In the short time Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have been available, they’ve become “the fastest-selling titles in the history of their respective franchises.” (Could that be because people were happy to finally have games for their 3DSes? Maybe.) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword sold more than one million units, making it the 45th Wii game to do so.

The 3DS itself managed to sell more than 4 million 3DS systems in 2011, but the Wii still outsold it at 4.5 million units.

“One of the strongest software lineups in our history helped Nintendo have a great holiday season and to close 2011 with a full head of steam,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Not only have the new Mario and Zelda titles already broken records, but with strong reviews and satisfied customers sharing their positive experiences, all three are also shaping up to be the latest long-tail titles from Nintendo. Couple that with a massive first- and third party lineup in the first part of the year and the prospects for 2012 are extremely promising.”

Nintendo logo

The United States had a historical Black Friday and it looks like Nintendo benefited from that as well. In a press release from Nintendo, Wii had its biggest Black Friday ever with more than 520,000 units sold.

Other things to note for the month of November is record setting sales of Super Mario 3D Land at 625,000 units. The 3DS has sold nearly 2.5 million units since launch.

“Great software and unparalleled value drove momentum on Black Friday and through November,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Both Nintendo 3DS and Wii have already set records, and we’ve still got the bulk of the shopping season to go. People are flocking to our bundles and the fun of Mario and Zelda that can only be found on Nintendo systems.”

So far we only have Nintendo’s results from Black Friday. It seem that since the NPD data shut down, we don’t hear how Microsoft or Sony do monthly anymore to compare.

Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii, previously denied to North Americans, is officially making its way to our shores next April, as confirmed by Nintendo today.

The game puts you in the middle of an epic battle between humans and robots (naturally), and you’re tasked with uncovering the Monado blade’s secrets. Because of course a weapon has secrets, haven’t you been paying attention?

All jokes aside, this game is supposed to be one of the best ever created for Wii — nay, one of the best JRPGs ever — so it’ll be good to see it get a release over here. Not to mention that Nintendo’s wallet could likely use the boost.

You can preorder the game from GameStop right now, or preorder it from Nintendo in the middle of the month. If you’d like to see the official first trailer, check that out here. (It’s a Facebook link, so click with caution, I suppose.)

Nintendo has usually had a relatively fun list of games coming out around the holidays and the Gaming Angels are here to help recommend some games to you for that Nintendo fan in your life.

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland (E 10+) At a recent event, I was able to play Kirby’s Return to Dreamland. First of all who doesn’t love Kirby? Second, this platformer was created for families to play together. Players can easily join in or leave a game without interrupting play. Best part is no fighting over one player grabbing all the items because the team has one set score for all the items. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland encourages team work. ~ Trina

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword E10+) Five years ago, gamers were given The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just in time for the Holidays. Nintendo has finally given us the next installment in their iconic series, and it’s far more than just a GameCube port as well. Most of us have many a fond memory of playing Zelda games we were gifted for the Holidays ranging back to our childhoods, and this game will certainly be another gem to add to our collections. ~ Vanessa

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (E for Everyone) By now, the ‘Legend of Zelda’ formula is familiar. Heck, this game itself is probably familiar, given that this is a rerelease of a Nintendo 64 title (remember those days?). This game alone sold me on the 3DS’ 3D capabilities. It looks beautiful, and it’s great to have such an adventure available right in my pocket. ~ Tiffany

Professor Layton and the Last Specter (E for Everyone) Who knew that a game based on solving puzzles and riddles could not only be so much fun, but also revolve around an incredibly intricate story? That’s exactly what the Professor Layton franchise has done for the last three installments, and fans should be just as eager to get their hands on the most recent game. Even if you’ve never played a Professor Layton game before, all you need is a lukewarm affinity toward solving puzzles and a pension for mysteries to get wrapped up in the Professor’s latest adventure. ~ Keri

Wappy (E10+) The Wappy is just about the cutest thing ever. This virtual puppy comes to life in a robot form that interacts with you. Think Tamagotchi on a whole different level. This provides everyone with the fun of owning a puppy without the cleanup. ~ Trina

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D (E for Everyone) I’ve been missing a good rhythm game in my DS since Elite Beat Agents’ release what feels like forever ago. Gabrielle’s a great follow-up with the perfect “girly” touch. Look, I like dressing up my game characters, what else can I say? ~ Tiffany

To begin with, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Collectors Edition controller for the Playstation 3. Would be
considered one stylish controller. This controller features analog sticks which are concave  and a D-Pad which is fully functional. The style is much like the “old school” D-pads, of earlier controller of the gaming era. Not only are the gamin button features there, the style is beautiful with the black and carbon colouring, grips on the handles, and the “night vision” green glow of the MW3 logo.  The controller retails for 49.99.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Collectors Edition wireless headset for the Wii is another addition to the gaming gear spectrum. This is a sleek and sexy looking black headset with the Call of Duty logo on the ear piece. The headset is suppose to provide clear sound, for while you are playing these first person shooters.  The headset also works with both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

The demo allows you to jump into the Pirates of the Caribbean universe as one of four characters: Mickey Mouse, Mike Wazowski, Stitch and (of course) Jack Sparrow.

This is in addition to Best Buy stores offering the demo up for play starting December 12. Yeah, the game is already out (for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC), but this way you get to try before you buy.

This is a stark contrast to the company’s forecast losses of ¥55 billion. It’s enough of a change that some stockholders appear to be jumping ship, with the stock price falling 7.5 percent.

This isn’t all the 3DS’ fault — Nintendo’s also fighting foreign exchange rates and losing, since 80 percent of their sales are overseas.

Apparently, this is Nintendo’s worst year in the last 27 of them. Ouch.

[Reuters]

Winter Stars has a legitimate campaign mode where you can level up and earn skill points to put into your character’s gear and equipment for the sports you participate in. And the game offers quite a few: Para skiing, Curling, Skidoo, Bobsled, Downhill Skiing, Figure Skating, Biathlon, Ski Alpine Freeride, Snowboard Cross, Ski Jumping and Speed Skating.

Watching the game demo, the controls seemed pretty responsive on the Kinect, and it looked pretty fun. I even got to watch a multiplayer race with downhill skiing. The game itself offers local and online coop gameplay for 2-4 players. That plus graphics are are more realistic and not based on a console’s avatars is refreshing to me. It’s also quite scenic and will feature 18 different locations in the final game.

All in all if you’re a fan of these party style games, this may be another one to look out for. It even stands out with a seemingly robust singleplayer campaign that can keep you playing on your own. Winter Stars is set to triple-axel it’s way into stores in late 2011.

BUY

As a fan of the Lego Series by TT Games (Traveller’s Tales), it is only natural that I’d be excited to play one of the latest installments, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.  I didn’t go in having high expectations because, let’s face it, they’re all similar in gameplay.  I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that there were in-game references to other Lego titles such as Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and even a surprise reference to the latest game, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean.  This game was super fun and includes some characters from the first games (Lego Star Wars and Lego Star Wars II) as well as many new ones from the Clone Wars (animated TV series).

First of all, there is the Prologue which is an easy and short beginning to the game, it also serves as a training area to familiarize you with the controls.  The controls are very simple to master but there are a few new abilities and extras that are unique to this individual game.  You begin as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.  After traveling to Geonosis in search of Jango Fett, you are captured and being held captive in the Geonosis Arena.  You must escape.  This arena is packed and I mean PACKED with droids, more droids, space rhinos and an unfriendly kitty.  From the beginning I really enjoyed the fast paced and chaotic action the game had to offer.  It made it a bit more challenging.  Also, the required actions to complete the levels were not so “straight forward” this time around.  Thinking was involved and I’ll be completely honest, there were times I was confused and couldn’t figure out what to do right away.   The levels are bigger, involving more content, more enemies and more actions to complete.   This game made me happy!  As with previous games there are levels which contain chapters.  In this particular title there are 3 main levels with 6 chapters a piece.  If you do the math, including the Prologue and Epilogue, that equals 20 levels of awesome!  Not including Bonus Missions.  If you’ve seen The Clone Wars animated series, you’ll see that it follows the storyline well.  If you haven’t seen it, you won’t recognize the characters but you’ll catch on quick.

The graphics are a bit better than its predecessors.  The characters themselves have more definition (facial) and each new environment is more colorful and vibrant.  The menu (for chapters) has changed a bit and reminds me of the Lego Batman computer interface.  There are no longer doors to be unlocked.  There is a holographic system of planets that follow color coded paths through the levels.  After completion of each chapter, you are brought back to the main hub where you can access everything at one console area.  Although there are other areas in the hub, the game does not require running back and forth between rooms during your play through.  We all know that can get boring, real fast.  I was happy with the change.

Another new feature is the “Story Swap” mode.  This was an interesting twist on single player that lets you play through two different storylines of a chapter, while ultimately working together to complete it.  This is also very similar to the “Multiplayer” or co-op mode which is a great way to enjoy the game with friends and family.

As with numerous games, it’s nearly impossible to complete the game 100% without a second or maybe even a third play through, this is the case here.  There are a multitude of unlockables available as well as achievements (48 to be exact) to be earned.  “Story” mode is the only available mode at first; you must complete each chapter in “Story” mode to be granted “Free Play” ability.  Once “Free Play” is unlocked, the game presents new challenges which make its replay value high and very worthwhile.

The Epilogue is intense.  The game ends well, and one thing that made it very different was the ability to build troops of stormtroopers, vehicles, buildings and weapons.  You will need an army.  Eventually, a specific tank (RX 200) is required to take down the final boss.  You will need to collect a great number of Lego Studs to do this and beat the game.

In my house, I am not the only Lego fan; my kids also enjoy the games very much and like to play in co-op.   I feel that the game is very family friendly and fun (despite the violent battles and action packed gameplay).  I’ve recommended this game to quite a few people, with and without kids.  I do expect more from the Lego Franchise in the future; however, I don’t feel we’ll see another Star Wars game.  I’m hoping for Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7!  Please?

Also Available On: Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PC, Nintendo 3DS

DFC Intelligence released a report last week that reflected on the future of the gaming industry. People are always speculating on when Microsoft and Sony are planning to update their systems. Nintendo is the only company that we know will have a new system next year and DFC Intelligence says that while it will sell well, it won’t beat out the Wii sales.

“Systems like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are having their best sales ever five or six years into their lifecycle. Unfortunately this means Microsoft and Sony are in no hurry to launch new systems that would generate substantial consumer excitement and spending,” says DFC analyst David Cole. DFC forecast that the Nintendo Wii U will have strong sales, but will not reach the level of success of the first Wii system. “The dedicated console business is still the major driver of industry growth, but we feel overall it has peaked with the current console systems.”

In their findings, the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 are making true on their claims to have a long life span. The Wii however, has peaked in their eyes.

Other findings show that the game industry will only get stronger as sales go from $66 billion to $81 billion in 2016. Which hopefully points to a better jobs economy in the gaming industry over the years to come.