Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Remember the days when Nintendo's hardware was at a permanent and incredibly depressing third place in the sales charts, month after month? We sure can't; all this success has gone to our heads.

The April NPD numbers, tracking hardware and software sales in North America, were released recently and Nintendo once again obliterated the competition. The Nintendo DS and the Wii took the top two spots for the fourth month running, with 471,000 and 360,000 units sold, respectively. Both of these figures more than double their nearest competitors (PSP and the Xbox 360), and the PS3 could only move a paltry 82,000 units.

It's the same story in software. Nintendo took home the top four spots across all systems with the releases of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and Super Paper Mario, along with the still oddly popular Wii Play. The Pokemon titles, of course, were only available for a single week in April, yet still captured the top spots with a combined 1.7 million units sold.

It just makes you all tingly inside, doesn't it? For the full hardware and software figures, click after the break.

Which is better: Wario Woods and Sim City, or Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario World, Gradius, Street Fighter II, and the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past? Yeah, we thought you might choose the latter. We hope the Japanese and North American Virtual Console lineup will reach equilibrium in a few months and we can all enjoy the same rockin' old school games, but there will likely always be some differences in offerings between regions.

Thanks to Spencer Yip of Siliconera, we can see the Japanese Wii shopping in action -- including the awesome greeting from Wario when his new game is in the disc channel.

Market research firm IDG recently published a huge report detailing their predictions for the next-gen console wars, as well as PC games and the handhelds, through 2010. But however long-reaching the data may be, it isn't far-reaching, as it only covers North America and Western Europe. Unsurprising -- they list the Wii as the big loser. Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before, but we fully expect to convert our North American brothers. What is more suprising is that the 360 is just barely coming out on top here, with the PS3 poised to take the lead soon after. Of course, after 2010, we'll all be driving rocket cars for our robot masters, so will the console wars really matter?

[Via Joystiq]

Nintendo of America's offical reply to all this nonsense: Online reports about the Nintendo GameCube version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are incorrect. The amazing game will be available at retail outlets nationwide on Dec. 13.

Apparently, Gamestop and EB Games used a separate SKU for preordering. Since preorders had been maxed out, the SKU was removed. However, this confirmation is news in itself: it looks like America won't be receiving the EB Games-only Aussie treatment or online-only Japan treatment. Sweet!

We'll try to refrain to excessive commentary in this post ... similar topics have been covered in regards to Japan and Australia ... but now North American major retail chains EB Games and Gamestop have reported that the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess has been mysteriously deleted from their computers. The SKU is simply gone. Though we might refrain from calling this an outright cancellation, the only other conceivable option is for the game to sell exclusively through Nintendo's online store, as they've decided to do in Japan.

(sigh) Comment as you will, but try to keep it civil. What the eff, Nintendo.

[via Joystiq]

We know that Nintendo has promised us four million units worldwide before the end of year, but our hearts yearn for clarification as a vampire yearns for blood. And lo! The hemoglobin feast is upon us. Shrewdly hidden in an interview with Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada's vice president and general manager, the number is set:

"We're looking at a million [units] for North America at launch," said Bertram. "When Sony came out with their PS3 announcement, they said [400,000]."

One million. This figure might be the magic number, the allocation so that gamers can obtain one within reasonable difficulty, and yet still be in enough short supply to ensure the image of "must-have" hot holiday item. Our fangs hearts tingle in anticipation.

[Thanks, John K!]