Well, January’s numbers are in:

• Wii - 274,000
• PlayStation 3 - 269,000
• PlayStation 2 - 264,000
• Nintendo DS - 251,000
• PlayStation Portable - 230,000
• Xbox 360 - 230,000

Wow, the PS2 is still going strong.  The PS2 and 3 both outsold the DS, which still dominates the hand-held market.  The Wii is still on top of things, but the PS3 is not very far behind.   Let’s see how things roll out in February.

Article here: Kotaku

News from Kotaku: 

Parappa creator, Masaya Matsuura is back explaining his statement a while back about the DS bubble bursting in Japan.

He explains that games with non-gaming content are struggling with low numbers. For example, the second Brain Training game did not sell as well as the first. He also goes on to say that the situation for the Wii is much more difficult, because it seems that third parties get no support in Japan.

Well, that seems like the situation here too. For some reason, Nintendo fans just don’t seem to be giving the third parties any love. It’s OK Ubisoft, I own a few of your games on the Wii and the DS.

Still, this is all coming from the guy who sticks to one genre. I loved the original Parappa, but it was just as simple as many of the games he is talking about now. There was not a whole lot of content, it was just a fun game.

Check out the real article here: Masaya Matsuura talks DS and Wii 

 News From GoNintendo:

Well, it’s official, this is the box art for Mario Kart Wii.  This box art has been around for about a month, but until now there was no word on whether or not the art was real.  Looks like it is.  I can’t wait for my 16 player online.

Full Story here: Mario Kart Wii 

I got it from Kotaku, again:

Miyamoto said in a recent interview on Nintendo’s site that Wii Fit is not necessarily meant to make you fit, rather ” what it’s actually aiming to do is make you aware of your body.”

Then people get all bent out of shape over it. It’s a game. These same people will be disappointed when most of them find out that they won’t be in real rock bands either.

Check it out: Here

News From Ars Technica:

Well, all the shovelware is finally catching up to our little gaming machine.  The Wii has the lowest average scores of all the consoles.  PS3 is on top at an average score of just over 72% and the 360 is right behind it at about 70%.  Wii however, is at the bottom  at a 64% average.

Is this bad news for Wii owners?

Not really, in fact it’s good news if you ask me.  We are getting all the shovelware this generation.  That means the system is selling.  If you look back every console generation, the top system has always gotten loads of crappy games.  The good ones are what make them memorable.  Take a look back to see how many PS2, PSX or even NES games were just horrid.  Yeah, we will keep getting the bad games, but we also have the Nintendo exclusives.

No need to panic or be angry.  Just enjoy being at the top.  Developers get the hint when No More Heroes outsells Ninja Bread Man.

Original Article Here: Wii Averages 

Well, I have to wake up early for work tomorrow, and its almost 3 AM, so I guess I should hit the hay. I will leave you with one more quick update.

Japanese Game Sales