Source: videogamesblogger.com

Nintendo has announced that they have sold an incredible 800,000 Wii units during the Thanksgiving week holiday, from November 23rd to November 29th.

That is more than double the amount (of 350,000) sold during the same week last year, despite the economic troubles. In fact it’s so much that Nintendo nearly matched the entire November 2007 monthly sales figures with the sales of the Wii during Thanksgiving week 2008, an incredible achievement.

As of September 30th, the Wii has sold nearly 35 million units worldwide, making it easily the best-selling platform of the current console generation.

And the monthly outlook for November may be even rosier. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimates that the Wii sold a whopping 1.4 million units during November (He also predicts record sales of the reduced-price Xbox 360 at 800,000 units and steadily advancing PS3 sales at 400,000 units). Overall Pachter predicts that console sales overall were up 17% during the month of November with handheld sales dropping 5%.

As far as Nintendo’s DS handheld is concerned, sales were up 20% of last year for the week of Thanksgiving, but Nintendo did not provide exact figures. The uptick in sales comes despite the unveiling of the DSi, which is the third redesign in the DS system hardware that includes built-in cameras, a web-browser and the ability to download software via an online store. The DSi won’t be released until “well into 2009″ and has been selling briskly in Nintendo’s home country of Japan since it went on sale last month. Despite that, sales of the DS in the U.S. are still selling like hotcakes as is the Nintendo Wii, which is simply off the charts.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has become the best-selling PC game of all time, topping out at nearly 3 million copies sold in the first 24 hours worldwide (2.8 million is the exact number).

This, of course, proves how huge of a franchise World of Warcraft is. And how strong of a brand name Activision Blizzard have in their hands.

The previous record was held by the previous World of Warcraft Expansion Pack, World of Warcraft – The Burning Crusade which sold nearly 2.4 million copies on the day of it’s release.

“We’re grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, Blizzard’s CEO and co-founder. “Wrath of the Lich King contains some of the best content we’ve created for the game so far, and we look forward to seeing even more players log in to experience it in the days ahead.”

WoW’s subscriber base recently topped 11 million user worldwide and it looks like it’s not going to slow down anytime soon.

Via CVG

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Give credit to Microsoft where it’s due, sales of the Xbox 360 are projected to exceed the lifetime instal base of the original Xbox by November, where the Xbox 360 will surpass 25 million units sold.

In Microsoft’s own words: “By the end of this month, we expect our global installed base to reach 25 million units, surpassing that of the first Xbox,” said Mindy Mount, CFO of the Xbox business, at the BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference.

This is a big deal because of Microsoft’s huge investment, at a gigantic loss, to break into the video game market. Now we all knew that the Xbox 360 was a successful platform, but this proves that there is more interest in the Xbox than ever before, and an important milestone to be able to surpass Microsoft’s first console.

And this is only the start, Mindy Mount went on to say. That’s because “more than three-quarters” of a console’s lifetime sales are made when the system falls to the “sweet spot” price point of $199.99 or lower. Which is the price of the lowest-end Xbox 360 available, the Arcade, reports Edge.

According to Microsoft, recently introduced 360 price cuts saw Xbox sales jump 42% month-on-month in the States, 62% in Europe and 500% in Japan.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

In what comes as a surprise to absolutely no one, Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360 has sold over 2 million copies worldwide in it’s first week on store shelves. No surprise because, outside of perhaps Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 has been one of the most anticipated Xbox 360 games building up to it’s release, and the original Gears of War was a massive hit.

If you need help with the game, be sure to check out our Gears of War 2 codes, cheats, game help and achievements list.

About the game
The gears of war continue to turn as Marcus Fenix and his squad of Cogs go back into action in the sequel to Microsoft and developer Epic Games’ blockbuster action title. Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad, locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde for the survival of humanity. The game promises to be an epic saga of survival, loss, and retribution. Just as Gears of War set the standard for high-definition visuals, Gears of War 2 raises the bar even further with the amazing technological advances of Unreal Engine 3, delivering a bigger, badder, and more intense experience as the story continues.

Here are a few interesting numbers that Microsoft released:

* over 1.5 million players had their stats tracked by Xbox Live over the weekend as they played Gears of War 2
* Those 1.5 million played a combined 15 million hours worth of the game.
* Over 19 million worth of Gears of War 2 achievements have been unlocked!

Just for fun, here’s a very cool “Death Montage” video from Gears of War 2.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

The latest first-person shooter from Ubisoft, Far Cry 2, has done great for them, selling one million copies worldwide in just under three weeks across the three platforms the game was released on (Xbox, 360, PlayStation 3 and PC).

Which is always good news for publishers due to the economic slowdown and the fact that that there have been several huge releases vying for the wallets of gamers everywhere, including the likes of Gears of War 2, LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Spore, Mirror’s Edge, Call of Duty: World at War and Resistance 2.

Far Cry 2 is the sequel to the original Far Cry (released way back in March of 2004) and this time is set in the planes of Africa with a new storyline, new characters and an open world complete with realistic fire that can burn anything in your path.

Far Cry 2 got pretty good reviews from video game publications and has a rating of around 86% for all versions on gamerankings.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

It’s official: Fallout 3 has been a phenomenal hit for developer Bethesda, who has announced that the game enjoyed record sales as they shipped approximately 4.7 million units of the game to stores worldwide. With retail sales in excess of $300 million dollars for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions. Ka-ching!

And here are the obligatory interesting Fallout 3 facts, some even sales related!

* Fallout 3 released in North America on October 28 where it was sold at over 2,000 midnight store openings nationwide.
* Quickly after it’s release, the game became one of the industry’s top sellers around the world for the year.
* In the UK, the game wasn’t released until Friday, October 31st where it’s rapid sales led to Fallout 3 being ranked #1 among all video games in terms of sales, as well as being the #1 game on each of it’s three platforms.
* Fallout 3 was hailed as one of the most anticipated games of 2008.
* Critically acclaimed, the game received top scores, including perfect scores of 10 out of 10, from several media sources including: Official Xbox Magazine, Gamespy, GamePro, UGO, the Associated Press, MSN, The Washington Post, Guardian, FHM, Scripps Howard, G4-TV, The Toronto Star and Eurogamer
* Fallout 3 was an extremely successful follow-up to their last game, 2006’s “Game of the Year” hit The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which remains one of the highest scoring games ever published and earned many “Game of the Year” awards that year.
* Fallout 3 has been featured on over 100 magazine covers across the world and is available in eight languages.
* Fallout 3 shipped with a regular edition as well as a Fallout 3 – Limited Collector’s Edition.
* Fallout 3’s Official Game Guide also saw strong sales for both the regular and collector’s edition.
* Fallout 3 has yet to be released in Japan, where it hits stores on December 4th in censored form.
* Fallout 3 features one of the most realized game worlds ever created

Source: videogamesblogger.com

FIFA Soccer 09 has sold over 1.2 million copies in it’s first week on store shelves in Europe, making it the fastest selling FIFA title yet according to publisher Electronic Arts. And that’s no mean feat, as the highly regarded FIFA Soccer series started WAY back in 1993!

EA Sports President and beloved company figurehead Peter Moore had this to day about the sales breakthrough, “FIFA Soccer 09’s great kick-off is a testament to our loyal fans across Europe who simply can’t wait to get their hands on the game. This is our fastest selling FIFA game of all time and it’s rewarding to see the game so high on the list of must-have titles this holiday.”

The wait for North American fans is nearly upon us, as FIFA Soccer ‘09 is scheduled for release on these shores in four days, on October 14th. So be sure to check it out and see what all the fuss is about. Here’s a trailer for the game.

Via 1-Up