Wii

Several news outlets are reporting the NDP sales figures for January. Wii took first place by a considerable margin with 436,000 units sold. Xbox 360 came in second with 294,000 sold. PS3 came in third with 244,000 sold. The figures have not yet been verified by NDP.

Besides selling more consoles than anyone else, Nintendo is also continuing to enjoy remarkable sales performance with DS, which sold 239,000 units last month.

Microsoft aims to increase their cumulative sales to 12 million by the end of June.

[January: Wii Triumphs; 360 Up; PS3rd @ Next Generation]

In the persuit of democracy among gamers, Nintendo launched the Everybody Votes Channel, which collects the opinions of online Wii owners. Through the use of the Mii system, the channel allows up to six people in each household to vote in polls that fall into a variety of categories. The channel takes the results and allows you to see how your opinions compare to those of other people in your household, country, and around the world.

Activision CEO Mike Griffith confirmed Guitar Hero for the Wii during a conference call according to GameSpot. A DS version may also be in the works. One or both versions could be release anytime between April 2007 and March 2008.

The details are very scarce and this no information about the controller configuration. Will you pick up the Xbox 360 version or tough it out and wait for the Wii version?

The Mii system's ability to capture an individual's likeness is impressive, and eerie. Dwight and Ryan are my favorite, but where's Micheal Scott!?

[UPDATE: I found the talented Mii artist. He has most of the characters on his Flickr including Micheal.]

[The Office, as depicted by Miis @ You NEWB]

Not sure how long he'd last in the fire temple.

[Link Ice, Ice Baby @ Kotaku]

The year is 2032 and the cyber soliders of the future are armed with... wiimotes? If those remotes control massive sword wielding robot arms than it's a possibility.

Need a break from the President's State of the Union? Here's the first game play video of Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, which is due out for the Wii in March 2007. The video is overlaid with the Wii remote and the nunchuk to show how the controls work.

Prince of Persia is a game that fits the Wii control style perfectly. It seems that games that provide smooth rhythmic game play are the most fun on Wii, and Prince of Persia easily fits that profile.

Nintendo confirmed twelve titles that will be coming to Wii during the first quarter of 2007. Among them is Wii Play, Prince of Persia Rival Swords, and SSX Blur. The list also has its share of games that aren't so attractive like Disney's Meet the Robinsons.

It was also announced that Mario Kart 64 and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past would be arriving on the Wii Virtual Console next week.

Wii is clearly the smallest of the three competing consoles, so if you're bent on turning one into a laptop, picking the Wii is the smartest move. Engadget's Ben Heckendorn created this impressive modification.

The portable features a 16:9 display and a built-in sensor bar. And nothing is sacrificed because of its size. You'll find that it is complete with a GameCube controller port and a slot for SD cards.

Next week, Engadget will begin a multi-part guide for building your own. Until then, they have more images and a video of the unit in action.

[The Wii Laptop! @ Engadget]

Here we go again. It's the beginning of a new year and chance for us to look back on all the crazy stuff that happened last year. Here are my two favorite games from 2006. What are your top picks?

Gears of War

Surprise! It's the game that most everyone will pick for the best game of 2006. But we go way back with Gears of War. It won our prestigious Best of E3 2006 award. It lived up to and surpassed my expectations--something that rarely happens. Gears of War has a finely tuned single player campaign that has some of the best squad-based gameplay available. Your teammates aren't simply there to increase the number of bullets you wail at the enemy. They provide valuable covering fire and coordinate realistic maneuvers that adapt to meet the diverse requirements of each arena. The impressive graphics, clever camera techniques, and efficient controller layout make Gears of War feel like movie.

So it's going to be brief. I'm using the new Internet Channel and typing with the remote is not so easy. I took some video earlier only to remember that I sent my MacBook in for service so I can't edit. I'll post the walkthrough as soon as I get it back.

The browser is cool, but everything look fuzzy on my crappy TV. Typing is a little easier with the help of word suggestions, but half of the time it makes it worse by finishing words for you.

Nintendo has its own holiday surprises planned for December 25. Only you have to pay for it, and its not really a surprise since they announced it four days early. But whatever. Nintendo is releasing the original Super Mario Bros. on the Virtual Console for 500 points. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior from the NES, Super Castlevania IV from the SNES, Toe Jam & Earl from Genesis, and R-TYPE from the TurboGrafx16 will also go live on Christmas day, each for 800 points.

Nintendo will also add Baseball and Urban Champion from the NES on January 1 for 500 points.

Is this a day early? I don't know. But it's pretty cool.

The beta version of the Opera Internet browser for Wii will launch on December 22 as a free download from the Wii Shop Channel. The download unlocks the Internet Channel, which will allow you to browse any website using your Wii remote. The final version of the browser is scheduled to release at the end of March 2007 and will be free until the end of June. Starting in July, the browser will cost 500 Wii points. Opera is clearly excited; they even made this really stupid comic strip to celebrate.

The Forecast Channel, which also goes online this weektoday, will bring free weather information and 3D maps to your Wii.

[UPDATE: The Forecast Channel appears to be out. I just finished downloading the update. Video coming soon.]

There may be some hope yet for gamers who suffer from sweaty hands or violent uncontrollable arm spasms (Russell). Engadget received some photos from from someone who purchased a Wii on December 6 that included a thicker controller wrist strap. Is Nintendo phasing out the dangerously thin strap that brings expensive televisions to their doom? If so, it's good to know that the company is looking out for the world's aspiring Andre Agassi's (again, Russell).

[UPDATE: GoNintendo has an image of the replacement strap that Nintendo is sending to customers with snapped straps. It's a little clearer than this one.]

[Nintendo now shipping beefed-up Wii strap? @ Engadget]