Late Night Consoling

Translated reports citing Japanese publication Dengeki reveal that iNiS' Japan-only Nintendo DS rhythm game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! will be getting a sequel later this year. Ouendan! was remade into a brand new game for the Western market as Elite Beat Agents, and both versions of the game were well received in their respective territories. It is not clear if an Ouendan! sequel suggests that Elite Beat Agents will be getting its own followup, but the franchise is known to be a favorite of Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.

Also coming to DS is Intelligent Systems' classic tile-swapping puzzle franchise Panel de Pon. Initial screenshots were published by Japanese publication Famitsu. Better known to Western audiences as Tetris Attack, the franchise has also seen iterations with variations on the name Pokemon Puzzle League. Like several other more casual games on the system, the DS incarnation of Panel de Pon has the player hold the system rotating 90 degrees such that the screens are oriented horizontally. No North American release for the game has yet been announced.

Sony sends word that the long awaited PS3 version of thatgamecompany's downloadable game flOw, originally a Flash title on PC, will be hitting the PlayStation Store this week. It will be priced at $7.99 and made available this Thursday. Check out our screenshot gallery for the game.

Also new to the PlayStation Store this week will be a free demo of Namco's Ridge Racer 7, released last November as a launch title for the console.

Retail tracking group NPD has released its United States video game industry sales figure report for the month of January, which this year occupied a five-week reporting period from December 31, 2006 to February 3, 2007. During that timeframe, Nintendo's Wii took the number one sales slot for game hardware, selling through 435,503 units with lingering supply constraints. Sony had the number two position with its evergreen PlayStation 2, coming in noticeably behind the first place offering at 299,352 units. Microsoft was close behind with its Xbox 360, selling 294,000 units. Sony's newer machine, PlayStation 3, was next with 243,554 sales.

Trailing the home consoles as it continues to face supply problems was the Nintendo DS, selling 239,000 units. Sony's competing PSP was next with 211,000 sales, and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance hung onto its lingering presence with 179,000 units. The practically dead GameCube managed to eke out a surprising 34,000 sales, surely in part due to Zelda fans unable to get their hands on Wii consoles. Xbox data was not reported, but was likely fairly negligible.

Each of the three console manufacturers issued celebratory press releases today, explaining why their consoles were the real kings of January. Sony noted that despite PS3 supply constraints, the reported NPD figures were strong, while PSP's year over year sales for January were up 25% (though it should be noted that the reporting period was 25% longer than most Januaries). The company also pointed out that the software tie ratio for PS3 was up 80% over its launch period. For its part, Microsoft pointed out that its Xbox 360 sales were up 18% year over year (again, note the changed reporting period). Nintendo's statement may have been the most effective in making its point, with the company taking the top slot in both home and portable consoles and noting that it took an overall hardware market share of 46% for the month.

Each of the three current generation consoles had at least one game in the list of tep ten sellers in the United States during the month of January 2007. Coming in on top was Capcom's Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for Xbox 360. Following were Harmonix's Guitar Hero II on PS2 and Epic's Gears of War for Xbox 360. Intelligent Systems' WarioWare: Smooth Moves for Wii came in at #4, managing to beat out the other Wii exclusive on the list, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which took #5. EA Tiburon's PS2 version of Madden NFL 07 was #6, followed by the GameCube version of Twilight Princess (who'd have thought there would be a GameCube title in the top ten in 2007?). PlayStation 3 made its sole appearance with Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man at #8, while the Xbox 360 version of Ubisoft Montreal's multiplatform Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas took #9. Finally, having been released last May, Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. wins the award for oldest game on the list by sneaking in at #10.