Daily Marauder

GAMING

Slow sales of the roughly-two-month-old “Wii Music” game have some analysts concerned that the exponentially expanding game console from Nintendo may have hit its first roadblock. “It could be Nintendo’s first flop for Wii,” UBS Investment Research analyst Benjamin Schachter. The Wall Street Journal (12/15)

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Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, shown demonstrating Wii Music, says he isn’t expecting it to be an immediate hit.

The gaming industry is emerging as a bright corner of the troubled economy as U.S. sales of videogames grew 10% to $2.91 billion in November, according to market research firm NPD Group. Sales of videogame consoles were also up 10%, to $1.21 billion led by the Nintendo which sold more than 2 million Wiis and 1.57 million DS hand-held consoles. Microsoft came in second, with 836,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold. Sony continued to struggle in November, selling only 378,000 PlayStation 3s, 206,000 PS2s and 421,000 of PSP handhelds. (Cynopsis 12/15)

The media industry will be watching Wednesday when video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software releases its quarterly earnings. According to this report, crashing stock values at many games companies are making them prime takeover targets for larger media companies. The Wall Street Journal (12/15)

Top 10 PC Game Titles in the U.S.
Rank  Game Title                    Publisher                    AU%     Ave. Minutes Played/Week
1       World of Warcraft Blizzard Entertainment .723           671
2       Call of Duty 4: Modern  Warfare  Activision           .163           403
3       Halo: Combat Evolved   Microsoft Game Studios    .092           295
4       Sims, The                     Electronic Arts Inc. 0.09           213
5       Sims 2, The                  Electronic Arts Inc.         0.086          291
6       RuneScape                   Jagex Ltd.                     0.084           451
7       Diablo II                      Blizzard Entertainment    0.065          313
8       Team Fortress              2 Valve                          0.063          371
9       Counter-Strike             Sierra Studios                 0.062          282
10     CS: Source  Valve        Sierra Studios                 0.061          426
Source:  The Nielsen Company
Note:  Data from Jan – Oct 2008.  AU% = % of PC Gamers playing title in the average minute

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