411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include Demigod, Dokapon Journey, The Dark Spire, the Final Fantasy XIII Demo + Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete, and Air Conflicts.
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To celebrate the launch of Mario Super Sluggers, Charles Martinet, the voice actor for Mario, Luigi, Wario, and more will be in attendance at the Nintendo World Store in Manhattan on August 24th, signing autographs and giving out a mysterious special gift from Nintendo to those who purchase the new Mario sports title.
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Famitsu via VGChartz reports from Jan 21st to Jan 27th, 2008, the hardware sales in Japan were as follows:

Console :

Wii : about 79k
DSL : about 75k
PS3 : about 29k
PS2 : about 11k
PSP : about 61k
360 : about 4.2k

Top 10

1. Wii Fit (Wii) : about 96k (total about 1.21m)
2. Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (PSP) : about 70k
3. Lucky Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outou-Sai (PS2) : about 61k
4. Mario & Sonic at Beijing Olympics (DS) : about 54k (total about 145k)
5. Wii Sports (Wii) : about 28k (total about 2.69m)
6. Mario Party DS (DS) : about 26k (total about 1.56m)
7. Yggdra Union (PSP) : about 22k
8. Dora Base (DS) : about 22k (total about 141k)
9. Monster Hunter Portable 2 (PSP) : about 15k (total about 1.58m)
10. Wii Play (Wii) : about 14k (total about 2.15m)

New releases out of Charts(Top 30):

Exit (DS) : about 5.5k
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS3) : about 5k
The Sims 2 (DS) : about 3.7k
TOCA RACE DRIVER3 THE ULTIMATE RACING SIMULATOR (PS2) : about 0.75k
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January 11 - Nintendo claims eight of the top ten selling games of 2007 in Japan, looking at the latest figures from Enterbrain, publisher of the Famitsu magazine.

Only Capcom's PSP title Monster Hunter Portable 2 and Square Enix's Dragon Quest IV manage to break Nintendo's hold on the top ten.

The list of Japan's Top 10 software of 2007, with their units sold, is posted at MCV.
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A report today from Jesse Divnich at the simExchange says Nintendo has turned casual games and gamers into the primary forces driving the videogame industry. Using data from the holiday 2007 shopping season, the firm said that one factor in the industry's growth has been a larger-than-expected next-generation adoption rate among casual gamers. (GameDaily, 01/09/08)
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9th Dec, 2008 Just what in the hell is going on with Mario and Peach? It was so simple back in the old NES days of Super Mario Bros. She got herself kidnapped, he went after her with the help of Luigi, and all ended happily ever after. Or so we thought. The thing is that it didn't really. It's become ever more apparent that since that first rescue things have only ever got messier, dirtier and more manipulative in their relationship. Far from the innocent damsel and hero set-up that appeared ... » Read More

Nintendo's DS Brain Training games have topped the charts in both Spain and Germany.

Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training is at number one in Spain, with sequel More Brain Training taking the coveted spot in Germany.

Neither the Spanish or German top ten has any PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 games, with Wii, PlayStation 2 and DS the dominant formats.

The top ten for each country follows:

Spain, week ended December 9

1. More Brain Training (DS)

2. WWE Smackdown Vs RAW 2008 (PS2)

3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2)

4. Imagina Ser Mama (DS)

5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)

6. Imagina Ser Disenadora De Moda (DS)

7. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

8. Mario Party (DS)

9. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)

10. WWE Smackdown Vs RAW 2008 (PSP)

Germany, week ended December 2

1. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)

2. More Brain Training (DS)

3. High School Musical - Sing It (PS2)

4. Need for Speed Pro Street (PS2)

5. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

6. FIFA 08 (PS2)

7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)

8. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

9. Wii Play (Wii)

10. Need for Speed Pro Street (PC)
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This week's top rental charts from U.S. game rental company GameFly, representing the most requested games for the week ending December 3rd, highlight both to-be-released and already released games in a unique demand-specific chart.

This week's top five all-platform requests show little movement once again, after last week saw the list barely ruffled. Assassin's Creed still takes the top spot for a third week with Mass Effect in second for its second week in a row.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which spent the last two weeks at number four, slips a bit to the fourth spot to make room for Kane and Lynch: Dead Men to move up one spot into the fourth spot, but that's the only movement -- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune stays at number five, where it entered last week.
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Mario Party DS sold a further 116,000 copies during the week ended November 18 to retain the top spot in Japan.

The feat follows unit sales of almost a quarter of a million in its debut week, and is enough to beat the latest Resident Evil title to the Japanese software summit.

Wii exclusive The Umbrella Chronicles, the first of five new entries to make the top ten, debuts at No2. It supplants Shin Sangoku Musou 5, which drops one place to No3.

Overall 14 DS games, six Wii, four PS3, three PSP, two PS2 and one Xbox 360 title chart.

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) - 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
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VG Chartz is still compiling weekly data for Japan. Here is an early take on how some of the figures will look for the week ending November 18, 2007. These figures are preliminary and should not to be taken as gospel; they are just an early take on approximately where the market will be for the week. Estimates are in units sold.

Hardware sale estimates:
¿ DS: ~80,000
¿ PSP: 50,000 to 58,000
¿ PS3: 45,000 to 75,000
¿ Wii: 30,000 to 40,000
¿ PS2: 8,000 to 12,000
¿ Xbox 360: 4,000 to 7,000

Wii software sale estimates:
¿ Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Total): ~100,000
¿ Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (without the Wii Zapper): 63,000 to 70,000
¿ Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (bundled with the Wii Zapper): 25,000 to 30,000
¿ Super Mario Galaxy: 24,000 to 28,000

PS3 software sale estimates:
¿ Dynasty Warriors 6: 56,000 to 64,000
¿ Heavenly Sword: 9,000 to 13,000
¿ Ratchet & Clank Future: 4,000 to 7,000

Xbox 360 software sale estimates:
¿ Dynasty Warriors 6: 10,000 to 13,000

PS2 software sale estimates:
¿ Metropolitan Police 2: 8,000 to 12,000
¿ Armored Calvary Bottom: 6,000 to 10,000
¿ Ar Tonelico: 3,000 to 5,000
¿ Volleyball Worldcup Evolution of Venus: 3,000 to 5,000

PSP software sale estimates:
¿ Monster Hunter Portable 2: 8,000 to 10,000
¿ Covenant Door: 4,000 to 8,000
¿ Akumajou Dracula X Chronicle: 4,000 to 8,000

DS software sale estimates:
¿ Mario Party DS: 110,000 to 130,000
¿ Game Center CX: 40,000 to 48,000
¿ Famitsa DS: 28,000 to 34,000
¿ Drum Master: 24,000 to 28,000
¿ Final Fantasy Tactics A2: 9,000 to 12,000
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Mario Party DS sold almost a quarter of a million copies in its debut week to top the Japanese software chart.

Another new entry, Shin Sangoku Musou 5 for PS3, or Dynasty Warriors 6 as it will be known in North America, entered at No2 after shifting almost 200,000 copies, while the Xbox 360 version debuted at No5.

Mario Galaxy, last week's best seller, dropped to No3 following second week sales of 75,000 copies, down from 251,000 sold the previous week.

PS3 exclusive Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction entered at No10, while just one PS2 game, NBA Live 08, made the top 30.

01. Mario Party DS (DS) - 235,000 / New
02. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (PS3) - 188,000 / New
03. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 74,000 / 325,000
04. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) - 23,000 / 215,000
05. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (Xbox 360) - 22,000 / New
06. Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (PSP) - 19,000 / New
07. Wii Sports (Wii) - 15,000 / 2,197,000
08. DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana (DS) - 13,000 / 129,000
09. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS) - 13,000 / 690,000
10. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) - 12,000 / New
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