Nintendo Co. will increase shipments of its top-selling Wii and DS video-game players to the U.S. in the fourth quarter to keep up with holiday demand.
More Wii consoles will be available in stores starting in October, Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo’s U.S. operations, said today at a conference in San Francisco. Wii shipments should increase about 50 percent and DS handheld shipments are projected to rise about 10 percent, he said.
Nintendo is trying to avoid shortages that limited sales in the U.S. last year. The company ran out of the DS players in mid- December, Fils-Aime said. Sales of both game machines have continued to exceed the company’s forecasts, making it difficult to keep up with demand, he said.
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Nintendo’s exercise game Wii Fit has returned to the top of the videogames sales chart, 14 weeks after it was first released. The game, which saw a 17 per cent jump in sales over the last two weeks has occupied the top spot in the sales chart on four occasions since its launch.
Wii Fit uses a motion-sensitive board to encourage players to develop their balance, strength and fitness levels.
The start of the Olympics in Beijing certainly had an affect on new sales of the fitness game wii fit as well as boosting exposure of other wii titles, including another Nintendo Wii game, Big Beach Sports, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, in which the spiky blue hedgehog and portly Italian plumber go head to head in a series of athletic events.
In related Nintendo news, another Nintendo game, Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, enjoys its 82nd week in the games charts, propping up the table at number 12. The game, which was released in 2006, is played on Nintendo’s handheld DS games console, and has been credited with bringing a whole new generation of “casual” players to the world of videogaming, especially women and young children.
If you’re not familiar with the classic PC series or haven’t been keeping up with its first foray onto consoles, check out IGN PC editor Steve Butts’ in-depth hands-on preview for a full overview.
In a nutshell, Civ Rev has been built from the ground up to be a completely console focused turn-based strategy game. Its beloved PC predecessors are famously complex affairs that have been responsible for countless hours of lost productivity worldwide.
If you’d like to try before you buy, rent a copy of this game from Gamefly
Funky funk legend Bootsy Collins (P-Funk, James Brown, Deee-Lite) recently produced an exclusive, original theme song for 2K Sports’ Don King Presents: Prizefighter, due in stores June 10.
Over 70 songs appear on the soundtrack, either in their entirety or in shortened ring walk versions, from Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” to Run-D.M.C.’s “It’s Tricky,” James Brown’s “Turn Me Loose, I’m Doctor Feelgood” to Parliament’s “Give Up the Funk.”
“Doing the game track was very exciting,” Collins tells billboard.com. “It’s for Don King, a hero of mine from way back, so I took it very personal when asked to get involved. I felt musically and vocally that this song would place you right in the middle of the game, in a front row seat. I told Mr. King, ‘We gonna punch um! Just to make their hair stand straight. Then punch um again, to see the look on their face!’”
Don King Presents: Prizefighter will be available for Xbox 360, and later this year on the Wii and Nintendo DS systems.
Billboard.com: Bootsy Collins Suits Up For ‘Prizefighter’ Theme
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