Nintendo managed the most successful sales figures in the USA for November, a month which saw console sales rocket thanks to Black Friday and the holiday season. Top of the pile was the Nintendo DS, which shipped 1.53 million units, followed by the Wii on 981,000 units. Microsoft's Xbox 360 came a reasonably close third, selling 770,000 units. Meanwhile Sony's three consoles came last despite improved sales, with 567,000 PSPs, 496,000 PS2 consoles and 466,000 PS3s being sold.

According to MDB Capital Group's senior analyst James Lin, the shortage of Wii consoles could be costing Nintendo as much as $1.3bn in lost sales, saying that the volume of unsatisfied demand is "staggering" and that "Nintendo is leaving $1.3bn on the table" by failing to produce enough units. He also claimed that the company could "easily sell double what they're selling".

However, Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America, has responded to criticism that the company is artifially limiting supply by saying that "Anyone who suggests that a shortage is good for business really doesn't understand business." Nintendo has already had to pull some Wii adverts after struggling to cope with the Christmas demand for its console, and Reg Hardware reckons that the best place for Europeans to get hold of a Wii at the moment is France, where the console sells for €210 (£150 or $300).

A number of Wii owners have reported that their new copies of Guitar Hero 3 are only providing a mono output rather than the stereo that is advertised on the box. Activision has responded by saying that it will replace all disks experiencing this problem for free, although it has not given details of the process just yet. Activision's spokesperson, Rhy-Ming Poon said:

We recently became aware that some consumers have not been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. We expect to have re-mastered discs available by early 2008 and we will be offering consumers replacement discs at no cost once they become available.

So if you are affected by this problem, it may be worth sending Activision an email and keeping an eye on its website to find out how you can get your copy replaced.

Nintendo has decided to pull some of its adverts for the Wii after finding that the Christmas demand for the console is already too high for the company to cope with. In the UK, Nintendo has decided to replace the planned advertising campaign for the Wii with more Nintendo DS adverts, saying:

We have been running the campaign all year round, but we want to take a responsible stance this Christmas and not fuel demand.

This news comes following numerous shortages of the console despite the fact that Nintendo has increased its production to 1.8 million units per month. Nintendo also commented that the adverts it was planning for the Christmas build-up are not seasonally themed, so it should be able to use them during the start of 2008 instead.

For the past couple weeks, we've been hearing that the PlayStation3 has been beating the Nintendo Wii in sheer sales week-by-week. While hardcore Nintendo and Microsoft fans will be happy to hear that this streak has ended (on the week ending 11/25, Nintendo sold 54,362 Wiis and Sony sold 50,564 PS3s), massive PS3 sales the other three weeks certainly helped Sony out. According to the latest sales figures, 183,217 PS3s were sold in November, as opposed to 159,193 Wiis. The Xbox 360 did not sell anywhere near that well in Japan, with total sales at roughly 26,000 units in November.

Nintendo has launched a new Wii channel called Minna no Nintendo (translated, Everybody's Nintendo), which allows gamers to check out videos and interviews of Nintendo games for various systems as well as send game demos to Nintendo DS systems via local Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, it's only available in Japan so far. Also available is a feedback service allowing gamers to rate games they own in various categories. Areas of judgment include whether each game is well suited to single- or multiplayer play, its appropriateness for casual or hardcore audiences, its relative difficulty level, and overall quality.

Despite some PlayStation3 success in Japan, the Nintendo Wii is selling extraordinarily strong all around the world. While Nintendo hasn't been able to keep up with Wii demand since the console was released, they continue to make insane amounts of profit. After selling 200,000 units in Australia in just 50 weeks, analysts in the country declared that the Wii is the fastest selling console to ever hit Australia. Even the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, which both were met with extreme fanfare, took at least 55 weeks to reach the 200,000 mark in Australia. Sony refuses to let Nintendo take this title without a fight, as their PlayStation2 continues trucking along to its seventh birthday. Sony announced that they will continue to sell the PS2 throughout all of 2008, and possibly 2009. It is priced competitively, at $199AUD, for Christmas. Microsoft also is working hard to compete with Wii sales, by pricing the Xbox360 at the same price as the Wii ($399AUD). Time will tell if the Wii really is just a fad/gimmick, or if it really has something going for it.

When we found out that the PS3 was more popular than the Wii in Japan as far as sales went a couple weeks ago, most people scoffed. After all, Sony had just released the PS3 40GB, you can almost expect better sales. But it seems as though there's something more to it, as PS3 sales are strong for the second week in a row. Here are the overall Japanese sales figures for the week ending November 18th.

• DS Lite - 76,069
• PSP - 65,609
• PS3 - 39,178
• Wii - 36,230
• PS2 - 8,855
• Xbox 360 - 6,525
• GBA SP - 153
• GBM - 109
• GC - 38
• DS - 15

When Epic Studios made Unreal Engine 3, they had PCs and high-definition consoles in mind. When asked if Epic was going to bring Unreal Engine 3 to the Wii, Vice President Mark Rein stated "It's not in our plans to bring Unreal Engine 3 to the Wii. It's really designed for next-gen, high-definition [platforms]." However, it seems like a completely independent (and anonymous) studio is working on getting Unreal Engine 3 to work on the Wii. Rein's opinion of working with the Wii remains unchanged. "There's so many things we can do and are already doing, to improve our engine, on the platforms we're aiming it at, that going back and working on that [for the Wii] just doesn't make sense."

Ever since the Nintendo Wii first found itself in retail channels, customers have begged for light-saber support. Finally, Nintendo is answering their call with a Wii Laser Sword. While the Wii Light Sword fits in perfectly with games such as Lego Star Wars, the Wii Light Sword is no more than a standard Wii remote with a 22" LED sword. Hence, a user could theoretically bring his light-saber to any Wii game, including Wii Sports. The sword will be available on November 30 for £15 (€22/$30).

This is a story about a man by the name of Tony who claims to have caught his lying wife by searching the play history of his Nintendo Wii. After returning from a year active duty in Iraq in April 2007, he discovered that his wife was playing bowling with some guy during his absence. "[In Nov.] I flip through the Wii menu and visit the Mii Channel so I can peruse the many friends that I have created with the guys that I played with in Iraq," writes Tony in an email to GoNintendo. "As I go through the characters, I see there is a Mii that I have not created. It's a guy strikingly similar to my wife's [alleged lover]. "To be sure of this, I went into the Wil Message Board and click on the Calendar option. Through this menu I was able to identify the many nights my wife's Mii and this 'other' Mii Character played Wii Bowling together." After confrontation, the wife maintained that she had only shared an innocent kiss with the man on a single occasion. Tony has since separated and filed for divorce. Don't tell me we live in a normal world. How smart do you have to be, in order to cheat your better half without getting caught now a days.

In a stunning turn of events, Sony snatched the sales crown from Nintendo last week. The release of the 40GB PS3 increased PS3 sales by 38%, as Nintendo Wii sales fell by 10%. Unfortunately for Sony, these are not the overall sales figures, these are only sales figures for the week ending November 11. Here are where the other consoles placed last week...

• Nintendo DS: 78,884 units
• PSP: 58,964 units
• PS3: 55,924 units
• Wii: 34,456 units
• PS2: 9043 units
• Xbox 360: 5817 units

While Sony is celebrating the PS3's birthday with cake, Nintendo does not have time to celebrate. That is because they are too busy selling Nintendo Wii consoles at an astounding rate. Even a year after the console went on sale, Nintendo is having a very hard time keeping up with demand for their next-generation console. Nintendo Marketing Head George Harrison explains why it's so hard to keep up with demand.

It takes about five months for us to increase the actual monthly rate of production. We're at a rate now worldwide of about 1.8 million Wiis produced every month, and that's going to sustain itself until we get on top of this.

Harrison predicts that sales will taper off after the holiday season. You can read a full interview with Harrison here.

Nintendo, at this point, does not have any console that can play a DVD movie, which just about every other current-generation console can do. Nintendo did plan to add a DVD player to the Wii earlier, however, they wanted to make sure they would have enough stock for the holiday rush. Nintendo also discovered that DVD software licensing fees were a lot higher than expected. Nintendo fans everywhere should be able to enjoy a Nintendo Wii with DVD playback sometime next year.

The Japanese sales figures for last month's console sales are in, and there's some good news for the PS3. Sony's console is now just over 63,000 units behind the Wii compared to almost 175,000 units in August (the figures for September weren't announced), which is a considerably smaller gap. The bad news for both consoles is that sales figures have plummeted from 245,653 units for the Wii and 81,541 units for the PS3 in August to just 110,415 units and 47,183 units respectively. It was better news for Microsoft, which saw its Xbox 360 sales figures rise from 11,288 units to 18,717 units over the same time period, although it still lags behind both other companies. The PS3's and 360's sales would have been helped slightly by both consoles experiencing a price drop during October, and the PS3 is expected to do well in November with the introduction of the new 40GB PS3 in Japan, along pre-Christmas sales affecting figures.

Nyko is proud to announce the release of the Intercooler for Nintendo Wii. The Intercooler for Wii is the perfect accessory for Wii gamers looking to keep their consoles running in the best possible environment. The Intercooler dramatically increases the rate of hot air flowing out of the vent, resulting in a console that runs at considerably lower temperatures. The Intercooler for Wii clips easily onto the back of the Wii, meaning there is no complicated installation or modification necessary. This patented design also leaves all of the inputs on the back of the console free and easily accessible. For image conscience gamers, the Intercooler for Wii comes in a décor that matches the aesthetic of the Wii itself and can be used when the console is in a horizontal or vertical position. The Intercooler for Wii has shipped to stores nationwide, and is available at the Nyko Online Store for $14.99 here.

For a while, the Nintendo Wii was truly the king of consoles. It had all sorts of fun games, it was easy to use, and it was cheap as dirt (relatively speaking). However, with the release of such extremely well done games as BioShock and Halo 3 to the Xbox360, many gamers are picking up an Xbox 360 just to play said games. In fact, just last month, Xbox 360 sales effectively doubled, according to recent NPD figures. Overall, Microsoft sold 527,800 Xbox360s, Nintendo sold 501,000 Wiis, and Sony sold 119,400 PS3s.

Following yesterday's official Nintendo Wii USB keyboard support, Logitech today announced that the Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, a full-sized USB keyboard is now compatible with Nintendo's popular Wii home video game system. The Classic Keyboard 200 offers people the advantages of a compact form factor, low-profile keys and spill-resistant design. The Classic Keyboard 200 will only work with Wii systems that have been updated to the latest Wii Menu, version 3.1. Users can perform this update by selecting the "Wii System Update" button in the Wii Settings menu. The Logitech Classic Keyboard 200 is available now in the U.S. and Europe for a suggested retail price of $14.99 (U.S.).

Nintendo has released firmware update 3.1U for the Wii, adding official USB keyboard support. This should greatly increase web browsing experience with the Internet Channel. The update also adds the following:

• USB keyboard compatibility
• Links received on the Wii Message Board can now be opened in Internet Channel
• Can now send web-links to friends to view
• Can copy text from page being viewed and paste it into a search engine

Earlier this week, Nintendo announced that it would give each household up to four Wii remote jackets, free of charge, and would start including said jackets with future Wii consoles. However, this program isn't going to be free of charge for Nintendo. With 10 million consoles already sold, Nintendo will have to make 40 million sleeves, to live up to their promise, which will cost a grand total of no less than $17.2 million USD.

Surely to the horror of all third-party Wii accessory companies, Nintendo announced today the Wii Remote Jacket that will be given to all system owners completely free of charge. The Wii Remote Jacket is a silicon cover made specifically to fit the Wii Remote and "provide cushioning for the Wii Remote for people who might accidentally throw or drop their Wii Remotes while playing games." Nintendo will begin shipping Wii Remote Jackets on October 15, 2007. For Wii owners who purchased their systems prior to this addition, Nintendo will send free Wii Remote Jackets for their existing Wii Remotes. Click here if you don't have Wii Remote Jacket and would like to request one.

It's been almost a year since the Wii was launched now, and it's fair to say that it's been much more successful than most people originally anticipated. As a result of this, Nintendo has now said that it is expecting another shortage of Wii consoles this Christmas, with President of Nintendo America Fils-Aime saying:

The issue is we went in with a curve that was aggressive, but the demand has been substantially more than that. And the ability to ramp up production and to sustain it is not a switch that you flick on. We're working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can't guarantee that we're going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record we won't.

The Wii is currently the most successful of the three new consoles, managing to sell more units than both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, despite Microsoft's machine having a year's head-start.

If you are one of the people looking for an alternative Nintendo Wii controller, Thrustmaster is now here to offer it. Thrustmaster has announced the T-Wireless NW gamepad for Wii, a fully wireless Classic Controller alternative. It will communicate with the Wii via a 2.4GHz wireless dongle that plugs into the Wii's GameCube controller ports to provide 30-feet of wireless range. The controller itself is housed in a Wii-themed chassis relatively similar in layout to previous Thrustmaster gamepads. The full compliment of buttons found on Nintendo's own Classic Controller will be available. Thrustmaster also added Slow and Turbo buttons. Thrustmaster is pricing the T-Wireless NW aggressively at $19.99, the same price as Nintendo's semi-wired Classic Controller. It'll be available in October. Thrustmaster also chose today to premier a new 5-piece combo pack of Wii accessories targeted at holiday buyers new to the console. The T-Megapack NW will include a rubber-gripped steering wheel bracket, a set of the T-Protect NW controller skins, and a T-Charge NW battery recharging controller organizer. The T-Megapack NW will also launch in October, priced at $34.99.

Some games for the Wii may not be so family-friendly after all: they require a gun-shaped controller to be played. This is getting parent groups extremely upset. Parent groups claim that this is a "bone-headed idea". Some extremists claim that the Wii gun controller will train kids to aim and shoot, which, according to them, will make them become killers and psychopaths. One "very concerned grandparent" even went as far to proclaim that an application to the NRA should be included with every gun-shaped controller.

A quick glance at the controller, which you can buy here, hardly makes it seem all that bad.

At first, in Japan, Nintendo seemed to have it made. While Sony could do nothing more than call the Wii an "impulse buy", Nintendo was outselling the competition by 6-1. However, nowadays, it seems as though what Sony said a few months back is ringing true. Wii sales are falling in Japan, as PS3 sales begin to rise. Currently, there are three Wiis sold for every PS3 sold, however, we could soon see a reciprocal of that figure.Source:DailyTech