Washington (dbTechno) - Nintendo of America has come out and revealed that Super Smash Bros. Brawl is not only the fastest selling video game on the Nintendo Wii, it is the fastest selling Nintendo game of all time, surpassing sales of other classic Nintendo releases, including all Pokemon, Mario games, etc.

Nintendo confirmed that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has managed to sell through 1.4 million units since March 8 in the U.S., an incredible accomplishment to say the least.

Nintendo stated that these numbers break down to more than 120 units selling every single minute since launch.

This is only the beginning though as Nintendo confirmed once again that Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit are both shipping in the U.S. very soon.

Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America executive vice president of sales & marketing stated “Super Smash Bros. Brawl has made the leap from video game to cultural phenomenon. Game reviewers and the public alike praise its run game play and extensive, inventive content.”

Nintendo has also stated that they have a huge surprise announcement set for E3 this year, one that will ship out this holiday season.

courtesy of dbtechno

With big titles like Smash Bros., Mario Kart, and Wii Fit, out during the first half of this year, you might be wondering what Nintendo will have left for the second half of 2008.

"There's going to be a big game for the holiday that gamers will want," Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime told GameTrailers. "The gamers are going to be excited, and the expanded audience is going to be excited."

Reggie played it cool when pressed for details, simply saying that Nintendo is going to have "great new content maximizing all of our key franchises. It's going to be a good second half."

Nintendo won't be spilling the beans on just what that content might include until E3 in July. Fils-Aime did suggest that the orchestra game that was shown off by Shigeru Miyamoto at E3 a few years back is "looking great" and might be brought up again at this year's show.

Episode 107 [GameTrailers TV]

Nintendo announced Wednesday that its exercise-oriented Wii Fit game, complete with Balance Board controllers, will go on sale in North America on May 19.

The Japanese maker of hot-selling Wii video game consoles revealed the launch date as it showed off Fit at a major Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.

"We are here to show developers what can be done with the Balance Board," Nintendo of America president Reginald Fils-Aime told AFP after finishing a virtual giant slalom ski race on Wii Fit on the GDC show floor.

A Balance Board measured Fils-Aime's body position and shifts of weight from foot to foot to maneuver an animated skier through an on-screen downhill course.

"We think it opens all types of possibilities for new kinds of games," Fils-Aime said.

Games for Wii Fit fall into four categories: strength training, aerobics, yoga, and balance games.

Nintendo has 10 games in development that use the boards as controllers. Balance boards detect a user's weight and balance to control the movements of on-screen characters or provide feedback for measurements such as whether one is nearing diet, posture or fitness goals.

Nintendo has sold more than 1.4 million Wii Fit games since they made an exclusive launch in Japan in early December. Wii Fit will be available in Europe in April.

Nintendo makes 1.8 million Wii consoles monthly, a production rate unprecedented in the industry, according to Fils-Aime.

"People keep referring to this as a production issue," he said. "It's not. It's a demand issue."

Nintendo plans to maintain its momentum in North America with releases of fighting action game Super Smash Brothers Brawl in March, Super Mario Galaxy in November and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass in October.

Courtesy of afp.google.com 

Nintendo announces Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournaments for US

Friday 15 Feb 2008

Nintendo of America has announced that it will be holding four regional Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii tournaments just before the game is launched in the US on the 9th of March.

The competitions will be held in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and will end in New York where a Midnight Madness launch event will be held at the 622 Broadway Best Buy store.

The first 256 participants at each regional location will have the chance to brawl one-on-one with the other participants in a single elimination tournament. Each region will have a winner who will participate in a final multiplayer brawl at the New York City tournament.

The 256 participants at each location will receive a $10 Best Buy gift card while the winner will walk away with a custom-designed, crystal-covered Wii with a design from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a home theater system from Best Buy as well a coveted copy of the game. Second, third and fourth will each earn themselves a Wii plus Wii Remote and a copy of SSBB but the Best Buy gift cards will be $1 000, $500 and $250 respectively.

Play SSBB before its release

“Super Smash Bros. is one of the world’s most popular game franchises because it draws in characters from across the Nintendo universe and beyond for some all-out fighting fun,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing.

“Super Smash Bros. Brawl has extreme appeal among our core audience, but these tournaments are a great way to get new fans involved as well – before the game is even available in stores.”

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in Japan on the 31st of January. It sold a whopping 820 000 copies in its first week on sale and became the fastest selling Wii game in Japan when it crossed the one million sales mark in just eleven days. Its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee, was the best-selling Nintendo GameCube game of all time and it looks like Brawl might just follow in its footsteps.

Visit Nintendo’s website for more details.

Here is a list of the tournament’s locations and times:

Feb. 16
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Orpheum Theater
842 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Feb. 23
Doors open at 2 p.m.
Ten15 Folsom
1015 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

March 1
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Olden Hall
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609

March 8
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Best Buy (NOHO)
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Coutesy of el33tonline.com 

American doctors are using Nintendo's popular Wii video game system as rehabilitation therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries.

Such patients require intensive physical therapy, which they often complain is repetitive, boring and sometimes painful.

	A patient plays a Wii video game as part of his physical theraphy regime

But medics have found "Wiihabilitation" to be an excellent substitute as the game's motion-sensitive controller requires body movements similar to traditional therapy but provides so much distraction patients do not notice the discomfort.

"In the Wii system, because it's kind of a game format, it does create this kind of inner competitiveness.

"Even though you may be boxing or playing tennis against some figure on the screen, it's amazing how many of our patients want to beat their opponent," said James Osborn, who oversees rehabilitation services at Herrin Hospital in southern Illinois.

The hospital bought a Wii system for rehab patients late last year. "When people can refocus their attention from the tediousness of the physical task, oftentimes they do much better," Mr Osborn said.

Although Nintendo does not market Wii's potential use in physical therapy, a company spokesman, said it was "happy to see that people are finding added benefit in rehabilitation".

The most popular Wii games in rehab involve sports  baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis.

Mimicking the arm swings used in these sports, players wave a wireless controller that directs the actions of animated athletes on the screen.

The Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital west of Chicago recently bought a Wii system for its spinal cord injury unit while at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, in Washington DC, the therapy is used on many patients injured during combat in Iraq.

WakeMed Health has been using Wii games at its Raleigh, North Carolina, hospital for patients as young as nine "all the way up to people in their 80s," said therapist Elizabeth Penny.

"They're getting improved endurance, strength, coordination. I think it's very entertaining for them," she said.

Researchers at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis are working with the University of Minnesota to design a study to measure how patients' function are affected by Wii therapy.

courtesy of telegraph.co.uk 

Nintendo Scores Two Interactive Achievement Awards

Nintendo came away from the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards with two statues last night. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Handheld Game of the Year. Super Mario Galaxy took Adventure Game of the Year. The AIAA is part of the 2008 Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain conference in Las Vegas.

Nintendo was nominated for a total of nine awards in eight categories. The statues are a nice addition to the 2.5 million copies of Super Mario Galaxy and more than 1.1 million copies of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass sold.

Courtesy of News.filrefront.com

1UP.com reports that patents filed by Nintendo for several unusual peripherals for its motion-sensing Wiimote controller have surfaced. The patents date back to May 2006, before the Wii game system was released to the public, and include some practical applications like a fishing rod, golf club and steering wheel as well as more unusual ideas such as a teddy bear and a bicycle that house the Wiimote.

Courtesy of myfoxkc.com

A few days ago, we reported on a brand new Cobalt Blue/Black DS. 

The new color had been for sale at a few retailers, but the listings were quickly removed due to the fact that Nintendo had not made an official announcement.

But now the company has now made it official — Cobalt/Black is the seventh official color to join the Nintendo DS party.  For those keeping count: Polar White, Coral Pink, Onyx, Crimson/Black and the limited-edition Gold and Metallic Rose are the other hues that are already out on the market.

The pretty li’l Cobalt/Black DS will hit the shelves on February 10th.  Price-wise, gamers will not have to pay any more than usual to purchase this particular handheld.

Courtesy of revolutionportal.com 

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Sorry about the long absense, but it is a promise that there will be more features on the site. 

Smash Bros. Brawl has been postponed until March 9,2008.  The director and creator of the game says " .. it is better to postpone the game and take the time to fix it, then to rush it and have it be bad."

Haven't heard a lot about the game?  Watch the trailer.