Tag: Nintendo

Nintendo Profit Quadruples, Wii Continues to Outsell Competition

July 25, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell No Comments

Compared to the same period last year, Nintendo sales more than doubled while net income jumped to ¥80.3 billion ($668.82 million) from ¥15.6 billion. Nintendo’s strategy of bringing gaming to the masses is paying off. Approximately 9.3 million Wii consoles have been sold world-wide as of the end of June. Wii sports seems to be…

Gaming, Tech News

Wii-mote Hacks: New Uses by DJs, Doctors, Musicians, and Engineers

April 28, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell No Comments

Wii2 A DJ in the Netherlands uses his Wii-mote (what fans call the Nintendo Wii’s remote control) to mix techno music at dance parties while a medical student in Italy has reconfigured his to analyze results from CT scans. More uses? You bet. A software engineer in Los Angeles controls a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner with his, and a formally trained conductor in Connecticut is showing classical musicians how to conduct a Beethoven symphony. The musicians use Wii-motes to control a digital section of an orchestra.

Do-It-Yourself Tech, Gadgets, Gaming, Just For Fun, Tech News

Sony Now Trying the “Unconventional” with PS3 While Nintendo Sales Soar 90%

April 26, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 1 Comment

In the latest news from the console wars, Nintendo released sales and profits. Sales soared 90%, fueled by the success of the Wii. Nintendo has now sold 5.84 million of the consoles worldwide. Meanwhile, Sony announced a partnership with Hasbro to combine the worlds of trading cards and videogames using a new Sony video camera designed specifically for the PlayStation 3 console. The camera can recognize trading cards as you place them on a tabletop mat (see picture).

Gaming, Sony, Tech News

February Sales Figures Compared: Wii vs. Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3

March 16, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell No Comments

Gamingconsoles The research company NPD Group released data for U.S. sales of gaming consoles: 335,000 Wiis, 228,000 Xbox 360s, and 127,000 PlayStation 3s. The Wii continues to outsell all other consoles in the short term but has a ways to go to catch up to Microsoft in terms of total sales. Latest cumulative figures for U.S. sales for the big three: 5.1 million Xbox 360s, 1.9 million Nintendo Wiis, and 1.1 million PlayStation 3s.

Gaming, Microsoft, Sony, Tech News

Sony Claims Wii Is “More of a Novelty” Despite Wii Sales Doubling PS3 Sales

December 12, 2006August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 33 Comments

Wii_4 The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has an article out that indirectly outlines Nintendo’s comeback into the gaming world. Accordingly, U.S. retailers estimate that nearly 1.5 million Wiis will be sold before Christmas, about twice as many as the PS3. Nintendo explains that “Demand, as you can see from the reaction of consumers, has been greater than even we had hoped for.”

Sony’s response? “We feel very confident that the PlayStation fan is going to wait until
they can get a PlayStation 3…If they do pick up a Wii, it’s as more of a novelty,” says Sony spokesman Dave Karraker.

Gaming, Tech News

Wii Workout Poll Results: Americans vs. Non-Americans

November 26, 2006August 19, 2008 Bob Caswell 25 Comments

Wii2 This is part 3 of what I’ve decided to call the “Will Workout Series.” Part 1 was discussing how the new Nintendo Wii is causing aching backs and sore shoulders (among other things) across America. Part 2 was a poll to determine if it was just Americans or if others are experiencing this phenomenon. And part 3… The results of the poll!

The poll is still open for anyone interested, but the results I’ll analyze and discuss here are from the first 300 votes. To recap, the question was “If you own a Nintendo Wii, how much of a workout is it for you?” Here are the results (followed by commentary below):

Gaming

Poll: If you have a Wii, is it a workout?

November 25, 2006August 19, 2008 Bob Caswell 2 Comments

Wii_2 So the buzz around the blogosphere is that Americans are lazy because they have made mention of aching backs and sore shoulders after playing games on the new Nintendo Wii. The Wall Street Journal article I mentioned earlier gave many examples of Americans getting more than they bargained for while playing Wii games.

While the notion that Americans are lazy could be true, I thought I’d make a poll and ask. Sure, it’s a highly imperfect way to gather information on the lazy state of America, but so is reading one article about a few Americans… But never mind all that, let’s have some fun and see what we get!

Question: If you own a Nintendo Wii, how much of a workout is it for you?

Gaming

A Wii Workout: When Videogames Hurt

November 25, 2006August 19, 2008 Bob Caswell 33 Comments

Wii_1 The Wall Street Journal (subscription not needed) has an interesting article out today describing the aches and pains of Wii players. For those who might have been hibernating this Fall, the Wii is the latest gaming console from Nintendo that was released just two days after Sony’s PlayStation 3.

The Wii does not try to compete on a technical level (i.e. game graphics, etc.). Instead, Nintendo is hoping to convert non-gamers with “intuitive game play.” The controller it comes with is a wireless, motion-sensitive wand-like device that gamers wave around in the air perhaps as a sword, gun, steering wheel, tennis racket, or whatever a particular game calls for. But apparently, this type of game play amounts to some fairly intense exertion. Reports are coming in of aching backs, sore shoulders, and something now called “Wii elbow.”

Gaming, Tech News