There was a time when Sony’s Playstation was the only console that gamers wanted. In the years that have passed since, Microsoft unveiled its Xbox 360 and took a large chunk of Sony’s share of the marker.

While the Sony PS3 has better graphics, it also costs more than the Xbox 360. It might have Blu-ray built in, but gamers don’t necessarily factor that in to their needs and requirements from a gaming console. Even so, while it is not a surprise that a giant such as Microsoft would enter the market with such a competitive product, it was when Nintendo released the Wii in 2006.

Few could guess that in only a few months the Nintendo Wii would capture much of the market share from Sony and Microsoft. Wii FANBOY reports that since then, over 20 million Nintendo Wii consoles have been sold worldwide.

Through rigorous scientific calculations, Nintendo Wii Fanboy has decided to officially quantify that total as “a lot.” Most of these units were sold in the past nine months, causing Nintendo’s profits to nearly double in that time.

Selling so many units in such a short space of time obviously leads to a high turnover in games as well.

Wii Play - 2,3 million
Super Mario Galaxy - 1,3 million
Mario Party 8 - 1 million
Twilight Princess - 1.3 million

Given its success thanks to its innovative gameplay, I wonder when we’ll see a console from Microsoft or Sony to compete with the Nintendo Wii?

Photo: © mercenario

It’s already been a year since speculation first started suggesting that the Nintendo Wii would eventually be available in different colors. And recently, the Nintendo Darth Vader Black Edition, genuine or not with only four available for $15,000 on eBay at least suggested that such a move by Nintendo would no doubt prove to be a great success.

Therefore, it wasn’t with much surprise that I stumbled upon this post by CrunchGear which includes the text of an e-mail from a Target employee who works in the Electronics Department at SuperTarget.

I work in the Electronics Department at a SuperTarget. Everything in Target has a DPCI number, which is kind of like a sku number. (For example, The number for the Wii is 207-25-0001) When an employee enters this number (either by hand or by scanning a barcode), it will give them the name of the item, price, location in the store, and a number of other details.

Here is what I find interesting: Before Christmas, when an employee would scan the Wii, “Wii Console” would come up as its “title”. However, I noticed that when scanning the Wii barcode, that, instead of “Wii Console”, “Wii White” would come up as the title instead. Attached is a picture of a location print-up which illustrates the “Wii White” title. I find this interesting because what made Target change the title from “Wii Console” to “Wii White”, unless there is another color coming soon. When a Playstation 3 is scanned, it doesn’t say “Playstation 3 40GB Black”, it just says “Playstation 3 40GB”. I’ve found Target to know about many things before they are released, such as having the iPods listed as “Discontinued” a week before the new ones were announced.

Well, we can’t consider this e-mail as definite sign that colored Nintendo Wii’s will soon be on the way, but at some point I’m sure we will. Personally speaking, I’d prefer a black Nintendo Wii rather than a white one. For me at least, a black games console looks more stylish and individual even if it will prove to have significant appeal in the mass market.

Photo: © Joachim S.Mueller

A few days ago we wrote about Nintendo’s gift certificates available at Gamestop on 21 December. For anyone buying a certificate for $250, delivery of a Nintendo Wii after one month was apparently guaranteed.

So, 21 December has since come and gone, and accounts of what the scene was like at the shop are now trickling out. From early morning, a crowd of people had not surprisingly formed a large queue outside.

According to WIRED one of the Gamestop stores didn’t offer the voucher in its limited-edition DVD case.

we’ve already received a tip from a reader that his GameStop store, in Wilson, North Carolina, didn’t know anything about a limited-edition DVD case, and all he walked away with was a cash register receipt.

Still there is not much information about the event. Buying a Wii certificate is just a small part of a job and don’t forget to let me know when you will get your Nintendo Wii consoles after a month.

Photo: © svensonsan

With the Nintendo Wii one of the most sought after presents this holiday season, it’s no wonder that GIZMODO reports that Nintendo manufactures 1.8 million Wii consoles a month. But wait! That’s not 1.8 million for North America, but 1.8 million for the whole world!

No wonder that many people continue to dream about just one Nintendo Wii console. I can’t remember a single item being in such short supply for two holiday seasons in a row. perhaps Nintendo doubted the popularity of its own product?

Photo: © iMorpheous