If you're one of the cool kids that visits Wii Fanboy often, you probably know that we lovebargains. Even more so, we love sharing them with you. We thought we'd tell you, then, that aside from Circuit City having some sweet deals this week, GameFly is also looking to take money out of our pockets.
From today to the 19th, GameFly is having a storewide sale, which means cheap games galore. The catch is that they're used, but that's not a big deterrent since the game conditions are usually tip-top.
Japanophiles and sales chart nerds, it's that time of week again to take a look at last week's sales in the Land of the Rising Sun. Those of you who've been keeping up won't find much excitement in this week's chart, though. All the same software from the week before showed up, but it might not be long before Family Ski and Winning Eleven fall out of the top thirty.
It was also nice to see Metroid Prime 3: Corruptionstick around, as the Nintendo FPS nabbed the number eleven spot for this week. Other than that, the only noticeable difference is that Smash Bros. dropped to fourth. What's interesting is that Brawl is no longer the best selling Wii game, either, as Wii Fitreclaimed that honor. We also learned that you can't keep the big three (Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Wii Play) out of the top ten for long.
In hardware sales, the Wii fell a smidge behind the PSP, and did only slightly better than the DS.
Hardware:
PSP: 57,651
Wii: 55,845
Nintendo DS: 53,266
PlayStation 3: 14,934
PlayStation 2: 9,930
Xbox 360: 1,744
To see the software numbers and rankings for last week, make sure to click past the break.
To most of us, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is old news. The U.S. has had it since last summer, and even Europe has been enjoying the game for a few months now. It only debuted in Japan last week, though, and we were happily surprised to see it make the top five. It only sold 32,000 copies in its first week, but that's still not too shabby for a Metroid game in Japan. Hopefully, the game will have some legs and not plunge off the charts after its first week, like many other first-person shooters tend to do.
As for other software, the Wii didn't have too many games in the top thirty -- only eight, in fact -- yet it was still the second most represented gaming system on the charts. With the exception of the aforementioned Metroid and Everyone's General Knowledge Training TV, all the Wiis top games have consistently stuck around for (at least) a few weeks.
In other news, Smash Bros. once again failed to take the first place spot. The game beat out last week's chart champ, the new Gundam for the PS2, but fell behind the newly released Yakuza 3.
In hardware, the Wii claimed the top spot once again as Japan is clearly so over the Mint Green PSP (that was so five minutes ago). You can check out the hardware and software numbers for last week in Japan after the break -- we recommend that you do so.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has finally been set for Japan, it seems. The game is reported to have a March 6th release date in the eastern country (and you PALs thought you had to wait a long time for it).
It's no secret that Metroid games don't sell as well in Japan as they do elsewhere, and we doubt we'll see the title place highly (if at all) on the Japanese software charts. Still, Nintendo might have a valid strategy on its hands -- releasing the game close to Brawl's January 31st date (but long enough afterward for Japanese gamers to want some new Wii fodder) might inspire those in the Land of the Rising sun to pick it up. Perhaps the sultry Zero Suit Samus will be enough to push them over the edge. We'll have to wait and see, but we hope that the third installment in the Prime series doesn't go ignored. It's just too good.
As gamers, our focus is often on playing games and not the subtleties that go on behind the scenes. If we only knew about all those details, though, we might be shocked to find out how something like the Metroid Prime series almost never came to be.
Retro Studios president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh recently talked about the Prime arc at the 2007 Montreal Games Summit. In the conference, he explained the pressures of having his (at that time) rookie studio pick up such an important franchise, and how Miyamoto was influential in taking the series from third person to first person.
Everyone has an opinion about what makes a good game. You've got one, we've got one (or several, as there are several of us here), and the reviewers, they all have their own preferences, too. Sometimes, however, those opinions all just seem to coincide, and then we know a game is truly something special.
As part of our celebration of the first year of the Wii, we thought we would do a comparison of the best-reviewed games released for the system alongside our picks for the top games. Sometimes they overlap, but we slipped in a few extras that we feel just might be worth your time.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and BioShock ... what a pair, eh? Both shooters, both with their own unique spin on the genre, both flagship titles for their respective systems, at least for a while -- since both are followed by even bigger titles soon to come. So what's the difference? Well, one (BioShock) was hyped to the stratosphere, and the other seemed to suffer (according to some) from a lack of attention until just before release. BioShock's other advantage was that the title "suffered" from controversy over content, which often boosts sales.
So which one came out on top in the sales charts last week, when Corruption debuted? The less-hyped Metroid pulled out the top spot. Big Daddies are no challenge for Samus.
It looks great for us, and will give the Wii some attention in regard to "hardcore" success, but it's not as simple as outselling a competing title. BioShock had a week's head start and is on two platforms to boot, so it's no surprise that a johnny-come-lately could sneak in and snatch the top spot. It doesn't make Metroid less awesome, but it's not a clear-cut situation. Still, let's take our moment in the sun and spare some time to bask in the Wii's success in all markets, casual and traditional.
And so Metroid Week comes to an end. For those of you who picked it up, how far along are you now? How are the controls treating you? The difficulty? For us, exploring has really been the only thing we've had a little trouble with -- sometimes it takes a bit to find what we're looking for -- but we haven't found anything difficult otherwise. This is both good and bad.
For those who don't have it yet, did you see anything this week that colored your opinion of the title? If nothing else, at least you get to read everyone's reviews first.
We're willing to go on record stating the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is about the best thing we've slipped into our Wii so far. Wii Sports was a great introduction to the console, and certainly made great use of the motion controls, but we have to go with the richer, fuller experience the latest Metroid has to offer.
In fact, now that we've seen something so fantastic, our standards are likely to be a little higher. Are we alone in this? Fun is fun, certainly, so we'll still love anything that's a good time, but for anything that claims an epic experience, Corruption is setting the bar pretty high.
Are you playing Metroid? If so, then by now, there's surely something you like about the game. We want to know what you think the very best part of the game is so far ... and if you have complaints, we want to hear those, too. Overall, we've found the controls to be amazingly smooth (though the way the actions were mapped to A and B at first seemed backwards) and easy to adapt to for lengthy play sessions. Our only complaint thus far feels like a nitpick: what's up with the doors? Sometimes we've already turned away when they decide to open. Maybe we're just impatient. It hasn't stopped us from getting our game on with ferocity, however.
Not long ago, we asked you if you were picking up Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; this was not long after the clarification came down about the lack of online multiplayer, and a lot of feathers were ruffled. But a month has passed, we've seen more from the game, and the hype train has left the station. If you were planning on simply renting or borrowing the latest Metroid -- or even skipping it altogether! -- have you changed your mind? If you were already planning on picking up the game, are you getting it today, or waiting a while?
Prior to "Metroid month" (and perhaps even after), some people were complaining that Nintendo wasn't spending enough time or money hyping and advertisingMP3: Corruption. Of course, after that, Nintendo showed up with the videos and commercials -- but was it enough? Do you feel that the latest Metroid received the attention that it deserves? Will it sell well? The title has made a fair showing on Amazon so far, which is not bad, considering that Bioshock's release and Halo 3 preorders are competing for the shooting spotlight.
Our thoughts were best summed up in this recent Penny Arcade news post: most of the people muttering about a lack of hype on Metroid not only knew about the game, but whether or not they would buy it. But hey, we're only one opinion in a sea of Nintendo fans. What's yours?
We're not too crazy over this Metroid Prime 3: Corruption commercial, but we suppose it gets the job done. To us, the "Wii would like to play" approach just doesn't fit the game's atmosphere, its loneliness and oppressive environments. Also, when was the last time you played a Metroid title with dozens of people, young and old, behind you and craning their necks to get a better view of your Morph Ball clumsiness. We would hazard a guess at never.
Thankfully, the two movies from last night's Corruption preview channel update make up for the flavorless advertisement. In addition to throwing light on Dark Samus's relationship with the Space Pirates, the videos also offer a glimpse of a hectic battle between Samus and a group of enemies in a mine. Head past the post break to watch both clips.
With the third and final Metroid Prime title coming in just a week, we're being blitzed with previews from all directions. GameTrailers's extended hands-on impressions, embedded above, builds up the hype without spoiling too much of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's story. The six-minute clip examines the first-person adventure's graphics, controls, and token system, lauding each point at every corner. If you're still craving some new preview footage after all that, the video site also has a variety of gameplay movies, as well as a comparison between Corruption and its GameCube predecessor, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
Nintendo also updated its Metroid Prime 3: Corruption channel with two new clips. The first video documents the aftermath of a Space Pirates attack on Galactic Federation ship Valhalla, whereas the second clip has Samus knocking down her enemies while in Morph Ball mode. You can watch both of them past the post break. The next two movies, Dark Samus and Mine Battle, will show up on the preview channel this Thursday.
We're all about this Metroid month thing -- but are you? Do you hope to see similar marketing schemes for other big titles for the Wii? Certainly, we hope the video trend continues. Would you like to see this done for third party titles as well? Can you think of anything else you'd like to see them add, content-wise?
If you're one of the cool kids that visits Wii Fanboy often, you probably know that we love bargains. Even more so, we love sharing them with you. We thought we'd tell you, then, that aside from Circuit City having some sweet deals this week, GameFly is also looking to take money out of our pockets. 
And so 
Not long ago, we 
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