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We've seen some pretty comprehensive breakdowns of how the U.S. gaming industry performed last year -- however, industry analysis firm GfK-ChartTrack recently compiled a sizable amount of data to inform us how the whole planet did. In short, the planet did okay. U.S. sales faltered somewhat, the U.K.'s past-gen console sales sunk like a rock (or, rather, an original Xbox), and Japan stayed afloat upon a makeshift raft of Nintendo DS RPGs.

The worldwide best-selling game of 2009 was (you'll never guess) Modern Warfare 2, with 11.86 million units sold. The runners-up were all proud members of the casual Wii suite: Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, and plain ol' Wii Fit. For more details on how the gaming industry did across this great big terrestrial mass we call home, check out MCV's analysis of the statistics.

Look, we get just as tired of seeing Nintendo's remarkably high software sales figures every few months as you do -- that's why, this time around, we're going to do things a little differently. We're just going to add up all the life-to-date totals for the company's biggest titles, and just drop them in one big chunk. Ready? Okay, here we go: 247,780,000.

Well, that sure didn't work. Fine, we'll break down each of the games highlighted by Nintendo's recent financial report (warning: .pdf link) and post their FY2010 sales and life-to-date sales after the jump. (Fun fact: All of the Wii games actually have "Wii" in the title. It's like the Nintendo 64 days all over again!)

Much as it did for North America, Nintendo just tossed out a huge list of release dates for Europe in Q1. And right at the top of the list is a new DSi hardware bundle, to be released on February 12. If you don't feel like holding out one more month for the out-sized DSi XL, you can get a pink DSi with a copy of Nintendo Presents Style Boutique.

In other hardware news, the company announced that it will continue offering the previously limited-edition black Wii bundle, which includes both Wii Sportses, a Wiimote, a Nunchuk, and a MotionPlus.

As for the games, there's a lot coming up on Wii and DS in the next few months, including both Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Ace Attorney Investigations from Capcom, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Phantasy Star Zero, Excitebike World Rally and more.

Source (PDF link)

Reporting the UK sales chart is starting to feel like being a weatherman in Los Angeles. For the ninth week in a row, Modern Warfare 2 sits atop the all formats chart. If Modern Warfare 2 makes it to ten weeks in a row, we're expecting a communique from Hitchhiker's Marvin.

The next three spots are occupied by a casual alliance, consisting of Wii Fit Plus, Just Dance for Wii and Wii Sports Resort, respectively. Proving that the UK still has interest in games beyond war, sports and losing weight, Bayonetta's hair grabbed the fifth spot on the chart for its debut. THQ's Zelda meets God of War hybrid, Darksiders, also had a strong debut in eighth place. Had it bested the current chart champ, we'd be checking for signs of the apocalypse.

Source – 9 successive weeks at No1 for Call of Duty [GFK Chart-Track]
Source – Latest UK Software Charts [GFK Chart-Track]

Across two of Nintendo's biggest markets, the US and Europe, the house that Mario built has managed to get a lot of its hardware and software into customers' hands, reporting huge sales milestones and a very prosperous December. In Europe, the DS is now the best-selling video game console of all time, surpassing the 40 million mark in the region. The Wii now tops 20 million, becoming the fastest-selling console in the region since its release three years ago. There's also some data on Nintendo's games to chew on, including Wii Sports Resort, which sold five million since releasing in July, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which just reached 2.5 million units sold.

As for the States, Nintendo's been raking in equally impressive amounts of cash here. In December, three million Wii consoles were purchased and the DS set "a new all-time calendar-year U.S. sales record for any console or hand-held system." You know, just like the company did last year. Also, New Super Mario Bros. Wii had quite the stellar showing in the U.S., achieving lifetime sales of four million units in the region.

In short: Nintendo is pretty much the same as always.

Source - Nintendo UK press release
Source - Nintendo of America press release

Source -- Modern Warfare 2 captures Christmas No1 [Chart Track]
Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

The Assassin's Creed sequel may not have taken out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from the top spot on the UK charts, but the game did outperform the original's 2007 debut by 12 percent in unit sales. Although Chart Track doesn't give specific unit sales figures, it's staggering to think that Infinity Ward's FPS dropped 86 percent after its launch week and still retained the top spot.

Behind the big boys of violence, Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus took the next three spots, respectively. The hardened Left 4 Dead 2 shambled up to seventh spot.

Source -- Call of Duty stands firm [Chart Track]
Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

Nintendo must've had some luck with its Great Lakes and Wii Sports Resort tours recently, as the company has announced the Nintendo Mall Experience tour. Starting next week through December 20, The Big N will be stopping at shopping centers across the country to get some of its Wii and DS titles in the faces of holiday shoppers.

On the Wii side, Nintendo will show off its top three games for the holiday season: Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit Plus. For the handheld crowd, Nintendo will be pushing the new Style Savvy, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Head past the break for the full list of stops on Nintendo's Mall Experience tour.

Much like a dude-seeking missile dropped from an overhead predator drone, Modern Warfare 2 sales plummeted in the UK after the game's first day of availability. As you already know, the game moved 1.23 million copies on its launch day -- however, according to Chart Track's calculations, it finished off the week with a paltry 1.78 million units (for £67.4 million) sold. With pathetic figures like that, you know Activision's got to be feeling disappointed.

Other UK chart staples (Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort, FIFA 10) all maintained their top 10 ranking this week -- though the list had two unfamiliar visitors who vaulted to the top of the charts on the back of a new 360 bundle: Lego Batman (which jumped from 14th place to 7th) and Pure (which sprung from 23rd place to 9th). That's quite a comeback for these two titles, though perhaps they would have fared even better had they been bundled with copies of Modern Warfare 2 instead.

Source -- Modern Warfare 2 Smashes All Records [Chart Track]
Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

It would appear that Nintendo made the right decision in finally getting around to releasing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box worldwide, as the company was able to trade that box for one filled with cash money. The company released a supplement to its earnings report, listing the million-selling first-party Wii and DS games of its Q3 (April-September), and Diabolical Box made the list with 1.26 million units sold. The entirety of that 1.26 million comes from outside of Japan, since it wasn't a first-party game in Japan, and it was released in 2007.

The other new additions to the million-seller club on DS: Tomodachi Collection, the Mii communication game, and Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, which mysteriously managed to rack up 10,000 overseas sales despite not having been released outside of Japan. Is Nintendo tracking import retailers differently somehow?

On Wii, Wii Sports Resort has reached 6.97 million units worldwide, and Wii Fit Plus has already sold 2.13 million, a nice complement to the 4.28 million that the first Wii Fit sold in the last quarter.

Source (PDF)

What we want to know: If 86 percent of surveyed youngsters are asking for at least one video game this holiday gift-getting season, what miserable manner of childhood have the other 14 percent been living? No doubt leading a crusade to bring joy to teens and tweens everywhere (and, uh, recoup some losses), retailer Game Crazy has put together a handy buyer's guide for concerned parents.

Don't know which video games to get your kids because they haven't clearly indicated them in large, bold, triple-underlined letters on their wish lists? Just follow these simple guidelines:

• For the "Girly Girl" whose fashion obsession is getting way too costly: Wii Sports Resort
• For the "Music Addict" who's not worth spending real guitar lessons on: Guitar Hero 5
• For the "All Things Sports" lover who's just a tad bit uncoordinated to enjoy "outside" sports: Wii Sports Resort
• For "The Adventurer" who needs to learn that "real life" is largely confined to the indoors: New Super Mario Brothers Wii

Oh, and parents, whatever you do, don't buy the oft-requested "Call of Duty" for your kids. It's rated M -- for Mature! -- for a reason. Might we suggest Ubisoft's wonderful line of imagination-expanding titles in its place? Don't worry, their initial weeps are totally normal. Trust us. They'll thank you later, once they've grown up to become animal doctors, champion riders, master chefs, movie stars, and ... babyz.

We've got some welcome news for European readers who somehow don't already own a Wii -- or for those of you who already have one, but just can't resist the temptation of the new black model. Amazon.uk has opened pre-orders for the new Wii Sports Resort bundle, which includes a Wiimote, a Nunchuk and a MotionPlus all dressed in black, along with both Wii Sports games. The bundle will ship on November 6 and is available on additional Amazon branches, as well; though the release dates for other European territories is November 20.

The UK pre-order price is even discounted a bit to £164.99 (roughly $270) -- the same bundle in boring old white normally retails for £179.99. (The black and white bundles are priced the same, at €209.99, elsewhere in Europe.) The white bundle, however, includes your choice of two additional games -- a small sacrifice for that spooky black coating, we say.

As for you importers, we suppose this could be the ideal time to pursue a PAL model, if you simply can't wait for the black system to be announced for North America. Then again, in doing so, you'll also have to import all of your games. Patience.

[Via Engadget]

Nintendo UK will release the black Wii system on November 6, as part of a limited edition bundle including matching Wii Remote, Nunchuk, and MotionPlus peripherals, and both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. This bundle will be available elsewhere in Europe on November 20.

Along with the black bundle, Nintendo is releasing the black Classic Controller Pro accessory. No price has been announced for any of these items. Nintendo of America has yet to announce any plans to release any of these items -- in fact, it has announced that there are no plans. But, really, it's waiting until every holdout gets impatient and buys a white system.

2009 hasn't been the best year for the games industry. Month after month, we hear reports of reduced sales figures, company closures, and layoffs. Things may be turning around, though, as EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich believes software sales during September 2009 have actually gone up from 2008, the first time in seven months thanks to strong sales of Halo 3: ODST, Wii Sports Resort, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Madden NFL 10 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. All in all, software sales should come in at $715 million, a 16% increase over last year.

The music genre may be slowing down, but Divnich notes that "both Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band have performed at levels ahead of retail expectations," with sales predicted at 800k and 1 million units respectively. The same analyst at EEDAR previously predicted that Guitar Hero 5 would outsell The Beatles 2:1. With NPD sales results dropping next week, we'll soon see how accurate Divnich's latest analysis is.