Valleywag

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Nintendo

distractions

Wii ad's HTML tricks more fun than the new Facebook

Stupid yet clever enough for Monday-afternoon viewing is this Nintendo Wii ad on YouTube that shakes apart the whole page during gameplay. Drill into it and you'll find it's not a standard YouTube video page, but an oversized Flash animation. Well done! But if the Wall Street Journal's Ahead of the Tape page does this tomorrow, I'm unsubscribing.

earnings

Nintendo makes more per employee than Google or Goldman

Damn it feels good to be a gamer: The Financial Times has calculated that Nintendo will make $1.6 million per employee in 2008. That beats Goldman Sach's 2007 record — impressive when you consider Goldman's average salary was $660,000 per year, versus only $90,900 for Nintendo. (Photo by Geek on Stun)

feature

Dell and Sony discover gold in the old

A relentless neophilia is Silicon Valley's signature characteristic. One must have a new iPhone, a new Twitter, a new electric car. You're either in beta or in the grave. That's why I'm intrigued by two decisions by Dell and Sony. Dell has figured out a way to wriggle around Microsoft's licensing rules and still sell its discontinued Windows XP operating system. Sony, meanwhile, is profitably selling its nine-year-old PlayStation 2 videogame console in markets like India. This just isn't done. More »


"I forgot to mention something important earlier: I don't think Wii Fit's purpose is to make you fit." Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, on the origins of Wii Fit. Too bad it's already sold 1.2 million in Japan based on the notion that it does. The non-exercise videogame is out in the U.S. later this year. [Wii.com]

videogames

On Wii and PS3's home turf, Microsoft cuts Xbox price 20 percent

In Japan, Microsoft has dropped the price of its entry-level Xbox 360 to around $260 — less than it costs in America. The software giant hopes to gain some traction in the tough Japanese market. Microsoft has had tremendous difficulties selling the Xbox in Japan, moving only 257,800 consoles last year, compared to Sony's 1.2 million PlayStation 3s and 3.6 million Nintendo Wiis. Somehow, we suspect just dropping the price won't get the job done.

Silicon Valley's armchair athletes may want to rethink their training regimen. A recent study shows that Nintendo's Wii tennis is no substitute for real exercise. In fact, it's only 2 percent more taxing than playing Halo 3. [Ars Technica]

accounting

Wii child, all you'll get for Xmas is a slip of paper

Little Jimmy's at the tree extracting an oblong box from the stash. Ripping off the paper, his jaw drops in astonishment. It's no Wii; it's a raincheck. His parents didn't quite purchase a Nintendo Wii, you see. Little Jimmy can't exchange the slip of paper until the red-hot videogame consoles are in stock again, supposedly sometime in January. Yes, even a full year after launch, retailers can't keep Wiis on shelves. Analysts estimate Nintendo has lost $1 billion in sales this holiday because of the shortage. So while Nintendo USA topper Reggie Fils-Aimé says the raincheck program is a way for parents to put a Wii under the tree, we doubt Little Jimmy will be fooled. Wall Street analysts, on the other hands, may well be. More »

surly media nerds

Annalee Newitz -- the 100-word version

sparkly-crap mobile circuit-board garbage gizmo mass-produced by machines that stole jobs from nonunionized workers who stole jobs from the natives. I want a Nintendo Wii.
biosphere-destroying violent imagery consumer electronics death monster truly represents the future of technology Wii DJ Bluetooth just another thing with built-in obsolescence consigning it to an unknowable half-life as indigestible silicon shards. It sucks when great future innovations are doomed to become garbage. Donating to cool charities and supporting local artists is something you should be doing all year. capitalist juggernaut. Annalee Newitz is a surly media nerd.
And I wouldn't have her any other way.

real estate

Nintendo's office in "San Francisco" open for business

Nintendo has finally opened the doors to its convenient "San Francisco" location — where former Yahoo chief marketer Cammie Dunaway ran off to be "the coolest mom in the universe." Turns out the new PR and marketing HQ is actually on Bridge Parkway in Redwood City, which is 26 miles from San Francisco — about as close as Paterson, New Jersey is to New York City. With the Wii still printing money, you'd think Nintendo would at least be able to spree for a vacant SoMa warehouse. The location, however, is better suited to keep an eye on nearby industry titans Electronic Arts and Sony. After the jump, the commute from San Francisco to "San Francisco." More »