So you may have heard already but Nintendo sold just shy of the 4 million consoles they planned on having out by the end of 2006. But they were close:

• 1.25 million were sold in North America
• 1.14 in Japan and
• 800,000 in Europe

For a grand total of 3.19 million units.

Recent reports also suggest that the Wii has sold just over 4 million units this past week or so.

Sony, on the other hand, is experiencing problems.

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So the PS3 has been out for a while now and from what I can tell, many people are stil disappointed with its performance.

However there are a growing few, like me, who see the future potential of this console. That is, once the bugs are fixed and some of the other promises kept it wil truly be the best console on the market.

But until then, we can relish in this review of the PS3 by Arstechnica. In it we learn of some of the problems associated with the next-gen console including Sony's apparent lack of communication as well as its gaming strategy which, while succeeding online is failing in retail stores.

However, like the Wii and Xbox they too have finally embraced the idea that perhaps we don't need discs? Perhaps a game can be served fully online? Only time will tell.

Personally I think a streaming game, just like streaming video, is destined to happen. It's just a matter of who will do it first and when.

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A couple Wii stories for you today.

Apparently it is possible to lose weight while playing your Wii. I know I forgot a cardinal rule when playing it for the first time - if you don't stretch you'll pay for it later. My first game of baseball taught me that.

But this guy went a few steps further. He actually built in Wii play for 30 minutes a day as part of his daily activities. And guess what? Over a period of about 6 weeks he lost weight!

Now you may say to yourself, bah humbug! But it's true. He even graphed his progress

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I don't know why I'm so facinated with this company. Maybe because they had such a great idea which they blew off because of their greed.

They were years ahead of the competition and, in fact, the Gizmondo is still ahead of the competition even having been dead these past couple years.

I know this because I had the fortune to talk to someone within the company to which they had subcontracted the development of the main hardware to. And when he told me what the capabilties of the handheld were it blew me away.

So it is sad to see it not materialize, however maybe its for the best. I mean, what if they had sold a bunch of these handhelds, and had thousands (or millions?) of subscribers shelling out monthly fees - what of their loss?

But, if you think you can revive the brand, or just some extra cash lying around, why not check out the auction going on for their display booth.

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Yes it is true I got a Wii on the weekend. And it wasn't that hard after all.

I didn't stand in line for more than 10 minutes. In fact I was home in less than an hour after leaving.

I just went to my local Toys 'R' Us because I knew they were getting a big shipment, and waited in a short line to get my hands on one.

Sure there were those who waited outside in the cold for hours just to get a ticket to ensure they got one, but they had more than enough consoles for everyone who got there right around opening.

In fact, When I left there were about 3 more left, but I saw people rushing in as I was leaving so I don't think they would have lasted that long.

It's refreshing to finally see some news other than Wii or PS3.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited about the prospects of these 2 new consoles, however all everyone seems to talk about is how great the Wii is and how the PS3 sucks.

And while I do agree that the Wii is awesome (I finally got one, but I"ll save that for another story) I do also feel that the PS3 is a kickass console, it just hasn't "come of age" yet. I bet by Christmas 2007 all the kids that got a Wii for 2006 will want the PS3.

But enough of my rambling, on to the non-Wii/PS3 news.

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By now I'm sure you've all heard about the lady who died trying to win a Wii.

She drank too much water and wouldn't urinate, in the hopes of winning a Wii and for that she ended up in the morgue. How much do you think her 3 kids want a Wii now?

And of course you've all heard stories of people paying $500, $600 or more for a Wii (and surprisingly there are still PS3's available in stores).

It reminds me of last year this time when no one could get their hands on an Xbox 360. Yet what lessons have we learned?

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We got this from one of our regular readers:

According to NPD, a retail market research firm, Nintendo sold 604,200 Wii consoles in the United States in December, beating Sony, which sold 490,700 units of the PS3.

In addition, Microsoft sold 1.1 million Xbox 360s in December.

Overall, video game and hardware sales were $3.7 billion in December, up 28 percent, according to NPD's figures.

The press release can be found here.

It appears so.

Some diehard 'Casters are keeping the console alive through many ways. But would you believe there are still some games being released for the DC?

It's true - 2007 will see the release of at least 3 games for the defunct console.

I can't say I'm disappointed. I still have 2 of these consoles and I still prefer their games over the PS2/3 and Xbox. In fact I just bought my second Dreamcast on Ebay since the first one recently died. Got a good deal too. $40 for the console, 2 controllers, a bunch of memory cards and 5 games.

Sure the other guy was probably cleaning house, but I have over 200 games and I don't want to scrap them.

Here are more details on the new Dreamcast games.

There is a site you can use to find Wii in Canada:

http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php/wiifinder/

Now, before you say great! let me tell you that everyone is out of stock. And if you've been hunting for a Wii you know that already.

But if you follow the tips from my last post you should be able to find one.

That means staking out your local electronics or toy retailer when you know courier shipments arrive.

Hey Everyone,
Hope you had some scary good Holiday's and a great New Year's party or two. Just letting you know we are back in business and will be updating the site a hell of a lot more in 2007. So if you haven't added us to your RSS feeds yet, what are you waiting for? And please support our sponsors while you are here.

Thanks,
iamlegend

I see it's been a while since the last post so I thought it was time.

But instead of reporting on the news (as it's been pretty quiet lately since the Wii and PS3 came out) I thought I'd update you on my hunt for the Wii.

I tell you, this thing is more elusive than the bigfoot. The only one I've seen is on display in a locked case in Walmart. I'm not sure I'll ever get my hand on one.

At first I thought I had one locked up - a friend was going to talk to a store manager buddy of his and get one set aside for me when then came in but that lead has now dried up. Looks like I'm now going to have to be like everyone else - hoping to hit the store at the right time. But I think I know what to do now, and I'll share my secret with you...

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