Shaymin Revealed

Well Shaymin was officially just revealed on Pokemon.com. The only information we get is basically it's ability and it's signature move. That is the image below as proof, just in case they take it down.

Hopefully the release date for Giratina and the Sky Warrior as well as when we can get Shaymin will all be revealed soon!

Wii and Nintendo DS Set Historic New U.S. Sales Records

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– With more than 3.6 million combined systems sold in November, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ set new hardware sales records, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. The Wii console sold more than 2 million in November, a new all-time record for a non-December month. The Nintendo DS system sold more than 1.56 million in November, which is now the second-highest total for a non-December month in history. The Wii console has sold 15.4 million in the United States since it launched in November 2006, and Nintendo DS has sold nearly 24.6 million in the United States since it launched in November 2004.

“Nintendo’s record-breaking sales demonstrate that consumers are looking for the best value not only among video games, but also among all entertainment options,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Shoppers are looking for gifts that can be enjoyed by the whole family, and Nintendo provides an incomparable range of experiences that gets the whole family involved.”

Four games made for Nintendo systems placed in the top 10 U.S. best-sellers for November, representing the diversity of people who play Nintendo games. These included Wii Play™ (for casual and lapsed players) at No. 3 with more than 796,000 sold, Wii Fit™ (for new gamers) at No. 4 with more than 697,000 sold, Mario Kart™ Wii (for both core and casual payers) at No. 5 with nearly 637,000 sold and Wii Music™ (for everyone) placed at No. 9 with more than 297,000 sold, following its long-tail trend.

Looking at the industry as a whole, Nintendo products continue to fuel the engine of the video game industry. In November alone, Nintendo represented 198 percent of industry growth over 2007. Nintendo systems represented 66 percent of all hardware sales in November, including 59 percent of all console sales and 79 percent of all portable hardware sales.

For more information about Nintendo, visit www.Nintendo.com.

I know most everyone doesn't care about sales numbers, but I really wanted to point out how Nintendo is hypocritical. They say they don't generalize their games into categories like "core, hardcore, casual" yet look at their press release. I mean this is exciting that Nintendo is number 1 (but they have been for a while), so hopefully we keep seeing some great "hardcore" games in the future.

I think Nintendo provides enough for both crowds, but they should've released Disaster: Day of Crisis as their "hardcore" game during Fall 2008. Wii Music & Animal Crossing aren't hardcore...

Oh well guess I'm a hypocrite, I already said I love Nintendo today yet now I'm criticizing them, lol.

Personal Trainer: Walking to Europe as Walk With Me!

11 December 2008 – Put a spring in your step and help to enrich your life in 2009 with the fun new Nintendo DS software Walk with me! Do you know your walking routine? set to launch across Europe on 20 February.

A good active walking routine is recognised as an important part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Now Nintendo’s Walk with me! can help you to get in tune with your personal walking regime, compare it with friends, family or even your pet, and see how you compare to walkers across the globe!

This latest lifestyle software designed exclusively for the Nintendo DS comes with two specially designed pedometers called Activity Meters which measure your daily steps minute by minute.

Slim and convenient, the Activity Meter will fit into your bag or pocket as you walk and will measure your activity through the day. You can set daily walking targets with a basic setting of 3,000 steps which can be increased each day to suit your activity levels.

The data is collected and stored on the Activity Meter for up to seven days and can be easily transferred to your Nintendo DS, so you can track your progress. Simply point the Activity Meter at the Nintendo DS like a TV remote control and with one click of the button on the meter, your data will be sent by infrared signal.

With the ability to store data for up to four users, you can compare your activity with other members of your family or friends– even ranking yourself against the family dog!

Walk with me! also offers a variety of fun mini-games to help motivate you to walk. You can use your collected steps to unlock trivia, create images and find out how much electrical energy your walking would have generated for the day.

Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, users send their step data to compare with people all over the world and there are two other great ways of bringing your walking routine to life and sharing the fun.

Space Journey

You can post your own step data to combine it with users around the world and create a world step count. This is then used to plot a virtual walk across the solar system. The distance between planets has been calculated in steps and you will see graphically how you and other world users are doing on your journey through space.

World Ranking

Every Sunday the walking rankings for all users will be updated on a global scale with an interim ranking every day covering total steps, highest step count in the world and the previous week’s step count.

Anyone who then updates their game will be able to view the world’s top ranked players and how far they have walked.

Walk with me! is easy to use and will bring fun to your daily walking routine helping you in your journey to a healthier lifestyle. Step on up and get your copy now!

Walk with me! Do you know your walking routine? launches across Europe on 20 February 2009.

Can't say I'm really surprised, we know it's coming to the US under the title Personal Trainer: Walking, which will join Cooking, as well as Math in the next coming months. Nintendo is really pushing this stuff, I don't know if I would buy into this. Like I need a game to tell me how active I am, oh wait I have Wii Fit for that...

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series To Be Continued

It turns out that the latest issue of Coro Coro will reveal a new entry in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. I'm actually not entirely surprised since the Mystery Dungeon games seem to do well around the world with Pokémon branding the front. I actually find them quite enjoyable sometimes, though sometimes I find them annoying... Anyway, here is the image that states this information:

ポケモン不思議のダンジョン <---this part says "Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon" which means "Mysterious Dungeon" I bet we'll probably see a Ranger 3 and maybe a new Pokémon game for Wii after the fact. The DS is set to be around for a long time. It's been around for 4 years, it may very well be around for 4 more years ^_^

I love you Nintendo!!!

Sands of Destruction Announced by SEGA

SEGA ANNOUNCES UPCOMING U.S. RELEASE OF SANDS OF DESTRUCTION ON NINTENDO DS

Splendid visuals, fascinating characters and a high-powered battle system to be featured in the next epic Japanese RPG experience

SAN FRANCISCO (December 4, 2008) – SEGA® of America, Inc. announced today that the exclusive Nintendo DS™ title, Sands of Destruction™, will be releasing in North America. Critically acclaimed in Japan and gaining recognition through the television anime World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokuni™, gamers will experience an action-packed story featuring a unique range of characters, a gorgeous artistic atmosphere and an intense RPG battle system.

“We are very excited to bring this original RPG to the U.S.,” states Yoichi Shimosato, producer of Sands of Destruction. “Our very talented team is eager to showcase the unique world and gameplay experience of Sands of Destruction and they firmly believe we have created an RPG world that can be enjoyed by everyone.”

In Sands of Destruction, a race of powerful beastmen known as the Ferals rule over the human population with tyranny and prejudice. A group of warriors, the World Annihilation Front, believe their only option for ending the corruption of the Ferals is to end the world as they know it. This intense game puts gamers in control of an intriguing cast of characters including the crusading Morte Ashera as well as Kyrie Illunis, who unknowingly holds the key to global destruction. Gamers will explore a fantastic world, traveling across oceans of sand, battling colossal enemy monsters and unraveling the mystery of the creation of the world.

”SEGA is excited to be bringing this innovative, engaging IP to Nintendo DS,” states Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing for SEGA of America, Inc. “With the incredible talent and vision of the development team, Sands of Destruction promises to deliver the next epic RPG experience to gamers everywhere.”

Featuring an all-star team of Japanese RPG developers, Sands of Destruction utilizes the upper and lower DS screens for its dynamic battle system, including major boss battles where elite monsters take up both DS screens. Mixing traditional turn-based tactics with fighting game mechanics to create an intense gameplay experience, Sands of Destruction also features an innovative “Quip system” where characters utter inspiring battle commands that enhance abilities and boost attributes to give them various advantages during battle. As the story unfolds new battle commands will be discovered and gamers will be able to customize the different commands to each character.

Sands of Destruction will be released in fall 2009, exclusively for Nintendo DS™

I am actually very excited for this game. But seriously, Fall 2009? Why would it take another year for the game to come out? Come on now SEGA, Nintendo doesn't take a whole year to get games out...anymore at least. Give this to us early next year please :)

Dragon Quest 10 for Wii

Dragon Quest X was just announced for the Wii at the Dragon Quest event in Japan. Here is the Japanese live-blog of the show here.

The following text announces Dragon Quest X:

「次のドラゴンクエスト10はWii」と思わず堀井 雄二氏がもらしてしまいました。「まずはドラゴンクエスト9をよろしくね！」だそうです。
“Wii moat well Yuji leaked the following dragon QUEST 10” unintentionally. Don't you think? “dragon QUEST 9 to be possible first!”It probably will put out, is.

I know machine translation fails, but this is on a Japanese live-blog so it must be true.

Pokémon Platinum & Fire Emblem Release Date?

Overnight, Circuit City.com revealed a page for Pokémon Platinum, with a specific release date of March 22nd, 2009. The page has since been removed, so the game may very well be coming out then. Here is the image below:

Pluto is known as "Charon", Handsome is known as "Looker", and the Torn World is known as the "Distortion World". I don't understand why they would change Pluto's name in the US as Pluto is a Galaxy admin. I am so excited, I can't wait to play this game. I hope the release date ends up being true.

Update: They can't use Pluto as a character name because of the Disney character having the name trademarked back in 1930. It really sucks, though Charon is the name of one of Pluto's moons.

Circuit City also has a page up for Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, complete with boxart and a release date of February 23rd, 2009. It's starting to make the Pokémon date look more likely, and this sounds very likely as well. All we need to know is what game for DS that might be released in January. I have a feeling it could be Rhythm Heaven, since Mario & Luigi RPG 3 isn't even out in Japan yet.