Console wars heat up due to Wii shortage

Walked into a game store lately? Chances are you didn’t see a Nintendo Wii. Although the holiday season shopping binge is long gone, the Japanese videogame legend still can’t keep them on shelves. Retailer Gamestop admitted that not only can it not keep up with Wii demand, but the situation might not improve for as much as six months. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are likely to take advantage in that six month window.

So what’s the deal? Most gamers are accustomed to a period of limited availability right after a new console comes out, typically in the fall run-up to the holiday shopping season. In the past, it’s been rare that console shortages continue into the following year. But here we are, closing in on 18 months after the Wii’s release in 2006, and you still can’t find one outside of Ebay.

Much of the problem is down to the Wii’s sheer popularity. Now officially the most popular console of this generation, well over 20 million Wiis have rolled out of Nintendo’s manufacturing plants since the launch, compared with about 10 million PS3s in the same amount of time. Even Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which has been on the market a full year longer than the Wii, can only muster sales of about 18 million. But hey, you actually have a reasonable chance of finding one at your local megamart — at least until Grand Theft Auto IV comes out.

Meanwhile, analysts the world over are betting on the PS3. After a disappointing performance last year, both in sales and software support, it’s looking like 2008 might bring much better news for Sony fans. Great exclusive games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and LittleBigPlanet are just around the corner, the newly-released DualShock 3 controller brings back rumble support, and Sony’s consistent firmware updates continue to expand the PS3’s already impressive multimedia capabilities. No wonder it outsold the Xbox 360 in both January and Febuary.

Speaking of the 360, the demise of the HD-DVD movie format has the rumor mill buzzing. Will Microsoft embrace Sony’s format and produce a Blu-Ray movie drive for the 360, or will it rely on its Xbox Live download service as the console’s only high-def movie source? Numerous optical drive manufacturers have been linked to the scuttlebutt, but so far steadfast denials from Redmond have been the only official word. Anyone expect that to stop the chatter? No, thought not.

Although the Wii’s lead is formidable, the spring’s biggest console battle isn’t going to include Nintendo at all. It’s just a few short weeks until Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the year’s biggest games, releases simultaneously on the 360 and PS3. How will the sales stack up between the platforms? How many GTA buyers will be picking up a new console to play it, and how will they split? The 360 is cheaper and boasts the promise of exclusive downloadable content, but on the other hand, those Blu-Ray movies look mighty sexy on a good TV.

By Mike Smith

Guitar Hero hits handhelds for first time

Smash music franchise rock and rolls to the Nintendo DS this summer.

With over 64 million Nintendo DS owners in the world and a monster music game franchise like Guitar Hero (over 14 million games sold in the U.S.), it’s no wonder Activision is giving living room rockers a chance to take their show on the road. Available this summer, Guitar Hero: On Tour brings the series’ fret-burning fun exclusively to Nintendo portable game system.

And that includes the guitar — sort of. Rather than make you haul a big plastic axe everyone you go, Guitar Hero: On Tour comes equipped with a space-saving new peripheral called the Guitar Grip that effectively simulates the guitar controller used in the console games. Simply plug it into the DS and you’ve got four familiar colored fret buttons to work with. The game also ships with a custom-made guitar pick stylus, allowing players to essentially “strum” the DS touch screen.

Over 20 songs will ship with Guitar Hero: On Tour, including tracks by such bands as OK Go and No Doubt. No other groups have been confirmed so far, though Activision has stated that most of the songs will be exclusive to Guitar Hero: On Tour and over 80 percent will be master recordings rather than sound-alikes.

Activision also announced a few multiplayer modes, including a new “Guitar Duel” mode that will allow two players in the same room to wail against one another in a head-to-head rock-off. Players will be able to use power-ups similar to the ones featured in Guitar Hero III, but tailored to suit the technical capabilities of the DS. For example, you’ll be able to set another player’s guitar on fire and score big points while they frantically blow into the DS microphone to put it out.

by YVG Staff

Wii Conspiracy Roundup

The Nintendo Wii was released on November 19, 2006, nearly four months ago. Got one yet? Of course you don’t. And don’t go looking for one, either. Unless you’ve got an insider at a gaming store or the tenacity to call one every day to inquire about their next shipment, you’re not going to get one soon.

Yet the Wii is a gaming phenomenon and, unlike the Playstation 3, includes no technology of note that hasn’t been around for many years.

So why aren’t we soaking in Wiis? Have a look at some of the conspiracy theories on the Internet, strictly for your amusement:

First there’s the obvious, that Nintendo is artificially keeping supply low in order to keep demand high throughout 2007. That would make sense if Nintendo was charging higher prices now. But it isn’t, and so it’s losing out on millions every week by failing to fulfill demand and possibly losing sales to other consoles.

Also popular: Big box retailers are hoarding them for big sale days. The idea is that if they advertise Wiis on the weekend, they’ll get big traffic on those days and sell lots of paper towels and Pokemon junk (specifically mentioned are Target and Toys R Us). I can’t speak to this, but it sounds plausible at least.

On the more absurd side: A variety of lawsuits have stopped Nintendo from producing more consoles. Ok, except it is still producing consoles, just not enough for everyone.

A game store employee offered this to one Yahoo! Tech shopper: “Nintendo is at the end of its fiscal year so they aren’t sending them out.” Well, he said “physical year,” but we know what he meant. And unfortunately, that argument is inane. When companies get near the end of a fiscal year, they invariably try to sell more, not less, as it makes the numbers look better.

And of course, A-list NBA players have all the consoles. Even B-list players can’t get them.

And here’s an interesting twist: Independent Wii developers can’t even get hardware, as Wii publishers have taken all the consoles.

What’s the truth? Well, it should be obvious, if you’ve ever bought a game console in the past: Gaming companies are notorious for mismanaging their launches by not having enough product on hand for release, and being unable to fulfill demand for months at a time. The Xbox 360 was tough to get for close to a year, if you’ll recall, and like the Wii it doesn’t feature any outrageously next-gen technology.

What can you do to get one? Be patient. Shop on eBay or Craigslist if you’re desperate. And make friends with someone at a store that sells Wii hardware so you can get in line early the day they come in. Or just do what I do: Enjoy your PS2 and 360 for the time being.

By Christopher Null

Cheaters Never Win ?

Anyone who believes that cheaters never win, obviously isn’t a video game fan.

Cheating is often the key to success for video gamers like 1UP.com Editor-in-Chief Sam Kennedy, who is bringing cheat code swapping sites out of the dark ages so gamers can get more bang for their gaming buck.

“The one thing that’s universal across games is that at some point everyone has gotten stuck,” said Kennedy, although he acknowledges that today’s gamers use cheat sites for more than just getting unstuck.

“If you’re spending $60 on a game, you want to get your money’s worth. Games are massive worlds these days and there’s not just one pass through them,” said Kennedy, who led the launch late last year of MyCheats.com, a new site from Ziff Davis Game Group.

While cheating can get you blackballed in competitive video game play, solo cheating is widely practiced – even if not always admitted.

This has given rise to dozens of dedicated Web sites, including GameSpot’s (Nasdaq:CNET – news) GameFAQs.com, CheatPlanet.com, CheatCodes.com, CheatCC.com and the cheat sections at IGN.com and GameSpy.com.

Kennedy said that some popular sites catering to the cheat code trade seem as dated as your father’s Atari 2600, with reams of text documents that are hard to navigate.

“Nothing has changed in the cheats space, until now,” said Kennedy, who incorporated the latest in Web-based information trading tools into MyCheats.com.

Think of it as a mash-up of social sites like MySpace.com and user-created content sites like
Wikipedia.org, Craigslist.org and Digg.com.

“Gamers really do like to share their passion and their knowledge,” said Kennedy, who noted that gamers are also early technology adopters who embraced blogging long before it hit mainstream popularity.

MyCheats.com invites users to submit and edit content for the site’s cheat database and its “super” strategy guides. They will also have the opportunity to rate content, the best of which will be given prominent placement on the site.

Cheat codes are special series of button punches that let developers test game code and jump past certain levels. Game makers have started leaving the codes in games and releasing them over time directly to gamers or through Web sites, magazines or book publishers.

Sometimes the cheat codes are unintentional bugs discovered by players that give a boost to gameplay. Others are “Easter eggs” that are intentionally put into the game for players to find.

Among other things, the codes might allow a character to regain full health, to start a level with a menacing weapon or to acquire in-game cash. Game companies like Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS – news) and Ubisoft (UBIP.PA) have long used the codes to reignite interest in a game that has been out for several months and are increasingly using the codes for marketing campaigns on milk cartons and elsewhere.

University of North Florida student Jonathan Jakes-Schauer said cheat sites go against his principles, unless he’s missing something obvious or he is replaying a game and wants to squeeze every ounce of entertainment out of it.

“Figuring out how to do things is a part of the fun,” he said, admitting he has “compromised his principles just a bit” while playing Square Enix’s (9684.T) popular role-playing game “Kingdom Hearts.”

By Lisa Baertlein