The Top 10 Best Sellers of '08 - Did Your Favorite Make the List?

The stats for the best selling titles of 2008 have been released, and it was unquestionably Nintendo's year for sales. Wii Play (bundled with the Wii remote) is at the top of the pack with a staggering 5.28 million in sales for last year alone. Would it have sold as well without the remote pack in? Probably not, but I know that’s the reason I (and millions of others) purchased it. The mini-games on it are decently fun too, if only for a limited amount of time. Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl round out the next three spots, all featuring both mainstream and casual appeal. Grand Theft Auto IV on the 360 did extremely well at the number five spot with over three million copies sold, and Call of Duty: World at War (the 360 version) outsold Gears of War 2 on the same platform. Grand Theft Auto IV sold under two million units at the number eight spot on the PS3, and Madden 09 on the 360 sold about the same at number nine. Mario Kart DS, a title that was released way back in 2005, rounds out the list at number ten.

And, for those that just want to know the top 10 best sellers without any context...

1. Wii Play (Wii remote bundle - Wii
2. Mario Kart Wii (Racing wheel bundle) - Wii
3. Wii Fit (Balance board bundle) - Wii
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Wii
5. Grand Theft Auto IV - 360
6. Call of Duty: World at War - 360
7. Gears of War 2 - 360
8. Grand Theft Auto IV - PS3
9. Madden NFL 09 - 360
10. Mario Kart DS - DS

It was a tremendously good year for Nintendo, whose mix of accessible games and popular franchises dominated the sales chart. Amazingly enough, Mario Kart DS made the top 10 list despite being three years old! It was also interesting to see Call of Duty: World at War outsell Gears of War 2. Hopefully 2009 will be an even better year for gaming - I have my fingers crossed...

New Reviews of Old Games

Yeah, I'm almost positive that no one's gonna care one bit about these ancient 360 and Wii launch titles. But, just because I feel like writing about them, here's some mini-reviews of old games that you can buy dirt cheap now.

Kameo Elements of Power (Xbox 360)

As soon as you jump into Kameo you are right in the climax of the title. Unfortunately, it sets you up with a bit of a let down, as the rest of the experience is slower paced and not nearly as interesting as the beginning of the title. Once you get beyond the gorgeous next-gen visual “wow” factor you will discover a title crammed with puzzles a three-year old could solve and some rather laughable character design. Sure, the beautiful environments are a sight to behold and some of the bosses are rather enjoyable to take down, but if you missed Kameo during the Xbox 360’s launch years ago then there’s no reason to give it a try today, especially now that the console’s library has blossomed.

Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360)

Sure, it fails to break any new ground in the genre, but the racing engine is so solid that you’ll fail to care. Microsoft’s third entry in their premier racing series is the most refined version yet. Sure, it’s not leaps and bounds above its predecessors, but if you want a solid online racer then you should look no further than Project Gotham Racing 3. Hell, it still has a healthy online community, even in 2008!


Elebits (Wii)
I’m a sucker for originality, but Elebits is one of those instances where it’s unique to a fault. The game play revolves around catching hidden Elebits throughout a home, and the concept is just as boring as it sounds. The storyline is another issue… it’s so kid-oriented that your younger brother would probably be embarrassed to play it. The impressive, lighthearted soundtrack is Elebits’ only redeeming quality.

Super Smash. Bros Brawl Finally Hits Stores... But With Some Disc Issues

My Wii has been sitting untouched for quite some time now, so I (and millions of others of eager gamers) decided to pick up the latest title in what may be Nintendo's most popular franchise: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Although my shiny new copy works fine, many gamers have been complaining of their copies not functioning on their Wii consoles.

The problem? According to the big N itself, dust:

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl utilizes a double-layer disc which has a large memory capacity. A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large capacity disc if there is some contamination on the lens of the disc drive. Nintendo has specialized cleaning equipment that can resolve this problem. (Please do NOT attempt to clean the lens yourself, as you may damage the system.)" says Nintendo on their website.

I'm sure more than a few gamers are absolutely devastated by this news. I mean, if you went to the midnight release last night you'd know what I'm talking about... Nintendo fans of all ages were literally taking flips (yes, that actually happened) and snapping photos of themselves with their prized new copies, overly excited to play it... well, they're just going to have to wait a little while longer to play Brawl. In the mean time, why not read a good book, or, perhaps, Pro-Gamer? Now if you excuse me, I have to unlock Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake.

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Smash. Bros Brawl Delayed Once Again

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, perhaps the most highly-anticipated Wii game yet, has once again been delayed. Originally planned for release last year (and then eventually pushed up to a February 2008 date), Nintendo fans now won't be getting their hands on this mega-hot title until March 9th.

Although no reason behind the delay was released, it is speculated that Nintendo is still fine-tuning the online play to make it run nearly flawless. It is still set to hit Nintendo's native country of Japan this month.

Although many hardcore fans of the series are probably infuriated by now, I feel this delay is for the best. As Miyamato himself put it:

"A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever"

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Review: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Platform: Wii
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Release: November 2007

Super Mario Galaxy is a divine, awe-inspiring title that deserves your attention more than any other release this year.

Every generation there’s always at least one title that shocks you with just how marvelous it is. I was wondering when I’d find that in the next-gen. Sure, there’s been plenty of great releases on all of the current consoles up to now – but none have truly amazed me with their quality. Enter Super Mario Galaxy, a wondrous, highly-imaginative title that shows us that clever level design and spectacular game play are the true reasons to game in the next-gen.

I honestly wasn’t desperately excited to play this one at first. Super Mario Sunshine managed to earn positive reviews as well, but that title failed to truly impress me (with it’s rather derivative game play and somewhat yawn-inducing design). On the Wii, however, it’s a whole new experience.

The Wii controls work beautifully here. Save for one or two special levels where they’re somewhat finicky, they’ll become second-nature within minutes of playing. The camera has always been a major complaint for 3D plat formers, but I have to say, I really didn’t have an issue with it in Galaxy.

With oodles of levels to explore and stars to collect (and a rather swell secret for those skilled gamers who manage to get ‘em all), you’ll definitely feel like you’ve got your money’s worth with Galaxy. The great thing about it is, every planet feels like a whole unique experience – not one minute during this title did I feel bored, and that’s not something you can say very often about a video game. It’s incredible at how imaginative Galaxy is – not only in the visuals (they’re far below the other consoles in terms of raw graphical power, but in terms of overall design, they’re way ahead of many games on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) but in terms of new power ups, level design, and game play challenge variety.

Difficulty-wise, I’d say Galaxy is just right. It’s easy enough for your little cousin to beat it – but not without retrying some of the more challenging levels over and over again. More games should strive to have this perfect difficulty balance.

Overall, if you haven’t experienced the sensation that is Super Mario Galaxy, you should immediately get off this website, run to your nearest retailer, and purchase a copy. It’s a divine, awe-inspiring title that deserves your attention more than any other release this year. Although that may sound like a rather tall claim, once you immerse yourself into the wonder that is Galaxy you’ll never be able to put the Wii remote down.

Rating: 9.7 (out of 10)

Would Taking Away Your Christmas Gift Convince You to Stop Smoking Pot?

What do you do when you come home from work early only to discover your 15-year old son smoking weed? Sell his beloved Christmas gift, of course.

At least that's what one Canadian father did. In a public, rather humiliating eBay auction that ended up selling for o $9,000 after an intense bidding war, a dad sold his son's copy of Guitar Hero III for the Wii - a burdensome game to track down this time of year - to punish him for lighting up a joint with his "delinquent" (as the auction author describes them) buddies.

Although there's a large chance that the story provided on the auction page is a bogus gimmick (and the fact that the vast majority of the bidders were newly registered members who kept continuously adding money just for kicks, and not to actually pay), it is an intriguing conversation piece nonetheless. Hey, I've seen auctions similar to this in the past, and they always seem to attract tons of attention. Still, if your auction gets over-run by jokers who will just keep bidding only not pay in the end, do you really want that type of attention?

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One Year Ago This Month in Pro-Gamer... (November 2006)

An entire year has passed, and yet I still haven't raked in any dough off Pro-Gamer. Damn. But knowing that other people enjoy this blog is worth more than any dollar amount.... now throw some change over here, will ya?

It turns out that your fancy-shamcy Halo 3 Legendary Edition ended up costing more than the original estimated $100 .

Finding a Wii in any major retail store one full year later is still a toilsome task.

Sega's repulsive GBA port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog turned out to be a major slap in the face to loyal Sega fans.

And Mystery Dungeon Blue turned out to be yet another addictive entry in the outrageously-popular Pokemon franchise.

The Creator of Final Fantasy Speaks!

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the mastermind behind the creation of the remarkably popular Final Fantasy series, has recently had some stern things to say about many subjects in today’s gaming industry. Not all of it was positive, either – he blasts Sony and the Playstation 3, but besides these personal things he touches us up with some information on his newest projects.

When asked about how he feels about the Playstation 3 in the recent Electronic Gaming Monthly interview [EGM, June 2007 issue], Sakaguchi responded by saying

“I’m not interested in the Playstation 3. The machine’s architecture is tricky, and I don’t’ like Kutaragi”.

Ouch. Despite this, he still believes in the Wii and especially the Xbox 360. While he has several plans for new Xbox 360 games (which I will get to in a moment), he said that

“The [Wii] is intriguing, but right now I have no plans on making a game for the Wii”.

With the enormous popularity of the Wii, you could probably expect him to make something unique for it down the road. Hell, even beyond this, Sukaguchi even talks about the recent global warming phenomenon by saying that he’d like to make a game about it based on the bizarre changes in climates he experiences where he’s current living (Hawaii).

You can read the article in it’s entirety in the June 2007 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, on newsstands now.

In the mean time, here are some looks at his future Xbox 360 projects:

Blue Dragon

Already released in Japan, Blue Dragon was one of the few Xbox 360 games to gain popularity on the other side of the pond. It helped sell some 360’s over in the Land of the Rising Sun, and even though it didn’t significantly help out the struggling system over there it became a bit of a hit nonetheless. With great reception from the important version and a talented team working on it, you can expect Blue Dragon to be received warmly when it hits the U.S. this fall.

Lost Odyssey

Not much information has been revealed about this intriguing title yet, except that it will have a rather complex storyline and be powered by the same engine found in last year’s tech-powerhouse Gears of War.

Cry On

Appropriately titled, Cry On will feature a story line that Sakaguchi hopes makes you cry every 15 minutest (yep, he actually said that).

Custom Consoles: Why Not Let Your Console Stand Out?

Sure, game consoles usually look great and are well-thought out in design (let’s just forget about some of those forgotten “classic” console mishaps and the original Xbox, shall we?) but if you’re ultimately not satisfied with how your shiny new console looks, you can either put a whole bunch of work into it and make it look unique, or just pay an outrageous sum of money on eBay for some schmo to do it for you! Here are some custom console designs found through the listings of eBay, and even an Xbox 360 prototype as well (have you ever wondered what a 360 would look like if it was black? Well, wonder no longer, you curious bean). Enjoy.

Zelda Triforce Wii:

That's one swanky looking Wii, eh? You can bid on this custom-made Wii here. The current bid for this one-of-a-kind Wii is over $1,000! Hey, it's worth shelling out a thousand bucks to impress your relatives and make your friends jealous, right?

This prototype Xbox 360 is quite cool looking as well. Although the beautiful whi

te current Xbox 360 was a nice change of pace from the standard black console, I wouldn't mind if this was the one originally released at retail. There are actually rumors of a fresh new black Xbox 360 hitting retail sometime before the summer - as always, I'll keep ya posted on that...

White PS2: How classy!

Wait, so maybe the original Xbox isn't so ugly after all! This green Xbox, known as the 'Halo Xbox' (because it came packed in with a copy of Halo) was sold at retail for a limited time. Now the only way to purchase this stylish Xbox is off- you gussed it- eBay.

Super Mario Through the Years

Although choosing the best Mario game for many can be debatable (not for me, however – I happily proclaim Super Mario World as the definitive title in the entire series), there’s no arguing that the graphics in the series have improved over time. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane (and later, when we get to the upcoming Wii adventures, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario, the future, as well) and compare the visuals found throughout the Super Mario adventures.

The 2D years (in chronological order)

The 3D Years


I did not include any handheld Mario adventures, as I am not quite such a die-hard fan of those and I did not feel that they were essential to this list.

Also, here's a quick update on Super Mario Galaxy: Although a specific release date has not been confirmed, it's definitely slated for release this year. So far early versions of Super Mario Galaxy have been receiving great feedback from players. All I know is that more Wiis are bound to fly off shelves once this monster of a title hits... I hope it makes up for 2002's rather dissappointing Super Mario Sunshine...

Take a Look At This Harvest Moon Heroes Footage, Wii one...

Ah, Harvest Moon. Although a few of the entries in the cult-classic series are some of my favorite games of all time, the overall quality of the franchise is inconsistent, so I can’t really call it a first-rate series. However, maybe Natsume will learn from previous mistakes when they release Harvest Moon Wii sometime for, you guessed it, the Wii (let’s also hope they scrape that uninspired name as well). In the mean time, while we all speculate on how it’ll turn out, here’s some actual footage from Harvest Moon Wii: