Yes, we know that today has been just positively dripping was sales figure data, so it may be hard to muster up the courage to face yet another list. Please, bear with us, as we walk through another week of Media Create published hardware sales data for the week of January 7 to 13. As in the US of A, Japan still loves itself some Nintendo DS. But the handheld hit just narrowly escaped a weekly takeover by the PSP. It was so close! That would've been a story, friends.

The rest of it is, sadly, business as usual, as the nation recovers from New Year's spending. Probably a good thing as we're still coming down from the NPD bender from this afternoon.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 97,369
• PSP - 96,159
• Wii - 84,530
• PlayStation 3 - 38,907
• PlayStation 2 - 14,499
• Xbox 360 - 4,690

Media Create Weekly Sales

The video game industry saw dollar sales in the U.S. of $17.94 billion last year, an impressive increase of 43% over the previous year, when it sold $12.53 billion worth of video games, consoles, portables and accessories. Sales were up across the board, with the biggest boosts coming from console hardware sales ($5.12 billion in business, up 73%) and accessories ($2.26 billion in business, up 59%). December alone saw $4.82 billion worth of video game goods sold, with over $2 billion worth of video games sold bolstering those figures.

More expensive hardware on the market for the full year certainly contributed to those impressive console hardware sales, but the 8.5 million Nintendo DS portables sold in 2007 had a lot to do with that, too. Look, everyone just made tons of cash, okay?

For a full breakdown of annual spending, plus comments from NPD analyst Anita Frazier, continue.

We won't trot out itprintsmoney.gif this time, because that animated image simply doesn't do justice to newly released hardware sales data from the NPD Group and the staggering figures coming out of Nintendo. The Nintendo DS sold an amazing 2.47 million Nintendo DS units to shoppers in December 2007, nabbing the number one spot and nearly doubling sales of its closest competitor, the Wii. Nintendo DS sales represent about a third of billion dollars in hardware sales alone.

The Wii also had a very good month, beating out console competition the Xbox 360 by a solid 90,000 and trouncing the PlayStation 3, who brought up the rear with a respectable six-figure showing. The December casualty report from the US Console War of 2007 is below.

• Nintendo DS - 2,470,000
• Wii - 1,350,000
• Xbox 360 - 1,260,000
• PlayStation 2 - 1,100,000
• PSP - 1,060,000
• PlayStation 3 - 797,600

One has to wonder if the Crysis development team is growing a bit weary of hearing about how pretty their game is and how monstrous the specs are required to enjoy it in all its glory. It may be the motivation behind the team's decision to price out and build a $900 PC that can play (and play well) the stunning Crytek shooter on "high" settings. To be clear, that $900 doesn't get you a keyboard, mouse or display, but does get you something that the Crysis team considers Crysis-worthy. For anyone looking for DIY hardware advice, it might be a handy primer.

Their hardware plan follows.

We know that Nintendo dominated 2007, with a constant, reliable stream of good news and strong sales. But how did the rest of the competition stack up? We've decided to look back at a full year of sales data from Japanese analyst outlet Media Create, whose sales data we regularly feature in the Simple 2000 Japanese Sales Chart series.

With a license to seemingly print money, Nintendo took 2007 by storm, establishing console and handheld dominance with its two casual friendly game devices. Nintendo DS and Wii dominated software and hardware charts, seeing a steady flow of week to week sales for both platforms, appearing to only weaken when supply was constrained.

Sony's offerings, the PSP, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2, had a solid (if not spectacular) year. The PS3 didn't make any waves, but the PSP did. The PS2, now seven years long in the tooth, still had a bit of life in it.

The Xbox 360? Well, we don't have nice things to say about its Japanese performance, so we'll just let the charts do the talking.

Wandering the aisles of foreign OEM companies at CES, you can come across some strange finds. I was fairly proud of spotting the knock-off Boomerang controller, but I also dig this alligator-skinned Dual Shock knock-off. Adding a bit of class to an otherwise dodgy product, like my mom always said, a little faux alligator never hurt anyone.

Sony, the world is now looking at you to produce a reptilian PS3 to match. Don't let us down.

The coming of the new year in Japan brought good fortune to Sony and Nintendo, as Media Create analyzed hardware sales for the first week of 2008 saw PSP and Nintendo DS sales through the roof. Cash was flowing to the tune of nearly 800,000 consoles and handhelds snatched up by Japanese consumers from December 31 to January 6. Here's how it all played out, console war-wise.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 266,568
• PSP - 218,234
• Wii - 207,797
• PlayStation 3 - 64,183
• PlayStation 2 - 32,010
• Xbox 360 - 9,763

Media Create Weekly Sales

New York's attorney general is investigating whether Intel violated state and federal antitrust laws by penalizing computer makers, cutting off competitors' distribution channels and improperly paying customers for exclusivity.

Specifically the investigation is probing whether AMD has a fair chance to supply its X86 computer processing units for desktop and laptop computers and servers. Currently Intel has 80 percent of the market, according to AG Andrew Cuomo.

''Our investigation is focused on determining whether Intel has improperly used monopoly power to exclude competitors or stifle innovation,'' Cuomo said in the statement. ''We will also look at whether Intel abused its power to remove competitive threats or harm competition in violation of New York and federal antitrust laws.''

The preliminary investigation into the matter shows that there is a need for a full investigation Cuomo said in a prepared statement. This investigation comes on the heels of a string of allegations and investigations surrounding Intel's dominant market share. In July the EU charged Intel with violating antitrust rules there. In August the FTC was asked to investigate the company by two senators.

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO LAUNCHES ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION OF INTEL [The Associated Press]

The BBC News had a sit down with Bill Gates at CES recently and instead of asking him their own questions, they asked him their viewers. This gem, the first in the Q&A; video, asked Gates about the hardware issues that have plagued the Xbox 360, almost since launch.

We've had a lot of questions from people who weren't really happy with the kind of service they've been getting from Xbox in the last few years... What are you going to do to ensure that new consoles are more reliable than previous versions

Well we certainly had to apologize to our uses about a number of box that had to be replaced. We did that for free for all of those people, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback about the way we handled it. We've got incredible reliability on the new work we've done. Our commitment is that it will be the most reliable video game box out there. People really love the Xbox because of the content, but we've got to make sure that the hardware never stands in the way of that.

Later in the interview he was asked about Vista and the possibility of releasing a version that would be no-frills, but still support game playing.

Hardware sales. From Japan. You know how this works, right? The Nintendo DS obscenely outsells everything and the Xbox 360 picks up the tail end. It's essentially the same story for the last week of 2007, as hardware data from Media Create has finally come about for the end of last year. One interesting aspect, though, is the ass kicking the PSP gave the Wii that week, which may have been driven by Star Ocean and Haruhi sales. Somehow, though, that doesn't sound quite right. Maybe folks just love the PSP and multimedia options. Let's give it up for multimedia, people!

• Nintendo DS Lite - 218,876
• PSP - 161,370
• Wii - 152,209
• PlayStation 3 - 52,706
• PlayStation 2 - 25,569
• Xbox 360 - 8,304

Media Create Weekly Sales

Discovered at CES: Two generic consoles that play non-generic games. The Retro Duo accepts both NES and Super NES games, while the Gen X takes Sega Master System and Genesis/Mega Drive games. Both of the consoles were built on technology that takes advantage of lapsed patents, so they are perfectly legal. At least according to the guy showing them off at CES they are.

CES 2008: Retro Console Clones Take Actual Cartridges [Wired]

Ace Bayou, a manufacturer of "innovative lifestyle furniture", announced two new gaming chairs at CES, the X Rocker Pro-Series and X Rocker 4.1.

Said to be twice as powerful as the traditional X Rocker chair, both new models come complete with four built-in speakers plus subwoofer, wireless capabilities, and the ability to daisy-chain multiple chairs together (or connect them with other items in the Xfunctional media furniture series). The X Rocker 4.1 also has "true" surround sound, which is designed to let gamers hear more audio clues when immersed in game play. Now, you'll be able to hear when someone's sneaking up on you right before you get fragged in Halo 3! The speakers on the X Rocker 4.1 are also removable.

Ace Bayou will also have some of their pre-existing Xfunctional furniture on display at CES, including the X Pedestal Wireless Home Theatre Chair (US$199.50) and the Evolution Wireless with Battery Pack Chair (US$149.99). The company also says that their furniture is compatible with most entertainment devices: iPod, PS3, Wii, Xbox360, PSP, and DVD players. Good for all those times you thought to yourself, "wouldn't it be great if I could just sit IN my iPod?"

[CES Press Room]

Hardocp have gotten their hands on specs and pictures of NVIDIA's not-yet-released GeForce 9800 GX2. The new card will launch in late February or early march and replace the 8800 Ultra single GPU card. The card is supposed to be 30 percent faster than the 8800 Ultra, has a 65nm GPU and will support Quad SLI, yes Quad.

Other technical tidbits from Hardocp:

Selling 330,000 copies of Mario Party DS a week in Japan is impressive, to say the least, but when the nation is snapping up nearly as many Nintendo DS handhelds in the same time frame, it goes a long to explaining the resurgence. Final Fantasy IV's portable availability probably didn't hurt. Nintendo once again dominates (Ed's note: look up synonym for dominate) the Media Create sales charts this week, selling hardware at nearly twice the rate of its competitors combined. Someone over there likes their mini-games!

• Nintendo DS Lite - 279,551
• Wii - 232,907
• PSP - 171,804
• PlayStation 3 - 58,167
• PlayStation 2 - 20,391
• Xbox 360 - 7,908

Media Create Weekly Sales

Given that this week's software sales charts from Media Create show Nintendo DS and Wii games outperforming everything that isn't Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, one might assume that Nintendo hardware would see the biggest boost in sales. Oh, sure, selling over 222,000 Nintendo DS Lites is no small feat. It's damn impressive. However, the week to week doubling of PSP sales, pushing over 180,000 of the things without a major software release is, well, its kind of hard to sort out. But more power to 'em, I say.

In handy list form, here's how the console wars went down in Japan for the week of December 10th to the 16th.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 222,132
• PSP - 184,610
• Wii - 170,558
• PlayStation 3 - 63,720
• PlayStation 2 - 18,025
• Xbox 360 - 8,561

Media Create Weekly Sales

Ageia's PhysX cards, specialized components that support in-game physics just as a video card supports graphics, haven't really taken the world by storm. Why? My guess is that, among other reasons, it's tough enough for consumers to pony up $200 when they need a new graphics card, let alone an extra $130-$180 on top of that. But in Japan, PhysX will have a chance to address the price barrier. Because Japanese graphics card manufacturer ELSA is going to begin selling PhysX cards for just 6000 yen (or about $50).

And when ordering a new computer, checking a $50 box rings of "impulse buy" a lot more than a card running three times that price. Seriously, $50 in computers is the grocery store checkout equivalent of a Mars bar and an issue of Cosmo. (Which, by the way, makes for a great Friday night if you are short on plans).

PhysX Cards At $50 In Japan [digitalbattle]

Now that those pesky Americans have had their say with their video game buying habits, it's time to check in with the Japanese. Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo DS continues to top the charts overseas, as well, with the new Wii Fit player coming in second. Both units gave Nintendo a bigger slice of the pie this time. It was an up week for just about everyone, as strong sales of Hot Shots Golf Portable 2, Wii Fit and Tales of Innocence kept hardware moving. For the week of December 3rd through the 9th, Media Create sales charts stacked up like so.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 168,255
• Wii - 115,057
• PSP - 91,481
• PlayStation 3 - 38,123
• PlayStation 2 - 11,987
• Xbox 360 - 8,876

Media Create Weekly Sales

Last week's hardware numbers from Media Create showed that the Wii was back on track to regaining first place in the console races, having suffered displacement from a cheaper, Shin Sangoku Musou 5-equipped PlayStation 3. Now that Wii Fit's arrived, Nintendo is back in the lead. For the period between November 26th and December 2nd, the company sold more than it has on a weekly basis since July. Thanks, Wii Fit!

• Nintendo DS Lite - 124,591
• Wii - 74,764
• PSP - 74,626
• PlayStation 3 - 37,092
• PlayStation 2 - 13,703
• Xbox 360 - 6,632

Media Create Weekly Sales

Sorry, Sony. You had a good run. After two weeks of the PlayStation 3 outselling the Wii, reversing a long running sales trend, Nintendo's little white console is back. The Wii outsold the PS3 last week in Japan, but only by a narrow margin. The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, enjoyed a surge in hardware sales on the release of Square-Enix's Dragon Quest IV remake. The Media Create weekly sales for November 19th to the 25th is below.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 116,694
• PSP - 75,027
• Wii - 54,362
• PlayStation 3 - 50,564
• PlayStation 2 - 14,875
• Xbox 360 - 7,117

Media Create Weekly Sales

Good news! Mario Party DS' success probably means there will be future Mario Party games! Thanks, God. We appreciate you answering our prayers. What didn't hold up as expected was Shin Sangoku Musou 5, also known as Dynasty Warriors 6, which certainly didn't sell as well as Mario Party and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. Still, it's a fairly solid week for the underdog PlayStation 3, which charted with the aforementioned, Hot Shots Golf 5, Ratchet & Clank Future, and newcomer Heavenly Sword. Plus, folks bought Game Center CX. Good for them!

The following stuff sold pretty well in Japan for the week of November 12th to the 18th.

01. Mario Party DS (DS) - 116,000 / 350,000
02. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) - 83,000 / NEW
03. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (PS3) - 76,000 / 264,000
04. Pro Yakyuu Famista DS DS (DS) - 49,000 / NEW
05. Game Center CX (DS) - 46,000 / NEW
06. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 40,000 / 365,000
07. Heavenly Sword (PS3) - 15,000 / NEW
08. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) - 14,000 / 230,000
09. Wii Sports (Wii) - 13,000 / 2,211,000
10. Soukou Kihei Votoms (PS2) - 12,000 / NEW

The most recent sales data from the NPD Group is missing a key retailer, reports GameDaily, as Toys R Us data was not factored into October's monthly sales charts. Martin Zagorsek VP at The NPD Group told GameDaily that "we typically add a few retailers and lose one or two" and defends the company's results, adding "overall our market coverage has not changed very much compared to last year." More details on the change in NPD numbers at the original report.

NPD Defends Integrity of its Video Game Data [GameDaily]

Let's get this factoid out of the way quickly: for the week of November 5th to the 11th, the PlayStation 3 outsold the Wii in Japan. Bolstered by very strong sales of Shin Sangoku Musou 5 and a cheaper 40 GB model, the PS3 jumped from regular weekly sales in the ten to twenty-thousands to an admirable 55,924, outselling the Wii by some 20,000 units. That's in sharp contrast to the recently released NPD Group sales data for October, which doesn't take into account the recent price drop in North America. The Nintendo DS still sits uncontested at the top of the charts, in little danger of being outsold by its competitors any time soon.

We're sure that the folks at Sony have already cracked open the good bottle of sake, as this hardware victory may be short lived.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 78,854
• PSP - 58,964
• PlayStation 3 - 55,924
• Wii - 34,546
• PlayStation 2 - 9,043
• Xbox 360 - 5,817

Media Create Weekly Sales

How is 2007 looking for the video game industry so far? Pretty damn good, having crossed the $10 billion revenue mark as of the end of October, with its two biggest revenue generating months still to come. If that's a tough number to wrap your brain around, try to imagine an ocean made of cash. It's a lot like that. October '07 saw the industry pull in $1.1 billion, across hardware and software, ensuring that this year will be its best. Much of that revenue can be chalked up to higher console prices for the Wii and PlayStation 3, plus some very strong selling software.

The best selling games, across all platforms, for the year are as follows, with more year-to-date sales data after the jump.

• Halo 3 - 3,700,000
• Madden NFL 08 - 3,200,000
• Guitar Hero II - 2,800,00
• Wii Play (w/ Remote) - 2,500,000
• Pokemon Diamond - 2,100,000
• Pokemon Pearl - 1,500,000
• Spider-Man 3 - 1,400,000
• Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock - 1,400,000

Ed at Instructables was nice enough to tip us off to one of the site's latest hardware customizations, an LED filled Guitar Hero controller that adds some visual flair to stock rockin' out. The step-by-step instructions unfortunately gloss over a very important step—making your own translucent custom fret buttons—but an emoticon is offered in apology. That missing step is also promised at a later date. Who's going to make with the long exposure photography of a "Through The Fire And The Flames" attempt?

Guitar Hero LED Mod [Instructables]

What a difference a week can make. While sales of the Wii were bumped unimpressively by about 10,000 from last week on the release of Super Mario Galaxy in Japan, it's Ace Combat 6 that had the impact of a sonic boom on hardware. Last week's Xbox 360 sales were fairly high (in the upper 3,000s) but this week, sales of Microsoft's gaijin console are in the stratosphere. Relatively, that is. Ace Combat 6's debut, alongside a handful of new budget priced games, pushed Xbox 360 sales past the PlayStation 3's, selling 17,673 consoles from October 29 to November 4. That's a 475% increase! It looks like Microsoft Japan may have a winner.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 78,552
• PSP - 59,714
• Wii - 37,617
• Xbox 360 - 17,673
• PlayStation 3 - 17,434
• PlayStation 2 - 10,209
• Game Boy Advance SP - 206

Media Create Weekly Sales