Just weeks after the release of Monster Hunter 2nd G and the PSP is carry on to sustain its dominance in the Japanese weekly sales charts. By the end of May 4, PSP has past the 100,000 mark in unit sales. During the same period, Nintendo DS sold around 52k units during the same period.

That’s close to less than portion of how the PSP sold. With this weekly record, Nintendo might not worry of PSP yet, since DS has sold more than 22 million units across Japan while PSP only sold around 9 millions only. It’s still a long way for Sony. Besides, Sony would also like to boost their PS3 in the meantime.

PlayStation Portable 100,870
Wii 71,518
Nintendo DS Lite 52,542
PlayStation 3 10,177
PS2 8,802
Xbox 360 1,725

Microsoft has never successfully entered the gaming market of Japan. From the beginning of Xbox and now Xbox 360, Microsoft has always done badly. The sales record of Xbox 360 is worst than the selling rate of PS2 now.

Microsoft Japan has decided to cut down 13% of the price. Not only due to recently, Sony also announced that there will be a cheaper 40GB PS3 coming to the market. But also, the Christmas season is coming soon. More discount and annual sales are expected the strategies to boost the sales. However, we hope the 13% off will expand to world wide. But also, Microsoft please fix the red ring of death too.

If Nintendo could not meet the market requirement for this Christmas, maybe we can consider Vii! Vii is actually a clone of Wii from China. What offers by Wii, Wiimote and interactive games, is almost the same experience you can find on Vii,. The only different is Vii could neither read CD nor DVD. The games are built in with the game console, so buyers will have no chance to expand more games.  

For China consumers, the brand does not really mean much to them. The main consideration factor to them is the price! The price of Vii is RMB1280, that is around $180. So, $249 versus $180, what is your choice?

Started from 3rd of Oct to 7th of Oct, World Cyber Game 2007 finally comes to an end. This year there were 700  top computer and console games players from all around the world gather at Seattle. And this year the grand champions goes to Team USA! As USA has won 3 gold, 2 silver and a bronze medal.

There were total 13 of games titles to compete, there were Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Counter Strike, Fifa Soccer 07, Need for Speed Carbon, Command & Conquer 3, Age of Empire 3, Carom3D, Gears of War, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Tony Hawk’s Project 8.

I think many unfamiliar with WCG will be amazed how come they are people still competing with Starcraft. But actually, Starcraft is still quite popular in Korea, as this game was released on 1999. As for the Starcraft, not sure whether they will be playing Starcraft 2 on the next WCG. If it is so, better train yourself with it when the it releases.

On the latest hardware sales in Japan, the overall ranking is not surprising at all. Nintendo DS Lite and Wii are still dominant the top 2 position on the ranking. But the sales for both have dropped 6,000+ compared to the last week sales. On the 3rd to 5th place are Sony PSP, PS3 and PS2. Only PS3 have risen selling 3,000+ pieces, the rest are also reduced.

Microsoft Xbox360 from the beginning has not successfully made into Japanese market. Another bad news to Microsoft is Wii has already surpassed the International sales of Xbox360. Xbox360 has been in the market one year earlier than Wii or PS3. But just within a year, Wii have now made a total over 10 million sold worldwide.

Japanese Weekly Sales for 27 Aug ~ 2 Sept 07
- DS Lite: 94,339 6,091 (6.06%)
- Wii: 39,371 6,912 (14.93%)
- PSP: 22,196 3,893 (14.92%)
- PS3: 18,068 1,675 (10.22%)
- PS2: 14,280 859 (5.67%)
- Xbox 360: 1,635 409 (20.01%)
- Game Boy Micro: 263 160 (37.83%)
- GBA SP: 195 32 (19.63%)
- Gamecube: 73 43 (37.07%)
- GBA: 16 49 (75.38%)
- DS Phat: 0 30 (100.00%)

This simple robot is controlled by using PS3 SixAxis bluetooth controller and Linux to do the magic. The motion looks cute!

Guys at Tom’s hardware have built a solar powered DS Lite!

Here are all the ingredients:

• Nintendo DS Lite: $129.99
• Soldius 1 solar power charger: approximately $99.99
• Mario Kart DS: $34.99
• Metroid Prime: Hunters DS: $34.99
• Metal latch, glue, spray paint and other accessories: $20
• Total: $319.96

How it Works: We concocted the solar DS Lite with the goal of having it run entirely on solar power, and we succeeded. The Soldius 1 solar power charger originally offered an output of 5.6V in direct sunlight; however, after Max made modifications to the panel, he was forced to removed the device’s circuitry so that the DS battery cable could connect directly to the solar panels. That led to the output dropping to approximately 4.0V. But it hardly mattered, since the DS Lite’s battery supplies 3.7V. So we were able to play the Solar DS outside continuous on nothing but solar energy. Unfortunately, the power would cut out when heavy clouds passed overhead and obscured the sun. The sensible thing to do was put the battery back into the DS and use the solar panels to charge the device. This process takes less than two hours to fully charge the Solar DS, which isn’t bad at all. And it doesn’t cost you a cent on your electric bill.

To catch the video, please visit their web site.

See how Square Enix create this masterpiece!

Seem like recently we have been posting on the web site. Now, there is even more game consoles giving away on various web site!

Thanks joystiq there for compiling the whole list of web site giving away Wii and PS3.

Wii

• NewEgg - Giving away two Wiis a day through Dec. 11.
• Simple Green - Giving away a Wii and a $200 Target gift card. Contest ends Dec. 20.
• Wii-volution.com - Giving a Wii to a randomly chosen active forum member on Dec. 20.
• Circuit City - Giving away a Wii a day through Dec. 24. [Thanks Quaddw]
• TechDiversions [Update 1] - Leave a comment saying which game should be redesigned for the Wii for a chance to win one. Contest ends Dec. 25 [Thanks pooper]
• 1up/Ubisoft - Giving away a Wii and an Ubisoft game prize pack every day through Dec. 30.

Continue Reading »
Game Consoles Give Away List

GameStop online store finally announces the Wii bundles. But the price is steep - $649.88. I’m wondering how they figure such price? Even though, you placed your order, GameStop will only start the shipping after 18 December.

The Nintendo Wii bundle includes the following items:

• Nintendo Wii system (system, remote controller, nunchuck, stand, sensor and Wii Sports)
• Wii 1 Gigabyte Memory Card
• 1 additional Wii Remote Controller
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
• Red Steel
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
• Madden NFL 2007
• 1 Year Product Replacement Plan
• 12 Month Game Informer Gift Subscription

Continue Reading »
GameStop Wii Bundles