December: The month that...
Wii sold amazingly well
After an ambitious advertising campaign that preached to an audience outside of the traditional sphere of gamers (namely girls and old people), Wiis universal appeal guaranteed it was a huge success when it hit stores in the UK on 8 December. The figures spoke for themselves: 325,000 consoles sold in two days, making it the fastest selling console in Europe ever.
Halo 3 got an official airing
Microsoft showed the power of Xbox Marketplace by offering users a downloadable making-of trailer that revealed a few new weapons, while an earlier US TV spot showcased a brand new grenade that appeared to generate a shield. We clearly weren't supposed to get too excited, however, as Bungie explained none of the footage was in any way finalised.
The Gran Turismo Pantomime continued
After a controversial Tokyo Game Show announcement that had Polyphony Digital talking up a pay-per-car model for GT HD, the fickle development team decided to scrap the whole idea - roughly five minutes after we'd sussed out how it would work. Instead it would offer a free one track demo for download in Japan on Christmas Eve on the PlayStation Store. Which we duly downloaded and played. And then deleted.
People lost the ability to hold their Wii-motes
Whether it was over-exuberance, faulty straps or sweaty sausage fingers, Wii owners couldn't help throwing their Wii-motes across rooms, destroying TVs, windows, babies and pets in the process. So much so that Nintendo decided to offer everyone a replacement strap for gratis.
Above: The antics of a worldwide plague of slack-handed gamers led to some pretty peculiar solutions
The Gran Turismo Pantomime continued
After a controversial Tokyo Game Show announcement that had Polyphony Digital talking up a pay-per-car model for GT HD, the fickle development team decided to scrap the whole idea - roughly five minutes after we'd sussed out how it would work. Instead it would offer a free one track demo for download in Japan on Christmas Eve on the PlayStation Store. Which we duly downloaded and played. And then deleted.
People lost the ability to hold their Wii-motes
Whether it was over-exuberance, faulty straps or sweaty sausage fingers, Wii owners couldn't help throwing their Wii-motes across rooms, destroying TVs, windows, babies and pets in the process. So much so that Nintendo decided to offer everyone a replacement strap for gratis.
