ release of Sam & Max Hit the Road.
“The Adventure Company will be an excellent partner for Sam & Max’s path to retail,” said Telltale CEO Dan Connors. “Our internal development studio’s been having a fun time working with Steve’s characters and we’re looking forward to getting the games out to new audiences in the Fall.”
Earlier this week Crave [url=http://www.snackbar-games.com/n2439.html]announced plans[/url] to bring a port of the PSP’s Dave Mirra BMX Challenge to the Wii, and today the publisher added to its support for Nintendo platforms, this time by announcing a somewhat strange Crayola crayon-themed project for the Nintendo DS.
Details are still sketchy on the upcoming handheld adventure game, other than it is the result of a partnership between Crave and Crayola, and will involve “a colorful romp to find hidden treasure.” Players will use a treasure map and crayons to complete quests and complete mini-games to find hidden treasure.
“Crayola crayons are an integral part of American childhood,” said Mark Burke, senior vice president of product planning and business development for Crave Entertainment. “We’re honored to be partnering with a company that has been synonymous with childhood creativity for more than a century to bring a classic piece of American culture to an entirely new medium.
