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The Week in Review news piece summarizes and highlights the most important gaming related news and rumors over the past week. This weekly article will keep you plugged in and in-tune. Nintendo had a big week. Between sales news, Netflix functionality, and their eyes set on making Zelda for Wii perfect, they were the biggest newsmakers of the week. NoA boss Reggie Fils-Aimé addressed Nintendo Week letting all the faithful know that development on the next The Legend of Zelda was going well, but that the team was gunning for perfection. Though not outright confirmed, it sounds like the holiday 2010 window may be out the window. Still, we’re happy Nintendo is so concerned with making one of their premier franchises everything fans are looking for. Speaking of Nintendo perfection, the Big N absolutely dominated 2009 in terms of hardware and software sales. The company not only sold over three million Wii consoles over the holiday (in the U.S.) but they ended up with 7 of the top 10 best-selling console games of the year. Add in DS Lite/DSi sales and Nintendo is truly sitting pretty. Additionally, it’s official, Netflix is coming to Nintendo Wii in just a couple months. Wii consumers will have full access to their instant queue, but they won’t be able to get HD content. Reggie Fils- Aimé commented on this lack of functionality, saying that the Wii consumer doesn’t care about HD content; a dubious statement that didn’t settle with folks too well. The best rebuttal we saw is that Wii consumers may not care too much about HD content on the Wii, but they absolutely are into HD content in general – movies being one of the most important. Activision had impressive sales numbers over the holiday of their own. The company came out and confirmed that they have sold over $1 billion (USD) in gross sales worldwide of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – a rare milestone only the most influential media can hope to achieve. NPD backed up the figure by releasing its U.S. console sales figures. Modern Warfare 2 held two spots in the top 10, including the top spot, for consoles and another for top 10 PC games sold. Ubisoft also had a very strong holiday 2009, but they faltered mightily over the course of the year. That is why they have decided to delay a number of important games to ensure they are met with commercial success. Splinter Cell: Conviction, R.U.S.E., and I Am Alive are all getting pushed back. Ubisoft has decided to delay Conviction and R.U.S.E. beyond April 2010 (when their fiscal 2010 begins) in order to fortify their 2010-2011 lineup and to capture market share, while I Am Alive is getting pushed even further back, likely into their fiscal 2011. On a better note from Ubi, a new Assassin’s Creed title, which will include multiplayer gameplay and feature Ezio, will be launched within the next year. Ubisoft has confirmed that this is a new title and not just an expansion to Assassin’s Creed II. Finally, a few solid software announcements were made. First up was Capcom, which let the world know that the Mega Man Zero series is getting bundled into one cart and is heading to the DS in Japan in April – worldwide release is still unknown. Then it was confirmed by SEGA that “Project Needlemouse,” the super secret 2D Sonic title, will feature Sonic only – no friends will be along for the ride, making Needlemouse a true successor to the classic 2D platform-adventures of the 90s. And last but not least, Batman: Arkam Asylum is set for a Game of the Year edition. A list of contents, pricing, and availability are not detailed yet, but we should see the game in the next couple months – which is great, because I haven’t had a chance to play this masterful title yet. Thanks so much everyone and we will see you next week! |