Lots of Wii news coming from the latest Nintendo Power, which everything-Wii blog Codename Revolution has happily provided to the rest of world. Among some of the exciting announcements, such as Medal of Honor Wii screens, information on The Looney Tunes (“Warner Bros. Meets Smash Bros.”) and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title (Ubisoft is using the Jade engine!) is the announcement that Super Paper Mario will be coming to the Wii in April of 2007! Now where are all the skeptics poo-pooing that no good Wii titles are coming until the end of the year? Originally headed for the Gamecube, the game has been switched over to the Wii and supposedly will feature a unique controller scheme with the player holding the Wiimote sideways (old school style). There is reportedly improved graphics over the version which was shown at E3 2006, which is a great thing since I don’t believe anyone has taken the Wii to town yet with it’s graphical abilities.

Read more: Super Paper Mario coming for Wii in April

In what can not be considered a good thing, the Playstation 3 has posted it’s worst week of sales since it’s launch in Japan. The Media Create sales numbers for the week ending January 14th show an overall slump in sales all around, yet still paint an unflattering picture for the Playstation 3, showing sales at 25,531 units, not a particularly strong showing for console so recently launched. Nintendo Wii sales were also down, posting it’s second-worst week of sales since it’s launch, with 93,708 units sold, though it’s unclear if anyone can consider selling almost 100,000 units a week a bad thing. Media Create takes sales data from around 3,000 retail stores across Japan, extrapolating them into national sales estimates.

See the Japanese software sales charts for the week ending January 14th after the jump..

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One of the few exciting things about the Wii Internet Channel is the freedom it’s allowing home brew experimentalists in the creation of their web applications, specifically geared to the Wii Opera browsing experience. One such application is SofaTube, a new web application allowing Wii surfers the ability to stream YouTube and Revver videos using an interface which has been optimized for widescreen televisions and longer viewing distances. Featuring large, easy to drag and drop elements, SofaTube is PERFECT for those Wii couch surfers looking for an easy way to watch someone setting themselves on fire while replying to Lonelygirl15.

See more: SofaTube

Ah the joys of DIY crafts when combined with gaming. Want to meet new friends around your town to join your Mii parade? Now you easily can, a group of craft hackers have warmed up their 1″ button maker and are offering 1″ pins (or, piins) featuring your very own Mii character’s face and personal Wii number on the front. Simply email a high quality photo (try printing it out yourself beforehand to check quality) of your Mii, your Wii console number and $3.50 via PayPal (and at your own risk) to the folks at Mii Buttons and get your very own personal Mii pin shortly thereafter. Hot!

Read more: Custom Miibuttons

Another in a long line of Wii “killer apps” has arrived in the US and that is none other than the next installment of the Wario Ware series. Tons of insane mini-games that take you through the Wario Ware universe, Smooth Moves integrates the Wii controller into the mix, allowing players to do absolutely silly, but enjoyable things, like pumping up tires, dropping controllers and writing letters on the screen. Also of difference is the ability to do up to 12 player multiplay (4 controllers x 3), which could almost fill an average living room full of flailing and confused friends. Mini-games ahoy!

Hit the jump to watch a video demonstration of 12 player multiplayer mode…

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NPD has announced their sales figures for the busy holiday season and the results were a very pleasant surprise for the industry. Hardware was king this holiday season, though, surprisingly, it was the two recently launched consoles (the Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3) which carry the biggest disappointments.

Nintendo, as expected, destroyed their competition, but it wasn’t thanks to the Wii, which sold a respectable (but still disappointing) 604.2K units bringing it’s LTD up to 1.1 million in the US. It appears to me that shortages hurt here, though nowhere near as much as the shortages and lackluster interest in the PS3 has hurt Sony. The DS hand held however, cleaned house, selling a breathtaking 1.6 million units for December, solidifying Nintendo’s hold in the hand held race and giving thrifty parents a perfectly priced stocking stuffer for their kids.

Microsoft fared quite well, with the Xbox 360 clocking in with 1.1 million units, with Gears of War becoming a new “Halo-like” franchise for the strongest running next-generation console so far.

Sony are clocking in with surprising results. PS2 post major numbers, selling a whopping 1.4 million consoles. Whether this is actually a good thing remains to be seen. It appears the PS2 is still running quite strong, which may point to a lack of interest or lack of affordability to the PS3. I don’t know how proud Sony could be of having their last generation machine tearing into the customer base which should be purchasing their new console, but, income is income and right now they certainly aren’t making anything off of the PS3. More good news for Sony followed with the PSP, which showed a stronger than expected sell through, posting 953K units, surprising those who can’t figure out a reason to even turn their PSP on anymore. On to the PS3, which posted better than expected numbers, but still pointed to a worrying start for the more than half a grand machine. With 490.7K units (687.3K LTD) the PS3 showed that it’s supply problems were holding it back, but those are rumored to be clearing up.

Overall, total hardware sales rang up to $4.6 billion USD (up 42.8%) and software amounted to $6.5 billion USD (up 6.4%).

Read more: NPD analysis by GameDaily Biz

Since it’s been more than oh, 24 hours, I have to talk about the Wii again. Sorry. But what better way to get a mention of one of my favorite next generation consoles in than by combining a post about it with the Roomba, another innovative product in it’s own right. For those who don’t know what a Wii is, there’s no hope for you, but if you’re questioning about the Roomba, there I can help. The Roomba is a disc-shaped mechanoid which performs the simple duty of cleaning your hardwood or tiled floors (and extremely thin carpeting). Automatically, via simple algorithms such as spiral cleaning, wall-fallowing and random walk angle-changing when it collides with another object. A major part of the Roomba’s popularity, other than the fact it cleans your floors for you with minimal fuss, is that the creators have opened up a certain degree of the robot’s programming, creating an open-language for hacking and modding. This has led to some pretty outstanding mods, such as the one we see here in this video, where a dashing your university student has hacked his Roomba to follow the Wiimote’s motions. Creating a symphony of little Roomba’s would be an evil-Wii-genius’ dream come true!

Watch the video after the jump..

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A recent interview with analyst Paul-Jon McNeely of American Technology Research brought to light analyst expectations that the Sony PS3 shortage is in full effect and Sony is stretching themselves thin with the upcoming European launch. McNeely expects the PS3 shortages to last into the Summer with Wii shortages to last until early Spring. With no stock to sell and few killer apps coming for the PS3, it looked a bit as if Sony would be in for a hurting this holiday season. But it’s not so, since the PS2 appears to be running neck and neck with the Microsoft Xbox 360 for second choice.

McNealy said investors and game makers tempered their forecasts for the PS3s since initial numbers fell short. He added that the PS3 will likely remain scarce through the June quarter.

“They have to launch in Europe, and they’re stretched,” said McNealy.

Wii shortages could ease in the March quarter, he said.

Read more: Fox News

It’s 1998, kids were going nuts over the Nintendo 64, and so were the adults. Happy holidays folks.

Three Five Wii-related posts in a row, you know what that means, it’s Christmas time and I still haven’t been able to get a Wii. Come on Nintendo, this is getting ridiculous. Anyways, a recent posting over at Game Trailers brought to our attention a new gameplay video from Pokemon Battle Revolution from Japan. I must admit, the graphics are a step up in the Pokemon series, providing some of the cleanest looking Pokemons I’ve seen in-game before.

Catch the video after the jump..

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