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Super Mario 3D Land sells 5 million, Skyward Sword 3.4 million

 
Nintendo may have failed to hit its sales expectations for the 3DS, but the device isn't without its success stories. As part of Nintendo's postearnings information dump, the publisher revealed three first-party games that easily topped the million-unit sales milestone.
Super Mario 3D Land topped the 3DS's sales charts through December, selling 5.03 million units worldwide. The portly plumber's latest outing arrived to a solid critical reception in November. December's Mario Kart 7 posted a close second with 4.54 million units sold, while June's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D sold 2.49 million units.

On the Wii, Nintendo saw a strong performance from Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Launched in late November, Link's latest action adventure sold 3.42 million units through December. That figure was good enough for a third-place finish on the Wii chart, behind Mario Kart Wii (4.91 million) and New Super Mario Bros. Wii (3.53 million).

Turning to the DS, Pokemon White/Black continued to put in solid numbers, topping the handheld's chart with a combined 2.91 million units sold. New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS followed, with 1.87 million units and 1.26 million units sold, respectively.

A full list of Nintendo's million-unit sellers for the April-December period, as well as those games' lifetime-to-date tallies, can be found below.

3DS
Title / 2011 sales/ LTD sales
Super Mario 3D Land / 5.03 million / 5.03 million
Mario Kart 7 / 4.54 million / 4.54 million
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D / 2.49 million / 2.49 million

Wii
Title / 2011 sales/ LTD sales
Mario Kart Wii / 4.91 million / 31.91 million
New Super Mario Bros. Wii / 3.53 million / 25.47 million
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword / 3.42 million / 3.42 million
Wii Sports / 2.4 million / 79.16 million
Wii Sports Resort / 2.19 million / 29.87 million
Wii Party / 1.91 million / 7.68 million
Wii Fit Plus / 1.75 million / 20.24 million
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / 1.21 million / 1.21 million
Wii Play: Motion / 1.12 million / 1.12 million
Super Mario Galaxy / 1.09 million / 10.4 million

DS family
Title / 2011 sales/ LTD sales
Pokemon Black & White / 2.91 million / 14.42 million
New Super Mario Bros. / 1.87 million / 28.74 million
Mario Kart DS / 1.26 million / 22.30 million
*Professor Layton and the Last Specter / 1.19 million / 1.19 million
Kirby Mass Attack / 1.01 million / 1.01 million

*Sales figures do not include Japan.

SpaceX delays first satellite launch due to technical glitch

 

SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket minutes before takeoff Monday, saying it will prepare for another attempt Thursday.

The private spaceflight company posted the date of the next attempt on Twitter after the first attempt was thwarted by a technical glitch.It did not elaborate on the problem.

Reuters reported officials called off the launch after the rocket missed its 66-minute window due to delays, including the glitch.

If successful, the rocket will carry a commercial satellite into space, a potential game-changer in a global industry worth nearly $190 billion a year.

The satellite, known as SES-8 and worth about $100 million, will be positioned to provide television, cable, broadband and other services to customers in India, China, Vietnam and other markets in Asia, Reuters reports.

It is owned by Luxembourg-based SES S.A., which currently operates a 54-satellite fleet, the world's second-largest.

Reuters contributed to this report

Infinity Ward crafting next-gen Call of Duty?

 
In October, a job listing at Call of Duty studio Treyarch indicated that the developer was readying a next-generation entry in the shooter franchise. Now, it appears Infinity Ward is also preparing a next-generation Call of Duty game.


A requisition for a senior animator at Infinity Ward calls for a person with "an interest in working with next-generation technologies."

Unfortunately, the job listing does not offer any additional information about what Infinity Ward may be at work on. As for what next-generation technologies could pertain to, there are numerous possibilities. At the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Activision pledged its support for Nintendo's Wii U, and rumors are swirling that Microsoft and Sony are readying new consoles.

If Infinity Ward is indeed at work on a next-generation Call of Duty title, it won't be the only project the studio is crafting. Last week, Activision announced the Modern Warfare 3 content season, and it named Infinity Ward, Raven Software, and Sledgehammer Games as developers for the barrage of game updates planned over the next nine months.

A new Call of Duty game has been confirmed for release in 2012, but Activision has yet to name this title or mention what developer(s) are working on it. That game has no release date yet, but Call of Duty has had new installments debut between late October and mid-November every year since the franchise was launched in 2003.

EA stock tanks on Star Wars: The Old Republic fears

 
US markets are largely positive today, due in large part to positive earnings-season economic data and strengthening unemployment data, according to a consensus of financial reporters. However, such is not the case for Electronic Arts, which is trading down more than 6 percent after Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst Todd Mitchell lowered the company's price target from $28 to $22.


As reported by Market Watch, Mitchell's reassessment of EA came about due to what he termed "creeping concerns" over the future of EA's recently launched massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

"Specifically, initial sales appear to be below expectations, and casual observation of early play is causing us to rethink our churn assumptions," Mitchell said in a note to investors.

Released to a strong critical reception on December 20, The Old Republic sold more than 1 million units during its first week of availability. That tally proved to be more than what EA could handle, as the game's launch was marred by long wait times to access many servers.

Mitchell's analysis of The Old Republic's situation isn't without its detractors. Speaking with GameSpot, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research's Jesse Divnich emphasized that it is far too early to measure the game's long-term potential.

"Some sell-side analysts have such bad tunnel vision on the market that they fail to understand the mechanics of the MMO vertical," Divnich said. "Whether MMO, console game, mobile, or social, each have a completely different business model. It is erroneous to apply success metrics from other verticals to the MMO market and that is exactly what a lot of analysts are doing."

Divnich also noted that EA still has a number of options to boost player numbers and engagement, should the company deem it necessary.

Baird & Co. analyst Colin Sebastian echoed Divnich's sentiment, telling GameSpot, "The game doesn't appear to be the smash hit that some had [thought], but I think it's way too early to be signing the death warrant."

Women's team get first draw in training course

 

HA NOI (VNS) —Viet Nam's national women's football team drew 3-3 with Nanjing's Under-14 team in the first match of their training course in China on Sunday.

The host logged their first goal near the end of the first half, before Tuyet Dung levelled some minutes later.

The young boys continued to lead the result with two consecutive goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. This pressured the Vietnamese into speeding up to lodge more attacks. They grabbed two more goals through Thanh Huong and Huynh Nhu to mark a draw.

The team will play two more matches ahead of their return to Viet Nam on December 2— VNS

Busby Babe Bill Foulkes dies aged 81

 

Bill Foulkes Bill Foulkes captained Manchester United in the aftermath of the 1958 tragedy

Former Manchester United captain Bill Foulkes, who survived the 1958 Munich air crash, has died aged 81.

Only Sir Bobby Charlton, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have played more times than the Busby Babe, who made 688 appearances for United.

Club executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said "he will never be forgotten" adding, "he was a giant character" in the club's post-war era.

St Helens-born Foulkes played for United in their 1968 European Cup win.

Foulkes was a key member of Sir Matt Busby's team of talented young players, who were nicknamed the Busby Babes.

On 6 February 1958, the plane that was carrying the team back from Belgrade crashed in a blizzard after re-fuelling at Munich airport.
'Heroics'

Twenty-three people died - eight players, eight newspaper journalists and seven members of backroom staff.

Speaking about the disaster in 2008, Foulkes said he had been "put in a bad way" by the crash.

"The back end came up and I saw it came up and down again and this meant all the stuff came out of the back and hit me in the back of the head."

However, he managed to escape from the plane and ran to safety before returning to help the survivors.

"I ran over to Matt and we put an overcoat underneath him and he just turned over, groaned and passed out," he said.

After the Munich tragedy, Foulkes took over the captaincy and became a pillar of some of United's most successful teams.

Foulkes was a four-time league champion and a FA Cup winner.

He also won the European Cup at Wembley with United, when the team beat Portuguese side Benfica 4-1 in 1968.
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Bill Foulkes and Sir Matt Busby after the 1968 European Cup Final triumph
Bill Foulkes and Sir Matt Busby after the 1968 European Cup Final triumph Bill Foulkes captained Manchester United in the aftermath of the 1958 tragedy

Fellow former United captain Gary Neville tweeted that Foulkes was "a legend", while current player Rio Ferdinand added that he had been a "great servant to the club".

Mr Woodward said Foulkes was "a very gentle man, who I was privileged to meet on several occasions, including most memorably with his team-mates at the Champions League final in Moscow, 50 years after his heroics in the Munich air crash".

Foulkes made his United debut against Liverpool in December 1952 and went on to score nine goals in his career. He won his only England cap in 1954.

He joined the club as an amateur in March 1950 and began playing professionally in August 1951 after he left his mining job at Lea Green Colliery in St Helens.

Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand tweeted: "Sad to hear news of Bill Foulkes passing away. Great servant to the club. Thoughts are with his family."

Foulkes left United in June 1970 and went on to manage clubs in the US and Norway.
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