Crispy Gamer News

Ask any parent what the big “must get” item is for this holiday season, and most will have Nintendo’s Wii console somewhere on that list. Of course, since the Wii is the “It” item of the year, it’s getting so that finding one is about as rare as spotting Bigfoot in the wild. That is, unless you decide to hit up Wal-Mart for your holiday shopping.

According to Reuters, Wal-Mart has secured a supply of “tens of thousands” of the Wii game consoles, and will begin offering them for sale on the Wal-Mart website starting today. Walmart.com said it will offer the Nintendo Wii console by itself for $249.24, as well as bundle deals ranging in price from $329 to $458 which include the console and other items like an extra set of controllers, extra games, or even the also elusive Wii Fit, while supplies last.
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Like those pesky dentists from the chewing gum ads, it looks like three out of four holiday shoppers preferred the Xbox 360 to the PS3 on Black Friday. The 360 had record-breaking console sales on one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year over the Black Friday weekend. According to Microsoft, the 360 outsold its PlayStation 3 competitor by a 3:1 ratio, with an estimated 25 percent increase from Xbox 360 Black Friday sales figures over last year. 360 sales were also bolstered by strong software sales, with the console maintaining its record as the console with the highest game attach rate of any console, clocking in 8.1 games per console.

“We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Record Black Friday sales in the U.S., coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009.”

Xbox 360 sales have also surged worldwide since the September price drop, outselling the PlayStation 3 week over week across Europe. Console sales in Europe are up as much as 400 percent, with sales nearly double year over year and reaching 7 million consoles sold this generation. With a starting price point of $199.99 worldwide (estimated retail price) for the Xbox 360 Arcade, a strong game lineup, the launch of the New Xbox Experience, and the addition of Netflix integration to the console, it’s looking more and more like the 360 may be the console to beat this holiday season. Well, at least until Nintendo amps up its shipments of Wii consoles to retail.

Amazon.com is having a massive sale starting Friday as it attempts to get some of that lucrative holiday shopping money that may be in short supply during this normally brisk selling season. More importantly, the company is hoping to cash in on people looking to purchase games with a massive amount of specials.
Some of these sales are limited to Black Friday, while others will run for several days - either until the sale ends or the company runs out of the stock it’s trying to move. It’s an interesting move that has the potential to keep some shoppers at home making those all-important holiday purchases from the comfort of their computers. A full listing of what Amazon has planned after the break.

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Man, it’s a hard road this week for gamers looking for something substansive and serious.

There’s very little to sink your tetth into this week but there are are afew bright spots including Gothic 3 Collector’s Edition, Syberia for the DS, and Chrono Trigger.

Maybe there’s some other gems in there but it’s looking pretty damn doubtful.  I honestly expected better releases for this week, given that the busiest shopping day of the year - Black Friday - is at the end of the week. Full list after the break.

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