Hasta La Gadget!

The Nintendo Wii sold over 10 million units in the U.S. in 2008, the first game console ever to break that barrier, according to new NPD data relayed by the News Market.

The report said that the Nintendo Wii racked up 10.17 million sales in 2008, followed closely by the company’s sister portable console, the Nintendo DS, with 9.95 million. Both consoles broke the previous record set in 2007, when the Nintendo DS sold 8.52 million units.

As a result, the Nintendo Wii represented 55 percent of all home console sales in 2008, while the DS nailed 72 percent of all portable system sales, according to the report.

This party no doubt annoyed a lot of people who were actually staying at Planet Hollywood. Capcom threw part of the event outside, in the hotel’s courtyard–complete with an open bar and tons of food. And attendees could play the new Resident Evil 5 on a really big screen. When I say “really big screen,” I mean a projected video that encompassed 6 floors on the side of Planet Hollywood and had huge speakers blasting the game’s audio.

Check out our video to get an idea of how awesome it was (that is, for everyone not paying for a room in the hotel).

Quick, what’s 236 divided by 5? OK, math can be hard. According to a study conducted for Nintendo, 1 in 5 (out of 400) children surveyed believe they’re more likely to grow up to become a professional athlete, actor, or singer than to get As and Bs in math. More than one-third of those surveyed say that math is their most difficult subject, and nearly one-third of kids have very negative feelings about math. Eighteen percent of those surveyed called math “boring” and 13 percent called it “torture.”

Nintendo has come up with a fun solution to get kids interested and confident in their math skills. “Personal Trainer: Math” is a new software for Nintendo DS that both entertains and improves basic math abilities.
Personal Trainer: Math is the second in Nintendo’s Personal Trainer series; the first was Personal Trainer: Cooking.

I think Chinese companies may have officially jumped the shark, regarding Wiimote adapters. Swords, OK. Tennis Rackets, sure. Hey, I can even get behind Wiimote crossbows. But a company called Top-Union, based inf Shenzhen, has gone a bit too far.

On display in the CES International Hall were these two items, which appear to be Wiimote maracas and a Wiimote soprano sax. The latter has apparently been released in eager anticipation of the as-yet-unconfirmed Nintendo Wii Kenny G game.

The kids are gonna go nuts over that one.

If you’re a fan of Donkey Kong, quilts, and staying warm during those cold January nights, then have we got a treat for you: Take a gander at this awesome quilt from Etsy seller CarolinaPatchwork. The price of $450 may be a bit steep for some of us, but hey–it’s a homemade quilt commemorating your favorite arcade game!

CarolinaPatchwork’s Etsy page says: “Pieced and quilted by machine in smoke-free, pet-free, and geek-friendly home.” Geek-friendly homes are the best kind. If only the quilt played the DK theme music… You could beat the game in your sleep.

[Via geeky-gadets.com]